Insurance claim valuation?

"davedave1111" (davedave1111) 01/03/2016 at 19:39 • Filed to: None

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So, some idiot decided to ram the Camry the other night. Not massive damage, but the challenge is to get it valued properly so they don’t write it off - his insurance is going to be paying, I reckon, since he changed lanes right into my rear door.

The problem is that there isn’t a comparable Camry of that generation currently for sale in the UK, and hasn’t been for months. On the plus side, there’s a five years older previous gen for sale for £2500, which would be an excellent valuation. And similar age Corollas go for £1500+, and the Camry ought to be worth more. On the down side, I suspect I’ll have to fight them when they try and value it based on the non-classic, unwanted more modern ones, which are worth peanuts right now - although there aren’t even many of them with such low mileage.

Anyone know how best to proceed with this?

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > davedave1111 01/03/2016 at 19:46

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Does the door still open? I might just suggest officially not declaring the damage, take off the door panel, pay a paintless-dent-removal guy to pop it out.

davedave1111 > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 01/03/2016 at 19:53

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The door does open and shut, but there’s a lot of scraped paintwork, the wheel arch is dented, and so-on. And since it’s not my insurance paying, I have no incentive to cheap-out on repairs. If they write the car off for what I’d be happy to take, and sell it back to me for peanuts, I might then look at cheaper ways to fix it, but as it is I’ll be insisting on new panels, sprayed to match - and they’ll have to come from Japan on special order, I think.

Nibby > davedave1111 01/03/2016 at 19:55

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Dude, your car is worth at least $65,000. Try to get every penny you can!

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > davedave1111 01/03/2016 at 19:59

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Ohhh. Well yeah if you don’t care if the car becomes a writeoff, just ask around. If you’re allowed to get your own valuations from a certified shop, find one that you know will give you a higher valuation in advance.

When I lost one of my vehicles, the (former) insurance company valued it barely over half of what it was worth before the collision. I was pissed.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > davedave1111 01/03/2016 at 20:09

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I used Hagerty to self-approve my Land Rover rebuild costs. I don’t care if it’s not right, the numbers were right for me, and I’ll only know if I come to sell!

http://apps.hagerty.com/ukvaluation/in…

davedave1111 > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 01/03/2016 at 21:06

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Sadly they don’t have the Camry on there. It’s priceless!

davedave1111 > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 01/04/2016 at 10:00

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I do care, that’s why it needs to be valued high enough that they actually repair it.

MonkeePuzzle > davedave1111 01/04/2016 at 12:30

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its like they gave you a widebody

davedave1111 > MonkeePuzzle 01/04/2016 at 12:35

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Thanks, I needed a laugh. Been a tough few days for reasons unconnected to the car, and that actually made me laugh out loud.