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Here's a repost of my experience. Hope it helps.
Insurance Settlements: My experiences were in Oregon with my daughter's 86 244, 130K, top-notch condition. A guy rear ended the car with his F150. The cost of the repairs exceeded the book value and true value of the car.
Here's what we learned:
-You don't have to take the first offer they make.
If they total the car, like they did ours, you can still negotiate a settlement price.
-If the car is not drivable, have them get you a rental car immediately.
-If they total a good Volvo, don't let them have the car. It might be better to take the price the junkyard was going to pay them from the settlement price, and keep the car. The junkyard was going to pay $450 for our great Volvo. We subtracted that amount from the settlement price and took the car home and some money too. Then we fixed put the car into safe drivable condition. My daughter still drives it today and has the money in the bank. It's ugly now, but that's the route she chose. To really fix it right would cost more than the car is worth.
-Try to get the highest settlement price. The insurance company reps are trained to get the lowest settlement price possible. They do this stuff everyday. You have to prove or document the value of your particular car. Ours had been pictured in Rolling Magazine recently so I wrote a really good sincere letter and included a copy of the picture from Rolling. The letter and picture convinced them of the true value of the car. I was able to convince them that they should just pay us the money we thought it was worth and let us keep the car to boot so we'd have it as a parts car. It was worth it to them to get clear of the situation and they settled.
-Don't yell, scream, threaten or lie. Just take your time thinking about their settlement offer and systematically go about proving that your car, in pre-accident condition was worth the amount you are asking. Or try to prove to the insurance company that the repair, to truly bring the car back to pre-accident condition, will cost such and such amount of money if done by the shop of your choice.
-Sometimes our cars really aren't worth what we think they are, and we just get screwed.
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Thanks everyone for all the help, Doug C. 81 242 Brick Off Blocks, turbo bars and wheels, M46; 86 244, B230, 150k , auto; 81 242 Turbo, intercooled, M46, 122k.
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