Hi guys,

I need your help finding any kind of documentation proving the value of a 97 ITR.

My 97 ITR (118k miles) was stolen on Thanksgiving. I am currently insured with STATE FARM (FL) and they are attempting to claim that the vehicle's value is a little under $7,000.

This is the vehicle. Single owner.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72646955@N03/

Anyway, after paying insurance on this car for 15 years I'm pretty livid, and have been arguing with them about this for almost two months.

They refuse to use internet posts as "Comparable Vehicles" and are instead using one burnt out car value from Autosource and one "dealer quote" from a dealer in Florida. I called that dealer and asked about that # and he laughed and asked where they got it from.

If you have ANY kind of documentation indicating what the real value of a 97 ITR is. An AutoSource price, a valuation, anything, I would love to have it, and would honestly pay you for the time and effort it took to email it to me.

I'm running out of options here.

Thanks so much,
Phil McCarty
(philip dot mccarty at gmail dot com)

(my PM box might fill up)

 

thats a low number When KBB has no value for the car only a sugested Retail price of $9,075 with those miles go on there site print it out and send it to them. http://www.kbb.com/acura/integra/199...=retail#survey

thats what my friend did got 14k for his 2000 ITR

 

NADA has it at $7250 but they Low ball the **** out of cars dont know why...

 

Good luck, I was gonna recommend NADA because that's what insurance companies mostly uses. My only advice would be to look into a insurance attorney.

 

Also here's something close to a price i guess
https://honda-tech.com/forums/acura-integra-type-r-8/checking-out-00-py-itr-tomorrow-3118006/

 

I would get an independent appraiser involved. Traditional ways of valuing cars can not be applied to ITRs.
Here is a snipet by KBB calling ITRs a future collectable.
http://web.archive.org/web/200705230...assics;article

There are also articles in Classic Motorsports mag and Grassroots Motorsports mag that called ITR a future classic and collectable....I'll see if I can find and scan mine..

 

Joes right here. You'll need an independent appraiser if you want more $$$

Unfortunately this is the norm with insurance companies. Whatever you do, do NOT settle right now. Fight and fight some more.

Ask them to replace the car, and not pay out and see what they find for a replacement.

ALSO... there will be a 97 ITR clean title FS in Tampa very soon that you can use as a comparison.

GL

 

Found this on google. It's the scan of the classic motorsports article.

 

Thanks for all of the input, info, and (most importantly) support. This has been really a gutwrenching experience. I'll collect this info and send it to my claims adjuster. I feel that you're right, in that an independent appraiser is the only way this is going to work out in my favor.

 

GL. And sorry you lost your car

 

I think that you can get them up by 25%.
This happened to me with State Farm, in 2008...
They totaled my 01 w/68,000ish miles ITR, at $13,325

After 4 weekly calls to State Farm, a different State Farm person contacted me and said that they could not offer me more than $13,325.
I reminded him that the ITR is a limited production vehicle and that I had seen several on e-bay and auto trader, since my car was totaled.

Those prices ranged from $17,200 for an ITR with 78,000 miles to $23,000 for a car with 45,000 miles. He couldn't use those asking values, so I asked him to find any 3 ITRs for sale for the $13,325 that he was offering.

The next day, the guy told me that he was now able to use a 'limited production' formula and he wanted to know what I thought was a fair value. I didn't want to go for the full $17,200, because I had been worn down. I settled for $16,500 and paid $4,400 to buy it back.

For me, the key was to get State Farm to admit that they could not find a similar ITR in the market place, for what they were offering.

 

Depends on your agent honestly, State Farm is one of the best company to deal with when it comes to claims. My agent got me more money than the current market value and they gave me the cost of tax and licensing fees as well.

 

Insurance companies the biggest thieves of them all.7k for a type r give me a break.

 

7 is light for that mileage especially if it's a clean title car. would be about right for a salvage though. few things you could do for value equal comps are

1. see if there are any similar closed ebay auctions
2. find more dealers willing to quote you what they would sell the car for
3. see if any have sold at manheim recently

there's no possible way they could find you a similar car for 7k.

i think the guy who said you could go up 25% was more or less right on. 10k plus or minus 500 would be realistic value

 

An independent appraiser is your best bet..

When 163 (97 ITR w/130K miles) was stolen (Dec 2008) my insurance company (AAA) offered me 5K for the car. After many phones call back and forth with my agent, they still could not understand anything about the car. I told my agent I would sent over a package with detailed information (listed below is what) on the car. Once the my agent reviewed my package, she got lost/confused, and had the car appraised. The appraiser came back with the exact value I was hoping for. I took my nice check to the bank and then blow it all on hookers, blow, and coffee..

What I sent in..
1. Current for sale adds from Ebay, Autotrader, and Cars.com. I included cars that were in great condition and ones that were not. Also, I avoided using message board for sales ads.
2. A letter from Honda stating the production run for 97 ITRs. The letter can be found online.
3. Printed out the Car&Driver and another magazine review of the car.
4. A CD full of pictures of the car..
5. Every single receipt for aftermarket parts, maintenance parts, etc that I had.
6. I am thinking there was one more item, but my I cant remember.. Hell I cant remember what I wore to work yesterday..
7. I did organize everything into a nice presentation and included a table of contents.

When my RHD EG was stolen (Sep 2010), I prepared a nice presentation right off the bat for my agent. My agent never even bothered to make an initial offer and just sent it out for appraisal (the same place that did 163). The appraisal came back with good news and once again it was hookers, blow, and coffee time..

<-Has too much experience with stolen cars..

 

Bump ttttttttttttttttttt

 

I got over $17k for mine from State Farm and it had a salvage title. PM your e-mail address and I will e-mail you the settlement letter and I hope that can help you.

 

X2

 

State farm is legit, they just need documentations of all your parts and they'll cash you out. Having a detailed portfolio is even better because they can see the age of the receipt and progression pictures.

 

philip dot mccarty at gmail dot com

 

I used to work in the auto field for P&C in the insurance industry but now I'm in malpractice.

Auto insurance is quite simple. You just need to read your policy and applicable laws and regulations.

Since you're in AZ look here:

http://www.azsos.gov/public_services/Title_20/20-06.htm

Under:

R20-6-801. Unfair Claims Settlement Practices: (VERY IMPORTANT!!!)
http://www.uphelp.org/pdfs/unfairclaimspractice.pdf

AZ is similar to WA as far as settlement practices.

First, lets define the word insurance. According to Webster:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/insurance
"Coverage by contract whereby one party undertakes to indemnify or guarantee another against loss by a specified contingency or peril."
So the insurer responsiblity is to indemnify you of your loss, meaning that they need to pay you ACV (actual cash value). The amount they pay you has to be enough for you to buy the same or similar make and model of what you had insured. Remember ACV is different than market value. Market value for the E30m3 is different because the price of the car to an enthusiast is much different from a none enthusiast. ACV is what you tend to look at through NADA and KBB or even Edmunds. You cannot rely on NADA because they give you general pricing meaning they do not calculate your area code and other factors that increase and decrease the valuation.

Second, you have to figure out your policy through your declaration page of what your insurance company, the insurer, will provide you in the time of a loss. The most important for us enthusiast is the appraisal clause or provision.
This clause or provision enables us the insured to hire our own appraiser to provide a valuation for our cars. The insurance company will also do the same. Both appraisers will get together and hash out their findings and come up with a valuation. Then you can deny the final pricing or accept. After this provision, then comes arbitration. A lot of people don't like arbitration but honestly this is the best option for us enthusaist because it's them against you. In my opinion this is good because you have something that they don't; knowledge of the market and your car. Attorney's know the law, insurance claims reps know basic insurance but not state insurance laws.

All you need to look up is your states insurance fair settlement practices in case of loss or total loss. Why your E30m3 is worth more than what the insurance is valuating yours at. Ask your insurance company the print out of the cars they have looked at to get their valuation. This is key because majority of the time the insurance company will only look at base models. For instance the AE86 which is a 1984-1987 Toyota Corolla GTS that comes in a coupe and hatchback. The insurance companies will look at all Corolla models (I owned this car). I have informed their poor settlement practices due to their knowledge of my car because a 1984-1987 Corolla Deluxe 4 door isn't an AE86. Sure the same make and model but when you look at model, model is also part of a trim. The AE86 is a sport corolla, RWD, and isn't the same as a Deluxe model. Also another car is the DC2 or 2nd Gen Acura Integra. I have a 2001 Acura Integra Type-R. The insurance company look at this car as a regular Integra until I educated them and threaten them suit against unfair settlement practices with a bad faith suit.

Very similar to the E30m3, these are production cars but only a limited production.

Third, most states have an insurance law that you have the right to negotiate, meaning they they will need to take steps to research your documents and findings before denying your offer. Or even they cannot jump to a final pricing without you agreeing meaning, they cannot cut you a check unless you agree. They have to provide documents of their market research or valuation.

Last of all, contact your states insurance department or insurance commissioners office and file a dispute against your insurance company and claims rep. Provide all your info. The insurance department and insurance commissioner acts as a 3rd party to help settle matters prior to court or any legal actions. Most states insurance commissioner will side with the insured, meaning you if you have substantial research and findings.

***Whenever you call and speak with a claims rep, you can always let me know that your conversation is being recorded. Most phones will let you records your calls. Perfect to use their words against you and the law.***

I hope this helps.

More info:

http://www.claimcoach.com/pdf/new_story_valuation.pdf

http://www.autoloss.com/Services/Onl...ppraisals.html

http://www.uphelp.org/pdfs/unfairclaimspractice.pdf


Mike

 

The links are for AZ state so you will need to find your own state laws regarding insurance and settlement practices.

Most states have an unfair settlement practice act and a state department of insurance to help you as well.

Look in your policy, ie your declaration page, if there is verbage of documentation about vehicle value and/or pricing. If they say that it's under their company policy that is bs because your declaration page is what they will provide you and they cannot adopt a company policy with proper verbage in your policy stating so.

Mike

 

Check your e-mail in about 5 minutes.

 

Hey Pinkie,

First, thanks, this is blowing my mind that you have this.

Second, I don't see it in my email, are you sure you sent it to the right one?

Phil

 

You may also e-mail me at albert.garcia@hanson.com