Please Read: no mo camaro!
 

Well guys, Ive enjoyed being a member of this forum, but I regret to inform you all that the world is now less one more camaro. I had a 1979 Camaro Z28, everything was restored for the exception of my door panels, dashboard, and a paint job. Fathers day night I was coming home from spending the day with my dad when a drunk driver lost control of his Isuzu pick up and slammed into me on the freeway. He was doing about 90mph according the wonderful whitnesses who stopped to render. I was cruising about 60 in the slow lane. (All I could do was 60 because of my 4:10 gears.) When he slammed into me I hammered into a new Suburban next to me. We all went spinning and slamming into each other all over the freeway. Everything is damaged. Right front Fender, Left front Fender, front nose piece, radiator, radiator support, hood, passenger door, passenger rear panel, right front suspension. And this was without jacking it up to look under it. I hope to be able to get enough money from his insurance to buy another camaro but I doubt it. Ive has this car since I was in high school 10 years ago. And just over the last year Ive been restoring it finally. Man I am just sick. Im 28 years old, but I cryed like a baby when I looked at my car on the side of the freeway all busted up. I kinda felt like my car was crying with me. Well, you all have helped me with questons and problems, ranging from rebuilding a rear end, to installing seat interior, to choosing a set of heads for my 355, and everything in between. Thanks for all the help and support. Hopefully in the future I can get into another 2nd generation. Maybe after all the doctor visits I can start saving again. If you are in the Houston area and can help me find a bargain 2 gen, please email me. silvertripper@hotmail.com. Much love and thanks... Marcus

Nice to hear your OK though, are you going to be parting out? Keep the faith, and start a new car!!!

Well I had the MRI on my neck and back today, results will be in tomorrow or friday.

As far as parting out, I'd like to buy it back after All states makes an offer. If I do, I'll try and sell the salvageable parts at a swap meet. My insurance company (state Farm) told me they will probable give me about 1,000 dollars for it. I added my receipts today and Ive sunk about $6,300.00 into it. This is really crummy!
Only thing I'll get for $1,000 is a rolling rust bucket.

start goin in for back pain treatments, neck etc.. you'll get your money. hehe

That would be called fraud. People who do that are one of the big reasons why insurance rates are so high. The proper way to handle his claim is to show the reciepts of the money he has invested and find other examples of similar Camaros for sale.
His own policy is going to be ACV (actual cash value). If 1979
Camaros with similar modifications and in similar condition to his
are advertised for $4000 (example) then that is what the market
value or ACV of his car would be. Book value means nothing anymore for this car. Stick to your guns and have evidence to back up your arguments. You will get a fair settlement that way.
Being dishonest by faking an injury is not the way to handle it.

Yes I have my receipts for the money invested. I also have about 12 examples of cars like mine that are selling for 3k to 8k. And the medical bills I'll send in as well. I dont want to be fraudulant, but I do want another car to drive, comperable to what I already had.

While you're not going to get $6300+, you ought to be able to press and fight for more than "the going rate- sorry" for your car. Your investment in parts and time ought to be worth something, and make sure that you cordially and RELENTLESSLY remind his insurance company of this.

I honestly think that insurance companies count on their bad drivers occasionally hitting low-value cars to minimize payouts. Like someone in the office said "Score! He didn't smack a new M3!"

Todd

My ex-wife got $3800 for her totalled 87 T/A (nice in perfect condition).......from the insurance company. Just be persistent and honest. Let me know what heads you had on there :)

drunk drivers:mad: :mad: :mad:


It kind of sounds like you are thinking of hasta la vista'ing the board. Hope you don't, after all, you probably learned a thing or two building your 79 that you can pass on to someone else.

Okay guys here's the update.

All state only wanted to give me 1,500.00 for my car. So I showed them my 6,200.00 in receipts for purchases Ive made to "improve" this car over the past year.... all they added was about 300.00 to the total. so now Im at 1,800.00. I told the guy on the phone that I couldnt buy a moped for this amount!! So I went to the corner store and picked up the "Classic Car Trader" and the "Classic Antique Vehicle" Mags and sent All state the Ads with 12 cars like mine that are selling for $6K, and he said that I need to find ads for my area or zip code only. WHAT!! Give me a break!! Then the guy told me if I wasnt happy with the "ACV" (Approximate Cash Value), then I should complain to my insurance and claim it under my policy! WHAT!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?? IM THE FREAKING VICTOM AND THEY ACT LIKE ITS MY PROBLEM LIKE I GOT IN THE DRUNK GUYS WAY!!! So I've hired a seperate liscenced vehicle estimating company to give me an estimate on my "said" classic car. This is really stupid. SOooooo, they did say that I could buy my car back for 200.00!! So Im going to take the Rental Car around town and look for some rolling chassis I can dump my motor and tranny in to. Im staying with a 2nd gen. I love these cars. I love all Camaro's, but the 2nd Gen's are just really sweet!! Plus, Im in a band and I do alot of things for other bands, so I have a personnal attorney who handles my business. He told me he would handle it once we go to settle on the vehicle and medical. Man this just sucks! I love my car, its like my car is my little girl that I like to spoil. Well, I'll keep everyone posted on whats happening. thanks for the support!!

Stay the course.
 

Hey Mark - glad to see you're staying with the 2nd gen Camaro body for your next project car. Hang in there bro - the next Camaro you build will be even better than your previous pride and joy. :)

:cool:

Dirt.. . You are probably right. The first time around I learned the do's and the dont's. So the second time I'll have already accomplished all the dont's and stick with the do's. Hopefully less headache. If I can just get past this insurance crap I'll be alright. Everyone tells me to take the little bit of money they are giving me and buy a rice burner, but I'm sticking with the all american camaro!

Sorry to hear your story.

FWIW, I was in a similar boat some 20 years ago with my 67 Chevelle. I bought it off a friend for $600, sunk $4500 into it and was hit by an insured driver. My insurance carrier (AAA) said that although I didn't have full coverage, there was an uninsured drivers clause. They offered me $800 for my car. I ended up rejecting my insurance carrier's offer and hired a lawyer and got ready to take the guy to court. He ended up getting his boss to say he was on company business and their carrier ended up covering him. (In California Uninsured drivers had a $40,000 bond put up against them by the State at the time.) They ended up setteling out of court for $3800. (If I was injured it would have been much more my lawyer told me). During this while period (about 6 months) I parted out my car and kept receipts. I got a $1200 for the parts. My parents got tired of seeing it in the driveway, so a buddy who was buying the engine off me worked out a deal to move it to a friend's gas station down the road.

Two days before the idiot who hit me's claims adjuster called to look at the car to establish "value", it was stolen off the "friend's" lot. I filed a police report and the car was never found. After telling the guy's adjuster it had been stolen and giving him the police report number, he asked me a series of questions about what I had done to "modify" the vehicle. Ok, so I may have embellished the truth a bit, but after the 6+ months of headaches I went through because of this jerk, I felt I deserved it.

I guess my point in all this is you don't have to accept what your insurance company is offering you. They will always try to low ball you for less that what you deserve. (My girlfriend at the time's grandfather was a retired claims adjuster. He went with me to fight with my insurance company over the b.s. value they had offered me. You'd be surprised to know of the games they play on people.) You can refuse the claim and take the guy to court. I suggest consulting with an attorney before you talk to anyone else, especially the adjuster for the guy that hit you. Since it wasn't your fault, you might want to consider this alternative. Although be prepared for it to take up to 18 months before you see any money. (Make sure you get in writting ahead of time from your attorney what he's going to charge you for is services.)

Good luck.

JG95Z28, thanks for the advise. A member of this forum has made me a great deal to buy his complete 81 camaro chassis at a bargain price. I went and looked at it today and its in better shape than my car, and with less rust... and my car WAS in good shape before the wreck too. Looks like I'll have all the right parts and pieces to put my car back together. Good thing is I am buying my car back for 200.00, and with this other chassis I'll use for parts, I wont be out any money, only time. The Good Lord was looking out for me! I also think I'll get a small settlement for the back and neck problems Ive been having.

I'll keep everyone updated.

Now you can go out and buy a real camaro.a late model.:)