Hi all,

Yesterday I was rear ended by someone evidently not paying enough attention and they admitted it was clearly their fault etc. Long story short I haven't been involved in an accident in >15yrs and need some advice. Thankfully they had insurance from a major carrier and I have yet to call to file the claim as I wanted to get my ducks in a row first. I went to two local body shops today for an estimate and while they were both helpful they couldn't provide one as the car is "so old they don't know how to price it". I'm sure I can find a shop that can give an estimate but I also believe the insurance company is gonna want to total my baby.

It's a '73 with 1.8 engine (freshly rebuilt) and a lot of new suspension parts, etc. I've attached pictures for your viewing displeasure and would like any advice ya'll have regarding dealings with Ins. Co. on teeners and how to get my money back out of this when they try and total it. I'm out of pocket and won't have puter access for a few days so any questions may take me a few days to respond. Thanks in advance.

pic2

Ouch.

Sorry.. sorry I can't help you price it either... Howard will come along any minute.


M

Dont wait file the claim NOW!

At least get it on file

One thing you have the receipts for all the work on the car. Insurance companies start with blue book.

You can also get valuation information from Excellence magazine. They just did a write up on the 914's.
Use anything you can find that will help establish cost of replacement price. Use the Porsche Club, Various publications.

mike

That's a total......bummer dude.

I would start with a www.PCA.org evaluation, start looking on line for prices on equal value/condition on your car.

You'll prolly end up buying it back from the insurance company and getting it fixed on the value minus the salvage.

If you have full coverage get YOUR company to assist you.

One of the best body shops in town is Berli's:

Berli's Body & Fine Auto
1489 Grand Ave Pkwy
Pflugerville, TX 78660-2025
(512) 251-6136

If you can I would go to him to get the estimate because he will be able to do it right...don't know how well he knows 914's, but I have seen some of the work he has done on older 911's and mercedes and have also seen very sweet ferraris roll out of his place. There is usually a waiting list to get in there, but if the other party is funding this deal then why not.

Another good one is:

Austin Collision & Custom Body
4110 Felter Ln
Austin, TX 78744-3210 View Map
(512) 385-1930

The owners name is Rodney, he does really good work also, but mostly deals with american iron, but at least he will know how to estimate a classic car.

Good luck and let me know if I can help at all...

Tony Chavez

Oh yeah....they are going to tell ya that it's worth like $3500 max. Bruce Anderson does the Excellence values.

"Excellence" can get you the back issues and that will help a bit. They have a website now...someplace.

Oh yeah 2....the 73 came with a 1.7 so might wanna down play the "1.8" engine size. Your best bet is to say it's an original unmolested Concour Queen waiting for it's next show....

Ok...got the claim filed and I'll start digging up what I can for valuation. If somebody has any articles that can help with valuation that you can send my way it would be appreciated.

Tony, thanks for the shop information. Berli's was recommended to me by a shop near me and I'll see if he can provide an estimate. Even the insurance company rep told me they'll probably want to total it (which I already figured) so now it's a matter of getting my $ back. Thanks all!

Rich Johnson in Dallas had a bad accident in his yellow 914 and they tried that crap on him. He had all of his receipts (as it was basically show-room quality) and ended up getting a crap load of money from the insurance company to get it fixed because of it.

Hopefully, you have all of your receipts.

So anyone that get's Excellence Mag would this be the issue with the 14 pricing?

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QUOTE (Lyressa Roberts @ Jun 15 2005, 12:20 PM)

Rich Johnson in Dallas had a bad accident in his yellow 914 and they tried that crap on him. He had all of his receipts (as it was basically show-room quality) and ended up getting a crap load of money from the insurance company to get it fixed because of it. Hopefully, you have all of your receipts.

Ris, you are correct -
but, Rich's car was an early car (70?) and a 6 conversion -
I heard him once say that he thought the insurance guys thought it was an original 6... And, one of the regional VP's lived on his street....

And for anyone who has not seen it - Rich's car will stand neck and neck with any car in the country...

TE

dont deal with thier insurance. run everything thru your insurance. trust me. i'm still going thru this. i didnt go thru mine and i'm paying for it by fighting with the other party's insurance. wouldnt fix my truck to my satisfaction. and wouldn't let body shop do it right either.

Ah, that would probably make a big difference. His is an amazingly good looking car, conversion or not.

QUOTE (messix @ Jun 15 2005, 11:04 AM)

dont deal with thier insurance. run everything thru your insurance. trust me. i'm still going thru this. i didnt go thru mine and i'm paying for it by fighting with the other party's insurance. wouldnt fix my truck to my satisfaction. and would let body shop do it right either.

I would have to agree with you on this one. Always let your insurance company deal with it because they know the ins and outs and are in a position to help you more than anyone.

If you're patient, and have another car to use, don't settle on anything but a complete and satisfactory (to you) repair. I went down this road a few times about 10 years ago. There was a one year span where my car was hit in parking lots 4 times! Spent more time in the body shop than on the road. Twice the insurance company wanted to total it, and I refused to accept a total. They dragged their heels for quite a while, but eventually, they fixed it right.

Trick is this: Document the car's condition, reciepts and photos go a long way to valuation of the car. And have a really good body shop. Pick one that does high end european cars and the like, not a bump-n-dent shop.

I did learn though, that if you refuse to accept what they offer, sooner or later you will probably get your way. But you might have to stick it out for a while. Eventually, they get pressure from above to close the file, and will settle in your direction. But it takes time...

-Josh2

QUOTE (jhadler @ Jun 15 2005, 02:42 PM)

If you're patient, and have another car to use, don't settle on anything but a complete and satisfactory (to you) repair. Trick is this: Document the car's condition, reciepts and photos go a long way to valuation of the car. And have a really good body shop. Pick one that does high end european cars and the like, not a bump-n-dent shop. I did learn though, that if you refuse to accept what they offer, sooner or later you will probably get your way. But you might have to stick it out for a while. Eventually, they get pressure from above to close the file, and will settle in your direction. But it takes time... -Josh2

When I hit a deer in my GTI and rolled it, it took me 2 months to get it settled. Just make sure you have documentation on prices. Get EVERYTHING you can get your hands on. The more info you have, the better of you will be.

had the same thing happen to my 914. it looked exactly like your picture. the body shop repair was $3400 (bay area). the insurance gave me a choice of fixing it or getting money. I chose to fix it since the car was 1 week old to me. it was not the best choice, I should have taken the money and bought the car back to part out.

QUOTE (redshift @ Jun 15 2005, 09:40 AM)

Ouch. Sorry.. sorry I can't help you price it either... Howard will come along any minute. M

I don't do this on the board anymore, but feel free to PM me.