Car totalled/dealing w/ insurance now......WITH A TWIST.

[R.O.R-2.0]

ok guys, i really need your help.. never dealt with an insurance company, especially with a somewhat rare car..

i lent my 86 CGT out to my best friend, and he got hit in it.. not his fault..

the guy with the F***ING Escalade that hit my car, admitted full fault at the scene of the accident..

anyways, im pretty sure the subframe/unibody is tweaked..

looked up book value on the car, and its from 2200 low end, to 5500 in great shape..

what is the insurance company going to go by? how much should i be expecting to get out of this car?

i dont wanna take it in the shorts over this.. ive never dealt with a situation like this, and idk what to do..

[theman53]

The main thing is to not accept what they want to give you. Hold your ground, you may have to string it out for months, but don't settle right away if you are not satisfied. Worst case is to get an attorney yourself or your insurance pay for it type of thing.

I am a real stickler on if I owe nothing on it, the car is mine...not the insurance companies. It was running fine, and the insurance company didn't own it, so I WILL NOT buy it back as it was mine in the first place. Don't give over the title is the point there. They give you money, I think that money is for the value of the damage, not for the title. My .02

[R.O.R-2.0]

The main thing is to not accept what they want to give you. Hold your ground, you may have to string it out for months, but don't settle right away if you are not satisfied. Worst case is to get an attorney yourself or your insurance pay for it type of thing.

I am a real stickler on if I owe nothing on it, the car is mine...not the insurance companies. It was running fine, and the insurance company didn't own it, so I WILL NOT buy it back as it was mine in the first place. Don't give over the title is the point there. They give you money, I think that money is for the value of the damage, not for the title. My .02

they are going to total the car out tho, and i will likely have to buy it back for a few hundo..

unless you know about something i dont..

and i really dont have the time, energy, or money to be dealing with lawyers and stuff..

where does MY insurance company come into this? i wasnt driving the car, nor is it even currently insured under my name..

[bajacalal]

What I think you need to do, the first thing, is to move the car back to your property. Even if you have to pay to have it towed, get it back there, if it isn't there now. This "puts the ball on your side of the court" so to speak. This puts you in possession of the car which is to your advantage. They will want to come look at it, but the downside is they will take their sweet time, when the car is on your back 40, 10 miles up rural route 5.

I've known people who were able to extract a simple settlement out of the insurance company without the formality of totaling the car and buying it back, I'm not sure of the exact details, but in both cases it helped I think that the owner was in possession of the car, and the insurance people didn't have to deal with it, just wrote a check. It will probably take some wrangling to get what you want, as far as value, and I think anything you can come up with to corroborate the value or condition can't hurt, such as receipts for items you installed, photos, mentions of your car on any internet sites, offers in writing that you may have had, or evidence of other cars being sold at a value you think it's worth.

I'm not sure where your insurance company gets involved, other than possibly acting as an intermediary or if their insurance coverage was inadequate. And, if you need to talk to a lawyer, you should at least be able to ask some general questions about your case, and whether they can help you, without having to pony up any money.

[R.O.R-2.0]

car is in my garage, that was the first thing i did, was had him bring it back to me..

didnt feel it necessary to sit in a yard, or in front of somebody elses house, being all wrecked.

i have LOTS of photos of the car, and the work i did to the car..

i live with the previous owner, so he can vouch for the condition of the car as well..

there are VERY FEW nice CGT's for sale online, and clapped out ones are going for 2-3 grand...

mine was far from clapped out, i believe i posted pics of it on the forum.. i did.

http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=31990.0

[Blocksmith]

Followed that link to your other thread, and whatever you do, don't mention the price you acquired it for. That'll sink whatever argument you're making for its value in their eyes.
On a side note, be relieved the other driver even had insurance. I've heard horror stories.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Followed that link to your other thread, and whatever you do, don't mention the price you acquired it for. That'll sink whatever argument you're making for its value in their eyes.
On a side note, be relieved the other driver even had insurance. I've heard horror stories.

i NEVER pay face value for a vehicle.. period..

and no, i would never tell an insurance company that i got the car for the better part of free..

[745 turbogreasel]

Prices on the other thread need another 0, problem solved.

d i really dont have the time, energy, or money to be dealing with lawyers and stuff..

Then you almost certainly don't have the time or energy to  get what you deserve from an insurance co.
Unless they happen to bro you out and just fiz it, which occasionally happens.


You have the right to get a repair estimate from ay licensed auto repair business....know any body guys?
Take it to one that will give you an estimate on the spot, ask them to  see if they can do it without reaching total loss price point.  for giggles, I'd also get an over the moon estimate.

Remember whoever you talk to at the ins co is paid to decline your claim, and have you go away with a smile.  that is their main job.
Their legal responsibility is to return the vehicle to you in pre accident condition.


Take it to the frame machine, pay for 3 hours of work, then fix whatever you can, then have a shop fix the rest, and you might come out ahead.

[R.O.R-2.0]

Prices on the other thread need another 0, problem solved.

d i really dont have the time, energy, or money to be dealing with lawyers and stuff..

Then you almost certainly don't have the time or energy to  get what you deserve from an insurance co.
Unless they happen to bro you out and just fiz it, which occasionally happens.


You have the right to get a repair estimate from ay licensed auto repair business....know any body guys?
Take it to one that will give you an estimate on the spot, ask them to  see if they can do it without reaching total loss price point.  for giggles, I'd also get an over the moon estimate.

Remember whoever you talk to at the ins co is paid to decline your claim, and have you go away with a smile.  that is their main job.
Their legal responsibility is to return the vehicle to you in pre accident condition.


Take it to the frame machine, pay for 3 hours of work, then fix whatever you can, then have a shop fix the rest, and you might come out ahead.

gonna need a shiny red paint job to...

[clbanman]

Never take their first offer.   I've recently had a vehicle wrecked and I turned down their first offer and sent my claims agent Autotrader listings showing comparable vehicles.     I purchased mine for less than  50% of average market price for vehicles in the same condition so I got the short end of the stick.    I'm in Canada so there may be some differences, but my insurance company says they cannot pay out more than the vehicle purchase price unless you have an appraisal after purchase to show a higher value.  We have to declare purchase price at the time we insure the vehicle.   They did pay out within $10 of my purchase price 2 years previously and thankfully I hadn't sunk much into that car so I didn't lose.   It took a total of about 45 minutes on the phone and internet/email to get the whole thing resolved.   You do get punished for shopping around and getting a good deal unless you get an appraisal though.

[Toby]

The most important thing to know is who the insurance company is. If it is Allstate or State Farm you will need to sue them. You will probably need to sue whoever it is, anyway, or at least to file suit to get them to pay up. If you are not up for that, better get a nice big tub of Vasoline or maybe some Astroglide. Start right now documenting what CGTs are worth. (BTW what is a CGT?) They will have some lazy ass clown come and look at the car and he will claim its the cheapest model that barely runs. They will come up with beater "comps" off the CL in Idaho or Montana that are now inaccessable so you can't contact the guy and get the straight skinny on what he sold. BTW, the insurance companies have "boiler rooms" full of people calling on old ads looking for the low end outliers from people that were forced to sell or did not know what they had.
Detail the wreck. As stupid as this sounds, even experienced car guys will think a clean shiny Toyota is worth more than a dirty Ferrari with filthy interior. Detail it like for a first date with some girl you want to stay around. Keep the car inacccessible so they don't do a drive by estimate. Be there when he looks at the car and have your info on what the car is/was worth and make sure he gets a copy. If you do, they can't say that they unaware of how good/special/rare your car was. I have done battle with lots of insurance companies, with lawyers and w/o, so I know most of their tricks. We should talk strategy on this one. PM me your number and I will call you.

[srgtlord]

I dont know if your state is the same, but in maassachusetts the insurance companies only hold data about vehicles newer than 1990. When I was rear ended in my 87 golf a year ago they used the fair market value. I got $1800 and paid $200 to buy back my car to repair it. If the car was in better shape I would have contested the price of the vehicle.

[CRSMP5]

cgt = coupe gt...

pics.. receipts.. will determine where in that range you fall.. make then replace what it was..

why i loves my classic collector insurance.. stated value.. they inflate on thei rown each year too.. 750 added in value/yearly by them for 4$/year increase.. up to 149/year... 11.50k value.. full roadside.. unlimited miles.. gotta have garage to keep it in... and no one under 23 can drive..  but hell if i crack it up... i know i can get it fixed for less then my stated value... unless major t bone/rollover.. but i drive it with no fears insurance.. makes it fun to drive vs sweat..

who ever myke_w found his a few bux more/year.. but not much.. its more of a collector type insurance like the gt would fall into with unlimited usage too.. they want you to drive it vs letting it sit is what he was told.. but no idea who he got.. thats on his 90ish tdi coupe.. big stated value..