INSURANCE ADVICE - URGENT.. Save my 318is!

[mr2peak]

If you want the most amount of money, get them to give you the true value of the car with the mods. Send them all your receipts, links to parts, links to similar cars, etc.

Then take the $3k-$4k they will give you for it, and part it out. I'll take a few parts myself, I'm a Bay Area local.

I've had to do this an unfortunate number of times myself, feel free to PM me and I'll give you a call. In fact, I wrote a "how-to" insurance settlement essay a while ago. let me go dig it up...

[mr2peak]

Here we are. I wrote this for Popular Mechanix, a great San Francisco garage that specializes in classic Volvos.



An Insurance Settlement How-To Guide:

My '67 Volvo 122s was hit my by a driver a few weeks ago and I was able to negotiate a very fair settlement. Andrew was impressed and asked me to "spill the beans" on how to get the most out of a bad situation. So here we are, my 5 steps to a fair settlement.

1) You must remember that are now selling your car. Make it look good. Put some time into vacuuming the floor, cleaning the windows, cleaning up all the stuff you "planned on doing next week". If the car is no longer drivable, the way the car looks is the only indication of the value of the car. A clean car usually indicates care was taken with the car in general.

2) Put a package together that includes any and all bills you have regarding the car. This is most important. Offer to send it in right away, don't wait for them to ask. If you have a picture of you with the car looking like a proud owner, include it! Again, it shows you care.

3) When the crash occurs, send the car to a body shop that specializes in that type of car! The older the car is, the more important it is to show the insurance company that people enjoy these cars and are willing to put large amounts of money into maintenance and restorations. It's very hard for them to devalue your car when it's sitting next to a car just like it receiving a vast amount of work by a caring owner.

4) They should be giving you dealer pricing. This means buying the car from you as if you were a used car dealer, because they expect you to go out and replace it with a comparable car. Look at prices from registered used car dealers and use that as a guideline. Also realize that car dealers can be negotiated down, so don't expect to get window sticker price!

5) Be friendly. Be nice. This should be obvious. The insurance company didn't hit you. They have a file on your case, and there's a great chance that you will end up talking to the same person more than once. If they don't like you it can hurt your case. Also it's just plain polite.

So that's about it really. Clean it up, collect your receipts, send the car to a specialized shop if possible, research dealer pricing and be nice to the people you deal with. Wish you the best of luck, and I hope none of you ends up needing this guide :)

[smashed s4]

Thanks for all the comments guys!
Might go to a BMW and have the car truly appraised.. I have sent over 8 ads for my EXACT e30 to them, all over 4500.. Even some in worse condition... Its ridiculous. They think that if they go out and get a 3rd party appraisal then thats cement.. Its ridiculous.

Thanks for the advice guys, ill keep you all updated..

Any ideas of where I can go that specializes in BMW appraisals?

[RCM3]

Sorry to hear man, I went through this same thing with my 318iS last November.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=270672

Im in the Bay Area also, and had to jump through so many hoops to get the proper value on my car. Dont take that first offer, and do like some others mentioned with the emails. I got together a big list of other e30s that were in similar condition for sale and sent over this along with the list of mods, and any other receipts I had and tallied the total investment up. I made sure to be very professional and polite with the adjuster and she jumped the offer way up a few days later. The problem I found was that they were basing the value of my car off of a 1992 318i/iS, as a courtesy to anyone in this situation (most appreciate having the value of their car based on a year/model newer when in this situation I guess).

edit: I only dealt with the adjuster, didnt have to go as far as getting it looked over by a third party or special insurance appraiser. I had AAA insurance on the car when it was hit. Good luck man, hope things go better.

[Wild Ride]

So what happened in this sad ordeal?

[smashed s4]

Lawyer got involved last week.. It is still up in the air

[jeffnhiscars]

Maybe Im missing something but IME the insurance company is obliged to "make you whole". If you are getting a deal at $700 for the repairs then it seems pretty reasonable that they offered you $2k. The issue really is the title and in most states that means damage exceeding 80% of "value" so thats the only number in question. Do the math based on what they think its worth and offer to accept $1 less than the cutoff point for a total loss. Maybe you only get $1500 but then the unbranded title is easily worth the difference and you still come out $$$s ahead.

Just my 2c