My friend got an accident. He's car got totaled (It wasn't his fault).

He's worrying that how much money he can get from her (person who hit my friend's car) insurance because KBB value for that S13 is only like 2300ish dollar.(private value. Dealer value was like 500 dollar)

Do you know if the insurance company will pay him dealer value or private value?

Niether, really. Pretty sure they have other sources for a car's value. Tell him to return it as stock as possible if not already, and hope for the best

KBB means mothing to insurance companies. Market value determines the total loss value. Insurance companies obtain market value reports from companies that specialize in it. They will show examples of cars that are or recently were for sale in your area. Adjustments will be made for condition, mileage and options. In some states, they will actually confirm the actual sale price of the car with your state's DMV office. Eitherway, KBB and other consumer guides are wirthless as tehre is n data available to confirm how they arrived at the value. If the market value shows a higher price, then it will be to your friend's advantage over KBB.

But it was his project car, it's missing like carpet, A/C, lots of interior pieces. so would it be better to try to make the car back to stock? (like putting back an a/c, heater, seats, etc and take away the silvia front end.)

Anything that devalues the car will be taken into consideration.

I have seen cases where the insurance co just send a check/offers an amount without even bothering to look at the car or do detailed follow ups. I assume they were swamped with claims and just sent a check for the "lower value" vehicle and concentrated on more expensive cars. However, this is certainly not the norm.

C-Kwik wrote:KBB means mothing to insurance companies. Market value determines the total loss value. Insurance companies obtain market value reports from companies that specialize in it. They will show examples of cars that are or recently were for sale in your area. Adjustments will be made for condition, mileage and options. In some states, they will actually confirm the actual sale price of the car with your state's DMV office. Eitherway, KBB and other consumer guides are wirthless as tehre is n data available to confirm how they arrived at the value. If the market value shows a higher price, then it will be to your friend's advantage over KBB.

I've totaled out two modes of transportation. In each case they gave me NADA retail, minus any flaw they found (tire wear usually), plus any aftermarket part on the vehicle.