That has to suck bigtime, glad you're ok, sorry for the loss. May the insurance Gods smile on you today.

Good Luck, Don

I'm still shocked by this. Jeff, did you call 911 and get put on hold? In LB, using a cell, we call the local Emergency Response number and get right through instantly. For the record, that number is 562 4356711 (police) or 562 5702500 (fire)

I got $6,500 for my 'S' two years ago.

Who is your insurer?

Good to know - thanks. Yes I got put on hold. As I was holding a woman in another vehicle pulled up to me and said she'd already called it in, which was good. Hats off to the PD & FD. They were really quick - under 5 minutes I'd say from the time I bailed out to when they got on scene (PD got there first, fire truck about a minute later). Unfortunately PD couldn't do much more than I could (stand there and watch it burn) but they did get a lane block set up to prevent people coming out of the tunnel from slamming into the back of it.

Just got off the phone w/ insurance. So far so good. Their guy is going to look at it probably tomorrow. I expect it to be totalled on the spot, but who knows. Obviously if they (by some miracle) say they can fix it, I'll gladly let them. If they do total it out (more likely) I'll have to find out then how it all works, what the procedure is for getting paid, potentially buying back, etc.

Mercury Insurance. I think the $4500-ish # is on the policy, so I don't know if that's what they go with. Just for grins I pulled up NADA this morning and that quotes $7500-$10000 retail value (admittedly that'll be a bit higher than dealer or wholesale value) but still. I'm hopeful but figure after getting lowballed, taking out whatever $$$ for buying the shell back, etc. I wonder how much I'll actually get out of this. I figure $3k to be safe. Anything more than that and I'll consider it gravy.

There is no way that your car will not be totalled.

Any recent reciepts for work (even if you did the work and the parts are all you paid for) will be a good negotiating tool. Don't take their first offer. There have been many threads written on this and I went thru it once. Suffice to say, you don't have to read them all, just know that the person on the other end of the phone is getting paid to pay you less. They can be rather hard nosed, too. Let them. Time is on your side and you can take the settlement to court if you want to. I'd say be the time you get a couple of counter offers, you're done.

Then, you have to decide on the second aspect and that is the buy back. Don't admit to any interest in buying back the salvage until you get a final offer for settlement. Otherwise, they will offset the settlement with a high buy out.

It's a poker game, to be sure. You'll have to bluff for part of the hand until you get some cards.

Oh, and don't make any statements here that might contain any information about the condition of the car unless they are positive and true. You never know who reads what. The first thing the cops did in the not-so-famous Halloween beatings here in LB was to go to MySpace where they found out all they needed to know before the defendants' attorneys pulled the pages down.

Yeah, fire is a nasty business. New wiring harness. Lots of external engine parts and sheet metal. The thing I'd be worried about is what temperature the critical part of the chassis attained. I'm not a metallurgist, but I don't like the prospects of making an overheated car into a race car. There may be nothing to this, but I'm leery.

None of the steel details or structural parts in the frame or front end are tempered. So, I wouldn't worry about them being annealed. The car is unibody correct. I think sheet metal distortion from linear expansion would be the only issue. The structure as a whole is probably serviceable. Many external engine components such as power steering pumps smog pumps and wiring are toast.

If I were into 951/944 I would take the insurance money and consider making it a race car..It will always have a Salvaged title from now on...Zero resale value...

Bob

Damn man, sorry to hear about the car, but glad you made it out ok!
You can always get another, he who dies with the most toys still dies!!

Sorry to see this, Jeff.

Check comps on collectorcartrader, autotrader, completed auctions on ebay, cars.com and others. Recent photos would be good too. Have a value in mind before they give you a number.

I defer to your ME wisdom, but it's the distortion to which I refer. As I said, it may be a non issue. Now, what about the corrosive effects of whatever they used to extinguish the fire and the fact that any rust preventatives went up in smoke (literally). I have always found the burned sheet metal was nasty stuff to work with.

Not that I'm picking nits, here. Shoot, the shock of such a travesty must still be sinking in. Too early to worry about such things as I have brought up. I was simply agreeing that the car was more or less a write-off from more than one perspective.

And for that, I'm truly sorry.

GT Racing sells fiberglass and carbon fiber hoods and fenders...

Here are a few questions about this whole negotiation business with the adjuster(s):

1. How can I use receipts for parts on the car as justification for getting a better "buy out" price if I'm going to potentially buy it back anyway? For example - let's say they offer me $4,500 but I show them the receipts for $1,500 worth of seats and $200 for a turbocharger water pump. Why would (should) they now offer me $6,200 knowing that I might buy the car back, get those components back in the process, and then part them out making even more money back - would they allow this? Seems to me insurance is all about preventing me from getting anything if possible. Why would they leave such a loophole and allow me to get paid twice using components/receipts as a justification?

2. Should I claim aftermarket parts? What if I say "I think you should offer me $1,000 more because that's how much I paid for my LinkMAP kit that was on the car when it got toasted". Could they not then turn around and say, "aftermarket part, possibly responsible for the fire, not covered - you get zero"?

3. What recourse do I really have? What do I really gain by stonewalling them? Even if I put up a poker face like I don't give a crap about the money and say "I'm not accepting your settlement"? Won't they just say "fine then, keep the car" and walk away? In other words, what are they legally OBLIGATED to do? Offer? Counteroffer? A certain number of offers within so many % of each other? What?

Receipts for work done on the car help, but only to a limited extent. Rightly or wrongly, they won't be that impressed with the money you dumped in the car.

What they are interested in is the fair market value of the car. That is generally shown by (1) book value and (2) comparable sales. That's what gets their attention. If you can show 3 sales at $7500, they will likely give you $7500.

What recourse do you have? You can try to negotiate with them, then your recourse would be to get a lawyer to negotiate with them, then your recourse would be to sue them. Of course, over a $5K car, that is not likely worth it. You have nothing to gain by stonewalling them. They are legally obligated to do what your contract says they have to do. Likely it says if the car is totaled, they will pay you fair market value. The starting point for this is going to be some kind of book value. They will usually go up if you can show your car was in exceptional condition and cars in your condition have sold for $X on the market.

You should read carefully and fully understand your policy before you make contact with your insurance company.

Those with exceptional cars worth substantially more than normal market value should always consider an agreed value policy.

I'd just filled it up with premium gas that morning too - that's worth $60 right there!

Really? I got almost a thousand more out of the ins company when my truck was totaled while parked. I showed new brakes about a year old and a new tranny. This was a 33% increase to a total of 4K for an '89 1/2 ton.

Wow Jeff, sorry to see it, glad you are fine. Must have been quite a sight.

On getting full value, I can relay my experience with an 88 900 Turbo. It was hit in the rear and totaled. Even though the car had 245K on it, it was in top form, very fast, lots of go-fast parts, etc.

His insurance company wanted to give me $900 for it. I sent them copies of all my work done but that did very little. they wanted proof that the car was as valuable as I said: $4500. So I scoured Saabnet.com and listed 10 similar examples that ranged from $3500 to $5500 for the nearly exact same car, all enthusiast owned.

After that, I quickly got a phone call and subsequent check for $3800, which was nice because I paid $2200 for it 2 years earlier.

You've got to establish your car's value as compared to what else is on the market.

I lost my original 944 when I was rear ended in an accident, I feel your pain.

You might want to pull out that 944 market report from excellence. I cant seem to find it but I recall that the values they report are good (high) and are based on actual sales. I think if you can show recent work receipts it will help you show that the car was maintained and in excellent shape.

good luck