On another thread a minor discussion of insurance came up so here is the question: for those that have had total loss claims due to theft or collision, did the insurance payout seem reasonable compared to what you considered to be the value of the car in that particular market? This is particularly relevent for those with older, low-mileage cars where the "book" value may deviate from the current value in the market.

pmartin

 

HELL NO!! They jerked my wires for a few weeks and gave me a BS 500 for all the work (even had reciepts) and money put into it.

peace

 

I wouldn't trust an insurance company for ****. They are all a bunch of liars and scumbag cheaters. They will rip you off any chance they get and stab you in the back. If your expecting to get compensated fairly for your loss your gonna get a big slap in the face when the check comes.

 

when I had a hit and run last december, they have given me 1126 so fare and am still working with them to get the stearing fixed.

 

well pmartin, here I am again,,,,had no claims with my "7" and hope not to. As we discussed in another thread, all you guys best beware. If your car has special value due to exceptional condition, miles, or what ever, you best arm yourself with "proof" of you will get low balled if the insurance has to pay a total loss settlement. YOu best get photos, appraisal and be able to document and prove the value/condition of the car......ps: not all claims people from the insurance industry are "scumbags" "liars" etc...I actually think I am pretty fair ( yes I am one of them). If someone can show me its value , and back it up, I will usually pay them. But when some of you call us scumbags or whatever, remember, it goes both ways. People try and pull fast ones on me all the time. Some get away with it, some don't. Ever wonder why insurance rates are high? A lot has to do with fraud and bogus claims....see ya....cjf

 

Listen to cjf.

It depends on your insurance agent (company) as well as the claim representative (team) that is assigned to your case.

I had State Farm in Austin, Texas. I also brought some business to him (my buddy's corvette and other friend's 2002 YZF R1's).
My FC got the value listed in the private value under Kelley's BB.
For my modifications (E6K, 60-1 turbo, FMIC, etc), I got a decent amount considering other people's experience. The amount doubled my appraisal.
On top of my claim, I bought my car back for $300 and sold the parts (and car) for my appraisal amount (very good deal to the buyer for a fully tuned FC making lots of power). The front was banged up, but everything in the engine bay is fine.

I submitted receipts upon receipts (down to bolts) and listed how each item affects the car (reliability mods or performance and how it works).

btw, my girlfriend works along with claim representatives. She tells me about a lot fo the claims being made and some of the outrageous stories they hear. Yes, some claims reps are pretty shallow and uncool folks, but they also deal with liars day in and night out. On top of their day to day experiences, they have to save the company money (and hopefully not compromise the quality of customer support and service).

J

 

As I said in the other thread, I am in the insurance field. However, when I submitted mty claim for my '7 the claims rep DID NOT know I was in the industry. I was able to prove my car was not book value. I was paid $9,000. and they let me buy the car back for $450. Then I told them I was a broker.
Btw, As I'm sure you other insurance people know, my claim has just set a precedent. I'd be willing to let anyone use my example .... if they are ever in a claims situation.

 

cjf,
I agree with you that some of the earlier '7's and the SE's may be worth more than what the insurer's are currently paying. You are correct they only recognize a vehicle as classic when it reaches 20-25 years of age. My insurer will recognize a classic at 15 years. However, there is a catch. You must be able to prove the car in question is a limited production vehicle OR that it has manufacturer features added to it...... therefore settting it apart from the rest of the production year. Last fall I received an email from someone who told me he could tell by the serial number that my car was made in the last 10% of the production year. He said mazda made minor changes to the cars in the last 10%. Does anyone know if this is true? If I can prove this ... I have a classic! Mine does have the headlight washers ......

 

Man, if I get in an accident, I'm screwed. I've invested mucho dinero in my rex and the most I can get back is the Blue Book Value. State Farm sucks!

 

Are you the one that got your car stolen???? and they vandalized it all up??? I read that off of some site, and I e-mailed the person on the site, and before I could get back to replying the e-mail was automatically deleted....

Any ways.... i Think Mar3 might want your example... but I dont know if it would work.. since your in canada.. and hes in texas


well... THANX, Laterz, Andrew

 

Here's some food for thought. I love my 7. I hand sanded it down to the metal and had it painted. Put in new AC, reorder every part Mazda had for the interior, you name it I did it.

But, I don't have theft. You know why? It's because insurance companies are scams!

If I get theft, then my insurance jumps to like 65 dollars a month with a 500 deductable. They will only give me their blue book NOT KELLEY!. I have called maybe a dozen companies too. The most I could get is about 1450. So with my 500 ded I only get 950. And my premium becomes another 500 bucks a year. So after one year, I'd only really get 450. After 2 years I'd be loosing money.

My 84 got rearended by an off duty cop. I was at a dead stop. The car got totalled. It was immaculant w/new 1000 paint job, clutch and bunch of other stuff. I had receipts. I only got 950 dollars for it from the insurance company. I even took them to court and the judge said it was fair value. I asked the jusge to try and replace a perfect running 84 with 130k and new paint for 950 bucks. He said that any modifications I have made are not the responsibility of Allstate. I have heard of some people only getting 400 bucks for some vehicles that are barely 10 years old.

If you ask me, insurance companies are scams. When a tree fell on my first 84, my new Mazda factory engine was only 6 months old. The most they offered me was 3500 (which was low blue book for the year). My receipts were completely rejected.

Sigh...

 

Jeez. I pay $680 per year for plates and basic insurance, and another $290 per year for a package policy that gives me $2,000,000 liability, theft, etc.

$970 per year (about $650 per year US) for the whole shebang with a $50 deductible.

So far they've paid $3190 to repair the front end after I slipped on ice and cracked into a barrier; $950 to repair the rear (new bumper, paint, and loaner vehicle rental)after I was rear-ended at a stop light, and they're about to pay another $490 for a second rear-ending (16 year old watching the cop instead of traffic ahead of him)

 

manntis, how do you set that up, as i still have my sask plates cause im a student.. and alberta insurance is killer... i pay $754 a year.. just normal crap.. and i think my deductible is $200 now.. was from humboldt, sk, and went to the city often
Daryl

 

Next time you're in Sask go to any SGI agency ( I recommend Prairie Insurance on 8th St. in Saskatoon - they're good people) and tell them you want a package policy. The car has to be Sask plated in your name.

They offer $100, $50, and $0 deductibles, $1 mil or $2 mil liability, glass packages, etc. and can withdraw out of you bank account on monthly payments if you don't wanna shell out the whole shebang all at once.

 

aight thanks, i already got the window insurance

 

Andrew,
Was the car you saw on a site a *mint* maroon, painted black? With all the interior plastic (seats too) painted black? YEP, that was me. They did an interesting job on the dash too ... don't you think?

In regards to Mar3, for most cases insurance wordings are pretty much *universal*. It wouldn't matter that he lives in Texas and I live in Canada. As a matter of fact, during the claim settlement process, some of the best material I produced to MY insurer came from ......... the US!

 

You can pretty much only expect blue book value. If you put extra mods into the car, ins co usually don't pay you for that. If the car is totalled, you can always pull out your mods I guess.

 

Well, there seems to be happypeople out there with good experiences and others feel they have been ripped off. Life is not fair, but all I am saying is ...DO YOUR HOMEWORK and arm yourself. This not only applys to your "7" ....but it applies in life as well.. Don't know what else to say..............PEACE..........................

 

woww, that is rare..I heard they were on the japanese cars in Japan only and none of the cars imported to the U. S. had them ...I would "love" to see a photo of that...or did you add them???

 

The little black 'horns' on the bumper are the washer nozzles encased in rubber. They're activated by the headlight up button by pushing it all the way down instead of to the first setting.

My car is Canadian spec and I have these washers on both my '83 and my '85 GSL-SE. According to the VIN my GSL-SE was made in May of 1985 (maybe within the last 10%?) in a factory in Hiroshima, Japan.

Back to insurance for a moment, here if you get your car appraised with its mods you can have it insured for "actual adjusted value" not simple vehicle replacement value.

 

85rx7gs has a spare bumper laying around that has the headlight washers in it. I know he wants to sell it. PM him if your interested.

 

OK, so the headlight washers are unique to the Canadian and Japanese cars. Was there anything else? does anyone know?

 

mantis...thanks for the photo...I guess you guys in Canada are priveledged cause I don't know of anyone in the states that hav'em...unless they got it in Japan or Canada...I guess....

 

I dunno how big of a privelege it is... they just squirt washer fluid onto your headlights to get off mud or bugs. They only add about 45 HP, about the same as an electric blower

 

Man, i had someone hit my 79' in the drivers door, and i got more from the damage than i paid for the car, lucky i guess....lol Btw, this was through there insurance at progressive.