Real-Time ACV vs. Dealer Surveys

Is your dealer-survey total-loss value too low?

An insurer dealer survey is a handful of quotes solicited on one afternoon — opaque, and it almost always runs low. We price your actual cash value from what cars like yours are actually selling for right now, with every comp shown and dated.

"A dealer survey is three phone calls from one afternoon. We use what cars like yours are actually selling for right now."
Dimension
InsurifyAI report
Insurer dealer survey
Where the number comes from
Live listings + real transaction data pulled at claim time
A few phone/email quotes an insurer solicits from dealers
How fresh the data is
Real-time — reflects today's market
One-time, whenever they called
Sample size
The full set of comparable listings for your vehicle
Often just three quotes from one afternoon
Who it's built for
The car owner — independent
The insurer paying the claim
Transparency
Every comparable shown, sourced, and dated
Opaque — you rarely see the raw quotes
Which way the number tends to move
The defensible, current market number
Trends the value down

"Dealer survey" refers to the practice of soliciting dealer quotes to set a total-loss value. Comparison reflects how each valuation is typically produced.

Why real-time wins

Real-time

Priced from live market data the day your claim is worked — not three calls from one afternoon.

Independent

Built for you, not for the insurer paying the claim. No incentive to trend the number down.

Transparent

Every comparable vehicle is shown, sourced, and dated. A dealer survey's raw quotes rarely are.

What a dealer survey actually is

Understanding how the number is built is how you push back on it.

The dealer survey
  • A few dealers called on one afternoon
  • Quotes you never see in full
  • Snapshot frozen at that moment
  • Solicited by the party paying you
The InsurifyAI report
  • The full set of comparable listings
  • Every comp shown, sourced & dated
  • Priced the day the claim is worked
  • Independent — built for you

Prices move every week — so a one-afternoon survey runs low. A timestamped, sourced report is what stands up when you push back.

Car owners

See what your car is really worth today — with the real listings to back it up.

Run a real-time report

Body shops

Hand your customers a real-time ACV that beats the dealer-survey number — and win the total-loss dispute.

Become a partner shop

Related: CCC ONE valuation vs. real-time market value

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