Thats reason enough right there to replace it asap. As there is nothing exciting or extraordinary about your crash. It wasn't as if your car was highly modified, and you weren't street racing or doing anything crazy, nor anyone was hurt (luckily), it wasn't some crazy crash either. Nope all you did was avoid a motorcyclist and hit a tree on a rather stockish FD.

So what's the big deal and why is it famous? It's because its an FD plain and simple, and people covet them. What I am really saying is that these cars are on their way to increasing in value. I say it will happen in the next 10 years so get one while you can.

 

Some things to consider after you buy it back, if you want to disassemble the car and store parts so you can get rid of what is no good during sale process:

1. Pick up some plastic storage bins at Big Lots to store parts. Put a number or letter on the each bin and document in your electronic parts list what you put in each bin.

18-gal totes
34-gal totes

2. Pick up some resealable plastic bags with write on labels from US Plastic Corp to store nuts and bolts. Here are the two sizes I purchased that worked for most everything. I am still using them 5 yrs later. Zip tie the bags to the parts as you remove them.

- 3" x 5" x 2 mil White Block Poly Bags ~$10
- 6" x 9" x 2 mil White Block Poly Bags ~$33

3. Create an electronic master parts list with everything you have to sell. You won't be able to remember what you have and what you sold once you start posting for sale. I have a MS Excel spreadsheet that I created when I parted out a car and from items I have purchased over the years. It includes Mazda part descriptions, part numbers, some weights, box sizes, etc. PM me if you use MS Excel and want a copy to use.

 

I just randomly checked the value on NADA(the site that most banks use to determine the value of cars when people want to finance), and the value of a 93 FD went from around $11,000 to $19,000 since last year. I'm assuming that somebody in the market for an FD that would need a loan to get one would probably be able to get that $19,000 loan and start off with a pretty nice FD.

 

^Wow that's good news for all of us. I did not see that coming this early.

In 1990 my friend who was in high schoolbought a 1971 mustang. It was a beater, but it was better than walking. He paid $1k for it and sold it about 3 years later for $1k. He replaced it with a 1987 vw golf gti. We all thought it was a step up lol. So in a span of 10 years the car went from an old piece of crap (that had some cool attributes to it) to full awesome. Fast forward to today and we talk about how he should have kept it lol.

 

except most banks don't want to deal with loaning money for cars beyond a few years old, knowing that maintenance is a key factor to value. the older a car is the more strict the guidelines are. don't think you're going to walk into a bank, apply for a loan and get an easy $19k check for a 20 year old sports car.

 

The most important point is the increased allowance of $8k over a one year period. That close to an 80% increase.

 

I would be in for the interior

 

well yes, it makes getting a loan to afford one easier but i still believe $19k is an unrealistic fetching price for most FDs. how many really get that much even with below 50k miles original or rebuilt? modifed? not too many people willing to throw around that much for an FD. the $13k average still is fairly close for most cars being sold.

just for ***** n giggles i looked up prices on the NADA guide for all my cars and the trend is quite unrealistic

'87 TII $8k
'89 GXL $7k
'95 BMW E36 vert $5800
'04 RX8 GT $10k


nope, i'd be lucky to get half those figures with the exception of the RX8.

Edmunds gives the most realistic prices for used cars, which puts the FD at just over $12k.

examples given above from Edmunds with exception of only lists '90 and newer

'90 GXL $2400
'95 BMW E36 $3200
'04 RX8 GT $7800

realistic selling prices? yes.

 

so if they're giving loans based on NADA guide prices they're shooting themselves in the foot.

 

Its odd they only want to give you 9k. I was run off the road and put into a light pole by a mustang. 93 VR FD with 90k on it. They. (Geico) gave me 19.5k for mine. I did submit about 20k worth of receipts, repairs and maint. Still kicking myself for not buying mine back.

 

I feel your pain bro, it is a tough thing to go though and it never seems like you have enough time to decide. I had a 93MB with 180k klms on it and I ended up writing it off. It may work a little different here in Canada, but my insurance gave me just under 15k for it. I also printed out about 60-70 ads of 93's with similar mileage and showed a lot of receipts for work that I did on the car myself as well as a ton of pictures of the before and after stuff. Here in Canada they also give you tax on top of your payout so the value was around 13k before tax. Anyway, I bought it back for and have been parting it out. If you can buy it back for less than 3500 I would do it man. It is a lot of work and takes a lot of time, but to keep the parts from getting crushed and lost forever its well worth it. Sorry about your loss

My signature has a link to my part-out with pics so you can see it.

 

I could care less about a loan or that a bank won't finance a 20 year old car. What I care about is the increase in allowance is showing an upwards trend. That's it, nothing less nothing more

 

wow that looks really bad. It's good that you came out unharmed but if you had a passenger looks like they'd be having a really bad headache. If it were me I would have made that bike a statistic. If he crosses the center divider from the other lane he deserves to get hit. keep your line steady and don't veer. Car will win every time.

 

Not until you actually hit a person. I doubt you'll be saying these words.

I personally am a rider plus I love my rx7. Even if the motorcyclist is at fault, I will avoid hitting that person no matter what.

A life > a car.

If that's how you see life is, I sure hope you watch where you walk because if someone run you over and somehow they find you at fault, you'll probably regret what you typed today.

Karma is a bitch, remember that.

-Eric

 

yes a life is always greater than a car. You are correct there. I do watch where I walk, look both ways twice. cars can always be rebuilt or replaced while lives cannot. The motorcyclist in this situation put the driver in a bad situation. The driver nearly escaped death or being a vegetable his whole life. Did the bike stop.. nope so karma is hunting that guy down. I will always value my life over another. I'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six.

best source of donated organs comes from motorcyclists. that is a fact.

 

sorry to see this... id part it out and keep the insurance money

 

terribly sorry to hear , if you could get the insurance company for it least 16k there is a starting point for your next FD plus you can part the car out for another 6-10k so its not looking to bad

best of luck

 

I wouldn't repair it, she'll never be 100% strait again. I'd buy a bare roller cheap & move all the parts over.

 

Insurance panned out and paid out as I wanted. I will post the breakdown of the value and damage estimates etc for my vehicle so if anyone is involved in an accident like mine, they can figure out roughly the value of their car.

93 VR touring with 44801 miles.
$16,351 appraised market value.
$700 Salvage value [buy back price]

The wrecked FD is pending sale currently.

Thanks for all the advice.

Matt

 

Can't beat that $700 buy back price.

 

I am assuming that you have USAA. They are good but I just went through a similar situation with an 06 Mazdaspeed6 with 28k miles, one owner. The car was perfect aside from being totaled but all the "comps" they used were not really the same. Different options, not one owner, modified rather than stock. You have to really work at it but you can continue to work with them to get more. If it's totaled and sitting in a lot with a USAA tags on it you will have a better chance if you can be patient. They are going to try and get you to take as little as possible early on. Assuming it's not your daily driver and you have the time I would search hard for comps and present them for their review. The settlement is not going to go down so it's in your interest to hold out. As nice as USAA is, it is in their interest to give you as little as possible. I know that's the business but I honestly expected a better settlement and I had to work for every dime. Glad you're okay and good luck.

 

I'm guessing you are not married and don't have any kids.

 

That is excellent appraised market value for the FD. I know they're different vehicles but that is almost exactly what I got for my perfect 2006 Mazdaspeed6.

 

I was talking to my insurance for about a week and half before we reached this settlement. Things were a bit rocky as my mileage went from originally unknown, to 45801, to 145k, and back to 45801. There were several mix ups. The appraiser screwed up the initial estimate by stating the mileage as unknown and then they said 3 of my receipts said my mileage was over 139k miles. I called them immediately and they were trying to use receipts for a car that wasn't mine -.- Just goes to show that you shouldn't just accept what they give you. Ask for all the appraisal papers and estimates. They HAVE to provide it to you. Review it and make sure it is correct. Always keep receipts for all your work and stay in touch with your insurance. You'll eventually get what you want.

Matt

 

while I respect you for your decision to not hit the motorcyclist, I don't know if it would have been the best decision if you had a passenger with you..

there are a lot of dumbass motorcycle riders out there that ride well out of their comfort zone..I know because I've ridden with a few