REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

SkunkWorks · 02-09-2011, 01:05 AM

Hoping you guys can give me a hand here.

Was involved in an accident a month back where a semi-truck changed lanes right into me, I'm not at fault but unfortunately the car was written off.

Car had quite a few aftermarket upgrades (turbo, coilovers, etc.) and kept in fairly decent condition. Currently have been going back and forth with the estimator over the value of the car. Reason being is that they're offering a settlement that can get us back into a mere stock one at best. I've sent in ads of similar condition stock cars and quotes for all the aftermarket parts to no avail. Doesn't help that there aren't any cars with a similar caliber of mods as this one on the market currently. Since most of the parts were changed by the previous owner, I don't have any actual invoices either.

Should I be discussing this with my adjuster instead? All of the correspondence from statement to value assessments have been done over the phone and so I've never had to talk to my adjuster yet. The estimator himself has been of absolute zero help thusfar apart from trying to get us to settle asap. Typical conversation with him:

"The car should be worth this much because of the upgraded coilovers, X, Y, Z and here are the faxed copies of the ads/quotes to prove it."
"No, the car is old and needs new suspension, X, Y, Z to be replaced anyway."

How can we negotiate for a fairer offer? Fair being that we can buy another car with similar upgrades in similar condition with the settlement - something we can't do right now with the current offer. Doesn't help that the car in upgraded form is pretty rare on the Buy & Sell.

Another option would be to swap out the parts back with OEM bits. Does anyone know the process on how to do that? Can I just remove the parts at the salvage yard or do I need to tow it out and have it reassessed? They're not giving us any money whatsoever on the aftermarket parts apart from the turbo kit which in itself is assessed on the low end of the spectrum at best.

Thanks in advance.

Sp0r3 · 02-09-2011, 01:13 AM

Since the adjuster said those listed parts need replacement anyways, suggest the adjuster to give you the difference in costs between the OEM parts and the aftermarket parts. Then add that to the original offer. See if the adjuster is willing to agree to those terms.

If not, best is to swap the old pieces back with OEM parts. ICBC will not allow you to touch your car in their salvage yard. You will have to call a tow truck and get it off their property and do the swap. After the OEM parts are back in, you tow it back to the salvage yard.

godwin · 02-09-2011, 01:20 AM

When you go to ICBC for assement, I thought they would have given you the adjusters etc's card which have their emails on it? If you are so worried about accountability and transparency, why don't you use email instead?

Coilovers etc are considered wear items. Unless you had gotten additional insurance, you are not going to get much more than book value.

You haven't state what the current offer is.

IMO, if you have all the stock parts and since you don't have additional insurance, you are stuck swapping out the parts you deem valuable. Unless you pay extra for towing yourself (and I think BCAA only tows cars that are road worthy). You have to swap the parts at the salvage yard (bring tools AND air). You have to swap the items so the car is still towable; so eg you have to put back stock shocks on the car if you swap out the coilovers, you can't just toss them in the trunk and call it a day. You should also consider the time and expense (non recoverable) of having to swap the parts out.

younglude · 02-09-2011, 04:05 AM

sorry to hear op.

what car was it?

!SG · 02-09-2011, 05:59 AM

i had my car towed to a shop, put my gs300 back to stock, towed back to icbc.

then had them reassest my car,

hamhead · 02-09-2011, 09:56 AM

what i had icbc do was assess my car with additional value b/c of mods, then buy the car back as scrap metal $150 then i can part and sell whatever i want off of it

need2speed · 02-09-2011, 11:41 AM

Your not going to get much for aftermarket stuff, best bet is to tow the car and put it back to stock.
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GabAlmighty · 02-09-2011, 09:48 PM

You had aftermarket parts on your car = youlose.

jlenko · 02-10-2011, 07:28 PM

You can hire an appraiser to appraise your cars value.

But keep in mind, aftermarket parts never increase a cars value - they only decrease it. If you pay some guy $300 for an appraisal, you might end up screwing yourself.