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Over the years I've interacted with, gotten advice and support from, and bought a ton of parts from the members of this forum. Like many of you I can absolutely say I couldn't have built my car from the ground up without your support.
Through no fault of my own, an old woman pulled into oncoming traffic (me) and I hit her head on with 85 TA, which is crumpled to the A pillars. Insurance will surely total it, but there's no way they can ever pay me a fair price for a car I spent 7 years and way too much money building. Without all the details, I don't know for sure what my options are just yet.
I'm putting this out there to see if anyone else has ever encountered a situation like this with our cars and has advice to give. How can I represent the value of this car? I'm considering buying a roller and bringing my car back piece by piece, if anyone has a roller near Alabama I would be very grateful to check it out.
If this is the end for my car and for me as a third Gen owner, THANK YOU to all who have helped me over the years. And if anyone is bored, my car is a center piece in the movie High Heat. At least I'll always have that C list action movie to look back on.
Unless you have claimed value in your insurance policy, in the event of a total loss, there isn't much you can do. I would at least buy it back from the insurance company to reclaim all of your parts and find a roller to transfer to and or sell everything to reclaim some value. Sorry about your luck.
As a general public service announcement regarding these cars, or any other "classic" car, I recommend you get a declared value policy. So if your car is totaled, you get a check for exactly what you declared upon setting up the policy. Some policies will even let you keep the car after they give you the check (No joke, this is called the sentimental attachment clause). It does increase the policy price but worth it when our cars are valued so low in the eyes of the underwriter.
Biggest question is do you have an agreed value insurance policy or just a typical one? With an agreed value policy, you state what you believe the car is worth up front and if the insurance company agrees with your valuation then that’s the value of your car and not what is listed in something like Kelly Blue Book.
I’m not sure if you’ll have much luck fighting the insurance company if you don’t have an agreed value policy. Since you didn’t cause the accident maybe your agent can help you fight the at fault driver’s insurance.
Thanks guys, I do not have a declare value policy. That will be a must for my future projects. I'll fight to the extent I can, but that is very good info for my next policy.
If you have receipts you may stand a chance to squeeze a little more from them given that your car is not replaceable and you were not at fault. At the very least, see what the buy back price is. Sometimes for cars like these its cheaper for the insurance company to sell you the car back than it is for them to deal with it.
When you buy a car and try to register it most ( if not all ? ) states will charge you tax. MOST states used to use NADA for the value of the car when purchased to calculate your tax. These days NADA online doesn't provide online 'used car values' online,.. but their site redirects you to JD Power and they do provide used car values.
This is the 'value' I would be fighting the insurance company for. Might try to call the your state's DMV,... they might be able to help by telling you where they get their current valuations for tax purposes.
** You can also provide receipts to boost it's "value",.... but that might hurt you too by causing the totaled cars value to increase - so the buyback price will probably increase too.
Your insurance company will 'settle' your claim for an amount likely far less than the car's actual market value. However, before you proceed, you might still want to talk to an attorney who specializes in automobile cases such as yours.
If the accident is not your fault, shouldn't her insurance be paying for the damages?
If its totaled they will only give him the book value of the car. Any dollar he's invested into the car is null and void in the eyes of the insurance company.
I am sorry your car got wrecked. I hope things work out well. You might want to speak to a Personal Injury Attorney and get yourself examined for possible hidden damage. Plus, the other party's insurance company WILL have an Attorney contact, so you should be on "an even playing field" so to speak.
If you end up parting the car, I might be interested in a take out TPI 350.
DONT sign anything OR accept any payment without at least consulting your insurance company. They can handle it on your behalf as well. Start finding and printing off comp cars for sale so you're armed with info. If you want to keep a thirdgen......make them buy you a thirdgen in compareable condition. Also get yours looked at by a local hot rod or classic car builder. Get a price on clipping yours or putting ALL your parts into another shell and painting it. You need to know where you stand on this monetarily if you decide to rebuild/build another.
Sorry to hear this. Unfortunate for the car, but glad you are OK.
As has been stated already, a classic car policy with an agreed value is the way to go in the future.
In your current situation, it's going to be a bit of a battle to get anything close to a fair value. If you have full coverage, I would be working with your own insurance carrier and they will turn around and go after the other person's insurance. Your insurance company works for you and you have a better shot of getting more $ from them. If you do not have collision coverage, then you are stuck working with the other person's insurance carrier.
Pull online values, auction sales results (BaT, EBay, Cars & Bids) and all of your receipts and make your best case on the value of the car. But, be realistic. If you go in there looking for $50K, they won't even negotiate with you. So, be reasonable, but do aim high and hopefully settle for something in the middle.
Buying back the car is an option to consider. I wouldn't buy it back with the intent to fix it, but rather for the parts to move over to a different car and sell off others that you don't use. That you will have to evaluate like any business decision. How much is the buyback from the insurance compared to the value of the parts you think you can salvage. If it got hit pretty hard in the front, there may be physical damage to the motor and other underhood parts, so that would make the buyback less attractive.
Maybe.......on my wife's show truck 'agreed value' policy, it is specifically stated that a 'total loss' payout can NOT be bought back. It will be picked up IN COMPLETE form according to policy pictures on file. What that means is wheels, interior, stereo, engine parts, EVERYTHING must be as it was for you to get the full amount and then it BELONGS TO THEM.
Maybe.......on my wife's show truck 'agreed value' policy, it is specifically stated that a 'total loss' payout can NOT be bought back. It will be picked up IN COMPLETE form according to policy pictures on file. What that means is wheels, interior, stereo, engine parts, EVERYTHING must be as it was for you to get the full amount and then it BELONGS TO THEM.
Agreed value with Grundy. That applies to a total loss payout.
I switched to them about a year ago because they would insure all of my cars, unlike Hagerty. Is it actually AIG who insures you? Grundy is just my agent, AIG ends up being the ins co?
"For instance, you may want to buy your totaled car back from our insurance company. If you buy your vehicle back, your state may require that you acquire a salvage title, which indicates that your car has been declared a total loss by the insurance company."
If you take the full cash payout for a total loss, then you cannot keep the car (as it states in the policy, and that's true for any auto insurance company). The car then becomes the property of the insurance company. If you negotiate with the insurance company to accept the total loss payout minus the salvage value, then you would be able to keep the car and the title is marked salvaged. This is typical with any auto insurance. The insurance company doesn't care whether they sell the car back to you or to a salvage yard, auction or wholesaler. In fact, it's easier for them to just sell back to you.
Hagerty offers a Cherished Value rider for an additional cost on the annual premium that allows you to keep the car in the event of a total loss payout. All you are really doing in this case is insuring the car for the agreed value PLUS the salvage value with the associated increase in premium. It's not really any different than if you increased the agreed value by the salvage value. You're just buying more insurance either way.
My situation would support both cases, depending on which car.
I have Hagerty agreed value on my 23' Camaro SS. I do not have Cherished Value coverage on that car. The car is all stock and If it's totalled, I have no desire to keep it. I will not part it out, or move parts over to another car. I'll just take the money and buy another car.
For my 89' GTA, it's not yet insured since its not on the road yet (although I am probably at the point I should put in-progress insurance on it). When it is on the road, I will insure agreed value with Hagerty and probably do the Cherished Value rider. Just the driveline parts alone would cost a lot of money to replace and I would want to move them along with a lot of other parts over to a donor car. In this case I think it makes sense to add the extra insurance.
In the OP's case, he's dealing with traditional auto insurance, not agreed value. They will value the car based on the market and there will be an option to accept less money and keep the car (buy back). The decision on the buy back just depends on that price vs. the value of the parts that will be moved over to another car or sold off. If neither, then let the car go.
Last edited by TransamGTA350; 03-07-2024 at 06:28 PM.
Reason: typo
I switched to them about a year ago because they would insure all of my cars, unlike Hagerty. Is it actually AIG who insures you? Grundy is just my agent, AIG ends up being the ins co?
This is pretty common practice in the insurance industry. Grundy is underwritten by different insurance companies (AIG, Travelers, SafeCo, Chubb and others). Hagerty does the same thing.
If you take the full cash payout for a total loss, then you cannot keep the car (as it states in the policy, and that's true for any auto insurance company). The car then becomes the property of the insurance company.
This is not the case with Hagerty. They have an additional policy on top of declared value that lets you keep the car even in the event of a payout and total loss. It is called the sentimental value clause or something. This is the policy I have.
Your quote of my post was edited to remove the part in parenthesis. This is the full quote.
Originally Posted by TransamGTA350
From Grundy's website:
"For instance, you may want to buy your totaled car back from our insurance company. If you buy your vehicle back, your state may require that you acquire a salvage title, which indicates that your car has been declared a total loss by the insurance company."
If you take the full cash payout for a total loss, then you cannot keep the car (as it states in the policy, and that's true for any auto insurance company). The car then becomes the property of the insurance company. If you negotiate with the insurance company to accept the total loss payout minus the salvage value, then you would be able to keep the car and the title is marked salvaged. This is typical with any auto insurance. The insurance company doesn't care whether they sell the car back to you or to a salvage yard, auction or wholesaler. In fact, it's easier for them to just sell back to you.
Grundy states that you can buy the car back. If you do that, they will just reduce your payout by the salvage value. If you don't buy the car back, then you have to turn it over to the insurance company with everything in it, since it is now their car.
Originally Posted by ShiftyCapone
This is not the case with Hagerty. They have an additional policy on top of declared value that lets you keep the car even in the event of a payout and total loss. It is called the sentimental value clause or something. This is the policy I have.
Hagerty calls it Cherished Value coverage. It's available for an additional cost over the standard premium.
Unless you have claimed value in your insurance policy, in the event of a total loss, there isn't much you can do. I would at least buy it back from the insurance company to reclaim all of your parts and find a roller to transfer to and or sell everything to reclaim some value. Sorry about your luck.
As a general public service announcement regarding these cars, or any other "classic" car, I recommend you get a declared value policy. So if your car is totaled, you get a check for exactly what you declared upon setting up the policy. Some policies will even let you keep the car after they give you the check (No joke, this is called the sentimental attachment clause). It does increase the policy price but worth it when our cars are valued so low in the eyes of the underwriter.
Hagerty's calls it "Cherished Salvage."
I believe it bumps the premium $30 per year, per car for me.
Last edited by Roorancher; 03-08-2024 at 02:59 PM.
Unfortunately, if you own a Thirdgen now, you should be going with an Agreed Value policy. They are simply too old now, so it doesn't take much to total one out.
Pics would help... if its TERRIBLY bad then in all honestly, you might want to just total it and get what you can.
BUT ......... what I did for another car was, I made a deal with the other person's insurance company... I told them I assumed that they total out cars once the repairs exceed 60? percent of the cars value (based on info I got here). I told them to give me 50 percent so that I can keep the car and a clean title and I'd be on my way....
the problem in MY state with salvage cars is a CERTIFIED shop needs to "repair" the car.... and that can get $$$$$ / would far exceed the cost I could afford. That plus there are very few shops that are salvage certified... so a clean title was a must....
The damage was minor that could fix with some help from a non salvage shop....so I made the deal with them and they were glad to get rid of me LOL ...this was after like 4 months of back and forth though.
but again, you say its crumpled to the pillars..... how fast were you going / how folded is it (to get an idea of the damage)
02-29-2024, 11:08 AM
