Classic Auto Insurance

BUDXR7

Registered User
I know there are a couple posts on insurance woes and a plethora on "what is the value of a SC?" I thought I would share my experience with the group (which is still active so I hope I don't jinx it). Some of you have seen my post on my purchase last fall. My car is a 1989 Red XR7 5-Spd w/ 15,000 miles in like new condition. I am 33 yrs old and have two daily drivers insured on a joint policy (wife's and my car). I applied for insurance with Hagerty for a low use collectors policy with stated value of $11,000. The application does not require an appraisal, condition assessment or even mileage. Just one picture of the car, the VIN and current policy on daily driver. My agent came back to me and said Hagerty's underwriters were coming up with $5-6000 and want to know where I came up with my #. So here was my response. Hagerty has agreed to insure the vehicle at $11,000.



Hi *****,

These cars are little known but by collectors. There is a dedicated club for North America that I was able to pull some listings from that I thought were comparable. A google search will bring up the SCCOA. The club is for 1989-1995 Ford Thunderbirds Supercoupes and 1989-1990 Mercury Cougar XR7s. These cars shared the same platform which specifically featured sport performance features most importantly of which was a supercharged engine (rare for the era). The production numbers on a 1989 Mercury Cougar XR7 with a 5 speed transmission (which is considerably more valuable to the collector watching the market) were only ~2,100. This is an extremely rare car and although obscure to the untrained eye, sought after by the collector. What truly sets my car apart from the rest of the pack though is the mileage (15,000) and the unmodified condition. My car is still on it’s original Good Year tires.

I don't mean to give you or Hagerty a ~~~ story but the car is worth exactly what the seller and buyer agreed upon. What I paid for the car is more or less what the following examples are clearing the market at. Examples are difficult to come by being my particular car (condition, mileage and survivorship) could probably be numbered in the single digits in 2015. It was very difficult to find and even more difficult to purchase from the original owner. I don’t want to operate this vehicle on public way being insured for 1/2 the price the market has set and I hope Hagerty can see my perspective. If the car was worth less than my stated value I would just assume pay a lower premium but this is not the case.

Please let me know what we can do. As I understand it, Hagerty is the preeminent classic auto insurance and I’m sure they will recognize a piece of modern history as I have.

Thanks and regards,

Ben


http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?135504-Fresh-out-of-cold-storage-1989-XR7-5sp-26K-miles

http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthr...r-XR7-5-speed-10-000-miles&highlight=survivor

http://www.sccoa.com/forums/showthread.php?115669-1991-w-19-000-SOLD&highlight=survivor

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...=[MERC[COUGAR[]][]]&listingId=372735514&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...[TBIRD%7CSuper]][]]&listingId=316888424&Log=0

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...[TBIRD%7CSuper]][]]&listingId=390817347&Log=0
 
Does anybody in this club see any benefit in making sale price public knowledge or devising our own "blue book" as it were? We just don't see them turn up at auction enough to solidly understand the broader market. Maybe we can air out a public discussion on pros and cons to making this information available?
 
Simply cruising the for sale forum with an emphasis on locked/sold threads should suffice. Low mile non modded cars always garage kept in pristine condition should be worth around $11,000 to the right buyer. There's no reason that you can't insure one for that value. The cars were sold for $24,000 or so when brand new back in the '90s which should in my calculation be around $44,000 USD. That said I'm sure that amazing XR7 example should be worth 25% of original price looking at adjusted dollars.
 
You can always do like classic Corvette owners... self-insure by keeping a spare car.
 
Well, I didn't have much trouble but I got the impression others have had difficulty in the past. If there's no need for a group effort then so be it.

I get my car out for the first time this weekend - happy motoring!
 
Quick question for ya...are they still requesting pictures of the car in a garage?

No. It was digital with a date stamp though - not that this was requested. In hindsight, they are actually very trusting. The application asks if it is modified or custom, under restoration and if it will be raced.
 
No. It was digital with a date stamp though - not that this was requested. In hindsight, they are actually very trusting. The application asks if it is modified or custom, under restoration and if it will be raced.

They are always trusting and willing to take your word for stuff when writing the policy and taking your money. You won't know how good of a company your dealing with until there is a claim filed. I'm using Grundy and have each of my SCs insured for $35K. That amount was based on the money invested modding them, not what I could sell them for.

David
 
I'm with American Collectors, insured for $10,200, have annual premiums of $225 and a 2500 mileage restriction. Not great, but not horrible.
 
They are always trusting and willing to take your word for stuff when writing the policy and taking your money. You won't know how good of a company your dealing with until there is a claim filed. I'm using Grundy and have each of my SCs insured for $35K. That amount was based on the money invested modding them, not what I could sell them for.

David

I too am with Grundy and are insured based on an agreed upon value, which like David is not the book value you can be sure. I don't remember exactly but I think my annual policy is about $800.

Ira
 
I too am with Grundy and are insured based on an agreed upon value, which like David is not the book value you can be sure. I don't remember exactly but I think my annual policy is about $800.

Ira

I am also insured with Grundy for a agreed value of $10,000.00 as of now and didn't have to provide any documentations, other then pictures and mileage!

This should be a good indicator these vehicles are starting to be acknowledged as collectible and more valuable!

They were willing to insure my vehicle for more with additional documentation but i didn't feel the need at this time.
 
I too am with Grundy and are insured based on an agreed upon value, which like David is not the book value you can be sure. I don't remember exactly but I think my annual policy is about $800.

Ira

I am also insured with Grundy for a agreed value of $10,000.00 as of now and didn't have to provide any documentations, other then pictures and mileage!

This should be a good indicator these vehicles are starting to be acknowledged as collectible and more valuable!

They were willing to insure my vehicle for more with additional documentation but i didn't feel the need at this time.
 
I'm with American Collectors, insured for $10,200, have annual premiums of $225 and a 2500 mileage restriction. Not great, but not horrible.

Are you really selling tht gourgeous example of a modified Thunderbird SC? Its probably the best or one of the best examples of such....

That car is absolutely Gorgeous! :D
 
I am with Grundy also. I am at $8500 agreed value and am paying around $140/yr. No mileage restriction. So far have been great to deal with. I am thinking of raising it now to 10k since I put my interior in it. Haggarty was expensive and had too many restrictions.
 
I am with Grundy also. I am at $8500 agreed value and am paying around $140/yr. No mileage restriction. So far have been great to deal with. I am thinking of raising it now to 10k since I put my interior in it. Haggarty was expensive and had too many restrictions.

I am at about $177.00 a year for $10k agreed value as of now with Grundy.

You are right Haggerty has way too many restrictions and much more difficult.

Grundy is fair, reasonable, and far less restrictions!
 
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