Please Help! Insurance is Totaling Our SC!

F

Factoryblue2

Registered User
I seriously need everybody's help here, please. Since we bought or 89 it has been loved as part of family. 8 Weeks ago it was envolved in a collision with a Ford Bronco. Our SC came out ahead of the Bronco, as we only lost a hood and headlight. The construction company was sited as thier equipment was blocking the veiws of both drivers. The Bronco owner agreed, that she couldn't see us either.
We submitted 3 estimates and the police report with in three days of the accident to the construction companies insurance. We recieved "run-a-round" for 6 weeks following. Finally they phoned us to say they car is a total because it's not worth spending 3,500 to fix. Sarah is completely beside herself. Everytime she thinks about losing her car she get very emotional. They want to scrap our SC and give us 2,000 dollars. This car far eceeds book value because of the pristine condition. What can we do? The thought of our SC sitting in a junk yard is killing us. We tried a phone consultation with an attorny but he said if it eceeds book value..... Please help.

Thanks alot Nelson Stark Construction!!!
 
Last edited:
Factoryblue2 said:
I seriously need everybody's help here, please. Since we bought or 89 it has been loved as part of family. 8 Weeks ago it was envolved in a collision with a Ford Bronco. Our SC came out ahead of the Bronco, as we only lost a hood and headlight. The construction company was sited as thier equipment was blocking the veiws of both drivers. The Bronco owner agreed, that she couldn't see us either.
We submitted 3 estimates and the police report with in three days of the accident to the construction companies insurance. We recieved "run-a-round" for 6 weeks following. Finally they phoned us to say they car is a total because it's not worth spending 3,500 to fix. Sarah is completely beside herself. Everytime she thinks about losing her car she get very emotional. They want to scrap our SC and give us 2,000 dollars. This car far eceeds book value because of the pristine condition. What can we do? The thought of our SC sitting in a junk yard is killing us. We tried a phone consultation with an attorny but he said if it eceeds book value..... Please help.

Thanks alot Nelson Stark Construction!!!
Click to expand...


What shape is the car in now? Does it run? Frame damage? Only lost a headlight and a hood means what?

Also, when they total a car, do they actually take it? Years ago a buddy totalled his car and he had to pay a wrecker company to haul it, otherwise he'd have been stuck with it. If that's your case, can you take the $2k and fix the car?
 
The car needs a hood and head light. It should have, according to the body shop, front bumper cover , hood, headlight reiforcer, blend everything, etc. The car is in perfect running order, no dents or rust, tears in leather, or leaks. They keep saying eceeds BV, but BV doesn't represent this car. Never the less, if the car was worth 20 dollars they should be responcible to return it to prior condition. As for totaling, we'd keep the car and roughly 1000 to fix, but they said it would have a bad title! Bad title over a hood and headlight is BS! We just want or check for the damage and take it Ford's Shop. All this after 8 weeks of waiting WTF!

Nick Wilson
 
You know anyone that owns a body shop?

If you know anyone that has a body shop and you really want to keep this car Just have them write you an estimate using used parts and keep the cost below 2000.00 From what you are saying you should easliy be able to fix your casr for less then 2000.00 using used parts
2000.00 is the magic number If you keep the costs below 2000.00 then they cant write the car off

Hope this helps
 
Factoryblue2,
You still have some options. First off, you can try to work with the insurance company to negotiate fixing the car rather than totalling it out. However, they are not likely to budge on totalling the car. It should be worth more than $2000 though. The problem though is that these cars are becoming just as cheap as a regular bird of the same year. There is very little distinction between a SC and an LX now, price-wise.
Now your options: First off, it is not all that bad having a car with a salvage title. My '92 salvage title SC is in much better shape than my '89 clean title SC. And I would not part from my '92 for less than $4500 where-as I couldn't sell my '89 for $2000. That said, your options for fixing are simply taking it to a shop, paying the extra over what the insurance pays you and get it fixed. Now, if what you have listed as far as parts is concerned, you can find someone who is parting out a SC and get those parts from them at a fraction of the cost. And the parts you have listed are easily replaced using standard hand tools.
Your location can play a factor into it as well. Where are you at? You can have someone (I know the best person in the country who can do this for the T-bird) write an appraisal for pre-accident condition. This, if done by someone who knows the T-bird inside and out, will stand up in a court of law. Like I said above, I know the best person for this. You can email me to find out more if interested in that route. It will cost you more in the long run, but you can get your car fixed and not have a salvage title on it.
If you decide to just fix it yourself, you can email me, because I have all the parts you need off my '89 SC. It is the midnight blue color if that is what your's is...I'm guessing from your screen name... Email me at the above link, if you want to discuss any other options that you might have. I'd say not to give up on the car, if you can keep it.
 
You should be able to get the $2000.00 and keep the car, if not tell them you want replacement value and you supply them with five or ten different cars being sold of the same shape and resale value. They should offer you the check and keep the car. With what you say the car shouldn't cost you that much to fix. These are cars of special interest and should have a value of their own. BTW the salvage title doesn't mean that much once you fix the car and have it reinspected you are good to go. :) They put a salvage title on everything now a days even with dings and scratches.

good luck,
Mike
 
When my 89sc was totalled a few years back not only did I get 4500 from teh insurance company but bought the car back for 500

YOU CAN BUY THE CAR BACK!!!!!!!!! or even keep it..Talk to them

And 3500 is way to much foir that work

you can easily fix it and buy it back for what the insuranc ecompany is givivng you
 
You have three options typically.

1) Work with the insurance company to get them to repair it.
2) Negotiate with the insurance company for the amount that they pay for the vehicle, and the amount you pay them to buy it back. Then you buy it back and fix it using used parts at a much lower cost than the insurance company would incur fixing it.
3) Negotiate with the insurance company for the amount that they pay for the vehicle and use the money to buy a different car.

You didn't state what State you were in so I tracked down the construction company in Ohio. Ohio law requires the insurance company to pay you "Actual Cash Value". Not Book value, but Actual Cash Value.

According to this website:
http://www.ohioinsurance.gov/consumserv/scripts/pubdisp.asp?pubtype=AUTO&pageseqnum=14

Actual cash value and your settlement offer
The insurance company will use one of three methods to determine your car's actual cash value. The company will choose:
• The average cost of two or more comparable cars (make, model, year, and condition) available in your area within the past 30 days
• Or the average of two or more quotations from local dealers, if no cars were actually available
• Or a pricing service that has information about auto prices in the local market

So don't let them pull the book value on you. They have to check the area for comparable vehicles and their sale prices. And make sure comparable is highlighted. I.E. no rust, perfect interior and exterior. Don't be afraid to argue with them.
 
Thank you for showing me the Ohio insurance website(especialy since im in cincinnati). Im now armed with this info and ads for super coupes of similar condition with prices.

Nick Wilson
 
I may be a little late chiming in here, but as MikesSC said:

Mikessupercoupe said:
tell them you want replacement value and you supply them with five or ten different cars being sold of the same shape and resale value.
Click to expand...

You should only have to take REPLACEMENT value, not book value. Insurance company works for them NOT YOU! You have to know about insurance laws on your own, as they are not going to tell you.
Very cool of you to point that out Mike8675309! I hate seeing corporate screw people.
 
Insurance (Stated Value)

I know hindsight is 20/20 but this is the reason that there are 'stated value' insurance policies. If you have a valuable (classic) car, take the time to have it professionally appraised and then have your agent write the policy based on it. The policy will now say "stated value at (enter figure here)" instead of "cash value". After you get the car back on the road you may want to consider this type of insurance in the future to avoid the aggravation with the insurance co. Just my 2 cents...
Bill
 
Apparently the book is 2000 dollars, and the damage sits at 3500. To replace the car with one that is of similar condition(no rust, miles, no dents, great interior, etc.) Would cost about 4000. We'll be taking five ads from the SCCOA classifieds and showing the company that we would need more money than 2000 to replace it.
 
I don't want to add "insult to injury", but there are 2 more things that you need to check out. Because this happened to me with my Monty Carlo SS. I reconned I could fix the car for the write-off value, but now the insurance company ownes the car and, they figured on getting some salvage value out of my wreck. So you may also have to buy your car back from the insurance company for $500-750 or so (the amount the junk yard was going to pay the insurance co). You need to check this out and, also some states will take 6 months to process a salvage title. This just happened to a friend of mine with her '87 Chevy truck in Pennsylvania.
Good luck.
 
I slipped on the ice in Feb 02. I mashed the door, right front fender, rocker panel, rear quarter panel and rear tail light. The insurance company originally totaled the XR7 and offered me $1,800.00 and the car goes to the junkyard. I told them I had put a lot of money into the car and there original offer was BS. They said show them receipts. I did. Lots of them. I got $4,200.00 and kept the car. I got a lot of money for the engine mods, exhaust work, transmission work, new radiator, etc.. The estimate to get my body damage fixed was $2,500.00. I did not get it fixed since this is my day driver. But hang in there with the insurance. They will low ball you in a heart beat. There objective is to keep their money and get you to spend yours.

Ed Springer

90 Black XR7 5-speed: 70mm TB, Fresh Air Intake, '94 Supercharger, 5% SC Pulley, Raised SC Top, I/C Fan, Under-drive Pulleys, 190 l/h Fuel Pump, 36# Injectors, Headers, Magnaflow Muffler (no cats) with stock resonators, 3:27 Gears, Ripper Shifter, 73mm CL MAF (Blue Tube), Magnacore Wires, NGK Iridium Plugs, Royal Purple Lubricants and Rear Spring Air Bags.

94 Red SC Auto: 70mm TB, Fresh Air Intake, Stock 90 SC Pulley, Raised SC Top, I/C Fan, Under-drive Pulleys, 190 l/h Fuel Pump, 38# Injectors, Headers, Raven Muffler (no cats) with stock resonators, 3:73 Gears, 76mm CL MAF (Gold Tube), Magnacore Wires, NGK Iridium Plugs, Royal Purple Lubricants, TRANSGO Shift Kit, Pro-Torque 2500 Stall TC, Haydon Auxiliary Transmission Cooler, Tokico Struts & Shocks, American Racing 17” Sniper Wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Tires and 235 RWHP with 315 LB-FT Torque.
 
Totaled

Years ago, this same thing happened with my 280zx. I showed them all my reciepts, took their payment, less the $400 "Salvage", I kept and fixed the car for less than I received. The title was unchanged, interestingly.

I then proceeded to drive the car for fifteen more years with no problems, and just recently sold it to a guy halfway across the country, who flew in and drove it 2500 miles home.

You must FIGHT for your car! At some point you must acknowledge that the insurance company is in business to screw people, and you are the screwee. Just get the phyical car back in your posession asap, and take the money. Anything can be fixed cheaper with some time and diligence in finding parts and selecting a shop.

Good luck,
Scott
 
My 93 LX was "Salvaged" because of Theft. The Insurance Company did not want to work with me in getting the car fixed. Damages to my car were the front Windshield, Dashboard, and Scratched all over the car estimated damages were at 3500 + dollars. They said my car was worth 2500. They only gave me 2000 because of my 500 deductible. I keept the car. Windshield was 150.00, Dash 50.00 (Junk Yard). Just keep your car and Fix it your self. For me, As long it runs, looks nice it dont matter if its Salvaged or not.
 
k2k2 said:
Years ago, this same thing happened with my 280zx. I showed them all my reciepts, took their payment, less the $400 "Salvage", I kept and fixed the car for less than I received. The title was unchanged, interestingly.

I then proceeded to drive the car for fifteen more years with no problems, and just recently sold it to a guy halfway across the country, who flew in and drove it 2500 miles home.

You must FIGHT for your car! At some point you must acknowledge that the insurance company is in business to screw people, and you are the screwee. Just get the phyical car back in your posession asap, and take the money. Anything can be fixed cheaper with some time and diligence in finding parts and selecting a shop.

Good luck,
Scott
Click to expand...

I definitely agree with this. I was in an accident a couple of years ago and they were going to total my car as well. They said it was only worth $5k and the damages were over $6500 (no frame damage either). I got my agent involved (awesome guy) with the adjuster lady (who hated me from the beginning of this mess) and after he talked to her, she was willing to look at my receipts and in the end, they paid to fix it. It all comes down to one person usually to make the decision. You really do have to fight as much as you can. Good luck.
 
OK went through this with my 91 SC...

Is your car a 5-speed or auto. Go under the FAQ section here and pull up production numbers for your car. Show them that the car is rare and only **** were made. THEN.....I have a collector Vehicle book which show the value of a class 6 (PERFECT CONDITION VEHICLE) at a value of $13,500 collector value.


If you need more info, please feel free to contact me.

I got $3500 for my car, paid $200 to buy the car back, and paid $2700 to fix car (whole side sideswiped!!!).....

Still having my 91 5-speed SC (first one owned, now have three)..PRICELESS


Good luck,


Don

(973) 277-4294
 
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