i just got in a wreck in my 1973 914 and i am trying to find what the going price is for a VERY NICE ORIGANAL 1973 914 is, so that the Insurance knows how much it is worth. if you guys can help me that would be appreciated.

thanks, kenny

p.s. i want to fix it to the origanal shape it was.

the before state

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Looks like you had some beautiful bumpers there. Clean rust free cars can go for as much as 5k or more.

I noticed the PCA badge on your engine grill. You could ask for a valuation sheet, but I don't know if they issue that paper for 1.7 cars.

Bottom line, you need to find a shop that knows and understands 914s. They'll be able to tell you if you have body damage that will total your car out. Clean rollers exist - no sense in fixing a chassis half-assed because the insurance won't cover a full repair.

It's always an option to take the settlement, buy your totalled car back, and transfer the good parts over. With the remainder of the settlement money, get a nice paintjob.

-Rusty

This may be of little immediate help, but it is relevant to your situation:

No two people can agree on what an 'excellent 914' is. We recently saw a 73 914 2.0 sell for 19K. It was an immaculate, low mileage, original car. Was it worth 19 large...? Not to me, but I was happy to see it!

Yours is not in that category...finding its true value to support an insurance claim will be a challenge. You need to find comparable condition cars to yours for a fair market value.

PS: Repair your car. They don't make them anymore and that damage is not serioeus enough to destroy it. It will be worth more even with a salvage title in 2 years than any difference you will need to pay.

Kenny what happend?

Excellence Magazine does market value reports every issue. Find the issue that has the latest 914 market value info and that will be a good start.

I might be able to help you. I am a certified R.E. appraiser. I am expanding my practice to include collector cars with a concentration on Porsche. I have access to a data base of sales over a long period of time. Since I own and finishing the restoration of a 914 I am especially interested in the valuation of our cars.

I'll need detailed pics and a history of the work done on the car. I cannot give you a certified appraisal because I have not inspected the car personally. However, I can help you with information to negociate with the insurance company. Pm me if you want my help

Excellence Magazine Nov. 04

1973 914 1.7 Poor 4156 Good 4725 Excellent 6325

1973 914 2.0 Poor 5527 Good 6284 Excellent 8413

No worries. PM me if you have problems, but..
damage is well less than half the value of the car, so it will get fixed. Ask me how I know

Depending on your insurance situation, it may be worth just fixing that out of pocket. For $1500 it would look better than it did before the accident. Figure Bumper and top $400, fender repair $400, damaged lights $100, and a few hundred for paint. Judging by the paint on the car, I'd just paint the whole thing and call it $2500, and you'd have a much better car than before, and best of all no claims on your insurance.

Kenny, I have a front metal fender I could sell you if need it.

QUOTE (jgiroux67 @ May 22 2005, 03:50 PM)

Kenny, I have a front metal fender I could sell you if need it.

hey wats up josh, ya im intersted. what kind of condition is it in and whats the price,

thanks josh

kenny

That's more than $400 in metal repair if you want it done right. The headlight bucket is damaged and getting that back to straight is a PITA. Been there more than once. It's at least $1000 to do right.

Not to hijack this thread....

But is it worth getting an appraisal on a car before an accident happens. That would prevent having to fight with insurance company's after the fact. If so, how much do they cost and are they accurate? Eddy

QUOTE (McMark @ May 22 2005, 05:14 PM)

That's more than $400 in metal repair if you want it done right. The headlight bucket is damaged and getting that back to straight is a PITA. Been there more than once. It's at least $1000 to do right.

Obviously that depends on who is doing the labor. That could look very nice in 6-8 hours. Little heat, little love, and a little

I had a 74 2.0 that had similar damage about 6 years ago, but not as bad as yours. On my car the front turn signal and fender were squashed and the corner of the bumper top was ripped and a very slight dent on the outside corner of a painted steel bumper. The other guy was at fault and his insurer (Allstate) gave me a check on the spot at their claims office for $1200. Unless it's a Maaco paint job, I don't see getting the whole car painted for $2500, especially with the body damage. Bumper is about $500 for a rechrome, another $200 ish for the bumper top, just to get started.

I've seen $100,000 cars painted in a home garage that came out ready for pebble beach. If you purchase your own paint, call it $400-500 for something nice, and take it to even your average Maaco, or whatever, tip the shop foreman $100, and the painter $100, you'll have a surprisingly nice job for around $1200.

A very high end and nationally known hotrod painter shot my six for me for $400 as long as I did all the prep and purchased the materials.

You have to be creative if you don't want to pay full pop and still get something nice.

Oh, and you don't need a rechromed bumper and new OEM top to get back on the road..... $400 will get you something very nice.

QUOTE (smooth_eddy @ May 22 2005, 06:56 PM)

But is it worth getting an appraisal on a car before an accident happens. That would prevent having to fight with insurance company's after the fact. If so, how much do they cost and are they accurate? Eddy

Getting an appraisal before an accident isn't worth much if your insurance company doesn't agree with it. What is worth doing is getting proper insurance for a collector car with an agreed value.

I agree with Anthony. Insurance companies look at a "book" like Kelley, etc and you have to fight with them for any more than that. Last time I insured a 914 with my regular company they warned me that if I got comp/collision they would only pay "book" value if the car was totaled and suggested I get agreed value with a collector company.
I have done that with both my 914's. Only problem (not a problem for me) is that you must limit use to 2500 miles per year (each co. is different) and use the car primarily for show, parades, club functions etc. and not for regular personal transport. Premiums are low.
I suspect if the adjuster sees the above damage at more than $3000 they will total the car at that price. From then on it will be a fight.

Oh my god... they tried to kill kenny!!! (You bastards!).

Sorry - I don't have anything useful to say other than that looks fixable and that it sucks that your nice car is damaged.

After being in the car insurance business in CA for 40 years, some of these comments really crack me up

Forget 'blue book' or any other similar publications, or what happened to your buddy's next door neighbor 10 years ago. The terminology on comprehensive and collision coverage is 'actual cash value'. Look at your policy; ACV less xxx deductible. So what the adjustor will look for is an item of LIKE KIND AND QUALITY to determine your car's value. If the damage to your car exceeds 50% of that amount, most companies will try to total the car.

Not because they're evil, it's just that once the shop gets into the guts of it, more damage may be found, and they don't want to write an open ticket or try to fix a car that will never be quite right. And for the value of a typical 914, they just want to make you happy and go away. This gives them more time to settle to $100k+ losses.

I am not an adjustor, appraiser, or body guy, but I look at enough of these to tell you that we have about $3500 worth of damage (SoCal prices) and a car with an ACV of $7 to $9K. They're gonna fix it.

Some disclaimers, of course. You should let your company or agent know that this is a special car before problems arise. Each state is a bit different, and if you're insured with WildLife Mutual out of the Cayman Islands, you may experience difficulties

The main thing is to be able to show what your car is worth. A formal appraisal, similar cars on eBay or Collector Car Trader are the ticket.

Great insight Howard, I do have one question though. As a matter of habit, I've always covered minor incidents out of pocket, say under $2000 to keep my insurance premiums low, is there any merit to that? Especially when you figure that you would have had to pay the deductible ranging anywhere from $500 to $1000.

At what point does that balance out? It seems like it may simply be a case of pay now or pay later... Thanks

Oh, and I think your repair guesstiment seems about right for a quality high end shop, although I can easily see them hitting the ACV of the car at more like $5000 due to the rust on the hood and preexisting need for paint work.

heh WildLife Mutual.


M

QUOTE (LvSteveH @ May 22 2005, 10:31 PM)

Great insight Howard, I do have one question though. As a matter of habit, I've always covered minor incidents out of pocket, say under $2000 to keep my insurance premiums low, is there any merit to that? Especially when you figure that you would have had to pay the deductible ranging anywhere from $500 to $1000. At what point does that balance out? It seems like it may simply be a case of pay now or pay later... Thanks Oh, and I think your repair guesstiment seems about right for a quality high end shop, although I can easily see them hitting the ACV of the car at more like $5000 due to the rust on the hood and preexisting need for paint work.

Steve, you get the idea. Never insure an item (or put in a claim on your own policy) for less than your monthly income. It will just beat you to death.

Based on Kenny's statement of the car being in really good shape, and figuring the rust was just under the bra (don't use those things, guys!) not knowing if it's a 2.0, overestimating the damage, yada, I'll still bet it's no total.

My claim was a bit different since it was covered by the other party's liability insurance. He came down the wrong side of the parking lot and couldn't stop. So I could always threaten them that if they didn't fix my car just right, my neck was going to start to hurt

But going back to what I said Kenny, just give the adjuster a easy way out to pay what you want by providing documentation of value. He could care less about a $5k claim as long as he can justify the payment to his manager.

Howard, your explanation caused me to better remember my experience with my company (USAA). When I call to insure an old Porsche the agent cautions me that they will only pay "actual cash value" implying that I will not be fully protected. I assumed that they decided ACV by their own "book". Last time she also asked the new cost of the car, which seems to be a set-up for the day when I tell them the current value is about the same as the 1974 sticker price. Are they just trying to avoid insuring the car? If so, why? I would think any premium is good premium to them. They steer me to American Collectors (Am.Bankers of FL) for an agreed value policy. Premium is less but I have to accept the condtions.

(Sorry to wander a little OT)

USAA seems to have some funny reservations about insuring "weird" cars. I got the same lecture about 'what was the original sticker of the car?' and my reply being that the car was a 1973, I had only a vague idea of what it cost. When I tried to talk to them about the disparity between what the original sticker was, and how much I actually paid (not to mention what it is actually worth considering the overall condition, mods, and it being rust free in Indiana), my rep pretty much shut down and said that none of that mattered in terms of them covering the car. My 914 might as well have been a 1989 Chevy Cavilier for all they cared (lesson here -- go with a company that specializes in collector cars)

They also were very funky with me when I was looking into buying a motorcycle.

We now return you to regularly scheduled programming...

IMHO

I do not want to affend anyone, especially people in the insurance industry. I can only give you my opinion, of my experiences, in my area...10 years of dealing with Auto Insurance.

Do all the research, cut and paste Ebay auctions, ads in these forums and others....build your case, arm yourself.
Insurance Comp and Ajusters, private or not, ARE NOT THERE TO HELP YOU !!! They are there for the people that sign thier check, I know it all deppend on the people involved, but take no chances. They will offer you shit, refuse the first offer, don't sign the check till you talk personally to the Body shop, in detail about the estimate. You cash that check and you are fucked. As of last year I refuse all insurance jobs strait out, one leaving my garage tomorrow, because of the politics above and beyond the scope of a simple repair. Bitter - maybe. My last accident , 30 min after I was on the phone to my Atty, Funny, everything went smoothly and we can't sue here, it was for my protection of MY rights.

If my 914 was hit like that, in my home town, I would accept $$$ plus the car, with no declaration of "total loss", like this you can fix it to your liking, even if you have to spend $.

Good Luck and glad to see you are ok, that is the most important part

Later
Joe