Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 11:18:08 -0900
Reply-To: Mark Tuovinen <mst@AK.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mark Tuovinen <mst@AK.NET>
Subject: Re: What to do with a crash survivor
In-Reply-To: <w53bq7zg2tz.fsf@fozzie.woozle.org>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Take possession of your van, it is still your van and will remain so until you settle with the Insurance company. Therefore they have no right to deny you access to it, the towing company however may deny access until the fees have been paid. This may or may not be legal but it does happen. A pretty face and a sob story may help in getting to the van for personal effects, but not for removal of attached parts. Storage fees add up quickly so the sooner you get it back the better, later you can negociate these expenses into the settlement as the crash was caused by the other driver and their insurance is obligated to cover your losses within reason. Call the tow company, pay the fees, and have it towed home or wherever you can store it, and save the receipt. If they argue you can tell them that you did not authorize it to be towed anywhere but to your house and were not given the option on where it went(an assumption on my part based on years of experience). Compile all
of your receipts for the engine, rack, tires, engine, awning, etc, it is possible, though difficult to get reimbursed for them should the van not get repaired. Save these for later in your negociations though, start with hitting them for real market value, not NADA, Kelly, etc, book value. They will hit you with "Book" value, we all know that "Book" value is low on our vans. I checked value on both of our vans recently and it showed high book on my `87 Syncro around $8300.00 and the `87 Westy Syncro was $8900.00. Get on line and find every comparable van you can, try Autotrader, TheSamba, GoWesty, and every other place you can. They will argue that some of your comparables are from outside of your market, you position will be that this is where you had to look to find real comparables and if they do not like it they are welcome to find a replacement van for you. One that is truely comparable, not just the same year or model, they hate this and would rather write a che
ck than spend resources replacing your van. For every comparable you find list and describe every difference, ie; your GoWesty engine has less miles, body in better condition, the accesories you added, etc. Again, the Insurance co. won't want to talk about the accessories but they are part of your financial loss and the longer you hold out the better you will do. Do not let them tell you that they only have to settle for market value of the van without the accessories, they are not your insurance company, it was the other drivers fault, so you do not have a contract with them stating what they have to pay for your loss. Option "B" for the accessories is to settle on the van but get them to let you pull those items(shoud they total it and you not keep salvage rights). While you are at it, track the hours that you spend on researching the value and negociating with them then submit a bill for your time, they won't like it but your time has a value and their client has caus
ed you to spend "X" amount of your valuable time dealing with this. Make them provide a rental car, they hate to pay for them but since you can no longer drive your vehicle they have to provide one. This gives them incentive to settle quickly as rental fees add up fast, the longer you hold out on for your price on the van, the more they spend in rental fees. Should they total your van consider buying back the salvage, it is worth very little to them as they know that salvage yards only want late model, popular vehicles, not 20 year old nche market vanagons. A recent example of salvage value that I came across was on a `91 Westy Syncro with a reported 38,000 miles on it, after an engine fire it was sold by the insurance company for a reported amount around $3,000.00. Yes the buyer knows what he has, no he won't sell it, I've already tried! Should you not be in the position to deal with parting out your van maybe ther is someone on the List nearby that can help, or that r
ecognizes the value of the parts and is willing to purchase the carcass for a fair price. Where are you located?
The bottom line is that you are in the drivers seat, it is your loss, but someone else has to make it right, within reason. Check your State laws, talk to your insurance agent, document everything, including time spent, and do not settle until you are satisfied.
Mark in AK
----- Original Message -----
From: Neale Pickett <neale@WOOZLE.ORG>
Date: Saturday, January 5, 2008 4:33 pm
Subject: What to do with a crash survivor
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> It's funny, I was working on a message to this list asking for
> opinionsabout whether I was cut out for owning this vehicle. Last
> night as my
> wife and I were discussing that very subject, someone failed to yield
> pulling out onto the freeway and we T-boned them at 55MPH. My wife,
> daughter, and I are all bruised but not broken, amazingly. The
> windshield landed 15 feet ahead of the bus.
>
> I was mostly focused on the people but here's what I took away
> about the
> 1989 7-passenger Vanagon:
>
> * It went from 55 to 0 awfully quickly
> * The cooling system now has a very fast leak :)
> * The windshield is gone
> * The front end is pretty banged up
> * My feet are fine
>
> We decided this was our cosmic invitation to acknowledge we're not
> Vanagon people.
>
> I'm guessing from having read this list that the insurance company is
> going to want to total it. There's a good chance the frame is
> bent, and
> in their book the vehicle's probably not worth that much. I
> happen to
> know that the parts on this thing are worth quite a bit. We have:
>
> * A 2.3L GoWesty engine, still under warranty (about 7,000 miles
> on it)
> * New Nokian snow tires with reinforced sidewalls, about 100
> miles on them
> * A Gary Lee rack
> * A Gary Lee rear bumper with trailer hitch
> * An unused Bus Depot awning
> * Two new GoWesty rear seat belts (weren't in use during the crash)
> * A whole van full of parts in good shape
>
> The question is, how much of a pain is it going to be for me to
> recoversome of the money we put into the bus? The engine alone
> was around 5
> grand. But I don't have the equipment to tear the thing down and sell
> the parts out.
>
> Any suggestions as to what to do?
>
> Neale
> who has a sore chest and a newfound love for Ralph Nader
>
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