Wreck....Advice on what I can expect from insurance company

Was broadsided on Wednesday night in the Reatta I had owned for 1 week. The other party was at fault and their insurance company is going to make an offer by Monday. Provided it is a total loss as they have speculated what do you think I can expect for a settlement. 1990 Reatta with 97K miles in perfect condition.

They have now totaled the car. Progressive has a policy that they will not use anything but new parts in the suspension and they could not find what they needed.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. If you use the search function ( Search on the bar above the messages ) on this forum you will find a thread that discusses exactly this issue. It has some excellent advice on getting fair value out of an insurance company. Be sure to extend the search range out to more than just the last week, like a month or two.

FlyByNite

What you paid for it a week ago should establish its value.

Here is the thread about insurance companies. Good luck!

Insurance companies

About $1000 - $1500 without proof of what you paid.

They will prob. give you less than Blue Book value. They should take into considerating it is a special interest car car but that won't help much either. Your best bet may be to part it out.

I buy lots of Reattas from the insurance salvage auctions. They always list the actual cash value of the car at the auction and lately the prices paid to the owner have been between $ 4000 and $ 5500. My guess yours would be worth about $ 4500 to $ 5000

I got $5400 for an '89 with 169,995 miles. Then they let me buy the wreck for $300. Since then I've sold over $1200 in parts on eBay, and I'm keeping the CRT for my '88. Get some bids on a replacement. Go to a dealer that has one so you'll get an inflated cost, get them to give you a written quote and give them to the insurance company. I assume it wasn't your fault, so let them know you're pissed and may sue if you are not being taken care of! It worked for me..

pal, that is unreal, how did you pull that off? I take it you don't belong to a major compnay like State Farm? Thats WAY lower than the KBB price and usually IC's will take the lowest price they can find then subtract hundreds more for this and that. My insureance company would do all the research to get the lowest possible price. They actually took a quote form a dealer!?!?! If I clould get that much for my Reatta and be able to buy back the wrecked car I'd welcome some drunk to smash into me. How long ago was this by the way? How did you talk the insurance company into this. I think it's great. For what these cars cost new and we all know the IC's have the money. Getting anything form the insurance companys is an art form, I'd like to hear more of you story pal, send me a private message in you wish.

At 1800 hours, 12/24/03, corner of Hy's 78 and 124, come S. on 124. Who runs the light?

With your luck, an illegal alien.

Great prognostication! You must know where I live!

My policy is an agreed upon value one and I got an appraisal at $7,800 on an 89 coupe with 59,000 miles from a reputable antique vehicle dealer.

I feel pretty comfortable as I lost a TR-6 to fire last year, and fought to get what I want. I believe appraisals are important for our vehicles.

I finally settled with Progressive yesterday. All I can say is that I will not be a Progressive Customer anymore. My decision is based not upon the final settlement but just how I was treated during the process.

DID YOU GET TO KEEP THE CAR AND IF SO WHAT DID THEY CHARGE YOU FOR IT PROVIDED IT WAS TOTALED . PAT

the one thing I have learned over the years is to have an insurance company with actual agents. they have a vested interest in you, as you are their income. other non-agent companies (USAA, GEICO, and many Progressive policies) don't have agents, and there is no one to represent your interests.

I had an incident several years ago concerning windshield replacement. here in Arizona, windshield breakage is so common that there is a state law banning insurance companies from cancelling policies for glass claims. I had two windshield claims in eight years (and no accidents or other claims), and the underwriter called my Allstate agent trying to work some angle to cancel me because of my "risk factor". my agent went to bat for me, and that was the end of that. where would I have been without someone there to help?

as far as vehicle value goes, the best value guide is not Kelley Blue Book, but Cars of Particular Interest (CPI). for example, KBB shows a 1990 Reatta coupe with a wholesale value of $3075, and a retail value of $5220. CPI shows this same car at $7900. KBB shows the Reatta still on a downward value curve, while CPI has all Reattas now appreciating at a rate of 5% per quarter, or 20% per year. many insurance companies go out of their way to be fair with their policy holders. in the past year, we have had three customers total their Reattas. one 1991 coupe in Florida with 146,000 miles received $11,200, another 1991 coupe in California with 108,000 miles received $8,000, and a 1988 coupe in Illinois received $9,000. here in Arizona, insurance companies are required to pay actual replacement value. this comprises full retail KBB value (NOT wholesale) plus tax and license fees.

we just had a customer's insurance agent call (Allstate) from Mississippi this morning. our customer's car (1989 pewter coupe) was involved in an accident from someone uninsured running a red light and essentially taking the entire front end off. Allstate called just to verify that we had the parts available, and they will be repairing the car. I suspect from the parts cost on our end that the total bill with labor and paint will be approaching $10,000. Allstate had absolutely no problem picking up the bill to keep their customer happy.

speaking of Allstate, I have heard that Allstate purchased Condon and Skelly (C&S), the collector car insurance company, and Allstate is now offering collector car insurance with stated value coverage. Allstate is considering the Reatta to be a collector/special interest car. one of our customers purchased a policy from Allstate for his 1990 convertible, with a stated value of $20,000, for less than $100 per year. before everyone gets excited, please remember that these policies have very strict mileage and use limits. they are not really designed for daily drivers, but if your Reatta doesn't go out very often, this might just be the way to go.

Mike

Mike you are right about having an ins company with an agent, but around

here allstate is the last place to go. I dont think that they are very honest

have heard lots of problems in kansas. so it is still DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU BUY COVERAGE. chuck