turbov6vette
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2007
My '85 T Type had an electrical fire in the engine bay a couple days ago. The car was parked and not running when the fire occured. It appears there must have been a major short somewhere which caused the engine wiring and the battery to catch fire. Bummer - I just bought the car less than 2 months ago w/ 101K on it and it was running awesome - no problems at all.
I believe the insurance company is going to total the car, although the fire damage was contained within the engine bay on the passenger side and primarily within the wiring and the battery on that side. The engine and most accessories do not appear to be damaged.
The advise I need relates to assessing the value of the car. The appraiser from Liberty Mutual is supposed to be coming out tomorrow to take a look at the car. I've spoken with the claims agent a few times already and wanted to make sure that she understood that the car is not a run-of-the-mill 101K mile 1985 Buick Regal, but rather a limited production and collectible 1985 Buick Regal T Type. Obviously, I want to make sure that the groundwork is laid properly for a fair and equitable settlement on the car.
From what I understand, they obtain a pre-incident value of the vehicle through Audatex / Autosource, a company that specializes in determining vehicle valuations. Anyone out there familiar with this company and how they do their valuations? Are there any other sources of vehicle valuation information out there that are geared towards specialty interest cars like our Turbo Buicks, perhaps?
Any advise, guidance or commentary on this matter would be most appreciated. I'd rather part the car out to TB'ers for a couple grand than accept an under-valued, lowball settlement based on a vague and unrealistic valuation assessment. Thanks in advance for your feedback.
I believe the insurance company is going to total the car, although the fire damage was contained within the engine bay on the passenger side and primarily within the wiring and the battery on that side. The engine and most accessories do not appear to be damaged.
The advise I need relates to assessing the value of the car. The appraiser from Liberty Mutual is supposed to be coming out tomorrow to take a look at the car. I've spoken with the claims agent a few times already and wanted to make sure that she understood that the car is not a run-of-the-mill 101K mile 1985 Buick Regal, but rather a limited production and collectible 1985 Buick Regal T Type. Obviously, I want to make sure that the groundwork is laid properly for a fair and equitable settlement on the car.
From what I understand, they obtain a pre-incident value of the vehicle through Audatex / Autosource, a company that specializes in determining vehicle valuations. Anyone out there familiar with this company and how they do their valuations? Are there any other sources of vehicle valuation information out there that are geared towards specialty interest cars like our Turbo Buicks, perhaps?
Any advise, guidance or commentary on this matter would be most appreciated. I'd rather part the car out to TB'ers for a couple grand than accept an under-valued, lowball settlement based on a vague and unrealistic valuation assessment. Thanks in advance for your feedback.