The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Any suggestions for how to determine the market value on one of the 1973 (July built) Mimosa Dolomite Sprints with MOT and all fully functional, but not the original engine and with "some rust" and "in need of paint", etc.? It is for insurance purposes in terms of paying for repairs.

Graham

From the purposes of an insurance company and from experience, the 'market value' of a 45 year old car is sweet FA, or as little as they can get away with.

We're going back a few years, but a friend's recently rebuilt to high standard Sprint was written off in a no fault accident; he was hit from behind. Unfortunately he hadn't yet agreed the value of the car with the insurance company, or taken the free valuation service offered to Club members; the insurance company offered him, from memory, £200, from which they were intending to deduct 'recovery costs'. The accident happened here in the Midlands, but the car had been 'recovered' to Wakefield!

It took some strongly worded letters and sabre rattling to get that translated to £1000 and the salvage delivered to his home FOC. At the time, the car would have changed hands for about £3k pre-accident, but without 'agreed value' that was irrelevant.

If you have no agreed value, then it will be an uphill battle for you to demonstrate 'market value'; engine size and model becomes less relevant due to the very small sample pool of recently transacted cars. I had this problem a couple of years ago when my Alfa 166 was written off in a no fault accident; as few 2.5 v6 cars had changed hands recently, they looked at values of the less desirable 4 cylinder cars and ignored my argument of what I'd have to spend to replace the exact make/model/mileage. Eventually, as a compromise, they increased their offer to what I'd paid for the car a couple of months earlier, which I couldn't really complain about, but having had something of a bargain at the time, I was left unable to replace it with the settlement.

Good luck; tenacity is the name of the game.

If you are a Club member, then admin might provide a pre-accident valuation for you...

Just a question out of the blue,

What if you have an agreed value with your insurers of say £12k, but no club or independent valuation ?

I definitely agree that an agreed value is a sound idea, however it is not without its flaws.

I recently took out an agreed value on my 1961 Chevy van. I was not able to provide a club valuation so I had to determine a value myself. I settled on £12k, despite only paying £8k all in for it. My reasoning was that I'd bought it 'cheap' and undervalued as it turns out to my original from 1961 and in far better condition than I imagined. I based my price on 2 cars that have sold in the last 12 months in the UK.

To my surprise the insurance co would only value at £8k because that's how much I paid for it and I've done nothing to it to add any more value. I appealed the decision but all they could suggest is getting an independent valuation on it, the cost is high though.

With a Dolomite it should be easier to get a value as there's more than 5 in the country but just watch out.

Just as a matter of intrest?
Has anybody had a claim on an agreed value insurance claim? And how did they go on?
Happy or sad tales welcome and who to avoid.

Cheers,
Tony.

You can get an agreed valuation without a club or independent valuation, but you can usually do better with one.

I had an agreed valuation of £10k on my interceptor when it caught fire and was deemed total loss Cat A. I received a cheque for £9900 almost by return (£100 excess)

Ido worry about self-declared valuations. No reason except I am sure there is some small print that could enable an ins.co to wiggle a lot. Besides, I have also heard of people using underbonnet/interior pics of other cars in their valuations, in which case the ins.co would be correct to wiggle.
A club based valuation has to be the best solution.

I have had experience when I wrote off my spitfire in 2010. Insure with Peter Taylor, self declared value of 3K. They didn't quiblle that at all (probably a conservative estimate) but really didn't want e to have the car back. The broker was FANTASTIC and gave the underwriters a very hard time on my behalf. I got the car back, delivered from Aberdeen to Hove FOC for the grief, but was deducted £300 for the salvage, which I had agreed.

Club valuations are also fraught with difficulty. For example, when I had a Lotus Elan Sprint, Club Lotus valued it at over £40,000 without ever seeing the car. All they had were a few photos and my description of the car. The insurer accepted that valuation, but in fact the car couldn't have been sold for anything like that amount. I know, because the dealer I sold it to tried to get £39,995 for it over a period of nearly a year, and eventually sold it for under £35,000. He gave me slightly over £30,000 for it so there wasn't much in it for him. I suppose the club valuation assumed the car was factory fresh, instead of a good quality rebuild with several mods and a cheapish paint job.

MG Car Club refuse to give valuations because they can't possibly get to inspect the member's cars. They worry that if they give an inflated valuation on the basis of a few photos they could be held liable for misrepresentation. If TDC gives valuations, how is it done? I am not likely to drive many hundreds of miles from Scotland to get mine valued.

Well an agreed valuation would have helped - had one on my TR7 Sprint when that got burned a bit, and they paid what it cost to repair (though thereby hangs a tale).

But the question is what is a well used 73 Mimosa Doly Sprint with MOT, etc., worth?

Graham

Bumpa wrote: ↑Thu Jan 25, 2018 7:50 pm If TDC gives valuations, how is it done? I am not likely to drive many hundreds of miles from Scotland to get mine valued.

They are carried out using written and photographic evidence from the owner and the onus is on the insurer to decide whether they accept the Club's expert opinion on it. We advise members to use an insurer who will accept the Club's valuation. To date we have not had an insurer refuse to accept a Club valuation. However, we give realistic valuations, we certainly wouldn't value a Sprint at £35K just because the owner has allegedly spent that much restoring it.

Would the club offer a valuation on what a car would have been worth befor it got a bit dented?

Graham

We offer a free valuation service as one of the benefits of membership of the Club.

new to this wrote: ↑Thu Jan 25, 2018 9:46 pm sorry to Hijack

But is a car worth more with an original engine ,than one that's been replaced (not matching numbers)

Thanks Dave

In my opinion, only if the car has great provenance, like a winning racer, or the first made. As a 'journeyman' car, probably not.

xvivalve wrote: ↑Thu Jan 25, 2018 9:53 pm

new to this wrote: ↑Thu Jan 25, 2018 9:46 pm sorry to Hijack

But is a car worth more with an original engine ,than one that's been replaced (not matching numbers)

Thanks Dave

In my opinion, only if the car has great provenance, like a winning racer, or the first made. As a 'journeyman' car, probably not.

Alun

Thanks Dave