Help! How Do I Prove My Westy's Value To Insurance Company?!

[dubbified]

Holy smokes! What happenned to that white one!

This topic is good to think about, we're going to be taking a 5-6 month vacay in the westy, boondockin, KOA, anything goes.. havin the van insured for the van itself, and the contents also comes to mind.

[carterzest]

[DAIZEE]

Does anyone have a list of reputable appraisors for Canada or a link to it? I am going to have mine appraised before renewing my insurance in the spring.
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'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

[carterzest]

[DAIZEE]

Now why did I know someone would come up with that. I'm talking a reputable, known entity. I'll ask around all the Vanagon professionals in the area. Thanks for nothing as usual.
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'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

[Kejidog]

[Petervw]

[PDXWesty]

Just to let you all know, my insurance company said they won't take an appraisal unless it is done at the time of the incident or crash. Appraisers are trained to assess the pre-loss condition of a vehicle. All you need to do is keep records and receipts to prove you've maintained the car. An appraisal is a waste of money unless you are using it to determine value for a fixed type policy. It will do you no good at the time of an accident.

Think about it in the same way as a home appraisal. You need to show current value, not value two or three years old. If you have an accident five years after you have an appraisal, it's totally worthless. Market value and vehicle condition changes over any period of time.

Save your money and don't waste it on an appraisal.
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[Petervw]

[JPrato]

I don't buy that logic. While your insurance company told you they wouldn't accept an appraisal before an accident it would be another tool in your tool box to establish the pre-crash value. If not for the insurance company it would be useful for yourself. Insurance companies will do almost anything to reduce their payouts and you the owner, with information on the value of your vehicle is their worst nightmare.

An appraisal (with lots of pictures) is an independent valuation of your vehicle and very valid. The pictures from the appraisal show the van and the written appraisal backs it up. It's going to be hard to convince the adjuster of how perfect your paint and body work was on your van while is lying banged upped and crumpled on it side in a ditch. The difference between a "perfect paint" and "painted" can be huge. Some folks on the Samba have reported $10,000 paint jobs on their vans. A $1,000 bucks will get a van painted, that's $9,000 you could be out.
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Joe

87 Syncro Tin Top project
84 Westy, 2.5L Subaru power
06 Subaru 2.5 turbo in waiting
46 Cessna 140

[PDXWesty]

[PDXWesty]

[JPrato]

PDXWesty I'm not disputing your experience, you obviously went through it first hand. I definitely believe your insurance company did/would not pay attention to an appraisal, that their right and their problem! The value of your van AFTER the accident is not much. It may be only worth scrap value. The appraiser has to guess what your van was worth before the crash. Does he/she know Westys? I doubt it. With out an appraisal you are solely trusting the adjuster to come up with value. I don't think that is a good idea. With an appraisal you have an point in time and a value. It also documents condition which may be more important that value. You can work from there. It's another piece of information you have to get to current value. If it was done 2 years ago and you only put 4,000 miles on, explain to me how the condition significantly change in that time? His/her explanation will give you points to argue with. If it's 5 years ago and you ran up 50k miles since, well I'm not sure it will help much.

Do YOU know what your van is worth? Really? Most everybody thinks their van is worth a fortune. They might have put 1,000 or hours and lots of money into it fixing it up. You can pull out all your receipts and add them to what you paid for it, that's one way to figure a value. What about your time? The insurance adjuster will totally disregard that! The tiger cloth interior and ghetto wheels you put on may have actually decreased the value too. Seriously, the work you did may not be up to standards or it could have been tasteful and the finest workmanship around. An appraisal give you an independent idea of what your van was worth, at a point of time. Take that, and what comparable vans are selling for now and you can figure out what YOU think the van is worth. This gives you the information to evaluate what the appraiser is telling you what your crashed van was worth before it got smashed. Should you take the offer or fight on. The more information you have the better off you can make that decision.

That's my opinion and I'll respect yours. That's the beauty, people are free to do what ever they like.
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Joe

87 Syncro Tin Top project
84 Westy, 2.5L Subaru power
06 Subaru 2.5 turbo in waiting
46 Cessna 140

[PDXWesty]

JP- you misunderstood what I said. My adjuster had no idea what my van was worth. I did not go with the adjuster. After the accident, I hired an Appraiser do determine value. They determine PRE-CRASH value. That's what I'm saying; trust the appraiser to determine a pre-crash value, not the adjuster. But the appraisal has to be done right after the accident, not before.
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[dobryan]

FWIW, my story... I had my Westy appraised by my insurance company's recommended appraiser in order to establish value. He took pictures, looked at receipts, and documented the condition of the vehicle. It was fortunate that I did the appraisal. A few months later it had an engine fire and TOTALLY burnt to the ground. There was nothing left with which to determine the pre-fire condition. If not for that appraisal I would have been TOTALLY screwed. As it was I got a fair market value ($17,000) for it and was able to buy another Westy and start over. (Even if it was years after the appraisal until the engine fire I still would have been able to have a great starting point for establishing value after subtracting normal wear and tear for the years/miles from that appraisal.) YMMV.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[JPrato]

[Peter Smalley]

Can anyone suggest how I might find an appraiser acceptable to an insurance company? I am in the SF Bay Area. Also, how much can I expect to pay for such a service? Thanks for any suggestions.

[dobryan]

[Mark70baja]

It's very easy to prove how much they sell for. Tell your Insurance person to head on out and try and purchase one. I'm sure they'll come back with higher replacement cost numbers.

Find a good Insurance Broker and appraiser. I've been with the same guy since 1998. He goes over my account at least twice a year to see if things can be improved. Since we signed on things just keep getting better and better. More better coverage and less money out. My wife totaled our 2007 Jeep two years ago and my insurance company paid out quite a bit more than I was expecting. Very pleasant surprise and no increases to boot.
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Try talking yours ideas up, without talking other peoples ideas down. Everyone stays much happier that way.

82 Vanagon with ASI Full Camper Conversion, 2010 Jeep Rubicon

[Merian]

FIRST, insurance co.s make money by collecting it from you, investing it, and then not paying out or paying out as little as possible. Screwing you over is part of the biz model for most insurance co.s.

2nd, Some are better than others. Heavily advertised ones are usually bad, and State Farm has a particularly odious record in home and auto, including fraud. Search up Calif. cases for more. Your state likely ranks them by consumer complaints. Oregon does and USAA is best (if you qualify), with Amica coming in 2nd. Cheap rates often equals poor coverage in fact (no matter what they promise you).

Insurance companies subscribe to a large database of car values. The database co. keeps values LOW because they enjoy being paid by the ins. co.s. No, it is not fair.

Appraisals are very useful. If the iins. co. says we don't accept them, you will then file a complaint with your state ins. commission and/or consumer protection bureau. Send them the appraisal and let the ins. co. argue with them. They have undue influence with the state agency but it will help. No, it is not fair.

Next, you will see if you agree with the settlement the state ins. agency gets. If not, then you need TWO UNCLES.

You first go to your Uncle Frank, who is a lawyer. He sends a letter to the ins. co. and then files a law suit against them. He tells them he will try to get it certified as a class action. The case will probably settle.

If that does not work, you next go to your second uncle, Uncle Luigi. Uncle Luigi does not write letters. Uncle Luigi is "connected" and he will send a couple of his associates to pay a personal visit to some of the ins. co. employees. You may or not get your money out of them, but ....