[BCorcoran]

Sounds good, i will keep that in mind. Do you happen to have a bumper if it comes down to me needing a new one? I'd love to have an original if possible, but hagerty says they have connections if needed. Ill post more and more as it is in the shop being fixed. Gives me an excuse to buy all new crome or atleast most of it on the outside since i will be getting it repainted.

[charles bledsoe]

BCorcoran- are you pleased with Hagerty? Did you have a deductible? Are you restricted in milage? Sorry to hear about your accident glad you had a collector car insurance though. They are suppose to be better folks to deal with as the standard insurance companies will total your car out in a heartbeat, then give you nothing for it. They use some kind of formula and percentage and don't use common sense at all. Yours looks as if there is not that much damage. Nice 68, best of luck!

[68pongto]

Originally Posted by charles bledsoe

BCorcoran- are you pleased with Hagerty? Did you have a deductible? Are you restricted in milage? Sorry to hear about your accident glad you had a collector car insurance though. They are suppose to be better folks to deal with as the standard insurance companies will total your car out in a heartbeat, then give you nothing for it. They use some kind of formula and percentage and don't use common sense at all. Yours looks as if there is not that much damage. Nice 68, best of luck!

I run our family auto body/restoration shop and have a bit of insight on this. The classic car insurance companies usually hire independent appraisers to write estimates, the big companies have their own guys. Honestly we never have problems with the appraisers when it comes to classic car accidents, they ask us what do YOU WANT to fix it? They are used to writting estimates on 2010 Honda Accords, not muscle cars! Insurance companies do not just "total cars in a heartbeat" Here in Missouri it has to be 75% of the value, so if you are at $30,000 in value you would have to have $22,500 in damage to total. Remember NO insurance Co. can just take your vehicle, there is ALWAYS a salvage/buy-back value. In Missouri you only have to get a salvage title on vehicles 7 years and newer that were declared a total loss. I would imagine most states are similar. He has a $30,000 stated policy so they don't "give you nothing", they give you $30,000 minus any deductible if you let them tow it off. I doubt any classic car owner would let their car with moderate damage, as this one has, just be towed off to the salvage pool! A competent restoration shop should be able to fix what you have there. Maybe get a repop hood, hard to tell the extent of damage without seeing the car. Also, just a general note too, you always have the right to choose your repair facility with ANY damaged vehicle. New or old. NO insurance company can make you go to any particular shop, pick one you have confidence in! Scott

[charles bledsoe]

That's good to know 68pongto. I didn't know what the $30,000 clause was that he was mentioning. The last wrecked car I dealt with was one that my son was driving and because of the air bags being deployed they totaled the car due to the 75 percent rule. The value of the car was given to me by the insurance company, I did not have an agreed to value.

Who would you recommend as a good insurance company to deal with? I have heard of Hagerty and was just trying to find out how BCorcoran liked them. I need to find a good insurance company as mine does not deal with classic cars, so it's kinda expensive to insure all of them. I'm out in the country and we have lots of deer almost hit one in the truck the other day. When I read this post it triggered the questions.
Thanks.

[BCorcoran]

Well its not easy to answer right now. I have no deductable. I told them i took it out for a cruise when i hit the deer and they were like oh took it for a cruise huh? Like I am only going to drive it to car shows and hide it away in my garage till time ends. If you have one drive it and enjoy it, thats what they are meant for. Anyways, I drove it to the body shop today to see what he thinks but overall i am not very happy. He doesen't think they will repaint the car completely which i bet will lead to mis-matched paint and nothing will piss me off more. They complain about hard to find parts but i bet if i put my mind to it and will help of fellow members i could get all the parts i need. I am tired of everyone making excuses about hard to find parts. I want it back to the way it was so i can just drive it again without the smashed front end. I am almost to the point where i want to accept the offer of 2 of my friends to take the front end apart and start to fix it ourselves. All we couldn't really do is paint to be honnest but i know i should wait for the insurance. I will tell you this, if hagerty does not fix it to the point where it was before and it looks worse than it did i will be dropping them and finding someone new.

[Bob Scott]

I hit a deer on my Harley when I was riding to work one morning. The bike was repaired, $7,000 in damages all covered by insurance. I had to retire on disability due to my injuries. The car looks very fixable.

[68pongto]

Originally Posted by BCorcoran

Well its not easy to answer right now. I have no deductable. I told them i took it out for a cruise when i hit the deer and they were like oh took it for a cruise huh? Like I am only going to drive it to car shows and hide it away in my garage till time ends. If you have one drive it and enjoy it, thats what they are meant for.

I have Grundy on all my old cars. I have the policy in front of me and it states

Collector Vehicle:

1 ....is solely for use in exibitions, parades, club activities or other functions of public interest.

2. Is not used for regular driving to work, school, errands, shopping, general tranportation, secondary or back-up transportation, business or commercial purposes, except for limited pleasure use.

"except for limited pleasure use" is the key phrase. There is no limit on mileage and they do not ask for odometer statements. Your definition of "limited pleasure use" could be totally different from somebody else's defintion. Check you policy for a term like that. They should all allow some "pleasure use"

Scott

[BCorcoran]

I might as well see if i can get a head start to see if i could prove them wrong about finding parts.

Here is what i need to start.
68 GTO
I need good parts, nothing that is cracked or dented.

-Both front grilles (would like if they were restored, mounting hardware would be a plus if possible)
-Front lower valance panel (repro's are only fiberglass...)
-Headlight assembly on drivers side (non hideaway)
-Endura Front bumper that is not missing big pieces.
-Hood

The plastic piece i have right by the hood latch i need also, its just a plastic piece that sticks along the bumper and into the nose. The guy tried telling me that was homemade when i took it off and it said on the back it was a restoration part from R.E.M.

I'm sure id find more parts i need if i could just start to take it apart and see whats all damanged.

I belive that is what i need from the start. Any help would be appreciated.

[fyrebird68]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

BTW, what color is that car? Looks like the same color as mine.

Looks like mine - meridian turquoise.

BTW I tagged a deer with my 01 VW Cabrio going about 50mph. That deer went FLYING! Surprisingly little damage to the veedub. It was a nice square tee shot.

[north]

If the car is a nice clean original car I would have the original parts fixed, the bumper looks just like she needs a bit of tweaking and any used one you find is also probably just as bent.

Even the hood can be repaired, it's amazing what a skilled sheetmetal guy can do. That hood was stamped with a press aplying several hundred tons of pressure. The steel has a memory and wants to go back to its original shape with a bit of help.