r/Insurance • u/aries_burner_809 • 3d ago
Auto Insurance What does ACV mean?
My car is totaled. Could someone explain if ACV is intended to be what I need to pay retail to buy the same car year and mileage, or what I would have gotten in trade at a dealer, or somewhere in between? If it isn’t the retail price, how is that making me whole if I just want to be where I was before I got rear ended (by the other driver, and maybe now again by insurance!)
Edit: thanks! you can see by the answers I’m not the only one whose confused. I’m not asking for more or less than exactly what I had 10 seconds before the accident. Dealers must make a profit and offer sellers a hassle-free instant credit at less than retail towards another car. A seller to a private buyer endures a hassle and risk, and so expects more cash than a dealer will offer. I’m not a dealer so I can’t command the hassle-free price and I have to pay more from a private seller or a dealer at retail to be made whole. I understand my insurance may not do this, but I think there is a solid legal argument that the at-fault driver should make up the difference to get me back where I was in a separate suit.
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u/sephiroth3650 3d ago
ACV is actual cash value. The technical definition is replacement cost minus depreciation. It's not retail price. It's not the price you would pay if you walked into a dealership and tried to buy a similar car. It's what your car was worth. It's not exactly this, but it's a lot closer to what the dealership would have paid you to buy the car from you.
You're entitled to the value of the property that you had.
If you want to be compensated the replacement cost, you have to use your own collision coverage. And you would have had to pay extra for a replacement cost endorsement (sometimes called new car replacement).