Can anyone please advise?

I had my 98(S reg, 66k paid 7.5k, after much searching) wagon stolen just before christmas, it was inspected by the engineer on new years eve and he has said it needs a short motor and a recon gearbox(as well as 3 new alloys and some interior trim)the dealer it is at has said roughly 2k for short motor, 2.5k recon box, 1k for labour, + wheels and trim.
They are probably likely to scrap it off but will want to give me as little as possible. What does CAP give as the value of it and in reality am I likely to be able to find one for what they will offer?
Am I/can I ask to have it fully repaired and end up with a new drivetrain, or do I have to do what the insurer(L&V) decides and make do with there offer?

Any similar experiences?

regards, and lets hope 2004 is better than 2003.

regards

Matt,

Happy New Year

You know who I am!!!! Same problem mate, gearbox is also f**ked, got to call the Norwich after 3 o'clock to see if they gonna call it a day and pay out.

Cheers,

Leigh

You can certainly haggle with the insurance company over the price they pay out. (From limited experience a few years ago - Dad managed to get nearly double the first offer price out of them.)

I'd suggest getting info, such as for sale adverts for similar cars in similar condition and present a case to the insurance company if you don't like their offer.

After all, the idea of fully comp insurance is to leave you in the position you were in before the incident. (Apart from NCB no doubt :()

Another option would be to let them write the car off, and buy it back from them. Some decent 2nd hand parts could cut the cost dramatically (Say £1.5k + labour)

The above post still applies to the pay out negociation, so you could well come out in profit, as there's probably not too much scrap value in a car with a totalled drive train (well, it's another negociating point anyway!!) At 73% of purchase cost to repair, I'd not be surprised for the insurer to declare it a catagory D write off.

The down side is that the car will be listed on the HPI register thing, so resale will be a PITA. Photos of work done etc help a little here. (resale value could be knocked by 25% to 50% - but remember the little bit of "profit" you hopefully made earlier ;))

Think carefully though.

Sorry - I'm a bit bored today, as I've not got that much work to do.

[Edited by dnb - 1/5/2004 11:56:44 AM]