It’s been just over a month since I got rear-ended in [464] by a guy in a Jetta (who didn’t slam on the brakes or anything before he railed me). The first 4 weeks were spent waiting to see if he actually had coverage in place to cover the damages, but that’s behind us now. Coverage has been confirmed and we’re on to the always frustrating negotiations surrounding the value of the limited edition Galant VR4.
[464] is pretty steamed about all this.
I’ve been down this road before, back in February of 2008, some kid in a Kia tried to make a left turn on a yellow and failed – miserably. This is what I called “The Kia Incident.” Plenty to read between here and DR1665.com on all that happened as a result of that evening’s events.
What followed was a 2 month nightmare of back and forth with the kid’s questionable-at-best insurance carrier. The law provides for the lesser of replacement value or repairs to your vehicle when someone else hits you. The Kia owner’s insurance carrier totaled [195] and offered $800. Gee, too bad I couldn’t repair or replace the car for that. So we spent the better part of two months going back and forth. It wasn’t until I got the state insurance commissioner’s office involved that they finally played ball and I got $4700 to cover the damages.
Allstate, who insures both [464] and the Jetta has offered $800.
Regular visitors to this site (or people who know me on GalantVR4.org or 2GNT.com) know that [464] is far nicer than [195] was prior to the accident. The paint is better, the interior is better, everything works, and so on. [464] is better than average. My recent research into listing prices for comparable GVR4s reveals the average price, excluding outliers, to be $4300. So, if [464] is going to be totaled, then it will cost me $4000+ to replace her.
You can see how this will likely take a while. They want to trash my car for $800. I want to repair or replace for $4000+. The burden of proving the value is on me, as their “impartial” 3rd party valuation services are incapable of adequately establishing the value of such limited edition vehicles.
Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 20-461.9 states…
“Attempting to settle a claim for less than the amount to which a reasonable person would have believed he was entitled by reference to written or printed advertising material accompanying or made part of an application” is an unfair claims practice and against the law.
ARS 20-461.8 goes a step further…
“Compelling insureds to institute litigation to recover amounts due under an insurance policy by offering substantially less than the amounts ultimately recovered in actions brought by the insureds” is unfair as well.
I am fully prepared to fight this.
I bought [464] because it was a fully functional, complete and un-molested specimen that I could restore to better-than-new condition once [195] was prepared on the rally stages. Now I’m going to be forced to get a salvage title issued, which will severely impair my ability to one day sell the car for a profit if I should choose to do so. I’m not taking $800. I’m not taking $1500. I’m not taking $3000. If I have to kill the car on paper with a salvage title, I’m getting $4000 to do so. And if Allstate is unwilling to fairly compensate me for my actual loss, then I am prepared to take this matter to court, even if I have to represent myself in small claims.
As for why [464] is steamed, above…
Beyond its driver side doors all being goodly mangled, sticking and jamming against each other every time one is opened, it’s summer time. What better time for the radiator to go out, right? I’d swap in the radiator out of [195] (let’s face it, the beast won’t be needing it for a while), but it’s a DSM radiator, which is different.
More updates as I get them.