So here's the deal. My 1964 Buick Riviera was parked in front of the house on Friday night. A guy drives down the street in his 3 day old Mercedes C300 and swirves to miss a cat that darted out in front of him and plows into the front passanger side of my car without even braking and destroys that side of the car. Thank God no one was hurt, and that he has insurance. My question is now I have to deal with the insurance company and how to get it fixed. What is the best way to deal with the insurance company on getting it fixed so I don't get screwed? Thanks in advance. Derrick.....
It sounds kind of profound,but from my experience never accept what you don't want. They are gonna pound down your throat how "OLD" your vehicle is,and try to low ball you. Start getting some of your own appraisals by shops "YOU" want to fix your car. Even if you are fixing your own car. Another reason to hate cats!!!!
Keep in mind this is his fault and he has to make your car right again with no cost to you.So get estimates and don't accept anything less remember its there responsibility to fix your car.Be nice at first but if they don't want to fix it don't be afraid to get mean with them.
1st off it sux what happened man, but 1320 has a point, their appraisers will lowball you to the point of insulting you, get your own appraisals and good luck. good luck
That's good advice. Never let an insurance company determine where the car will be repaired. Nowdays, most all of the big-name insurance companies are in cahoots with the big bodyshops. They call them "Premium" shops. Most of them are flashy, nicely decorated shops with donuts, hot coffee, and a 55" flatscreen TV. The customer thinks he's getting a first-class job only to find out that they are a production shop that's more interested in quantity than quality. I had a good buddy who took his car to one of these shops and it was absolutely horrid when it came out. The panel gap was shoddy, and it had so much overspray on it that the entire car had to be buffed, and after that, it looked like they did it with Comet and a Scotchbrite. You can get estimates at any shop, but let YOUR guy fix it.
Well as far as the world is concerned you don't have an old car you have a "Classic" Buick Rivera. I'm not a fan of the way "classic" gets missused but in this case I think you have to use it and stick with it. Refer to the car as your classic rather than just a car and since it is a Rivera it was and is somewhat of a limited edition. Do some homework and price out the parts if you haven't already done so. That will give you some idea of what their offer should be. Or if you have a buddy with a body shop get an estimate from him.
Besides a reputable collision shop, I'd try to find a reputable restorer and get an estimate from that shop too.
Thanks for the advice everyone. This is the first time I had to deal with this sort of thing and have heard many horror stories of how people end up with the shaft.
it all depends on the company really, My comet got smashed in the back by a drunk driver, their insurance covered everything and then some, I guess I really got blessed with that but just hope for the best and don't let them take your car or lowball you. This should be pretty easy since the guy obviously would have good insurance if he cares about his mercedes. but yea Farmers insurance really took care of me. I hope the Insurance does the same for you, they just asked me to write them a quote and cut me a check!
IOf you don't have a current appraisle for the value of the car the insurance company will try and give you bluebook value of the car. ooops there is no blue book value of the car. So they will try ans total it and give you almost nothing for it. hire a lawyer. If you are living where you may get your car bent it is a good idea to have an apraised value by a liscensed appraiser. I repeat hire a lawyer.
I hope you have "before" pic's! That helps out alot....Start collecting some ads for comprable cars,for comparison. That way,they won't want to total it.
Exactly! Go to a restorer shop, not a collision shop for an estimate. Have them give an appraisal of the cars value before the damage.
You might want to consider doing some homework on what comparable Rivs are selling for. If the cost of repair exceeds what the car is worth the insurance company will not want to fix yours, but will want to pay you it's current market value. And, from a business point of view, that is entirely reasonable. They may have an obligation to make you "whole" but that doesn't necessarily mean fixing your car. In that instance, you may want to consider making a "deal" with them. That means agreeing on a 'market value' for your car, and if you REALLY want to fix the one you have, buying it back from the Ins. Co.. I am not saying THAT is what you should do, only consider your options and get the information you need to make a rational decision. Your leverage on this deal is not that great since there is no personal injury on your end. That, of course, is good thing for your physical well being, but doesn't provide any additional motivation for the insurance company to settle on, what could be to them, unreasonable demands. Of course, everybody and his brother will tell you how THEY would do it, but the fact is, there are limitations to the Ins. Co's obligation to pay. Ray
Get the work done at a good local body shop. They're going to have to pay what it costs anyway, and you may even have to get a lawyer involved if all else fails. It'll be difficult, no impossible, to get an accurate estimate in advance. Many of the parts that will need buying aren't just available from GM anymore. You will have to source good used, or NOS parts. You won't know the price 'til you've actually bought it (ebay etc). Their estimator will undervalue your car and lowball the repair costs. Whatever he comes up with you'll know it'll be a lot higher. With all the uncertainties, they'll most likely want to write it off. If you can get them to write it off with a good valuation but low residual value you may get a good compensation pay out minus the residual value of the wreck. I've made cars pay for themselves doing that in the past. Ed
I made my living in insurance. you've gotten a lot of advice but first know the law in your state. Not sure if you live in a no fault state but that has a lot to do with how claim is paid. Coontact your insurance agent and ask him to walk you through it. That is what they are there for!
you are lucky to be in austin,with the passenger side being hit, the cops in houston would have wrote you up for parking on the wrong side of the street .get an estimate from the best restortion shop in your area and don't take any amount less
Thanks for all the advice. Now the question is what restoration shops in the Austin, TX area are work going to?
As others have stated- go to a resto shop or any shoppe that gets a good recomendation from other enthusiast's. The owners of these shoppes "KNOW" if its repairable or not. Let them deal with the insurance company- They have no emotional ties to the car and can usally get things going quickly. Just leave it at the shoppe and tell the insurance company its at the place you want it fixed at. If you are going to fix it yourself you can wind up finding hidden damage and will not get reimbursed. A shoppe can get the job, find hidden damage a call for a suppliment. Most adjusters just scribble down the obvious and wait for the suppliments.
The '63-'65 Rivieras are the only Buicks recognized as "Milestone" automobiles by the Milestone Vehicle Society. It's not "just an old car." Get an Old Cars Report Price Guide and/or a Collector Car Market Review and see what the values are. Or if you like, just read further and I'll print them out for you, current values Old Cars Report Price Guide values for '64 Riviera, February 2011 issue 1. $34,000 (OCRPG #1 cars are 95 plus point show cars that are never driven) 2. $23,800 (this would win most shows unless a true #1 was present) 3. $15,300 4. $6,800 5. $4,080 6. $1,360 (OCRPG #6 is an unrestorable parts car) Collector Car Market Review, April 2011 issue 1. $20,100 (CCMR's #1 corresponds to OCRPG #2) 2. $11,800 3. $7,225 4. $3,050 Collector Car Market Review tends to have more pessimistic values, and they don't list values for never-driven 95-plus show cars, nor do they list values for parts cars Combining the two guides will give you these kind of values 1. $20,100-$23,800 (#2 in OCRPG) 2. $11,800-$15,300 (#3 in OCRPG) 3. $6,800-$7,225 (#4 in OCRPG) 4. $3,050-$4,080 (#5 in OCRPG)
As Gibralter said, get YOUR insurance guy/gal involved. They are there to help. Make em earn their money
I agree, I got an o.t. car hit while parked in front of my house. Here in Michigan if your car is legally parked the other guys insurance pays for your damages. I called my insurance agent and asked what do do now. They told me to take it to where i wanted it fixed and they would deal with the other insurance. I had the car repaired and back before the other insurance co. contacted me. I told tham it was fixed and i'm sure they would hear from my insurance soon. I never heard another word.
I'd almost guarantee the insurance company will try to screw you, it's what they do. Even if the car is a classic, it still has a value and can still be totaled. And the sad part is, they place no value on a "never been wrecked" car. I fought that battle and lost, had a perfect old MonteCarlo and it got the side punched in by a little girl on her first day with a drivers license. I also ended up paying to have a whole paint job because they would only paint the side she hit. So I had a pristine original car and had to pay over a grand out of my pocket and ended up with a car that wasn't original anymore. Good luck.
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