FPIU keys?

[Adam Janowski]

So most PIU's come with fleet keys, (non-smart) with lots of copies out there. What are people doing to better secure their rides? I know they can be re-keyed, but without upgrade to smart key, that doesn't seem to make them any safer. Anybody use an aftermarket ignition interlock or alarm system? Any good ones or ones to avoid?

interesting subject - buy it in another state a couple hours away from your residence and then keep in secure garage.. if they want it bad enough at that point and are willing to endure 9mm perforations to get it, they probably have earned it at that point.. lol

 

[KayGee]

The number / percentage came from my experience of totaled claim of my family members. The way I got it the number is how much they paid us vs how much to get an same vehicle from the market with similar criteria (like mileage, options). For example, one of the totaled vehicle was a toyota SUV, which was new, under 5000 mileage, no prior damage. The check they send us for sure didn't make close to the market price not even close to if I'm getting it from a used market, not to mention getting a new one. The loan insurance covered the gap so we cleared out from the loan, but still losing what we have already paid for months. Consider if you have no GAP insurance, you have to pay the make up yourself, which results in the auto lost I mentioned. Even if you are not in a loan, you still lost the make up portion (but the good side is you don't owe anyone).

They did treat PIU as explorer, but they treated it like a base explorer without any option and consider not so good condition (that's what I heard from my insurance agent). Which means with the high mileage already on the car, they aren't going to pay much for replacement cost.

Also, as least for my insurance (which is farmers), they repeatedly told us they will not cover anything that is not permanently mounted to the vehicle (like any accessories, valuable, etc.). They said those coverage should be under rental / home owner insurance which cover property lost, but not auto policy (which I mainly addressing to). Maybe different company has different policy, but this is base on my experience.

Last but not least, simply too hard to relocated as I'm getting a bargain for my current rent, which make it still affordable replacing some broken glasses. Unfortunately there is no alternative parking choice here (there is no enclosed parking within couple miles except those doesn't open to public). The parking lot I'm using now used to be a enclosed private parking, but the new landlord just decided he wants some extra cash and opened the door to everyone, without any security measure, and have a big sign on the wall saying he is not responsible for any lost and broke in.

I was mainly responding to your first comment as it was overly vague and made it sound like a forgone conclusion that one would lose at least 1/3 of the value plus everything else on board your vehicle. Everyone should know their policies and coverage limits for all types of insurance they carry. If a person chooses or has to leave a lot of personal property in their vehicle, they should carry the appropriate coverages or assume the risk themselves.

As far as farmers and your claims payouts, they seem unusual in my experience. If your claims have not been handled to your satisfaction, you should probably consult with your agent and read your policy to see what your options are. I have never had a claim that wasn't ultimately resolved at a fair and agreeable level whether the item in question was newly purchased or older.

 

[edougawa]

I was mainly responding to your first comment as it was overly vague and made it sound like a forgone conclusion that one would lose at least 1/3 of the value plus everything else on board your vehicle. Everyone should know their policies and coverage limits for all types of insurance they carry. If a person chooses or has to leave a lot of personal property in their vehicle, they should carry the appropriate coverages or assume the risk themselves.

As far as farmers and your claims payouts, they seem unusual in my experience. If your claims have not been handled to your satisfaction, you should probably consult with your agent and read your policy to see what your options are. I have never had a claim that wasn't ultimately resolved at a fair and agreeable level whether the item in question was newly purchased or older.

I guess I didn’t phrase my first reply good.

We did get some restitution from the other driver (who was 100% liable in the case and convicted with reckless driving and DUI, he has no auto insurance and that’s the main reason we claimed ours) therefore we didn’t dig into the insurance policy too much.

Anyway, the cheapest explorer on KBB should still be much more expensive than a good condition FPIU with similar options and mileage. So I guess it wouldn’t matter as long as they treat it as explorer.

 

[KayGee]

Anyway, the cheapest explorer on KBB should still be much more expensive than a good condition FPIU with similar options and mileage. So I guess it wouldn’t matter as long as they treat it as explorer.

But they really aren't as different as you think.

Since you mentioned KBB, I looked up valuations on 2013 base explorers with 120K miles (4wd, v6, similar options to PIU) in my area. They indicate values of 7K trade and 10K private party. It's been awhile since I looked at PIUs for sale, but that should be about the same price range for a 2013 PIU (4wd, v6) with ~120K miles. Like I said, if you're concerned with getting hosed in the event of an insurance claim, you need to take the necessary steps to ensure that it doesn't happen to you. Asking prices will always vary as there are many prices that affect them, but it shouldn't be that difficult to articulate the value of your vehicle to a claims adjuster. A claims adjuster will almost always do everything in their power to reduce the payout on a claim. It is up to you to do everything you can to prove your valuation.

Anyway, to add some content relevant to OPs original question, any alarm can ultimately be defeated, best thing it will do is hopefully act as a deterrent, buy some time, or scare off a thief (may not stop them from breaking a window, but may scare them away from rifling through the vehicle and stealing contents). You can try physical measures, but they may not help prevent smash and grabs (steering wheel lock like the club) or may not be practical (for example, fabricate metal shields that can go over your window when parked). Maybe try parking in a well lit area and add a surveillance cam on your house or somewhere that can monitor the vehicle or consider getting one of the dash cams that has cell capabilities and can send real time footage of your vehicle being broken into.

 

[edougawa]

But they really aren't as different as you think.

Since you mentioned KBB, I looked up valuations on 2013 base explorers with 120K miles (4wd, v6, similar options to PIU) in my area. They indicate values of 7K trade and 10K private party. It's been awhile since I looked at PIUs for sale, but that should be about the same price range for a 2013 PIU (4wd, v6) with ~120K miles. Like I said, if you're concerned with getting hosed in the event of an insurance claim, you need to take the necessary steps to ensure that it doesn't happen to you. Asking prices will always vary as there are many prices that affect them, but it shouldn't be that difficult to articulate the value of your vehicle to a claims adjuster. A claims adjuster will almost always do everything in their power to reduce the payout on a claim. It is up to you to do everything you can to prove your valuation.

Anyway, to add some content relevant to OPs original question, any alarm can ultimately be defeated, best thing it will do is hopefully act as a deterrent, buy some time, or scare off a thief (may not stop them from breaking a window, but may scare them away from rifling through the vehicle and stealing contents). You can try physical measures, but they may not help prevent smash and grabs (steering wheel lock like the club) or may not be practical (for example, fabricate metal shields that can go over your window when parked). Maybe try parking in a well lit area and add a surveillance cam on your house or somewhere that can monitor the vehicle or consider getting one of the dash cams that has cell capabilities and can send real time footage of your vehicle being broken into.

Regarding the price, the price of the 2013 FPIU is about 10-12k (which is similar to the private party estimate). If the insurance company decided to goes with the 7k, should I just tell the adjuster it should be more expensive? (just curious in case I have to go thru all these).

After all I agreed with you, if the bad guy badly wants your car, you have no way to avoid it. A car was broke into at the back of my apartment, during the day, with people walking around well surveillance. They walk in the lot with a dog, pretending they are the family who own the car, broke in, took whatever they wanted and took off like nothing happens. We noticed it only when the cops arrived and checked the footages.