Whats my car worth?

[IHeartE30s]

So long story short, I was rear ended by some woman and now insurance is saying its a total loss. Now I'm waiting to hear from her insurance company on how much they're going to give me.

Basics; 89' 325is Alpine White on black
150k~
New clutch, timing belt, water pump, tstat, spark plugs, and well maintained by a BMW tech.
Ground control coils on bilsteins, KN intake, supersprint muffler, kosei k1's, Sparco strut bar.
Body (was) 9 out of 10
Interior 8 out of 10.

Some pics before the incident



And what totaled the car


I know they are going to low ball me seeing as how KBB doesnt reflect a cars true value. I figured I would bring the question to the masters of E30, the R3V members.

Thanks!

[Aptyp]

what's it worth to insurance? or what's it worth to r3v?


To insurance, you got yourself a 5-6k car.

[Farbin Kaiber]

They may not total it once you find comparable examples in the 4.5-7.5k range.

[Stephen]

to r3v, like 3k

to insurance, thats a good 6k car :D

[IHeartE30s]

Im thinking they are going to offer 2g's. . .Im trying to find comparable E30's in the area for sale but they're all big bumper one with 200k asking 1500, those dont help my case.

And wouldnt it be the opposite? They wouldnt want to give me a dime more than they have to while the enthusiast market will pay a bit more?

[noE30]

I paid 4k for my 89 325i with 215k miles, I would definitely say around 6k for yours?

Also what size are those kosei?

[rThor432]

They totalled it for that? I'm not surprised.. But it really isnt that much damage. Hopefully they wont cheat you out of the buy-back like I've seen a few times in the past.

Looks like a solid $6-7k car there. Good luck!

[z31maniac]

Use BMWCCA ads as examples.

Not broke dick kids on craigslist.

[sharky]

fuck it let em total it, buy back for like 200 bucks, fix and drive. Yeah it will be salvage but if you keep it and drive it who cares. If you want to sell you just need to part it out.

[Lance Racing]

Get comparables

If you are not happy with the value the insurance co. places on the car (and usually that is the case) you'll need to provide comps to show value. I've helped a few guys with wrecked E30s get better value on their claim.

Craigslist and Autotrader are two good sources to find comparables. Local comp sources are better that something way out of your territory.

The ins. companies look at these as old tired cars. They don't know that a fringe element (us) keep some of these cars in outstanding condition. You will need to educate the adjuster. Point out things like the E30 Picnic in Seattle that prove there is a cult following. The adjusters are usually OK with going up in price so long as you give them documentation to support the higher price. They are not going to do that leg work. They just want to reference a book, which for most vanilla cars is fine.

Basically, they have to clear x-amount of files per week. And if they get audited by their supervisors they need to show documentation on why they paid out the dollar amount that they did. Help them with that documentation and you'll get a better price.

Good luck.

[LivingLegend06]

Mods don't mean anything to them so don't count on that adding any value. With that considered id say its worth 3.5 - 4k, then you can buy back and recover your mods.

That really sucks, that looks to be a very clean car. Hopefully someone can fix the damage and keep it on the road.

[barry]

Grab the money and run..The car is an easy fix and worth keeping..Also sue the bitch in civil court for injuries and neglegence.
Good Luck whatever you decide..

[MR 325]

fuck it let em total it, buy back for like 200 bucks, fix and drive. Yeah it will be salvage but if you keep it and drive it who cares. If you want to sell you just need to part it out.

Exactly.

[Tonys18t]

If you are not happy with the value the insurance co. places on the car (and usually that is the case) you'll need to provide comps to show value. I've helped a few guys with wrecked E30s get better value on their claim.

Craigslist and Autotrader are two good sources to find comparables. Local comp sources are better that something way out of your territory.

The ins. companies look at these as old tired cars. They don't know that a fringe element (us) keep some of these cars in outstanding condition. You will need to educate the adjuster. Point out things like the E30 Picnic in Seattle that prove there is a cult following. The adjusters are usually OK with going up in price so long as you give them documentation to support the higher price. They are not going to do that leg work. They just want to reference a book, which for most vanilla cars is fine.

Basically, they have to clear x-amount of files per week. And if they get audited by their supervisors they need to show documentation on why they paid out the dollar amount that they did. Help them with that documentation and you'll get a better price.

Good luck.

Good advise, you sound like you've been in the adjusters chair, lol.

I've worked in Auto Insurance claims and litigation in California for a long while, The thing to remember is that the company owe you enough money to replace your vehicle. you've got to be able to go out and buy damn near the same car; mileage, condition, mods and all, prove to them its worth a lot, they are legally bound to pay the replacement value.

if you have problems, drop me a PM and i'll try to help as much as possible

[IHeartE30s]

Thanks for all the advice!

I talked to the totaled claim's adjuster and he said their third party estimators under quoted the price because they got some examples from Oregon and Washington, they said 2700$. He then researched the area himself and he said 4500$ which also means they would cover the damage without salvaging the car! Good news! So Im just taking the money and fixing it myself.