Had a little deer related incident. Damage appears to include some rad support reshaping and a new radiator plus a bunch of other stuff so I'm expecting it to be very close to the totalling of the car. Just want to get an idea what others think a fair value would be. Car is a 97 Green Coupe, 94k, good to very good condition though it was fully repainted and has crash history early in its life. Things that were done to it are a new reman tranny from zf authorized rebuilder around 6k ago, tensioners done, all the coolant (yes all) replaced in the past 6 months, new front suspension bushings, shocks and mounts, lowering springs all around at the same time. No major issues aside from a pesky ABS ASC light appearing. Should probably have the module fixed by an "expert". Obviously, I have the car done the way I want it and don't want to see it go but I'm a realist on the type of damage that it has. I also have a solid 6k not including all the labor into the typical age related maint. of a car of this vintage on top of the price I paid for her. What do you think a realistic offer will be if it is totalled and what do you think I should be insisting on.

 

Sorry to hear about the incident. I trust you and the deer are OK.

Can't help with value as it's very different from the equivalent in the UK but I hope you end up even or ahead on the settlement.

Graham

 

The maint expenses will not play into an insurance claim, to bad. Hope it works out for you, I'm no expert but a 97 with close to 100K on it is probably retailing for around 8 to 10K..

As the 96-06 MY gets older yet has not been declared an antique or classie yet insurance company's will only pay book value unless you have a stated value policy.

 

Jandreu is right that the maintenance costs won't factor in, but you can use them to show the car's condition as being better than average. Play up the Jag enthusiast angle as well.

Depending on your insurance language, most total settlements are negotiable. I once "totaled" an XJ6 that was in perfect running and only slightly altered cosmetic condition. When the settlement was below what I expected, I simply printed out current want ads for similar cars in the general area and ended up with $2k extra. Enough to replace it with a newer, better condition XJ.

Everything is negotiable.

 

It's obviously too late now, but classic car insurance is available for the XK8. I don't know what years, but the 97 for sure. I applied to Haggerty for mine, but was turned down because my back up car is too old, otherwise okay.

 

I have mine with Haggerty. There main concern was that it wouldn't be used as a everyday vehicle if one of the other cars broke down. With six vehicles they were satisfied. Cost about $450.00 a year with stated value. You can put about any value on it that you want to pay for.
The value(Kelley Blue Book) for a 97 XK8 coupe with 97,000 selling it outright is only $5400.00. I don't know how that will factor in.

 

I can't put an agreed policy on it as it isn't garaged and is used daily, if I could the XJR would be on an agreed policy but again it can't be not that would matter now anyways. I'm well aware of what the blue book is (actually I came up with less) however, I've never seen one sell in that price range so that isn't a realistic price for a replacement cost. As far as the maint. not coming into play. Yes it does, when you provide the receipts and ask for a comparable replacement. Just looking for what people have been paying or what they have seen for cars out there. Would prefer it get rebuilt but that is out of my hands. There just so happens to be a donor car available fairly close that lacks a proper tranny but frame damage is the key. If it isn't worth straightening, it will be junked.

 

Well I just got home today to the repair quote which has the car at a total loss at 8700. This should be fun as within the past 5k it has a new reman tranny (from the ZF authorized shop in new england), rebuilt front suspension including shocks, springs and springs in the rear, ALL the coolant lines,, metal tower etc. replaced, complete fluid service, including rear diff and brake line sucked out new front calipers, akabono pads all around, plugs, tensioners and the whole undercarriage gone over for surface rust and re-undercoated. Including purchase price last year I'm at $15k with a modest loss of the normal wear items. I know I can't find one with the peach of mind of things done to it for any less than that price.

Thoughts?

 

I think they are offering you standard book value for your car. Negotiate for a better payout.

As my 2nd grade teacher always said, show your work. You have receipts on the previous work done, those can be a leverage point.

 

I'm sure that's the case. Some of the work I had done but some I did myself so I don't have any receipts but can probably do some looking back on email confirmations etc on that. It is pretty obvious looking at the car what was done, minus the tensioners though. Think I'm off base on my value? Most decent cars for sale without a history are in the 9-11k range for 97-98s, the tranny is the big one and at 90k I wouldn't buy one for that price unless I knew it was done and done right.

 

Eat your Wheaties, put on your suit of armor, gather up your receipts, get your mindset right, and jump into the fray. The insurance company's job is to settle with you as cheaply as they can get away with. Your job is to not allow them to do that. Expect a battle, and be prepared for one....

Good luck and keep us posted....

 

Well I finally got ahold of the claims adjuster today (he didn't call I called, left a message at 9 and then called back at 3pm) I am truly horrified by the customer service I've gotten with Donegal Insurance and will be shopping around all of our insurance immediately after this. Our first claim minus a windshield with them in maybe 10 years and I've already got a bad taste in my mouth.

Of course he said they're valuing it around 10k, I said that's about 5k off where I'm at as the car is a JCNA concours trophy winner, has had all that recent work and the cheapest 97 coupe within 500 miles is $10 with the same mileage and non of the maint. needed done to it.

He will be turning it over to their total loss department who is to get back with me today or first thing tomorrow. If it makes it to lunch without a call I will have to go rental car shopping as I can't believe this is as far as they've gotten in nearly 2 weeks. Maybe paying rental fees on top of storage fees with get them a bit more motivated to settle.

 

If you have somewhere to store the car, then getting a settlement with you getting the car might be an option.
Then if you can find a nice car, you will have the drive train out of the original car to transplant if you run into trouble and the other parts could be farmed out. Get what you want off the car and call the junk car guy, he will give a few hundred dollars for a striped car and the wheels are a big resale item.

Wayne

 

Yeah, that's an option but it is an early 97 so a lot of the parts aren't crossing over to many later cars so the market is limited. As for wheels, mine are painted a nice charcoal grey and one is shot, so that isn't an option. If I bought it back I'd wanna keep it on the road, of course there are the issues surrounding a salvage titled car.

 

If and I say big "IF", you would be keeping the car, who gives a Rat's a.. if it;s a savaged title. You going to tell anyone at the car shows that your car is not one of the best around and you bought it back from dead. That would impress me!!

Wayne

 

Salvage titled cars are even tougher to get collision and comprehensive policies for in pa as they are branded titles so then they want to pay even less out. Officially Donegal insurance company is the worst insurance company I've ever dealt with, unprofessional, slow and their offer today of 9800 which includes no deductible and an extra 6% for sales tax is completely laughable. There isn't one on Autotrader in 500 miles for that price let alone one with a reman tranny, tensioners done, complete suspension rebuild including springs and mounts, a complete 90k service done and all the coolant lines done. I will never give donegal another dime.

 

$9800 sounds like a good offer to me for an XK8. I bought a 01 XKR with 90k in great shape in April from a used car dealer and it cost me $9150. There were 10 or so XK8s with less than 100k for less than $8k around me.

What sems to drive the price of these cars up is maintence records. I got none on mine hence the low price even though it appears to be in great shape (and everything I have checked supports this). The insurance company isn't going to consider that though.

 

Well finally settled on 11,400 for the car, with a 1600 buy back so my first purchase was a 97 green coupe with 134k on the odo, a bad tranny but a pretty solid front end for a parts car. The car arrived yesterday. It has a bit more rust then I would have hoped. Was planning on cutting out the rockers and rear wheel well to save for future needs but overall the car will work fine and will leave me with a ton of spares. That said I'll be posting up in the for sale section but for those early birds who need/want something let me know. Car is a 97 green (non metallic) with tan interior. Haven't spent more than a few minutes with it but if you want me to look at a specific part let me know via a pm.