My son's wagon got smashed up...
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Opie Knievel
Rum Fueled Midnight Mechanic and Moderator
Good for him. Your first car can be pretty special and in this case I think that's true. Really good to see dedication like that in a young man.
The other driver's insurance company has really been dragging things out, even getting another accident confused with ours for a few days. I left a very frustrated voicemail with the agent assigned on Friday. She called me later in the day and decided to send an independent adjuster that is local and familiar with classic cars to look at it. He phoned me late Friday afternoon and we had a nice chat. He's familiar with both of our wagons and has seen us at some local race events. It was nice to visit with someone that understood car lingo. He asked me to email him with a tally of all the upgrades on the car and give him an estimate of the car's value, and he would take that, his assessment, and a plug for what the sentimental value is and present it to the insurance. Sounded like he's on our side at least enough to make sure all is fair in the end. I collected the info, plus added a bunch of the parts we've been collecting for the last few months, including a 500+ hp 6.0 LS, to get the car ready for LS Fest West in May, and along with a value estimate from NADA came up with a total value of about $19,400. I seriously doubt they'll consider anything that's not actually on the car, although in my opinion it does increase the value of the project's direction and should mean something. Between wheels and tires and suspension on the car there's easily $4000+ in parts.
He looked at the car Monday and we talked later in the day. He agreed with several things I had written but pointed out all the issues with the car outside of the accident, i.e. a few door dings, the missing latch on the tailgate, the tears in the front seat, etc. He said he understands what the car means to us but we still have to compare apples to apples to be fair to everyone. He also said the car is in nice shape for not ever being restored but to be fair isn't great either. Not sure what that means, but I suspect he's comparing to having looked at fully restored classics too. After chatting for a while about it he said he will submit my info and his assessment and the insurance will be in touch. He essentially said they won;t be interested in trying to repair it because of the difficulty in tracking down used parts, so anticipate a totaled settlement. No surprise to us there.
One thing he pointed out is the frame is bent near the firewall, the suspension on the right side is pushed backwards, and the radiator support mount was torn out of the frame rail. In his opinion from working on classics and owning a body shop for 30 years it's all repairable and encouraged us to try to keep and fix it, as that's what he would do.
I told my Roman to hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. I'm anticipating they'll still try to low ball, but at least it should be a higher amount than what we would've gotten had the adjuster not asked for my input and they had assigned someone to look at it that is used to looking at new cars. So now we hurry up and wait on the insurance.
He looked at the car Monday and we talked later in the day. He agreed with several things I had written but pointed out all the issues with the car outside of the accident, i.e. a few door dings, the missing latch on the tailgate, the tears in the front seat, etc. He said he understands what the car means to us but we still have to compare apples to apples to be fair to everyone. He also said the car is in nice shape for not ever being restored but to be fair isn't great either. Not sure what that means, but I suspect he's comparing to having looked at fully restored classics too. After chatting for a while about it he said he will submit my info and his assessment and the insurance will be in touch. He essentially said they won;t be interested in trying to repair it because of the difficulty in tracking down used parts, so anticipate a totaled settlement. No surprise to us there.
One thing he pointed out is the frame is bent near the firewall, the suspension on the right side is pushed backwards, and the radiator support mount was torn out of the frame rail. In his opinion from working on classics and owning a body shop for 30 years it's all repairable and encouraged us to try to keep and fix it, as that's what he would do.
I told my Roman to hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. I'm anticipating they'll still try to low ball, but at least it should be a higher amount than what we would've gotten had the adjuster not asked for my input and they had assigned someone to look at it that is used to looking at new cars. So now we hurry up and wait on the insurance.
What I did when my last GP which was stock got sandwiched in a 4 car pile up was to give the insurance company a list of what I did to the car in the last year. My car was still on the road so the insurance company couldn't play the game of forcing me to settlement or they take the rental. Ended up they paid me 10% less than the estimated amount so they paid me $3,570 and I kept the car. I did have to threaten to sue them and since I run my own legal practice I told them I'll drag it out and asked them how much that would cost them to fight it. You don't have to accept what they offer.
We bought a parts car to help rebuild Coppertop but unfortunately the front fenders are one of the key parts that are junk on it. So, we need fenders still for a Cutlass wagon or 4 door. That's the only car that has the same design as ours, 2 door Cutlass' or any cousins in wagon or other body style won't work. If you have a pair or have seen some in a wrecking yard please let us know. Thanks!
What years? Albuquerque UP&P has an '87. Not sure how stripped...
From my research any year 4 door or wagon will work. In '80 or '81 they went to the side marker lights in the header panel and deleted them from the fenders. If we can find a pair of fenders, marker delete is fine.
That car doesn't look too bad but it looks like u pull it, is that something you'd be willing to help with? Shoot me a private message if we can work something out.
That car doesn't look too bad but it looks like u pull it, is that something you'd be willing to help with? Shoot me a private message if we can work something out.
How did the insurance treat the claim? I know a bunch of us are curious. Hopefully fair!
If KY wasn't so far from UT i would go scalping for ya. There is an 84 cutlass sedan a couple miles from me with a decent front clip on it.
If KY wasn't so far from UT i would go scalping for ya. There is an 84 cutlass sedan a couple miles from me with a decent front clip on it.
In my experience fenders can be shipped for around $120 each. Might be able to do better putting them in a crate and shipping them freight.
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