How to Read an Audatex Autosource Total Loss Valuation Report
An Autosource report prices your car from comparable vehicles after marking each one down twice. Here's where those adjustments sit, what courts have said about them, and how to check your copy.
- An Autosource report comes from Audatex, a Solera company. It prices your car from the advertised prices of comparable vehicles, adjusted and then averaged.
- Two adjustments lower the comparables: a typical negotiation adjustment, which assumes a buyer pays less than the advertised price, and a condition adjustment, which assumes the typical car is in worse shape than dealer stock.
- In one report a federal appeals court described, the typical negotiation adjustment cut four advertised prices by $790 to $940 each, about 5 percent.
- An expert in that case said the adjustment isn't used for no-haggle dealers or actual sale prices, and the court noted evidence that it sometimes was. Check who is selling each comparable.
- Washington is different: courts there have read the state's rule to bar negotiation adjustments. Elsewhere, appeals courts have said the question is whether your own car was undervalued, which you can check on your report.
If your total-loss offer came with an Autosource report, Audatex produced it, and the number follows a fixed recipe. Two steps in that recipe lower the value of the comparable vehicles before your car is priced. This guide shows where those steps sit in the report, what federal appeals courts have said about them, and how to check your own copy.
What an Autosource report is
Autosource is the total-loss valuation product of Audatex, a Solera company. You may see it written as "Autosource Market-Driven Valuation." The Sixth Circuit described how one is produced in a State Farm case: an estimator inspects the damaged vehicle and uploads what they found, and Audatex's database of "millions of advertised or recently sold vehicles" generates an Autosource Report proposing a value.
State Farm's use of Autosource is documented in published opinions from Washington and Tennessee. In the Washington cases it reviewed, the Ninth Circuit noted that Autosource reports were "used in over 99% of cases to prepare an initial valuation of the totaled car." American Family has also settled Washington class actions over Autosource valuations. Go by the name on your own report, though. One that says CCC ONE needs the CCC guide, and one that says Mitchell or WorkCenter Total Loss needs the Mitchell guide.
Only have the offer letter? Ask your adjuster in writing for the full valuation report, not just the settlement figure. Here's how to get it.
How the report builds your number
The Ninth Circuit summarized the method this way:
"The Autosource reports survey databases of the advertised price of comparable makes and models, and then make various 'adjustments.' The relevant adjustments include: (1) a 'condition' adjustment, and (2) a 'negotiation' adjustment."
Jama v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 113 F.4th 924 (9th Cir. 2024)
The Sixth Circuit walked through one owner's report, and it shows the steps in order. Her Autosource report:
- found four comparable minivans in her state, advertised between $15,800 and $18,803;
- applied the typical negotiation adjustment, which cut those four prices by between $790 and $940;
- adjusted the prices again for differences in mileage and features between those vans and hers;
- averaged the results to reach the actual cash value, $14,490.
Your report runs the same sequence. Each step is a place where the value can move, so take them one at a time with the report open.
The typical negotiation adjustment
This is the line that gets disputed most. In the Ninth Circuit's words:
"The negotiation adjustment assumes that the typical customer negotiates with the dealer and buys a car for less than the advertised price and is designed to capture that price difference."
Jama v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 113 F.4th 924 (9th Cir. 2024)
In the report described above, cuts of $790 to $940 on prices of $15,800 to $18,803 come to about 5 percent. Yours may differ, so find the line on each comparable and write down the dollars.
The Sixth Circuit's opinion also records a detail you can test. An expert said Audatex would not use the adjustment when its database had a comparable's actual sale price, or when a no-haggle dealer advertised the comparable. The court then added:
"That said, some evidence suggests that Audatex sometimes applied this adjustment even to no-haggle dealers."
Clippinger v. State Farm Automobile Insurance Co., No. 24-5421 (6th Cir. Apr. 24, 2026) (en banc)
So look at who is selling each comparable. A one-price dealer that advertises no negotiating, with a negotiation adjustment taken off its price anyway, is a specific line you can raise in writing. Our guide to the negotiation adjustment covers the reasoning behind this line and the disputes over it.
The condition adjustment
The second adjustment is about condition, and the Ninth Circuit's description is worth reading closely:
"The condition adjustment assumes that the typical car in use is in worse condition and would sell for less than comparable cars advertised by dealers and reduces the advertised price by that difference."
Jama v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 113 F.4th 924 (9th Cir. 2024)
That describes a deduction based on the typical car, taken before anyone accounts for yours. On your report, look for a condition figure that is identical on every comparable, and compare it with how your own car was rated at inspection. In the Ninth Circuit case the owner's complaint was that State Farm had given no basis for verifying that the deduction was appropriate. You can ask the same question in writing: what is this figure based on? The condition adjustment guide shows how to press it.
Mileage and feature adjustments
Each comparable is also adjusted for the ways it differs from your car. Two checks cover most problems:
- Direction. A comparable with more miles than your car is worth less than yours, so its price should adjust up. One with fewer miles should adjust down. Confirm the sign on every line.
- Explanation. An adjustment for a package, a trim difference, or an option should be named. A lump adjustment with no label can't be checked, and you can ask what it's for.
Then redo the last step. Add up the adjusted values of the comparables, divide by how many there are, and compare the result with the value the report prints. Run it again leaving out any comparable that is the wrong trim, far from home, or stale. The gap between the two averages is what that comparable cost you. There's more on judging them in our comparable vehicles guide.
If you're in Washington
Washington stands apart. In the State Farm cases, the district court held that Washington's rule lets insurers apply only the deductions it lists, and a negotiation discount isn't among them. On appeal the Ninth Circuit noted that State Farm had not challenged that holding, and in a 2025 opinion it described Washington law as explicitly prohibiting negotiation adjustments. The same rule does allow "appropriate" condition adjustments.
Insurers have also paid multimillion-dollar settlements over the adjustment there, with American Family and PEMCO among the documented examples. If your Washington report shows a typical negotiation line, our Washington page has the rule's wording.
What courts have said elsewhere
Outside Washington the picture is different. In April 2026 the full Sixth Circuit refused to let a Tennessee case over the typical negotiation adjustment proceed as a class action covering about 90,000 vehicles. To decide whether State Farm paid actual cash value, the court wrote, "a jury would have to consider unique evidence about each vehicle's value." It noted that five other federal appeals courts had reached the same conclusion in similar cases.
None of this decides your claim. What it does show is where the question sits: whether your car's final number came out below what the car was worth. That depends on your comparables and your adjustments, which is what the checks in this guide test.
A 15-minute check of your own report
- List the comparables. Year, trim, mileage, advertised price, and seller.
- Test each one. Same trim and equipment as your car, close to home, and current.
- Write down every typical negotiation adjustment in dollars. Flag any taken off a one-price dealer's listing.
- Look at the condition figure. Is it the same on every comparable? Does it match how your car was rated?
- Check the mileage sign on each comparable, and make sure every feature adjustment is named.
- Redo the average and see what it is without the weak comparables.
You'll end up with a short list of specific lines and dollar amounts. Put them in a written counter-offer that walks the adjuster through each one using the report's own numbers. Our dispute letter guide shows how to lay that out.
If you'd rather not do the arithmetic by hand, upload the PDF to TrueTotal's free gap-check. It reads an Autosource report, reruns this math, and shows you the insurer's offer next to the figure the report's own numbers support, before you pay anything.
Is your total-loss offer too low?
Upload the valuation report your insurer used. The free check shows your estimated gap and which parts of their math drive it. If the offer holds up, it says that instead.
Frequently asked questions
What is an Audatex Autosource report?
It's the total-loss valuation document produced by Audatex, a Solera company, sometimes titled Autosource Market-Driven Valuation. It lists comparable vehicles with their advertised prices, applies adjustments to each, and averages the results into the value your insurer offers.
What is the typical negotiation adjustment on my Autosource report?
It's a reduction taken off a comparable vehicle's advertised price. The Ninth Circuit described it as assuming that the typical customer negotiates with the dealer and buys a car for less than the advertised price. The comparable is marked down by that assumed difference before it's used to value your car.
How much does the typical negotiation adjustment take off?
It varies by report. In a Tennessee report the Sixth Circuit described, it cut four advertised prices of $15,800 to $18,803 by between $790 and $940 each, which is about 5 percent. Find the line on each of your comparables and add up the dollars.
Is the typical negotiation adjustment allowed?
It depends on the state. In Washington, a federal district court held that the state's rule permits only the deductions it lists, and the Ninth Circuit later described Washington law as explicitly prohibiting negotiation adjustments. In a Tennessee case the full Sixth Circuit refused a class action over the adjustment and said each owner's claim turns on that vehicle's actual value.
What is the condition adjustment on an Autosource report?
It's a reduction based on the assumption that the typical car in use is in worse condition than comparable cars advertised by dealers. Look for the same condition figure on every comparable, compare it with how your own car was rated, and ask in writing what it's based on.
Which insurers use Autosource?
State Farm's use of Autosource is documented in published court opinions from Washington and Tennessee. American Family has settled Washington class actions over Autosource valuations. Insurers switch vendors and use different ones by state, so the name on your report's first page is what counts.
What's the fastest way to check an Autosource valuation?
Upload the PDF to TrueTotal's free gap-check. It reads the Autosource report, reruns the comparable and adjustment math, and shows the insurer's offer next to the figure the report's own numbers support, before you pay anything.