I am reposting this from "Jaguarforum.com", as I didn't realize that was the UK board. Some kind folks redirected me here.

I have a beautiful 2001 XKR (I believe Silverstone) in Anthracite (black) with about 36,500 miles. Runs perfect, and super clean interior and exterior. I am second owner.

A couple weeks ago my wife came out of a store to see that someone bumped the driver's side rear quarter panel leaving a dent, roughly 18" in diameter, and a tiny dent in the rear bumper. A hit and run, errr.

My insurance is trying to total the car, and of course are lowballing me. The car is in excellent shape. It is very hard to find a comparable car. XK8s are priced way too low as a comp. I have searched for hours and have found about 10 cars that come close with the model, miles, etc. with prices from ~ $15K to $30K. CarFax gave it a value of just over $19K, and KBB about $19,500.

Some additional information that might give some insight. I have taken the car to an auto body shop, that receives only 5 star reviews, and the owner refuses to accept insurance contracts (not to say he won't accept insurance payments, just long term contracts) so that he can be an advocate for the car owner. He says that the insurance offer is too low for that car and the shape it is in. We talked about replace vs repair, and since we have been planning on keeping the car for forever he suggested the replacement for the quarter panel. The insurance company says that they can't find a replacement panel for it as the car is too old. I have no idea how hard they looked, or if they even contacted junk yards for the parts. He also doesn't care too much for the repair aspect because of the long term side effects of bondo.

Also, the the auto body repair owner suggested that I contact Leif's Auto Body, which is near my area in Oregon, as they have an in-house legal staff that might be able to put the fear of God into my insurance company, and he says he would rather see them do the work, even if he loses the repair, so that I don't get screwed over by the insurance company.

One thought I did have was if an XK8 panel would be a suitable replacement for an XKR.

Can I get some advice from everyone as to what I can/should do here? What do you think the value of the car is today?

Thanks!

 

Hmm. I don't think a group that is (willing) used to dealing with insurance companies will need to put the fear of God in anyone. If you get them in the mix they will most likely be able to have a much more reasonable conversation about what is possible in terms of repairs... They'll work with the insurance company to figure it out AND will by default have an interest in things going in a way that works out favorably for you...

I'll just say this for anyone else, especially with a car that MIGHT be considered a collectable. If and where possible, deal with classic insurers...

 

I think the advice about dealing with classic insurers is very apropos. After digging around a bit, I am convinced that the XKR line is now a collectible.

While poking around I came across the coupe version. Those are gorgeous and one of the sexiest cars I have seen. I never had reason to look for them as we have the convertible, but the roof line is just awesome.

 

+1. I have 4 Jags all insured by Hagerty Insurance. They're easy to deal with, the rates are very reasonable and include flatbed towing and a few other perks. Worth checking out.

 

regarding your question on XK8 part working with XKR - yes - the primary difference between the 2 is the XKR has a supercharged engine as opposed to the XK8's naturally aspirated. Body panels and many other components are compatible between the 2

 

Thanks Steve!

Noted.

 

I guess the golden rule is not to accept the first offer. Or, probably, the second either. They will always try the lowball, easy route. Get an independent assessment. Parts are not impossible to source.

After-the-fact I know, but I can only echo the above with regard to classic insurance.

Can you post a pic of the damage?

 

I owned an 2001 XK8 and was rear-ended. Trunk, bumper, the trunk bottom, both rear ferears, both rear mufflers plus what all else were damaged. It was totalled but I expected that with extensive damage.. However the numbers were close to repair even at 75% value ratio. It's hard to believe your insurance company is totalling yours with minimal damage as you report. I went to an expert in collecting more money as the insured company was low balling me on an payout. The expert worked also in Diminished Value. Anyway he was able to get me several thousand more and I came out almost whole, very close especially after onky owning it less than 3 months. Look to a lawyer or specialist, the specialist will be much cheaper and thsts what they do. And yes, move to a classic car insurance company and you will agree on a Stated Value plus much lower rates unless it's your daily driver not garaged.

 

+1 a picture will help us to understand the scope of the damage.

 

Michael & Norri,

Here are a couple of pics of the damage. Sorry about the quality, it was raining which makes it hard to see with a wet car.

 

Sorry, I just don''t get the insurer's diagnosis here. IMO that is superficial damage.

It is a slightly complex shape at the join with the rear bumper, but I'd expect a competent body shop to be able to repair.

 

I agree with you. It is almost like insurers are just totaling vehicles these days, without putting any effort into trying to repair. Maybe there are just too few repair shops available or something. I am going to have to push back on them and then talk to the repair shop and see if we can locate a panel. If I can't locate the panel, then I will likely fall back on repairing the existing panel keeping an eye open for a replacement panel down the road. I think at this point the car's value will only go up so it will likely be a worthwhile investment at some point down the road.

I have no idea where to find panels at this point.

 

What is their value for the car? That seems absurdly easy to fix, at least superficially. It would seem hard to value the car at less than 7K. It seems hard to imagine this repair is more than 2K with tthe panel fix or replace/paint match (around here, your mileage may vary in Oregon).

 

They want to "give" me $12,500 for it, with a salvage of $4,800. If the difference is more than the repair costs (maybe even at 80%) then they just total it, based on state law supposedly. It is looking like I might need to find a good appraiser that would get that up considerably higher to keep the car from having a "total" against it.

My first plan was to replace the panel. That could be problematic in finding one. The cost of the panel is around $3,800, if I can get it. Also, there is a small dent in the rear bumper: $3,000 for one of those, but I could live with that being patched. I prefer to not go the route of using bondo, but I may be cornered here.

 

I'm with Dale, any indy would be happy to repair that at $2k.
Bet if you pushed it with your foot 75% would come out if you can get to it behind the panel in the trunk.
The offer for thee car and the price to repair that are no where near 80% value. If it didn't get the "B" post, no structural damage and it could all be pulled back to shape.
Hold to your guns.

 

Yikes, I see the problem.

Whole used bumper covers are less than $1K on ebay (I assume it's not the structure). With paint match, it should be about $1600 at most. Mine just done and painted for about $1200 after someone ran into me in a parking lot. Alternatively, they have plastic processes to repair plastic parts these days. I didn't find any rear body panels quickly, but a good body shop should be able to source repair parts that are not $3800 + $3000 for these two bits (if you even need these two bits). For example, here's a whole xk8 with intact rump for $4K

https://www.ecoastauto.com/inventory...6450/G1493RCRK

People do genius work with metal these days. Perhaps you need to investigate other shops while you work on the insurance company's lowball valuation.

 

The body panel - or 'tonneau panel' is a large section, so I imagine a body shop would likely only use part of it anyway. That is if indeed the original panel is beyond recovery.

 

From my limited experience, that also looks like a minor "Pull out and repair" fix. I would consider letting the Ins. Co. 'Total' the car, get the money, buy it back, find good repair shop to fix, then FIND A NEW INSURANCE Co.! Sounds like you have a real Dud. Hagerty is great to work with.

 

Ask around about paintless dent removal. Those guys can do wonders in straightening panels without having to sand all the paint down. I don't see any need to replace the quarter panel. Any competent body worker will get the metal back in shape and minimal amount of filler will be needed. All my older cars are just insured for liability. If they get damaged it's my decision whether or not to fix them and how.

 

My very recent experience of a tree falling on my 2001 XKR has shown that it's the quality of the insurance company/policy that counts in the end.
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk8-xkr-x100-17/tree-fell-my-cat-253839/

As you see mine had extensive damage—insurers agreed repair despite my fears they like yours would declare it a right off. The body shop manager was also a little surprised opining that he had undervalued the car. Needless to say the insurance company will be getting all my business from now on.