Agreed Value. What's it worth?

[usafdarkhorse]

Hi all,

 

I apologize if this is somehow in the wrong forum or if this has been beaten into submission, but the search button didn't reveal any real answers (and this particular topic seems to be as custom as the cars are that grace these forums). I'm mostly a HybridZ lurker.

 

I've owned my 75 Z for about a year and a half now. I bought it from another prominent member here and have really enjoyed the car 100% for the 30% of the time it has ran (which has actually been the majority of the last 6 months after the previous R200 gave up the ghost).

 

I've been riding around on regular collision and comprehensive insurance for the car, insured by USAA, but I am a little wary that if something were to happen to the car that I wouldn't get the full value of what at least I would think she's worth (sounds like the beginning of a fraud! haha )

 

So I've been looking into an agreed value sort of insurance policy. USAA doesn't offer it, but they partner with another company that does (and their name I can't remember for the life of me). So the question is, what should I be looking at as far as an agreed insurance value?

 

Here's some car specifics:

-1975 280Z, 2/75. Originally sold in Chicago I believe and once bronze in color (not sure of the color code).

-Spent over a year getting stripped, rust proofed, and painted silver. OK paint job. Only rust I can find is two pea sized holes where the driver's side frame rail meets the wheel well, and a few little holes in the passenger frame rail.

-Car has ~95,000 actual miles on the chassis.

-'82 L28ET completely torn apart, knived crank, 5 angle head, nismo pistons, 2mm HG, ARP studs, Garrett T3/T4 Hybrid, GReddy FMIC, TiAl 38mm wastegate and 50mm vent valve, 2.5" downpipe with 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust, JSK rail with 440cc Supras, Aeromotive FPR, Walbro 255, sumped OEM tank, ZX oil cooler,running on MSII w/ EDIS spark, Innovate LC-1 wideband, and manifold pressure controlled by GReddy PRofec B Spec II . Less than 15,000 miles.

-'83 BW T5, rebuilt when engine was rebuilt, Pro5.0 billet shifter. Extremely lightened and machined OEM flywheel, ceramic clutch

-Custom driveshaft, R200 3.54 differential, solid mount, polyurethane bushings

-Sectioned strut housings with my spec'd strut and spring combo which feels excellent to me , heim-jointed control arms, Carrera CC plates, can't remember much on the brakes anymore but I believe 13" rotors with Cobra PBR calipers.

-5 lug swap (part machine work, part 300ZX guts), ARP wheels studs, Aero race wheels, junky tires ha Really need new wheels for proper rubber.

-Decent seats with RCi harnesses, full autometer cluster, Grant GT wheel, PERFECT headliner and interior panels, dashcap.

Dyno'd once, 303rwhp at 10psi. Consistently runs at 10psi and 16psi, tuned to 21psi (only because MS MAP sensor pegs at 21psi! ). Looking at maybe their newer 4bar sensor.

Impressively runs like a top, could idle at 250rpm.

 

More importantly, I've made sure just about everything in this car works like OEM. Every modification the previous owner did pretty much runs along the same routings wiring-wise as the old system, and the car is very simple. There's an engine, a turbo, and a gas pedal.

I've always had turn signal issues with my old cars and I was determined to fix it, so I did on this car. Completely turn-key. The only things that don't work right now are the horn (I think I bumped a connection because it DID work) and the oil temperature gauge is dead (fixing that).

 

Shew! That was pretty longwinded. All to say I know she's not a 240Z, nor original, and the added value perceived by modifications in reality probably has no bearing at all, but what should I insure her for? If I overestimate, I'm losing money on premiums. Car was always garaged in Tennessee, and kept under cover ( and car cover ) here in Texas. I know some places will only insure agreed value if the car is garaged. At any rate, at least I'll get an idea of where she stands. Give a restomod some love?

 

Thanks in advance! Jared

 

PS. BTW I abhor the front end and have been planning on retrofitting it to the 240Z w/ Type 1 airdam for awhile now. Just acquired a nice set of OEM black Fairlady Z fender mirrors to bring it all together.

Edited September 28, 2010 by usafdarkhorse

[cygnusx1]

It really does not matter much.  Pick a number you like, and have them quote the payment for that number, YOU decide.  My Turbo 280Z was at $8000 but I upped it to $15,000 after the rear-end hit, to be safe.  My car is not far off  "value wise"  from yours.  I looked at what it would cost to buy another Z like mine if I needed to.  Not the cost to build, the cost to buy, plus about 10% of wiggle room.

[jacobo]

I love the front brake ducts/vents/ whatever. did you do those yourself or can i buy them somewhere?

[jacobo]

I love the front brake ducts/vents/ whatever. did you do those yourself or can i buy them somewhere?

[Indri]

^same here

 

 

 

also, are those diamond racing rims? Did you happen to weigh those before you mounted them? I'm looking into a set.

[19762802+2]

^same here

 

 

 

also, are those diamond racing rims? Did you happen to weigh those before you mounted them? I'm looking into a set.

 

They aren't Diamond racing rims, They are another brand I can't think of the name right now but they are lighter then Diamond racing rims. the rims from diamond racing are pretty heavy compared to some rims but they are that way because they are built to be stronger etc etc.

[kiwi303]

Agreed value is pretty simple... the specifics of the car are not looked into much, unless it's a quick check by a nominated scrutineer to advise the insurance company on how sound it is. A car that's rusty and threatening to have a wheel come off on the road and send you spinning into a tree would attract a higher premium than a solid and sound car. However not all that many companies bother to do that here.

 

All they really look at is whether you're a young dumbass with a record of wipeouts and totaled cars, or a sober and sedate gentleman of mature years, check the tables for the odds of their needing to pay out on those demographics, and multiply that by the requested coverage sum to arrive at the yearly premium.

 

 

The details of the car itself is pretty much irrelevant, they just want the sum insured amount and to know what demographic you fit into on their risk tables, the rest is simple maths.

 

 

Give them a dollar figure, your age, and your driving history and they'll give you a dollar figure back, it's really that simple.

[cockerstar]

...Give them a dollar figure, your age, and your driving history and they'll give you a dollar figure back, it's really that simple.

 

I wouldn't insure you Z for anything less than $15k. More realistically, I would ask myself how much would it cost to build another, and then go from there.

 

If you go in with a few different price points in mind, you can see the difference in your premiums will be. Weigh that price difference vs. the amount of reassurance you'd have knowing that in the worst case scenario you could start completely over and not be out money wise.

 

IMO, it's worth it to be over-insured, pay a little bit more every 6 months, and be in the absolute know that you're covered when some idiot on the road totals your baby and their insurance company tries to pull one over on you!

Edited September 30, 2010 by cockerstar

[sticky280zx]

what he said /\ /\ my dad totalled out his zx and insurance said "it could be fixed", the car was covered for 12k, and they said it would be less than 9k to fix it (total would be more than 3/4 value). Heres the issue they said there was $7,600 worth of damage (with a window of up to 2k more in possible add on damage)....well damn skippy thats $9,600 and then it would be totalled out....My dad took the check and the shaft from the insurance.

 

Needless to say he didnt lose a ton because he kept the car, BUT he had to buy another car as a donor for all of the parts and swap them over, bought the new car for 3k, bought a kit for 750 or w/e MSA seels them for, Had to have that kit painted, bought another set of 17x9 $9.5 rotas for 750, then tires for another 700, and the pain of moving literally everything off of one shell/interior over to the new car AFTER stripping it down.

 

I told him way back to insure it for 20k and pay the little extra, that way he would be covered and they wouldnt "total" his car so quickly BUT if something ever did happen to it he could take it to the BEST OF THE BEST body shop and get it fixed perfectly....he didnt listen and now is doing it by himself the hardway.

 

Insurance companies make money screwing their customers and not paying as much/as often as possible....just keep that in mind and always get MORE than you need especially on a stated value situation...its too cheap not to.

 

 

 

Also forgot to add...there were parts that were/are on that car that were discontinued like the rear shocks that were adjustables, so you have to figure out a value to replace those with a new setup be it coilovers etc...which would be more.

 

Then there are also other things like PERFECT crack free dashes, that car had one of the last ones from nissan....if they arent availible a year later its really irreplacable or going to be expensive as hell if someone is selling it N.O.S. but there again its one of those things that you really might just want to have an extra of if you can because theyre not very common, just some more things to keep in mind.

Edited September 30, 2010 by sticky280zx

[JMortensen]

They aren't Diamond racing rims, They are another brand I can't think of the name right now but they are lighter then Diamond racing rims. the rims from diamond racing are pretty heavy compared to some rims but they are that way because they are built to be stronger etc etc.

Just FYI, Diamond makes a lot of different rims, but they have a 15 x 10 that weighs 20 lbs. I don't think you're going to find a steel wheel much lighter than that. I read on your thread on classiczcars.com that you had Aero wheels. I haven't purchased wheels yet, so I checked their site. Looks like they no longer offer 4 x 4.5, but their lightest 15 x 10, the 51 series, is 20 lbs.