In-law frustration

Payday was yesterday. I now have a little over $5000 in savings, but it won't get to stay there too long. Just waiting on weather to get working on the rockery wall again.

DH's dad called last night, about his car accident and insurance. Of course it's totaled. It's a 2002 Taurus with 150,000 miles on it and old and worn. Estimate to fix $4500. Way more than it's even worth. FIL had just put new tires on it.  Insurance wants to give him $2400 for it, less his $500 deductible, so leaving him with $1900. Or he can buy it back for like $150. He was confused on how that worked. We weren't sure either, as (knock on wood!) we've never totaled a car. As near as we could figure he could buy it back for the $150 and end up with $1750. 

He was considering buying it back because it has new tires on it and he could get something for those.....DH said well, it now only has 3 new tires (because one was damaged) and you'd be lucky to get half what you paid selling them, plus you'd have tow fees, hassle trying to sell, etc. I think he talked FIL out of doing this. He's 80 years old. He wouln't even know how to place an ad, let alone deal with the riffraff that would come to their house to buy the tires.

He wanted to know if DH would call his insurance adjuster and see if he could get more for it, because DH's sis said call and see. DH hates doing that kind of stuff. He is not a bargainer or wheeler dealer. It literally makes him sick to his stomach. And like he told his sister. Sure, maybe he'll get an extra couple hundred, but then someone like their asshole brother (who is a CEO of a company, is used to dealing with this kind of stuff, but never bothers to call their parents) will come back and say "that's all you got for it?". I'm the same way about that kind of stuff. I said I'd rather just give them the $200 we could talk the insurance guy into, out of our pocket then try to deal with it.

The $2400 offered by insurance for the car seems very reasonable. Cars of that year, condition, miles (150,000) aren't even going for that on Craigslist, for the most part. Unless it's at a dealer and totally cleaned up and less miles. Kelly Blue Book puts their car at $1700 max. So, he's supposed to try to get more, but FIL doesn't even know how much he wants to get out of it.

DH agreed to call - at least to make certain of the numbers, because what his dad gave him isn't jiving with what his dad gave SIL. He gets the adjuster's name (a male), ph# and claim # from his dad and calls. Gets some woman's voicemail, which he didn't think was right. Left her a message. She calls back and says no, it's not her, sorry. Geez! Just frustrate DH some more, why don't you! So, now his dad and sis are trying to find a good ph#. I don't know how you get a call from an adjuster on not have the correct ph#.

He asked his dad what he wants to spend to replace the car. He said $4500. I found a great similar car, 2 years newer, with only 84,000 miles, new tires, brakes, etc, selling from a private party in a nice neighborhood, near their area, for $4100. Don't even know if it's available still, but it's been on Craigslist for 3 days. I guess SIL's hubby is going to call on it around noon. SIL keeps talking about a 2004 same kind of car in their town for $2800. Ok, whatever. We don't really care. Buy what he wants to buy.