Wrecked 914 part 2: The insurance offer, Hold your nose Options

[jd74914]

If you wouldn't mind saying, who is your insurance company?

[cobra94563]

My nephew wrecked his e30 m3 6 month ago.
Insuranced offered 5k, we expected ~12k, sent some clssifieds, they offered 15k.
I think some companies not intentionally trying to low-ball their insured clients .. they just have NO clue what certain cars are worth. (Ironic, cause that's their business.) Hopefully, in the end, they treat you right...

[Dr Evil]

I only want enough to:

1- get good tub
2- repair tub, flair tub, paint tub
3- repair any of the bits from the donor car so I can transfer them over to the tub.

Not greedy, just want what I have been paying for.

[Gint]

My next call would be to a lawyer. Get her name and address. One letter on letterhead at least to start. Watch her attitude change.

[Dr Evil]

I hope they are just ignorant. I know they are ignorant, but hope they are not so willfully. I am trying to work with them and currently hold no malice other then I think the chick talking to me was a bit of a bitch in how she handled my polite disagreements with her estimations.

My company is USAA and has been fantastic to deal with in most all regards for a long time. I have only had one bad employee and this current situation to bitch about and they are by far the exception.

[Sleepin]

My company is USAA and has been fantastic to deal with in most all regards for a long time.

In which case you should really be set. I have been a member of USAA for 15 years now, and I have never had a problem.

Ignorance is often the case. I had my Civic broken into, I thought I would play hell getting my aftermarket EMS replaced. They wondered if it was an amp etc.... I had to go into detail about what an EMS does, I sent them to the website I bought it from and told them the model...they looked, said ok and paid me full price for it. (and even gave me an upgraded stereo to boot) They have been really understanding during accidents, my car was hit in a parking lot by an uninsured idiot...they actually came down on my $500 deductible because I did not have the cash at the time, they also made sure my rates did not increase due to an accident that was not my fault.

Deal with them rationally, and I think they will do the same.

[john grier]

Stick to your guns and go slow.
You have pic's and paper of everything done to it.
Local sales do not count on a car this old.
You have to tell them how far away a replacement car would be and add shipping.
By all means call George.
He may not remember it but he helped me recoup my loss of my 73 zambisie by
over 3 times what I paid for it.
This was in the mid 90's.
I will never forget him for helping me out like that.
Take care, John

[Root_Werks]

Evil one, you shouldn't have to get laywers involved. I agree with what was said above. Go slow, take your time, bring lots of documentation to the table. The Excellece Mag is a good one for sure. They'll come up, a lot. It's only thier first offer. Trust me, only about 15% of people take the first offer, but hey 15% do so there's always a chance for them to save money. Just keep at it.

[ConeDodger]

I hope they are just ignorant. I know they are ignorant, but hope they are not so willfully. I am trying to work with them and currently hold no malice other then I think the chick talking to me was a bit of a bitch in how she handled my polite disagreements with her estimations.

My company is USAA and has been fantastic to deal with in most all regards for a long time. I have only had one bad employee and this current situation to bitch about and they are by far the exception.

Mike,

I didn't know you were military! They are supposed to be respectful to a fault. They still call me Colonel.

The November issue of Excellence should raise the estimate. I just sold the Bumblebee for almost triple that offer. It was a six conversion as well. It wasn't nearly as civilized as yours either.

[brer]

I had a long chat with my USAA rep about insuring my VW and she put emphasis on the fact that they will treat my classic as "any other" car, and that I should not expect special compensation or extraordinary repair work above what they would do to any other car.

Funny, she also said to me that I should get classic car insurance if I had a problem with their policy, and I wasn't even making a claim but just asking about their coverage !

I was so put off by her attitude that I challenged her asking how they would value a 60' VW in excellent condition with less than 100k miles.

Basically, long story short, she said they go by "the book" and my car was extimated at 6-12k in excellent condition. I told her that would cover my car just fine and she got extremely nice after that.


Whats up with them?
Classic Car Haters.

[scotty b]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif) F insurance companies ! Take your laptop in with ya !


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-914...1QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-914...1QQcmdZViewItem


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-914...1QQcmdZViewItem

[rick 918-S]

I've been on both sides of this fence. USAA is extremely agressive when it comes to fast settlements. Yes, this is a customer service standard, however this is not always the best method to resolve a complicated issue. When you call and get their voice mail each rep needs to advise you of an extension where you can give customer feedback.

Yes, classic car insurance is best for our cars but yes it has restrictions. It is also obvious USAA's appraiser rushed to get his info to the rep. Once he completes his work he closes his file. That's why she needs to see how this is to play out. She needs to call the guy to see if he will meet with you. He may have some kind of contract with them.

Yes, they will not want to pay for special engines, tires, wheels, interior, lights, stereo or anything that is not standard on a 914 within your vin range.

Here's what she told you, All cars have engines, tires, and interiors as they were manufactured. In order to license, insure and drive your vehicle all these things need to be present and working. If your engine fails and needs to be replaced, the vehicle is no good with out the engine. If this is the case the vehicle would be worth less than one the same year with a working engine.

Now, where they fall short is they didn't even value your car at fair market value as if it still had a 4 cylinder. They'll come back to the table. It will just take longer.

[Elliot Cannon]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/stromberg.gif) F insurance companies ! Take your laptop in with ya !


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-914...1QQcmdZViewItem


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-914...1QQcmdZViewItem


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Porsche-914...1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks for the ebay links. I downloaded at least one of them for my records.

[VaccaRabite]

USAA will e good to you. Give them the facts and work the system and I know you will come out on top. Between Ron, George, eBay, and Excellence price valuations, I think you will be able to make a very strong case twods getting all your money back. Even if the give you /4 prices, i'd be shocked if you walk with less then $15. USAA has been very good to Erin and I (though she has tested that more then I have.)

Zach

[evan]

Dr. E,
Sorry, I missed this whole ordeal. I have my teener insured through Hagerty under classic and they told me no mileage restrictions. Not sure if there were other areas that may have hindered your insurance with them. Just remember, if you are haggling with USAA and they are your insurance, that they work for you!!! I had a similar experience with State Farm on a week old 200 mile driven VW Jetta that got smashed due to their client failure to yield right of way. So damage pre est. at $8,000 plus rental of rent a car, storage, and medical bills (mine) finally when I put it to them that if they thought the car was worth repairing that they do so and sell it but I wanted a new car. Again, I had to remind them that they work for me.
Evan little bean

[rick 918-S]

Check this out. This is a very well recognized and utilized resource for the insurance industry.

http://www.nadaguides.com/default.aspx?LI=...17033&da=-1

This is for your zip code area...

[scotty b]

Check this out. This is a very well recognized and utilized resource for the insurance industry.

http://www.nadaguides.com/default.aspx?LI=...17033&da=-1

This is for your zip code area...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) NIIICE (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[rick 918-S]

Check this out. This is a very well recognized and utilized resource for the insurance industry.

http://www.nadaguides.com/default.aspx?LI=...17033&da=-1

This is for your zip code area...

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) NIIICE (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Yah you betcha, this is a stock 2.0 4 cylinder... I have no idea what this guy looked at to get a FAIR market value... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/screwy.gif)

[Dr Evil]

Thanks for the words, bros. It looks as if they looked at original price from NADA for my offer. The NADA is much more resonable and what I am expecting for the insurance I have been paying. It would be different if I were paying $40/mo, but I was paying more, plus I insure my whole fleet with USAA except for the Honda as they stopped insuring motorcycles. I have had to claim with USAA on a few occasions....this is the first time it is just me and no other driver causing the accident (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

George has already agreed to help out any way he can . I need to get him pics and details later this week.




[quote name='rick 918-S' date='May 5 2008, 09:46 PM' post='1028657']
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(scotty b @ May 5 2008, 05:39 PM) </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
[quote name='rick 918-S' post='1028653' date='May 5 2008, 05:37 PM']
Check this out. This is a very well recognized and utilized resource for the insurance industry.

http://www.nadaguides.com/default.aspx?LI=...17033&da=-1

This is for your zip code area...
[/quote]


(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) NIIICE (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
[/quote]

Yah you betcha, this is a stock 2.0 4 cylinder... I have no idea what this guy looked at to get a FAIR market value... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/screwy.gif)
[/quote]

[smontanaro]

If it would help, I just sold my 6 conversion. I have a bill of sale plus a sh*tload of photos to give your appraiser for a "similar" car.

There is a /6 price thread on the Road Glue site that gets updated whenever an original /6 goes on the blocks. Maybe there should be a /6 conversion price thread here. While they are well-known to us they are unlikely to be familiar to people outside the 914 community as a whole, let alone within the insurance appraisal industry.

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