The projected sold adjustment

A projected sold adjustment reduces each comparable vehicle’s list price toward an expected sale price, which lowers your total-loss value. Here is what it is, what you can ask your insurer, and a free check that totals it in your report.

What it isWhat to askFree check totals it

What it is

Valuation reports often reduce a comparable vehicle’s list price toward an expected selling price. It appears under names such as Projected Sold Adjustment (Mitchell), a negotiation or typical-negotiation adjustment, or a take-price adjustment. Each reduction lowers the comparable’s adjusted value — and therefore your vehicle’s value.

What you can ask for

Litigation context

Class actions over price-reduction and condition adjustments reached several federal courts of appeals in 2025–2026 (for example the Third, Fourth, Seventh and Ninth Circuits for projected sold adjustments). Those decisions mainly concerned class certification — whether owners could sue as a group — rather than a ruling on the adjustment itself.

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Frequently asked questions

Is a projected sold adjustment allowed?

Rules on valuation methods differ by state and by policy. Several class actions have challenged this type of adjustment; in 2025–2026 the federal appeals courts that addressed these cases mostly decided whether they could proceed as class actions, not whether the adjustment itself is proper. You can ask your insurer how it was calculated.

How big is the adjustment?

It varies. In one public-record Mitchell report we examined, reductions of about $680–$740 were applied to five comparables. Your report shows the exact amounts.

What this is — and isn’t