Fair Price?

[Superman]

I just want you guys' input. My '83 Sc was totaled, and I'm still arguing with the insurance company over value.

They notice the car has 272K on the odometer, and is showing some cosmetic issues relevant to its age. They found a couple of cars for sale where the "take" price would be about $12.5K and $12.9K. The math looks like this:

1983 1984
Take $12.5K 12.9K
Mileage -1,966 (180K) -3,143 (162K)
Wear n Tear -1592 -1592
___________ ___________
$9,142 $8,740


I got a poor explanation of why the "wear n tear" adjustment was made. They called it "Baseline Adjustment" and pointed out the cosmetic issues on my car.

My car: Yes, my car shows normal, or perhaps less than normal, wear and tear for a car that's got more than a quarter-million miles. There is a tear in the seatback of the driver's seat. Some rock chips, blah blah. Car is a twenty-footer. I have probably never seen a car with this many miles that is in this good shape, but it does need paint and seat work to be really pristine.

The rest of the car IS pristine. Factory tool kit and spare. Good carpet. Not mint, but very good. The interior is not ratty, but it could use seat and headliner work. Otherwise, it is a handsome interior.

Desirable color. Air, cruise, sunroof, fogs, headlight washers, power/heated mirrors, heated rear window, 16x6 and 16x7 Fuchs. NEW tires as of July. Headlight relays. 55/100 bulbs. Alignment and corner balance. Rebuilt tranny last fall/winter (John Walker). Rebuilt engine in 2002 (head studs, bearings, rings, 20/21 cams) Pistons and cylinders were WELL within spec (.0015" is the most wear we could find on the cylinders!). Rebuilt suspension (bushings, shocks, turbo tie rods, rack spacers). Yes, most 911's for sale are going to need some work, sooner or later. Probably sooner. Not this one. This one was mechanically PERFECT.

What do you guys think about the value of a car like this? It seems to me that $9K is a ridiculous value.

The car was lowered since this pic was taken.

[Superman]

Thirty-eight views and not a single reply?

[Yorkie]

Nice SCs with less than 120K miles are going for under 12K in SoCal so the offer from the insurance company might not be too far out of line. I recently bought my own SC with 106K miles, rebuilt motor, trans, decent interior and 5ft paint for $10K and there was certainly plenty of SCs to choose from in that price range. Paint and interior work is not cheap (nothing is on a Porsche) so maybe you have to ask yourself what would you pay for a high mileage SC that needs paint?

That said, they are a business and are trying to minimize their losses so I would go back to the insurance company with an inch thick file of recent ads printed off this site and others to show them that your car is worth more than they are offering. I did this with Allstate when I wadded my Ducati and managed to significantly up the settlement. Good Luck.
Kevin

[onlycafe]

with all of what you've mentioned as being done it seems that you should be getting 19k at the very least. get a stick and beat those insurance guys like a gong.
best of luck getting made whole.

[Superman]

Yes, I am going to beat the insurance company with a stick if I have to.

Kevin, while I notice much of the same information you have, the availability of SC's that appear to be in decent shape for under $12K, nearly all the cars in this category will need work. Either you left something out of your description of the car you recently bought.........or you bought a $16-$18K car for $10K. For most folks an engine rebuild on an SC is going to cost somewhere between $4K and $6K. Engines that have not been apart.......will need that work done. It is just a matter of time before a head stud snaps. I would be willing to bet that at least half the SC's for sale right now, at any price, that have not had their engine apart.........have less than 24 head stud barrel nuts attached.

Yes, there are some good-looking SC's for sale in the $12K neighborhood. The cost to purchase and maintain one of these for the next six years will be over $20K. If you purchased a five-footer with good interior, rebuilt engine and rebuilt transmission, for $10K.......you got the deal of the decade. The price the insurance company quoted me.......$9K........is a little more than what folks pay for a decent tub with no engine or tranny. The final settlement between us will not be near that figure.

But that is why I am asking for input. I don't want to be unreasonable. I'm not going to argue with Onlycafe, but I wonder if his estimate is on the high side. I would settle for $19K in a heartbeat.

[onlycafe]

i am using the "every 911 is a twenty thousand dollar car" axiom. minus a thou for depreciation.
it still will wind up costing you money to find a suitable replacement. i am certain that the insurance company happily took your money. now you deserve a cheerful check.

[Yorkie]

I probably did get a good deal as I like to think I was an experienced SC buyer and I do live in a target rich environment. I bought mine primarily as it had had the usual upgrades, trans job and the studs done as that was one of my buying criteria (been there and $5K later done that!) and I have had to drop about another grand into brakes and alignment. But as I said, there was no shortage of reasonable SCs and Carreras available when I was looking but SoCal might be the exception as there is a lot of choice down here.

On the other end of the scale, I sold my PCA concours winning '78 SC back in 2006 for $19K and it was not easy to hook a buyer. Andial maintained, all the good upgrades blah, blah, blah so I think $19K is a little steep.

I hope (and its in my interest!!!) that you get a good settlement so go for $15 or $16K and work your way back.
All the Best and let us know how it works out.
Kevin

[onboost]

See if you bump them to $10K and keep the car... they'll probably come back at $9k + maybe.? Take the money, the car... and run!!!

[jcunning]

As I was looking for a car to buy, I almost bought an example not too far off from your car.

Red/Tan coupe with 200,000 miles. Paint was good to poor. Interior was completely gone, but the engine and tranny were recently completely rebuilt.

The car did have 1 minor accident history in the rear fender, but it was repaired pretty well.

Seller wanted $13-15K for it. I offered $12750 for the car because the interior was completely shot. I thought this was a fair price considering all of the money they spent on the engine and tranny.

The seller ended up backing out of the deal for some reason. I'm not sure if they got a better offer or if they just decided to not sell the car.

I don't think insurance companies really care how much money was put into the engine and tranny. However, the reality is that the engine/tranny are worth more than the body!

Maybe you should try to get 11-12K for the car, buy it back, pull out the engine and tranny and then sell that separate. You could probably get another 5-6K for the unit. That brings you to about 16-18K for the wreck, which will definitely get you a much better car.

[Superman]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate the input. This last post, by jcunning, is especially encouraging. Partly because it's feasible.

I just want my car back. Can't happen. That means I'm starting over. I don't have time for this, and $10K is about HALF the money I would need.