That’s not even close to how it’s worked for me. I had one total in my 40+ years of driving and owning cars. Full retail on the car was about $6,000. KBB.
But the insurance company (USAA) decided to use “comparable” marketing, and paid me $3,200.
You see, in a small clause in the policy, they had that option. So, instead of giving me the KBB on the car (and before you say KBB was off, USAA savings bank was willing to let me borrow $7,000 to buy another) they found a lesser equipped, rusty example near my zip code, in Vermont and used that price.
So, my car, an immaculate, rust free, southern car, with one previous owner, a car which had every service record back to the bill of lading when it came off the boat from Sweden, a car with leather, winter package and other options, was paid out the same as a rusty, salt ravaged, cloth equipped Vermont heap.
Be careful of the value the insurance company chooses.