Thread: value of wrecked streetrod pickup?

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Having spent a few years "doing battle" with insurance guys what Denny and Richard suggest is a good start. Have the appraiser value the car in pre-accident condition. As a typical "rule of thumb" insurance companies will "total" a car when repair costs are estimated at approximately 80% of full determined value, the rest is considered salvage value for the good, salvagable components on the rig. As additional ammunition the survey of Hemmings, or any of dozens of online sale sites, including ebay, will give you multiple examples of comparable values. Be aware though, with the exception of ebay, all the others are ASKING prices, not sales prices, which are more representative of market value.

Even if you do all that research and pay for your own appraisal, the insurance folks may try to blow that info off, or buffalo you. They may still undervalue your vehicle (assuming you've done an honest job of finding a value rather than trying to fool yourself). They don't make money by being generous. You have another avenue of appeal. Your state probably has an Insurance Commissioner. Their job is to "license" insurance companies to do business in your state. If an insurance company gets a complaint through the Insurance Commissioner's office, they usually respond quickly and more fairly as too many complaints in their file could jeopardize their ability to do business in the state. You have to demonstrate to the Commissioner's office that you've tried to work it out with the company first, so this isn't your first avenue of effort. This is when having documentation, as much as possible (he who has the thickest file wins in these kinds of deals) will work for you. Just going in with your opinion against theirs (remember, they're the "professionals") isn't to your advantage.

If they are close, but the value is still too low for them to justify repairing it you have another option. You can take their settlement amount, pay them the estimated salvage value (in essence buy back your rig) and then spend whatever extra amount is necessary to fully return it to pre-accident conditon. The drawback to this process is you'll likely have to surrender your existing title and request a re-issue from the state, at which time they'll give you a title marked "salvage" or "salvage recovery" or some such terminology. This title "branding" usually diminishes the value in the future since the next buyer will be suspicious of the repair quality and will either kill the deal, or expect to pay some lesser amount to compensate for unknown concerns.

bob and the guys are right! i know its too late now
but when my ride was about 80% completed i was talked into getting the
29'er appraised.4 years ago! $18000 dollars(can), a year ago it was appraised at $22000(can), still not finished!
the unique thing about this is the appraiser,will in you're situation, go to
court with you and in almost all cases the insurance company will settle for his appraised value!
i know that this is small consulation since this accident has already happened
but its something to think about!

To pre-empt a lowball $800 offer, I have already sent them a letter explaining the whole restoration process, stressing that every single bolt was turned and every item replaced or reconditioned and cleaned and painted. I also pointed out that the truck is a rare model that has had power steering and brakes, a/c, a locking tilt column and a complete, updated rewiring. I enclosed several e-bay auctions supporting $15k of value and a repair specification sheet.
I have offered four choices: 1) Full value total 2) Full value total minus $3000 for allowing me to keep the salvage 3) Sign my "repair specification contract" and have it repaired (which includes detailing and installing a new chassis) or 4) Replacing the truck with an exact replacement that has been frame-offed, equipped, and detailed as ours has
Their appraiser was sent out the next day and is a street rodder and former body shop owner. He took pics of the special details of the truck and Mooneyes odometer with under 5k miles on it. He sympathized and said his report would honestly state the pre-accident condition of the truck, but that we should still expect a tough fight over establishing actual value.
As a side note, I loaded the thing on the car trailer and visited some body shops and learned the downside of telling them that insurance is involved.... They were each more than willing to take on the repair, but explained that I would have to give them the job and that the actual repairs and pricing would be determined by the adjuster.
While I wouldn't necessarily need to know what's being paid, I have a real problem with the scope of repair being under the control of a guy that is paid to save the insurance company money! What happens when they do it half-fast but it looks good to the un-discerning eye? Would a court not consider me petty for rejecting less-than-perfect repairs?
In the second round of estimate-searching, I'm going to have to tell the shops that I'm a post-settlement cash customer to actually get estimates written!

Keep in mind..........an estimate is an estimate.........not a bid.

Originally Posted by AzDon

What happens when they do it half-fast but it looks good to the un-discerning eye? Would a court not consider me petty for rejecting less-than-perfect repairs?

you have the right to have the vehicle repairs to your standards. if you feel the repair is less than what it should be, you reject the the vehicle repair, and have them fix it like you want it done. DO NOT sign anything untill you are satisfied with the job.

It turned out that the first appraiser that came out to see the truck was in philisophical agreement with me about it's value at 15K (nadaguides says 15k to 25k) and wrote his report in support of that value.
In the meantime, I had become quite stressed to learn that the insurance company uses Valuescope data to support whatever value conclusions they desire and make them psuedo-lawyerproof. Valuescope is an evil subcontract provider of of quasi-bogus values based on supposed published ad prices for vehicles that are usually found to be not comparable when Valuescope's victims do their homework.
Anyway, after 90 days of delays while we drove their rental car, we agreed to, and were paid 15k minus $900 we paid to retain the salvage. They did force a salvage title on me, though
I spent the next three months personally returning the truck to perfect straightness and I was able to do it for less than two grand.
I've learned the lesson that buying agreed value insurance would have eliminated the worry by having an insurance company with a stake in the outcome fighting for my value.
I'm currently pricing policies..... Does anybody know anything about Atlas/Elite or Classic Auto Insurance? A consumer can't be too careful these days!
Here it is: good as new!!

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

If they are close, but the value is still too low for them to justify repairing it you have another option. You can take their settlement amount, pay them the estimated salvage value (in essence buy back your rig) and then spend whatever extra amount is necessary to fully return it to pre-accident conditon.

What Bob said is pretty much spot on with my experience ... An old lady ran a red light and smashed the front of my 65 C-10. I initially and fairly quickly received a verbal estimate of 500 bucks from her insurance. She said that was all they could give me since there was no established value for my truck. I took before and after photos along with Sale adds and such to a lawyer. Once he contacted them ... they were singing a different tune. I had 4 body shops give me estimates for repairs, and the amount I received was about midway of all the estimates 6,200. I did'nt have to worry with the salvage title, though initially they were wanting to do it like that. I actually spent 8,000 repairing it, It seemed like a good time for some changes. The biggest part is establishing value. I was told by the lawyer that if I had classic vehicle's insurance with an "agreed upon value" or an actual appraisal It would have been easier.
I would go visit with a lawyer to see if he could help you any.

Gary