260Z VS Insurance Co

[Guest ax75f92]

Hey guys, just wanted to throw this out there as Im sure many of you fellow Z owners have had to deal with similar situations.

 

I own an ealry '74 260 which I purchased about 3 years ago for about $3500. The guy was total Datsun head who owned 3 or 4 Zs as well as 510s and was forced to get rid of one on account of the wife. The car is in great shape, by far the best I saw while on my search to purchase a Z. Very little rust, clean title and nice straight frame. Restorations/modifications include: newly rebuilt L28 engine (L24 carb head tho) w/ 5 spd trans, new carpet/headliner/dash, SA rx-7 fuel pump, new clutch master/slave....etc. Anyways, he had taken pretty good care of the car and rather than settle for a rusted junker I opted to spend a little more cash for a nice Z.

 

Sorry for the lengthy intro....so heres my problem. Last Sat night my Z was parked in front of my house along the curb minding its own business when sometime durring the night a girl retuning from the club or wherever had a few too many and clipped the front end of my car. The damage isnt all that bad....marks/scrtaches on the door, decent size crease/smash on the fender, and a broken tie rod.

 

Upon talking to the claims guy at AAA, they seem very quick to dismiss the car as a total loss and be over with it. They sound like they want nothing to do with a car made in 1974. He informed me that if the cost of repair exceeds 70% of the cars bluebook value it would be declaired a loss and all I would get was bluebook. Im not sure what bluebook is, but im sure its not much.

 

Any feedback from people who have had to deal with insurance claims with their early model Z cars would be greatly appreciated. I love the car and definately want to keep it...I just dont have a lot of disposable income for out of pocket repairs at the moment.

 

The system seems pretty messed up for people who spend the time and money to make an old car into something far nicer than its former self.

 

Thanks in advance for any and all advice/information.

[Challenger]

Thats why Ill be getting my car appraised when I insure it. For more than book value.

[drdiabetezx66x]

Thats why Ill be getting my car appraised when I insure it. For more than book value.

 

ill be having to insure my 74 260Z in a few months. What insurance companies are good?

[CArFAn]

I'm 18, male, zip 95206 insured by progressive on my dads account, licensed 1 year and i pay 135$ (per month) for full coverage "i think".

[Challenger]

Its insane what they charge for 16/17 year old males. I got my license a year ago and it was $100 some a month for full coverage. Now for no reason it went up 30%!! For no reason, just a rate change. And thats for a driver without tickets, good grades, and less vehicles than drivers.

[amorfin]

As far as I know the Kelley Blue Book has no pricing for 70s vehicles. The NADA does have pricing for classics, check this out:

 

http://www.nadaguides.com/default.aspx?LI=1-22-1-5013-0-0-0&l=1&w=22&p=1&f=5014&y=1974&m=1254&d=2212&c=7&vi=79044&da=1

 

If they want to totall it, deal for as close as you can for the 3,500 you paid (the NADA shows even more) for it plus keeping the car. I'm sure they are not interested on a salvage 260z.

[jasper]

Back in '86, some clown ran a red light and totaled my '68 GTO convertible. I made sure I signed a complaint with the police. He was found guilty. His INS. co only offered $1000.00 for the car. I lawyered up, had plenty of pics, and they came up with $4,500.00 If it's not a fair offer, get comps, pics, classic values , etc. and have a lawyer write a good letter. Ins. companies don't like litigation. Also name the driver as a defendant. This will get their attention.

[seabee280z]

I had my car apraised and is now covered by vintage insurance and is cover for 14,000 as to the apraisal if anything happens to it they cover it. In the case of a total loss i get 14,000 i only pay 235 a year for it full coverage now the only thing i limited to it is the milage per year 7500 a year which its not bad considering this is my weekend getaway car.

[ZDrifter]

I had my car apraised and is now covered by vintage insurance and is cover for 14,000 as to the apraisal if anything happens to it they cover it. In the case of a total loss i get 14,000 i only pay 235 a year for it full coverage now the only thing i limited to it is the milage per year 7500 a year which its not bad considering this is my weekend getaway car.

 

This is the same thing Im doing. 3500 miles a year for $315 a year. My car will be covered up to $15,000. I really only drive my car when its not raining which is....hmmm hardly ever in Oregon haha.

[palosfv3]

Been in the auto collision business for over 35 years. The situation your facing isnt unusual. Remember , as much as the commercials say about how good a neighbor they are in your time of need, They are a business and their goal is to pay as little to settle an obligation as possible . You need to understand the laws that apply to insurance in your state as they differ from one state to the next.

Insurance coverage is based on basic contract law. In this case the party that caused damage to your property has a contract with an insurance company to clear their liabilty in the event of a loss that is their responsiblilty. The next part you need to understand is that it is the responsibilty of the driver that is at fault in the loss to make the other party " whole". That means that you should suffer no loss or gain in the incident in the strictest sense of the word. If you were on the way to the airport when the accident happened and the result was you missed your vacation trip and no tickets or rooms were refundable or transferable. You should not only get paid for the property damage but they may owe the hotel and air fare also.

You will need to know the fair market value on a like kind and quality 260Z. When the insurance company says $X is all that book says its worth ask. "Wheres the car you found that is just like mine that can be bought for the said amount of your offer?" Their response will usually be, " Its not our responsibilty to buy or find you another car". Your response should be" If you offer is valid you should be able to locate one that can be bought for that sum . If not, your offer is invalid and needs to be reevalueated .'

Also get them to commit for a rental car from the time of loss till your car is repaired or a cash offer agreed to. This is a good lever to keep them moving promptly. What you are doing is negotiating a settlement with the insurance rep.. In a negotiation knowledge is power. Arm yourself with the value and repair cost info from your own sources. Also remember the person that controls the time controls the negotiation. You will need to set this tone to get things moving in your favor. It may not be a bad idea to get a commitment letter from the insurance company acknowledging and outlining their responsibilty in this situatuion.

Keep detailed notes about the conversations and commitments made with the CR. Read them back to the CR and get them to acknowledge what they committed to. They are doing this to you when your on the phone .You just dont know it. These notes are very important if things start to get more difficult.

If your CR isnt moving dont be afraid to ask for a suprvisor to review things. Ask for someone at the ins co that is familiar with collector and special interest cars. This can sometimes be successfull but may also be a hinderence if the supervisor is not responsible.

 

Best regards

Larry

 

www.wgmauto.com

[Guest ax75f92]

Thanks for the response guys. Like Palos said...information is key, so Im trying to gather as much as possible.

 

I spoke with the CR last night as they wanted my odometer reading (lol...only had 5 digits, common). He suggested that I take pictures of "anything that has been restored on the car". I dont think they understand that some things that make these old cars valuable to other enthusiasts would not typically be considered "restoration"; ie. zero frame damage and very little rust. Finding a Z thats not a helpless pile of junk is a task of its own and therefore comes at a price.

 

So Im thinking Ill spend all day Sat cleaning everything up and take some nice pics for them. I have signed documentation from the seller when I bought the car stating the price it was sold for. This was 4 years ago though, Im not sure it that would hold any weight after so much time has passed.

 

Thanks again guys. Any and all information/personal experiance is much appreciated.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

I agree with what Palos said. if they try to give you just some lump of money that's not worth anywhere close to the car's value, tell them to find you a rust free Z in the same year and condition for that much. They probably won't.

they really needa go with the nada ratings for your car.

[AK-Z]

I would get an estimate on parts/repair as well from 2 or 3 different sources, as a secondary offer, if they can't/won't go the route of finding a replacement. A fender and tie rod don't cost that much (if you can find them:p)

[palosfv3]

I agree with what Palos said. if they try to give you just some lump of money that's not worth anywhere close to the car's value, tell them to find you a rust free Z in the same year and condition for that much. They probably won't.

they really needa go with the nada ratings for your car.

 

Do your homework. Nada, KBB ,ect use auction results + a % mark up, which on late model daily drivers may be OK but they may not be very accurate on special interest or collector cars. The older the car the less often the figures are recalculated. My Facel had a nada of $90k but a car in its condition had not sold at an auction for over 10 years. Last year a similar car exchanged hands privately for over $185K. Currently there is another that just came on the market . Asking $225k and it will probably sell for thet price. This is not reflected in the value guides. I only mention the Facel for the purpose of an example that can be documented about collector cars and the value guides. So check your information carefully and make sure its up to date . Also the value guide states the value is based on a past transaction and condition type. That car may not be able to be purchased for that price any more since there arent anymore for sale at that price or in that condition.

If you agree to accept the offer as a total loss dont forget to add to the agreed value of the car the applicable liscense. tax . title and transfer fees associated with the exchange.

 

Settling a loss with an insurance company can sometimes be like doing homework with a pair of 10 year old twins that dont want to do homework. They put all the burden on you to prove that they didnt have any assignments to do and hope that you'll get fustrated with their tactics and whineing and give in .

 

Larry

 

http://www.wgmauto.com

[phil280zxt]

In the insurance company's defense (can't believe I just said that) they have set your annual rates based on the bluebook value of your car. Because you do not have an appraised value policy on your car, they've based this on the NADA, etc values. It's understandable that that is all they'd be willing to shell out in case of a claim because that's all the insurance you paid for.

 

This very reason is why I am switching over to collector car insurance shortly with an appraised value. My Z is no show car, but it definitely is worth more then the average bluebook value.

 

Best of luck with your claim, hopefully your persistenace will win out!!

 

BTW, I pay close to $3300 / year for my 18 year old son's 2001 Jetta turbo, which to me is insane. In two year's time I will have paid them the entire value of the car!! He's carried on my policy with no traffic violations or accidents. As a matter of fact, the entire family, 4 drivers, 4 cars do not have tickets and we have never filed a claim!!

[Phantom]

A couple things. I'm not sure about other companies but USAA allowed me to buy back a totalled car. It was an '83 Sentra that was hail damaged. Body looked like the craters of the moon but absolutely everything worked fine. They paid me $1,800 for the car and I bought it back for $400. If all else fails see if they'll sell it back to you for salvage value once they've paid. That way you could probably net enough to actually fix it.

I've considered the vintage car route with mine a couple times but was always put off by the milage limitations as my car was a daily driver logging about 8,000 miles per year. Here in Washington it hibernates through the winter so it gets fewer miles and that may now be wrth it. In the meantime, though, I had contacted USAA to confirm that I have replacement value insurance and that they nderstood what I have. Their reply was to have plenty of photos and keep my receipts and I'd have no problem. Having had to replace one car that was stolen years ago (another '77 280Z) I believe them.

[Guest ax75f92]

Towed the car to a good Z mechanic yesterday and after checking things out he said all the suspension components (lower control arm, tie rod, tension rod, maybe shock) will need to be replaced. The worst of it is that the tension rod was hit hard enough that it pulled the part of the frame it bolts to. I was pretty upset about that. He said its fixable with some fabrication work. Im still dealing with the CR as far as ironing out the cars value. Im ready to battle with him as long as it takes.

 

A few pics I took before the tow truck came for anyone who was curious:

[Guest ax75f92]

[Guest ax75f92]

[zeeboost]

Wow, I'd buy it like that for $3500