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Help save my (our) Sciroccos from insurance companies



this is a re-re-post from many moons ago.



>due to people getting hosed by insurance companies, I sending this out to
hopefully aid people before they get screwed.


I feel like a freak for always talking about getting cars appraised, but if
you have put money into your car, and it is worth more than book you really
should do it, to help cover your investment in case of an accident. Don't
count on having receipts piled 2 feet high to get you more money. Some
insurance companies will treat you right, others will bend you over and make
you scream like a pig at a slaughter.

Be careful, many "appraisers" only understand US Muscle cars, and anything
like a VW with "custom/aftermarket" parts confuses them. Make sure they
understand about your car, many appraisers feel a need to take money OFF for
aftermarket parts like "custom wheels/ and bodykits/ suspensions / etc".
Call up your local tuning shop and ask them if they could recommend anybody.
Also talk to your insurance agent (if you have a local one) and see if they
can help. And make sure its a real appraiser, some people don't have the
credentials to back it up. If you know of anybody that has sold a car like
yours for more money than book, get some paper work on that to show the
appraiser, and of course have all your receipts.

You would want to get your insurance company to hopefully insure your car
for stated value.

A good way for you to guess the value of your car is to..

1- money you have put into it for "stock" parts and or body restoration
doesn't really count unless your car is super clean and in "perfect"
mechanical shape, then it would be worth more than book.

2- money that goes into the car for mods (anything from a short shifter to
new cams, to custom bodywork, audio, wheels, etc) can be basically divided
in half. Unless of course your car is a rotted, rolling wreck with a short
shifter. :P

example: say your cars "book" is 2000$, but you have done a full restoration
on it, and you also have spent $5000 on mods.

book- 2000$
due to restoration and new "stock" parts bump it up to 4000$
mods cost 5000$, but cut that in 1/2, 2500$

car will appraise at about 6500$

there isn't a fool proof way to do it, because there are so many variables.

For instance I know of stock sciroccos that appraise for $8000 - $9000 and
that's just stock, and I know a custom Scirocco that is basically stock
mechanically but has some nice body work and it has appraised for 11k.

In my case I was appraised starting at book, and then basically all my mods
were added to the book value and the total was cut in about 1/2.




Josh Able
www.JsHouseOfEuro.com
----------------------------------------
Lemmy 1975:
I like to laugh, I like a joke,
It's not my fault if my sense of humor broke
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald Walter" <dswalterwi@earthlink.com>
To: "Scirocco-L@Scirocco.Org" <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2003 4:32 PM
Subject: Help save my (our) Sciroccos from insurance companies


> My insurance company has asked me to compile proof of the value of my car
in
> order to not total it.  The problem is that they won't give me any
> information on what it is that they need.  It is all based on subjective
> decision making.  I need to collect information on similar equipped cars
and
> the selling price of them.  I am sure that some of you have gone trough
this
> before and hopefully some have been successful.  I am also looking for how
> to get a car appraised.  It appears the "Appraisal" is done just as I am
> doing now, Proof of Value.  I know we all feel what cars are worth but I
> need is what the insurance company calls "Legitimate" and "Reliable"
value.
> I think that if we pull together that we can provide that proof that our
> cars are not just 17 year old pieces of junk.
>
> I would also like to compile this information and make it available to the
> list so that any other Scirocco owners don't suffer the same fate.  There
is
> force in numbers.  I know some of you are going through this right now.  I
> would be willing, as I am going thru it anyways, to help collect and
> organize the information for us to post on our web site.  If any one knows
> or has information on cars that have been modified and their selling price
> that would be appreciated.  Has any one been successful on getting an
> appraisal and how did you go about?
>
> Donald Walter
> Applications Engineer
> W250 S3161 Center Road
> Waukesha, WI 53189
> Phone: 262.896.1819
> Cell: 920.723.9573
> email: dswalterwi@earthlink.net
>
> Providing:
> AutoCAD Drafting, Design, Customization, and Training
> AutoLISP programming
> CAD Management and PDM Implementation
>
>
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