I just had the vette appraised for insurance reasons. Man, this guy went over the car with a fine tooth comb. It really make you nerves when he’s pointing and asking you all kinds of questions, it’s like you’re waiting for the axe to fall.

I don’t have a number yet but when he was leaving he said, that I should be pleasantly surprised.

 

where did you have it done? i'm looking for an appraisal for the same reason and I'm local. let me know how you make out.

 

The guy's name is Terry Shaw and he came to the house, lives in Dresher, PA 800-487-4947. He covers pretty much from Canada to Virgina and New Jersey to the Mississippi. Charged me $200.00. But I'm sure if he had to travel, there would be other expenses.

 

Don't get too nervous or too excited. The fact is the vast majority of "appraisals" are way, way high because it makes the owners all giggly and happy and suddenly they actually think their cars are worth that. Those appraisals aren't worth the paper they are printed on, except when some insurance companies are stupid enough to accept them.

 

formally of shaws speed shop? willow grove.thanks the the info

 

Unfortunately.......

 

I didn't do it for re-sale value, the market will bare what the market will bare, I did it to at least attempt to recover what I have invested in it (if and when it crashes). You may be right but without it you're basically screwed if you get in an accident. At least now I have a piece paper and an insurance policy that says its worth something and a well known appraiser that is called in courts as an expert witness. $200.00 is a small price to pay for that.

 

I did the exact same thing a year ago. The appraiser was from a nation wide appraisal company that took tons of pics (including entire under carriage while on a lift). About 3 weeks later arrived a very nice 10 page color photo review of my car covering everything listing all the pros/cons and then the final estimated value. It was $35K and I knew it was too high and think that 2/3rds of that value is really true market value being low 20's. They have a disclaimer regarding their more than willingness to testify via phone (free of charge) and in court (not free) the condition & value of a car they have appraised in the last 3 years if need be from an accident, theft, etc. Mine was $350 in costs but again its a small price to pay for my hard work just like the $400 GPS system I have tracking her at all times.

 

Unfortunately insurance companies don't rely on these so called appraisals. What you got for $200 is just that, a piece of paper. What you should get is an agreed value insurance policy. This is a policy where the insurance company pays the agreed upon price set in the policy. When it's time to sell check to see what simular cars are selling for. That's the best way to set a price.

 

Here's the deal. I have my car insured for a certain amount, basically for the price I paid for it, 4 years ago (which is really low). I want to increase my coverage on the car but my insurance company said no way unless I get an appraisal. So that's what I did. Now my insurance company can increase my coverage. Understanding that there is more to the insurance payout than what's written on a piece of paper, but without it, I wouldn't get half of what's invested. And I do have all the reciepts. I will certainly ask about the "Agreed Value", thanks for the tip!

 

That statement is not entirely true. My father had his perfectly restored XKE rearended 5 years ago basically totalling out the car. Insurance company said it was worth only $40K and would not move off the number for 2 weeks. He had appraisal for $63K done 2 years prior. Guess what???....they paid $63K exactly 1 week after the attorney contacted them with a copy of the appraisal.

btw...for some of us who live in condo's an agreed policy is impossible to buy because of the need for a private garage and no I am not renting/parking my car in some storage area. I paid too much to have her sit in some garage and not enjoy her.

 

Yep that's the guy. Very knowledgeable, he knows his business well!
Love to see his database,

 

A place called "Auto Appraise" did my 71'. The owners name was Jason Phillips ( www.autoappraise.com ). He has "experts" all over the contry and does appraisals for Hagerty and Taylor.

Appraised my 71' vert at 35K and I'd say it has a actual value of about 25K. You'll be surprised at how high the $$ will be.

 

I like when people quote high appraisals when selling a vehicle. As if that has some meaning regarding the selling price.

“For sale 1978 Camaro appraised at $9,500” Yeah why didn’t you instead ask the Wadd who did the appraisal what he would buy the car for there and then? Because he would have told you $2,100.

 

those are the guys I used also. When they told me $35K I was like yeah right. Show me $35K and I will dump it right now since I bought it a year earlier for $20K. My thoughts on actual value are low 20's about 66% of the appraisal price. I don't understand why they put the values so high but if $hit does happen at least I am covered.

 

That's the point!

 

The higher the better if you are using it for insurance.

 

I used to have my vette and custom bikes insured through state farm insurance for many years, until a friend of mine that had his bike insured through them had to turn in a claim to them because his bike was stolen, the bike was insured for $18,000 in writing, that is what he told them that he wanted it insured for and he had a written appraisal for that amount, He was insured with them for over three years before the incident, all they would pay him was $10,500, because they went by what comparable bikes was selling for in the local trader and newspapers. I switched my vette to Haggerty It has had agreed upon value set at $28,000, I got a letter from them yesterday that said because of the market and local auction prices they believe the value has went up $3000. from last year, and that the suggest value is $31,000, I pay $300. a year full coverage with a agreed upon value of $31,000. and it is insured for year around driving not 9 months and 3 months fire and theft for storage, with or with out an appraisal make sure they are going to pay you the agreed upon price and not just use that number to set how much they charge you per month.

 

BINGO!................LT