Car Valuation Query

[ecossebev]

Last week, my car was involved in a very minor accident. The 3rd party switched lanes at the last minute, resulting in a small collision. Damage to my car is a scrape on the wing, barely noticable at a distance, bumper moulding looks a bit messy, no scraping though, mostly his silver paint and a it of a scrape on the wheel. Just had the bodyshop on the phone and the estimator reckons at £654, the insurance company will declare it a total loss. He phoned ten minutes later and instead of replacing the bumper moulding, its going to be refurbished, bring it down to £593 (he still reckoned it will be a total loss at that). Who can give me an estimate of the cars true value, because I think the car is worth more than I think the insurance will offer me? The car price guides don't go that far back to 1991, so how can I get a true, impartial valuation?
Your advice would be most welcome.
Thank you in advance.

 

[jaymanek]

you cant...

all you can do is print out auto trader adverts of similar cars and waive them under their nose.

 

[dougal74]

Assuming this is a claim from the third party's insurer.

Your statement is you would like to be put back into the position you were in prior to the accident i.e. repair or replacement vehicle. If you believe that their offer is insufficient to pay for a replacement vehicle then they can find you one (that will get them to reconsider their offer). Finding a '91 230TE won't be easy!

A friend of mine had this happen with a Clio. He pushed them hard and they said he could come to a depot and select from the cars they had.
They had no suitable Clios, so he drove away in a younger Laguna and paid them 500 quid for the difference!

 

[Moose]

you cant...

all you can do is print out auto trader adverts of similar cars and waive them under their nose.

Yep, Spot on. I used to work as an insurance engineer many moons ago and this is pretty much all that you can do to estimate the value.
However, why not just wait and see what the insurance company say. After all they may repair it. Or offer you a decent valuation.
Failing that, if it is as superficial as you say, negotiate a settlement and keep the car.
Just my 2p

 

[grober]

If you post a few good pictures of your car and the damage it might help people put a value on the car. Impossible without seeing it really. How about a second hand bumper from a breaker and live with the scrape on the wing?

 

[ecossebev]

If you are going to Stirling on Saturday, you can see it then..

 

[Corrado]

Last week, my car was involved in a very minor accident. The 3rd party switched lanes at the last minute, resulting in a small collision. Damage to my car is a scrape on the wing, barely noticable at a distance, bumper moulding looks a bit messy, no scraping though, mostly his silver paint and a it of a scrape on the wheel. Just had the bodyshop on the phone and the estimator reckons at £654, the insurance company will declare it a total loss. He phoned ten minutes later and instead of replacing the bumper moulding, its going to be refurbished, bring it down to £593 (he still reckoned it will be a total loss at that). Who can give me an estimate of the cars true value, because I think the car is worth more than I think the insurance will offer me? The car price guides don't go that far back to 1991, so how can I get a true, impartial valuation?
Your advice would be most welcome.
Thank you in advance.

This site just valued a 1991 car of mine successfully, so with luck yours will be there too.

 

[ecossebev]

Tried a different bodyshop and explained the situation. Whether they were poaching the business from Nationwide, I don't know, however.....they have estimated £303+VAT, just under half the price of the original quote. Seems shopping about was the thing to do, and my car is less likely to be a total loss. Thanks for everone's help.

 

[Druk]

Mercedes-Benz-Owners-Club have a list of official valuers who, for a small fee, give a decent valuation usually for 'Agreed value' insurance policies.
You have to be a member of course:bannana: :bannana:

 

[ecossebev]

OK.....I can take a hint.

 

[Meldrew2]

.....
They had no suitable Clios, so he drove away in a younger Laguna and paid them 500 quid for the difference!

But, bearing in mind a Laguna costs more to insure and uses more fuel - maybe he should have asked them to pay £500 towards the higher costs!