Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 13:53:35 -0700
Reply-To: Mike Miller <mwmiller@CWNET.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mike Miller <mwmiller@CWNET.COM>
Subject: Re: Totaled camper van
In-Reply-To: <20030912193821.56921.qmail@mail.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Thanks to all who have responded. I'm implementing the various suggestions
[can you tell I was a buearocrat in a former life?].
Van has rebuilt engine with 30K on it. All new suspension parts. New
starter, AFM, cat., Ox sensor, tires, AC converted to R 134a. They credited
me $495 for these items. And deducted 305 for mileage of 196k. One of
their two comps was an 86 regular van that had had a one burner stove and
hand pump sink installed selling for $1800.
I'm still collecting comps and agent says nothing is final until I sign the
final acceptance document.
Mike
On 9/12/03 12:38 PM, "Grant Braddish" <braddish@MAIL.COM> wrote:
> First off, I am an insurance adjuster. While I don't deal with total loss
> vehicles, I can say that there is not a specific conspiracy to screw Westy
> owners by the insurance industry.
>
> The bottom line is, we all own very unique vehicles. They are not quite
> passenger vehicles and not quite RVs. The evaluation systems that insurers
> use are designed to evaluate the most common vehicle types and do not do very
> well with 15+ year old 'specialty' vehicles. KBB.com and others do the same
> poor job of providing actual pricing on Westys.
>
> Keep in mind that the common misunderstanding of VW campers is that they are
> owned by pot smoking hippies who keep them running with bailing wire and
> nitrous oxide balloons. It's not easy to overcome this misconception with
> your future in-laws or your insurance company.
>
> Every week I see posts discussing a 'fair price' on a Westy somewhere in the
> world. The typical reply is - it depends on the condition, mileage,
> maintenance, etc. As we all have seen this can add or subtract thousands of
> $$ from the 'fair price'.
>
> As a Westy owner, we all are willing to put up with various quirks our
> vehicles inherently have. We quickly forgive the engineers. It's important
> to remember that one other quirk that we have to deal with is the difficulty
> of determining a 'fair price' for our Westy whether we want to sell it, buy
> another, or face the ultimate disappointment of having it 'totalled'.
>
> Your insurer should respond to quotes from local dealers (ask your local VW
> dealer if they will share some recent sales receipts for Westys), on line
> classifieds, local classifieds, etc. They will not care if you just dropped
> $3500 into your coolant system (an average car is supposed to have a working
> coolant system, remember?) or other 'mainteinance'.
>
> If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
>
> Grant
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Eric Zeno <vw4x4@FYI.NET>
> Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2003 14:55:13 -0400
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Totaled camper van
>
>> Mike,
>> Don't waste your time. This is the ripoff of all insurance
>> companies
>> today. Simply tell them no, and ask them to contact you when they want
>> to make a reasonable offer. Here in PA they have 2 years to pay. If it
>> gets
>> close to that time, they will be very reasonable.
>>
>> Eric
>>
>>
>>
>> Mike Miller wrote:
>>
>>> Volkites,
>>>
>>> I need some asking prices for full camper Westphalia water boxers. My van
>>> has a big boo boo and the insurance company wants to total it for $1800 so I
>>> need comparative prices, preferably Northern California, to show them.
>>>
>>> TIA,
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
> --
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