Buying and Selling Vehicles - value for 86 corolla

About a month or so ago, my son's 86 corolla GT was totalled out by an uninsured motorist while the car sat in his driveway :eek: His insurance is claiming the car is only worth $950. My son thought the value should be about double although this car [rear wheel drive, fuel inj, sport suspension, etc] has had ads on the internet ranging from $3k -$6k His car was in great condition but not show room or freshy restored condition.

How does the insurance come up with this figure? We can only find blue book prices going back 20 yrs. So far the only facts he has to dispute the price are a couple of internet ads that aren't local.

One of those interesting areas of insurance, but generally I think the insurance companies come up with figures based on the book value of a "stock" automobile of same make/model. I don't think they make any allowances for custom work unless maybe there is some way to have an additional rider ($$$) to cover the higher value or if it was specially insured as a classic or antique through an insurer that deals with cars like that. Not sure what the guy with the cherry '57 Chevy does for insurance to be sure he's adequtely insured; surely he wouldn't settle for a $150 settlement if it's totaled. That type of insurance I think comes with strings such as how many miles you drive a year - designed to cover the kind of car only driven to car shows on weekends, etc.

Unfortunately the agent no doubt insured it as a stock vehicle; whether it could have been insured at a higher value (at a higher premuim, of course) would be a question for the agent. The trade off might be that the amount more that would have had to have been paid for the higher coverage (every 6 months) might be as much or more than the additional value would be (if that makes sense).

It seems that the higher values are on-the-block values. "...a 1986 two Door Toyota Corolla GT-S Hatch in good condition is valued in Kelley Blue Book for around $1,200, but they are quite often sold both through on line auctions or via the forums and even local papers for anywhere from $6,000 to $7,000." http://www.military.com/Finance/content/0,15356,110267,00.html

Except for the wheels, the car is pretty much stock but in excellant condition - interior intact, no dents [prior to accident] no rust, 3 yr old paint job, basically a nice corolla GTS and it is the hatch back. 35 mpg too :D

Before the accident he would have laughed at a $2k offer but would take his lumps if they paid that but he isn't willing to accept $950. he has yet to talk to a real live person at the insurance company :wall: so far everything has been voice mail, computer messages which every call begins with :eek: and mail.

The biggest thing he's got going for himself is he doesn't need the money now and he has other vehicles to drive. Like most of us he's worked hard for everything he has and I hate to see him get the shaft over an accident that was no fault of his.

Stay tuned :D we'll know the outcome someday :rolleyes: