Quote:
|
Originally Posted by neumann
I just wrecked my 82 300TD and I am afraid the insurance is going to try to use blue book to try to total my 82 300TD that has only 143K. It took awhile to find this one!! It looks like an easy fix, but parts availibility and age of vehicle and whatever else they come up with 
It was in great condition 9 out of 10. I rear ended a car yesterday afternoon and my wagon suffered the worst. It took out the grill, core supports, bumper, lights, hood, maybe the fenders, radiator for sure, maybe a/c condensor, maybe trans cooler, etc., etc. I'll know for sure when I have it towed to a body shop.
There's 2 recent ebay sales bewteen 8K and 10K
81 237K+ miles for 10,700
84 164K+ miles for 8,500
Anyone know of other recent auctions? Wasn't there one on Ebay for over 12K recently?
Anyone keep track of other sales or know where to find the data? |
I saved some background talk on the subject, I hope this helps! quote:
"Tell your adjuster you do not want a "economic" or "constructive" loss settlement that you want a "comparative" settlement. Look at the Appraisal Clause in your policy. If you and your insurance company do not agree as to the settlement value of your auto damage claim, either you or the company may invoke the Appraisal Clause. That means you would hire an appraiser to represent your interests, the insurance company would hire an appraiser to represent their interests and those two [2] would hire a third appraiser to act as "umpire" or "Referee". In the event the first two appraisers fail to reach an agreement as to a reasonable settlement value, they would each submit their respective work product to the third appraiser for determination.
It's a bunch of work and in your case there is not big $$'s between you and the adjuster - probably will allow you to get repaired.
I had to fight the same fight a couple of years ago when someone rear-ended my SD. The damage was visually minor looking, but required some more complex bodywork to fix, so I wanted my MB-only shop to fix it, to make sure it was done right. They wanted to do the salvage title thing, so I could keep the car instead of totalling it and getting another one. I said no way, because that will kill the resale value of my car (of course I didn't tell them that I NEVER intend to sell the car).
I said to them, "Your customer hit my car. You are contractually and legally obligated to return my car to the condition it was in before your customer hit it. I want to keep THIS car, not another car. I don't want the value of this car ruined by a salvage title, or bad bodywork. Send an adjuster to verify the great condition of this car, and all the money and effort I've spent getting it there, and that person will see why you MUST fix this car."
They did, and I got the money to fix it properly at the body shop of MY preference.
Don't let the bastards walk all over you. It is the adjuster's job help the insurance company honor the claim at the lowest cost possible, but times like this are why you've been paying thier exorbitant premiums for all these years--they will fix your car if you are firm with them."
Mike
aka Mikemover Atlanta, GA
posted 12/30/03 Shopforum
and
Know your policy language first. It probably states you are owed an "actual cash value" of the vehicle or a market value.
If you and the insurance company cannot agree on an amount, there is also probably an arbitration clause on first party claims in which you can envoke an arbitrator to determine the value. The down side for you is the cost of obtaining this as the insurance company will not pay for this, however if data is on your side, this can be a good way to get your $$ value. Also, the insurance company normally will go up in the offer to avoid this as it is very time consuming and a pain in the butt for a disagreement of only $2,000. Use this as your last resort.
To back up your value, get details on how they came up with theirs. You should then pull NADA, Edmunds, NADA Classic cars, and every web listing you can find, to show values of vehicles like yours. If you check the NADA classic values, the low retail is 4k on your car with high of 11k.
Throw every value and every car you can find on the net at them, along with every detail on your car. Do not give up on slamming them with information. Shoot them a high value and "settle" for the right value.
I was a manager in claims for over 10 years. As a general rule, all consumers think their veh's are worth more than they are, and every adjuster thinks they are worth less than they are. The difference is the one person is looking at it strictly from a transportation thing, and the owner has more at stake both $$ and emotionally.
That being said, you should be able to get 4-5k on this if you do the above, based on a quick search of values. If all fails, and you have some data that backs 5k, invoke the arbitration clause and see where that gets you..
Good Luck..
http://www3.nadaguides.com/Values/V...r=1982&ColorId=
One more thing...
The insurance company may have another concern of raising the value to 4k. If they do so and the veh becomes "repairable", they are then on the hook to repair the vehicle properly and to completion.
IE.. they could get in to the repair, have supplements from the shop, and end up paying 4k for the repair. (not sure if there was a tear down prior to the initial estimate). This is the biggest fear as companies :
1. hate to repair a veh that should have been totalled.
2. do not want the liability of not repairing a veh fully and properly. Hence sometimes it is easier to total a veh vs repair, especially on older veh.
The solution to this:
1. Get the value high enough to not make the veh a total
2. as a concession, agree contractually to a repair amount. Get the veh torn down, contractually agree to a repair amount, so that the ins company is assured that they will not get supplemented to death.
Just another way to keep a clean title on the car if that is what you want, all based on substantiating that the value is high enough to repair vs replace
Posted by fishin 1/104