PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Friend of mine "totaled" her prisitne 93 Volvo 940 turbo

Jim B. · #5 12-20-2007, 09:36 AM

^^^^^such helpful advice you are getting here. < in sarcastic mode >

First of all, this actually not one of the "last" Volvo 940 cars. In England they sold them through 1998, for example.

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/history/940_stats_search.php

I know that because I remember test driving a brand new one at the Volvo dealer in Burlingame in 1995, at the time when I had just bought a '91 740 (an off lease car that a Houston stockbroker had owned) from them

They are VERY good cars, the 4 cylinder in them is VERY sturdy, unburstable, and the salesman said if you get on the turbo several times in a row, you need to let it cool down before you shut down the car when you are through driving it.

You are correct that these are the last of the 940 cars, the best of the really good RWD bricks. I like the looks and reliability of them a lot. The turbo turns the little 112 hp 4 cyl into a real tiger.

It looks like there will be an insurance company "fight" she has in front of her to save the car.

It would up to HER to provide repair receipts to prove the car was a "minter" and was worth $4000 or over.

Comparables (like in Real Estate) should be furnished to the insurance adjuster. Find them from ebay, autotrader, cars.com, look far and wide, and try to gather a logical documented case for the cars worth and then present it to the insurance adjuster. They are telling your friend they have NO information, (which means they have nothing to contest your friend's figures) which should be pretty easy

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/searchresults.jsp?num_records=25&search_lang=en&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&search_type=used&distance=0&address=90028&marketZipError=false&style_flag=1&make=VOLVO&model=940&make2=&start_year=1994&end_year=1994&min_price=&max_price=&transmission=&engine=&drive=&doors=&fuel=&max_mileage=&color=&keywords_display=&sort_type=priceDESC&body_code=0&certified=&advanced=&default_sort=priceDESC&awsp=false&keywordsrep=&keywordsfyc=&systime=

http://motors.listings.ebay.com/_Cars-Trucks_Volvo-940_W0QQa39Z1985QQa41Z10706QQalistZa39Q2ca41QQcurcatZtrueQQfromZR42QQgcsZ13QQpfidZ2473QQsacatZ6001QQ socmdZListingItemListQQsofocusZpf

Probably they are following some internal rule that tells them to total out the car and not fix it, if the repair costs approach 75% of its value, I don't know what rule they follow.

Research at boneyards should be done, to see if the car can be saved with used parts from a junkyard.

All it would take is a new front clip: fenders, hood, bumper, etc. off a good junked 940 to do it. I bet if you found one, you could save the car.

A good co operating body shop that could work with a front clip would be fine.

I used to be an Insurance adjuster, and sometimes we would not total out a customer's cherished car, if THEY found a good front clip (for example) and presented a body shops estimate using it to bring down the cost of repairs far below the "Total Loss Valuation" of the car.

I think it could be done with some work. You could help your friend out with this I think, to save this good car.

As far as payment, your friends here seem to be suggesting that she "take it out in trade" and I really have no response to that