The thieving bastards at the insurance companies decided to total my Aubergine 73. They offered me 3k, plus an "opportunity" to buy back the chassis with a salvage title.

to you AIG!!! Take your low-ball settlement offer and stuff it!

-Rusty

Email them this link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...em=220001582332


I'm sure someone has the current market values for you.

They are naturally going to offer the lowest in hopes you'll take it. Provide documentation including receipts for monies invested in the car and currently selling prices of cars in similiar condition in your area. If they still balk, tell them you're taking your case to the state insurance board.

Hope it works out for ya, sorry about your car.

NoooooooooOOOooooO!

I say the insurance company has a fire.




M

That sucks dude. Ray Mittal had the opposite experience recently - he got $9,500 & bought the car back for $300. Not sure if he had to show receipts & the such but you may want to hunt up his post from a couple months ago. The car got smashed while @ the paint shop...

Good luck bro.

-pt

That sucks Rusty. What happened to the car?

Hi Miles

Rusty -

I like your attitude!

Contest it and make them pay.


..

Dude, do you still have the recipts for all of the work we had done? Given that and the rarity of your car with the corret paint code and such you should have an easy case to prove for its value. I hope you win, you definetly should.

$3k should not be even close to totalling that car.

At the very least, tell them that they can fix the car - that the salvage title buyback is not acceptable....
I am guessing you want the car fixed....
Is AIG your insurance company ??? Do you have PIP on the car if they are not? If so, make a claim on your PIP and let your insurance company go after AIG... They should do this without saying you are making a claim, but check into the state insurance laws first...
What reputable repair shop is near the car's location ? Stoddard ???

I know that you being in BFE doesn't help....

Fight it Rusty. You can squeeze more out of them.

Fight for more $$$. My 914-6 was totaled by insurance during a time when I didn't own it for a few years. Thank God the owner at the time bought it back and fixed the damage - correctly even. He totally saved a 914 from going to the wrecking yard.

I just noticed something, before the damage Rusty would never reffer to his car as "eggplant", now its in his thead title

Don't start thinking of it as just an eggplant or they have won!


Besides, aubergine sounds like at least a few thousand more $$$ than eggplant

I agree, aubergine sounds expensive, don't give in to the dark side, buy it back, you can part it out to the rest of us

From the pics it looks no where near totaled.

....I had receipts showing all monies spent; intial cost of the car and for parts purchased to get it up and running...they basically gave me it all back.

This bites, but there's things you can do. First, do you have 'before' pics to go with any receipts for work performed? Being able to document the previous condition of the car is very important. Second, find an appraiser who also does arbitration with insurance companies. That may not be easy because you're out of country, but that's what makes the internet so great. A good appraiser/negotiator fights these guys all the time and frequently get what you want just by showing up. The insurance companies know how much a fight costs, but they want to see if you're willing to do battle. I've known a guy up here in WA state who's helped a lot of my friends this way. Doesn't cost that much and well worth it.

Google 'classic automobile appraisers' and you'll have a good start. It's probably going to help to try to document the rise in teener prices lately. I bought my '74 2.0 in Jan '06 for 7K. It was mechanically fine and the interior had been restored but it definitely needs paint. Here's the link for the ebay auction for my car:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...item=4601220916

Hope this helps. Good luck and...... those bastards!

i don't know where my Excellence with the lastest market update is. from 05' and a 74' 2.0. roughly a $2k+ drop across the board for the 1.8s.

poor-$6463
good-$7349
excellent-$9838

the adjuster told me it doesn't take much to total one of our cars. are you dealing with your ins co or the landlord's?

k

It took me over one month of dealing, but I finally got a reasonable (well, great really) settlement when my 914 was hit.

What I did was:

-Printed off ads of ENDED auctions off of ebay, craigslist, local ads, ect. of 914's that were "compairable" with mine.
-Retrieved a copy of the Excellence magaizne article on 914 values.
-Gathered "before" pictures of my car

-Then I faxed all of that to the adjuster/insurance company.

They came back with a bogus offer like yours which included current sale prices of three local wrecking yards that were selling 914's.
These 914's they listed "were not compairable" to my 914 (like 1.7 instead of 2.0, no sail panel vinyl or any other S modle feature, and were completely rusted out, missing windshield, ect.)

-So, I called and told them that I went and looked at one of the cars on their list and listed the things that were not capairable with my car. (*Note: I did Not actually go look at the car, I just made the stuff up. Like they would know. )

They called me back with a much more reasonable offer which included No Salvage Title. Guess they saw that I was bound and determined to prove my 914's value.


Don't give up and don't settle for anything besides what you want!!!
(Thanks for the advice Howard and Allen!! :notworhty: )


GOOD LUCK!!

Sounds like somebody in their company is trying to do a number on you.

I had a problem like that many years ago. The Fuching estimator made a rediculously low estimate of my car- $300 for a with a bent fender. It had four new tires on mags, rolled and pleated interior and a brand new rebuilt engine with a buncha horespower. He wouldn't back down.

The bumfuching estimator was trying to cheat me to get the car for himself at a really low price. He got busted when I stopped by my friends body shop. Mac showed me the estimator's daughters car with the wheels and engine stolen from it.

Not saying this guy is doing that but I had to get an estimate from a friendly VW dealer, had to go over bumfuch's head to his boss, and threatened a lawsuit. On the other hand, bet estimator boy isn't above fuching somebody in the service when he thinks he could get away with it. Seen it before. Buddies help.

Got any bored hand-to-hand combat trained and cranky buddies living nearby?

Is there a dark alley nearby to this guy's office?

Ken

This would be a good comparable car....

http://www.sloancars.com/vs1/detail.asp?CarID=173

If they want to low ball you, highball them

BJH

Thanks for all the good wishes. It's been very frustrating.



I hope we can come to an equitable solution. I don't want to get rich... but what is the compensation for a factory custom colored tub that was never hit or rusted?




They were doing repairs on the garage door where I store it. Landlord politely asked for permission to push the cars in and out of the garage. I didn't know they planned to use a tank to push them back in.

I'll see if I can find a link to pictures.



I agree. However, I don't have any receipts... every piece of paper is in storage, including the original bill of sale. I'll try and get with you offline. Maybe you have copies of all the paint work, upholstery work and the mechanical stuff?

(note to self: don't forget stereo, new carpet, etc receipts to show overall value of the car.)



Well, I don't know what it would take to settle... but I know that a salvage title is NOT in the cards.

AIG is the other guys insurance company. I have yet to know who the "other guy" is. The name on the paperwork from AIG isn't the landlord. Maybe it's the guy from the garage door company.

The only PPI that I had on the car was from Scott Kline and Herr Doctor Evil.

Yeah, being overseas with all paperwork, etc, in storage sucks big time.

Nearest big name? Probably Richard Fisher in Plano, Texas.



Good point.




Thanks for the quotes. I might need to ask for someone to scan that article for me, if it's been published for 2006.

More to follow! Thank you for all the good ideas and suggestions!

Cheers,
Rusty

No, no, no!!!

Not gonna part it out. Not gonna accept a salvage title.

The good thing is that, unlike most insurance settlements, time is on my side. The claims guys are graded on how long they take to settle.

I'll let this crap linger for months. It's not my daily driver, so they can't twist my arm.

-Rusty

What a POS... it's not even pur... uhhh... aubergine!!!

Rusty:

Let me know if you want your money back on the rear bumper...I am sure I can re-sell it...I have it stored in my shrinking Garage...

2-OH!

No worrries dude. I agreed to buy it... won't back out on you. Did you get the postal money order?

-Rusty

Aks em if thy'd really like to litigate it over $xxxx. That should get them moving in a hurry. Dont accept an offer that you dont think is reasonable!
Konrad

L,
I did not mean a PPI, I meant PIP coverage as part of your insurance policy - Not sure if you had the car covered while in storage, but...
If you had "personal injury protection" coverage on the car, you can make a claim against that coverage, and then your insurance company goes after AIG... AIG has no choice but to settle with your insurance company out of professional "courtsey" ... (sp)

Essentially its the easiest way to put the screws to AIG...

This is just based on a personal experience I had about 12 years ago when I had a car hit and the insurance company wanted to give me about 60% of what the street price of the car was worth...