Had an accident, Value woes...

[fuzzy]

no given time frame. as lee knows i was fooked about for 18 months a few years ago by adrian fluckups until i complained to the ombudsman. it was then sorted within 6 days iirc.
id say the wheels are illegal as the wheel/tyre is protruding past the furthest most point of the arch. ive had issues with the traffic police with similar set ups.
i still dont understand why your insurer is making obstacles though when theyre not having to pay out.

[Rav335uk]

I thought they had to settle within 6 months???

[fuzzy]

no. thats obviously unusually long but if 2 insurance companies get into a dispute and neither is prepared to back down it can drag on as long as it takes. once the costs for courtesy cars etc rack up as well theyre less likely to admit liability and take the hit.

[E30_Jatt]

Finally getting somewhere, the engineer phoned me today and said they are going to take on my claim and spoke to me about the value of my car and said it's valued in the region of £1-2K. I was obviously not very happy with that value and expressed how much I thought it was worth. What do you guys think about how much its worth?

My car:
1993 318i Lux Calypso Red
70K miles
Full service history (mainly BMW)
Leather interior with rear headrest no rips tears at all
Full electric hood in perfect working condition
Front fog lights
15" BBS alloys
Colour coded bumpers and mirrors
NO RUST anywhere, even towing eye.

I bought this car from here, off of Z3i (Paul) I'm sure he can testify to what a lovely car this is.

P.S Any tips on how I can secure the best value for my car from these idiotic insurers?

[Kos]

What did you pay for it , personally it's not worth more than 2 grand

If it was a 325i then you may have a case of it being worth more. How does it compare to the nice turds sold by 4* classics and have you got detailed pictures to reflect / show the condition?

Also, what value did you put on it when you took out your policy ?

[E30_Jatt]

What did you pay for it , personally it's not worth more than 2 grand

If it was a 325i then you may have a case of it being worth more. How does it compare to the nice turds sold by 4* classics and have you got detailed pictures to reflect / show the condition?

Also, what value did you put on it when you took out your policy ?

I paid nearer £3k for it in May 2009, 4 star classics currently have a 318i convertible for sale which has done 62K miles at £6k, but that has non metallic paint, non colour coded bumpers/mirrors, no fogs, no leather interior, and bottletop alloys. I think mine is a better spec because its a lux, and has a more sought after colour, would you not agree?

[BenHar]

Trawl through Autotrader and others and get examples of similar cars for sale by traders. Send them to the insurer.

I did this and the insurance offer went from £1000 to £3500.

Ben

[Kos]

That cab on 4* is immaculate

You have to ask yourself is yours that good, regardless of the spec. Colour is irrelevant, what one finds derireab the next person will loath

Plus your car has a non standard specification like the exhaust , suspension has been changed as well has it not

Originality is where it's at and condition. OK it's nothing that can not be reversed but you need to prove what you think your car is worth

Once again, why did you insure it for ?

[E30_Jatt]

That cab on 4* is immaculate

You have to ask yourself is yours that good, regardless of the spec. Colour is irrelevant, what one finds derireab the next person will loath

Plus your car has a non standard specification like the exhaust , suspension has been changed as well has it not

Originality is where it's at and condition. OK it's nothing that can not be reversed but you need to prove what you think your car is worth

Once again, why did you insure it for ?

I haven't changed the suspension only put wheels on it and an exhaust, both things like you said can be reversed, I still have the original single pipe system, and original 15" BBS wheels.

Yes the cab on four star classics is immaculate, but I know mine isn't miles off. I told the insurers £3.5k.

[E30BeemerLad]

What sum did you insure it for when taking out the policy?

The only time an insurer pays any notice to that figure is when you are asking for more than that for your payout

[Dezzy]

I'm not trying to antagonise here in any way.
You will have to work VERY hard to get any insurance company to weigh you in to the tune of 3.5 bags.

If you had an agreed value policey stating 3.5k they still wouldn't pay that out without proof.

You need every receipt you have for the car. Showing upto date service history. Adverts of cars of the same quality for sale for that sort of money. Plus doesn't your insurer think your wheels have voided your cover?

[Rav335uk]

I'm still not getting why your insurance is throwing up a stink over a non fault incident.

[E30BeemerLad]

I'm still not getting why your insurance is throwing up a stink over a non fault incident.

Because insurers are institutions bereft of any logic

[cube320]

I was being offered under 2k for my 325i cab last year by my insurers. it had done 163,000, mtech 2 kit alloys and lowered.

I sent in adverts of similar cars with around the same millage and got the offer incresed to 3.5k which i was happy with.

I was aiming for more but the engineer fobed me off by saying some of the higher priced adverts, where from classic car websites and i dont have a classic car policey


Just to add my insurers where paying me, because the other party would not admit fault. But they have now recovered all thier money from the other insurence company.

[verde]

For what i remember, it the tyre tread is inside the arch, it's not illegal.

i checked up on it a while back and aslong as the wheel doesnt protrude more than 2 inches past the arch its ok.

[Dezzy]

For what i remember, it the tyre tread is inside the arch, it's not illegal.

i checked up on it a while back and aslong as the wheel doesnt protrude more than 2 inches past the arch its ok.

Having your tyre 2" outside the arch is ok? Where did you check up on this?

It seem alot but would love it to be correct. Is it written anywhere?

[verde]

il try and find it. i was checking up early last year when i first got into wagenwerks etc because i wanted to check legality of tyre stretch and all that stuff. i got onto a forum where it was being discussed and there were a few traffic officers stating there was no law against stretch and they hadnt really come across it, there was a link to another page about poke" aswell. give me a minute il try and find it

[Rav335uk]

"the motor vehicle regulations act of 1996 states in section 18 paragraph 2 subsection D that the front face of a wheel on the vertical plane may protrude from the wheel arch/mudguard a maximum of 30mm but the tyre tread must be covered"

Which is what I said in my earlier post.
Aslong as the tyre tread is level or inside the arch, your OK legally.

[verde]

aah there we go. sweet

[kolee]

30mm is quite a way off 2 inches to be honest. about [................] this much!

[Rav335uk]

30mm is quite a way off 2 inches to be honest. about [................] this much!

True, but when you "Stretch" the arch, you have more Stretch on the tyre

[verde]

well 2 inches is 50 mm so yes i was a tad out. but not hugely...only by 2/5 haha

[DanThe]

But most of these stance cocks dont have vertical wheels

If the above is true then the measurement would be taken from the furthest point of the wheel away from the body

[Dezzy]

But most of these stance cocks dont have vertical wheels

If the above is true then the measurement would be taken from the furthest point of the wheel away from the body

If the law was policed correctly would there be no stance cocks at all??

[Rav335uk]

But most of these stance cocks dont have vertical wheels

If the above is true then the measurement would be taken from the furthest point of the wheel away from the body

But it's not. It's police'd from the top of the wheel to the arch.

[E30_Jatt]

Well after all this time I have had a value of £2000 on the car from the insurer, but it was too low, I refused it and to backup my claim as to why I thought my car was worth more I sent back loads of pics of my car copies of all the documentation and the service history. Along with all that I also sent them links and copies of websites for around 10 different cars that are similar to mine all ranging between £2500-6495 for the 4 star cabby.

Today they rang me and told me that they looked in 3 guides parkers, glasses? and one other and only the glasses one had a value listed and that is the value they are offering and are not going to increase the value. I asked the guy if he had taken into account all the information and other car values I had sent in. He said that he was assessing the claim like FOS? ombudsmen would and because of that didn't need to and will not consider the proof I had sent to backup my claim.

The long and short of it now is that I either accept their offer or take it further (court?).

I am not sure why they are refusing to take into consideration the information I have sent, it clearly shows these cars are worth more than they are making out.

If I were to accept their offer and keep the car too I wouldn't be left with enough to repair the car, I am at a loss as to what I should now do. This car is too good to be scrapped, and I know I will find it very hard to be able to replace it with something anywhere near the same condition or mileage.

Thanks, feel like I'm at my wits end

[Fushion_Julz]

Are they offering £2k to write the car off?

You could point out that the cost of repair is £xxxx and the cost of a similar replacement is £xxxx and due to their clients negligent driving (that has been admitted) they are obligated to put in a position, financially, you were immediately prior to the accident/collision occurring.

However, if £2k is being offerred and bearing in mind the photos and the offer of parts (door) and suggested labour charges it would seem entirely possible to repair the car for that amount (or less).

[mr_dink]

Yeah if it's £2k and you keep the car it's really not too bad.

If only there were some kind soul based near you that had a mint door for sale for £50......

[E30_Jatt]

Sorry I should have been more clear it's not just £2k and I keep the car, I wouldn't complain as much if that was the case. They have worked out that the cost of salvage to them would be in the region of £750 then on top of that I have to pay the £450 excess, which doesn't make much sense to me as I wasn't at fault, but apparently according to the insurers I must pay it and then I have to claim it back myself. I have spoken with my legal cover guys and they tell me that I will be able to get that amount back but it may take a while.

So after a little maths I would say that leaves me with £800, that is barely enough to get the right bits and have the work done to a good standard.

[Fushion_Julz]

eh?
£2000 (car value pre accident) - £750 (residual car value) = £1250

Granted you have to claim £450 back as out of pocket expenses for your excess (good reason why you should never have a large excess on a car worth very little)...but still you have £1250 to repair the car with...or let them write it off and get £2k in full payment.

That may be a bit on the low side, but not too far out, surely.

If you feel you can win, by all means sue the other party for damages...But you'll need a solicitor and if you loose it will be expensive!

[E30_Jatt]

I wouldn't have that £1250 in my hand till the whole matter is resolved and the amount they are going to give me is going to be less the two amounts I mentioned earlier. So the insurers if I accept will only actually give me £800.

I wanted to get this car sorted as soon as possible but as I'm a student, my bank balance isn't so great, therefore this settlement will just mean more time I have to wait till I receive the full sum with which I can then go out and fix the car.

I am still young, so my excess will be higher than people like my dad who in a situation like this would only have to pay £200.

Surely a car with the aforementioned spec, mileage and condition is worth more than just £2K.

[Rtaylor2208]

Looking at the pictures if the damage in the pictures on page1 I would say that is repairable for £1000. The worst damage is the door and I'm sure somewhere in this thread pacerpete had one for £150.

You should be able to get a single wheel brand new and if the tyre is salavagable swap it over.

The other damage can have the worst of it pulled out and then filled and painted. Any trim can be picked up from Adit on here for a reasonable price.

Granted it means the car is no longer original but it means you wont have the hassle of finding another for £2K.

The damage is very similar to what happended to my mums Honda Jazz when she scraped the rear quarter on the roughtcast driveway gatepost and a small independant bodyshop in Ayr fixed it for £175.

Some bodyshops are extremely expensive but by spending some time hunting you should be able to get someone to do it within budget even if it means travelling a bit further afar.

[kangman]

What happened to this e30? is it getting fixed or sold/breaking.

[bmpaul]

+1