Auto Insurance Claims: Car Fire, radio cassette player, saturn sl

Question
I have a 1992 Saturn Sl with around 120000 miles on it.  I had a head replaced on it last week. Then on Tuesday of this week It was around 10:30pm. and smoke started coming out from under my hood and I pulled off the side of the road and lifted the hood.  When I did that flames shot up from the back side of the engine and the car caught on fire.  Well, needless to say I slammed the hood back down and called 911.  It took them around 25 minutes to get there.  The whole front of the car was burned.  The fire was so hot the fenders melted down to the tires. I called it in the next morning.  They put me on a team and I got a rental car for a while.  I have full coverage on it with a 250-100 deductible.  The deductible is waived because of fire. They told me an adjuster has to come out to where the car is and appraise the car before they offer me a price for it.  I looked up the price of my particular car on Kellys blue book and it was around $2750.  My question is this, do they go basically by those quotes or do they have a set of their own?  And if they don't offer me a fair price, do I have the right to accept it or not? And if I didn't accept it what would the next step for me? My car was in good shape.  I had power steering, airconditioning, premium wheels, radio/cassette player and it was automatic.  There was no damage to the body at all, the interior was good and everything worked on it but the odometer was off some.  The gears in it were stripped or something, because I could go into town, around 15 miles and it would read 30!
Anyway, I really would appreciate your opinion and expertise on this matter.  Thank you very much.
Patricia Powell

Answer
Hi Patricia,

Based on the information you provided, it sounds as though the vehicle will be declared a total loss. Depending on the state you live in, the insurance company may use several different sources to determine the value of your car. To be sure you are being offered a fair amount you should should also check several sources besides Kelley Blue Book.  You can check the following websites.

1) www.nada.com
2) www.edmunds.com
3) www.autotrader.com

The last one will show you actual vehicles like yours that are currently for sale.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh