In message , at 22:25:04 on
Thu, 24 Jan 2008, Adrian remarked:
You would probably pay less for "A Polo" than for "A blue Polo 1.4GL
with sunroof". In other words, replacing a car exactly is pricier than
getting something vaguely similar.

Not necessarily. It make take a little longer, but not necessarily
pricier.

Trust me, having been a prospective buyer of fairly specific vehicles,
it can take months, and even then you never actually find one that was
exactly what you were looking for.

I bought a very early people carrier, for example, and it was almost
impossible to find one for sale at the age/price I wanted (and that the
books alleged was correct) that hadn't been run into the ground [and
several gateposts] as a company shuttle van, rather than owned by a
large middle class family who had looked after it.

And if it is, then that's the price of replacement. Thus - the
value.

The insurance company may allege that you can buy a specific vehicle for
a certain price, but *they* don't have to spend months scouring Exchange
and Mart trying to find one.

--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry (Roland Perry ) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying:

That's the funny thing, it's quite unusual to be able to buy a
replacement car for the amount the insurance company claims the old one
would have sold for.

Because few people argue with the insurance valuation.

At some level that gap represents the profit margin of a used car dealer

So buy privately. The car that's just been written off wasn't protected
by any dealer warranty or SOGA protection, so why should you benefit from
that?

"Adrian" wrote in message
...
The owners want to be left with a replacement. The insurance company want
to spend as little as possible, and will ALWAYS start with an offer they
know to be risible.

Not always. My friend had his Jepp written off outside my house by a Fiesta
reversing into it and bending a sill. He paid £1500 for the Jeep. Their
first offer was "£1510, and you can dispose of the vehicle for us". To say
he snatched their hand off would be a vast understatement, he`s now in the
process of selling the parts :-)

In message , at 08:40:07 on Fri,
25 Jan 2008, Adrian remarked:
Roland Perry (Roland Perry ) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying:

That's the funny thing, it's quite unusual to be able to buy a
replacement car for the amount the insurance company claims the old one
would have sold for.

Because few people argue with the insurance valuation.

I'll agree with that.

At some level that gap represents the profit margin of a used car dealer

So buy privately. The car that's just been written off wasn't protected
by any dealer warranty or SOGA protection, so why should you benefit from
that?

The problem is that many people put their cars up for sale privately at
"over-optimistic" prices based partly on what they see on forecourts. If
they won't be haggled down, it doesn't really matter *what* Parkers have
to say on the issue.

And what if my written-off car *was* bought from a dealer last month and
*did* have some warranty protection in the pipeline?
--
Roland Perry

Rob Nicholson wrote:
Some barstool attempted to steal my sister's old Punto on Christmas Eve and
left it in an undriveable state having wrenched the door open and ripped out
half the wiring. This of course completely messed up Christmas plans but I
don't think the thieves had any concern for that...

Anyway, not surprisingly, due to the age of the car, the insurance company
have written it off. It's not been easy as the car was down at my sister's
fiancés parents house in Gloucester at the time of the attempted theft and
they live in Manchester. The car is still down there.

Initially, they were told the write-off cost would be £300 so with the
excess, they would end up with a cheque for £200. Not exactly the best
Christmas present you can get but there you go.

However, today they have said they have changed their minds and that the car
is only worth £200.

This seems very unfair but does my sister have any come back?

Going off at a tangent make sure you reclaim the road tax (or at least
allow for whatever that is worth in your haggling with the sharks (sorry
I mean insurance company)

Regards

A

Roland Perry (Roland Perry ) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying:

And what if my written-off car *was* bought from a dealer last month and
*did* have some warranty protection in the pipeline?

Then it should be easy to agree a value.

Adrian wrote:
Roland Perry (Roland Perry ) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying:

That's the funny thing, it's quite unusual to be able to buy a
replacement car for the amount the insurance company claims the old one
would have sold for.

Because few people argue with the insurance valuation.

At some level that gap represents the profit margin of a used car dealer

So buy privately. The car that's just been written off wasn't protected
by any dealer warranty or SOGA protection, so why should you benefit from
that?


Because if you have had it for some time, you will know what its quality
standard is (admittedly it may have been the most unreliable car in the
world, but if it was reliable, you cannot ascertain that easily when
buying old second hand cars).

In message , at 11:00:14 on Fri,
25 Jan 2008, Adrian remarked:
And what if my written-off car *was* bought from a dealer last month and
*did* have some warranty protection in the pipeline?

Then it should be easy to agree a value.

But that's not how it works.
--
Roland Perry

Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 21:20:08 on
Thu, 24 Jan 2008, Adrian remarked:
The insurance companies say they know what values are, which aren't
necessarily "replacement cost" I'm afraid.

What else is the value of a car?

It's the money you'd get if you sold it. Which means it's the price
you could buy it for...

That's the funny thing, it's quite unusual to be able to buy a
replacement car for the amount the insurance company claims the old
one would have sold for.

They are several prices used in 'the book' (eg Glass). The price the dealer
should buy the vehicle at and the price they should sell it for.

The insurance company will try to fob you off with the former, when in
reality it is the latter they are under contract to provide you with
(assuming all other things are equal). The insurance is supposed to put you
back into the position you were before the claim, not better, and not worse.

Gaz

In message , at 23:10:05 on Sat, 26
Jan 2008, Gaz remarked:
The insurance companies say they know what values are, which aren't
necessarily "replacement cost" I'm afraid.

What else is the value of a car?

It's the money you'd get if you sold it. Which means it's the price
you could buy it for...

That's the funny thing, it's quite unusual to be able to buy a
replacement car for the amount the insurance company claims the old
one would have sold for.

They are several prices used in 'the book' (eg Glass). The price the dealer
should buy the vehicle at and the price they should sell it for.

The insurance company will try to fob you off with the former, when in
reality it is the latter they are under contract to provide you with
(assuming all other things are equal). The insurance is supposed to put you
back into the position you were before the claim, not better, and not worse.

I think some of their apologists would say that if a member of the
public is willing to sell to a dealer at a particular price, that it
should be possible to arrange to buy from them privately at that same
price. This is, however, not a practical proposition.

And they don't expect you to buy replacement household items at
wholesale/importer prices.
--
Roland Perry