Vasco's damaged 164S

["James Tyson" <jftyson@domain.elided>]

Vasco: Sorry to hear about your car.I am an attorney and I have represented 
many people who were involved in collisions. The issue of liability depends 
on whether or not your state has no-fault insurance.I practice in Texas 
which doesn't have no-fault,so I can't tell you anything about claims 
procedures under no-fault.If you live in a "non no-fault" state and you have 
collision coverage,your insurer can settle your property damage claim but 
you'll have to pay the deductible(usually $500 or $1000).Your insurer can 
(it's up to them)go after the other driver.You need to find out from your 
insurer if the other driver's insurer has accepted liability.If they have 
refused liability,settle with your insurer under your collision coverage.If 
they have accepted liability then they will be paying you under their 
insured's liability coverage.Regarding your car,if it is declared a 
total,you have 2 choices;1]take the cash and try to buy the car at your 
local salvage auction-this may require you to secure the assistance of a 
dealer as many of these auctions aren't open to the public;2]buy the car 
back from the insurer by paying the salvage value.Both the fair market value 
and the salvage value are negotiable,particularly with a 10 year old weird 
foreign car(I can say this cause I have 5 of them).Either insurer will 
probably try to offer you peanuts for the 164S.It's up to you to demonstrate 
what the FMV of your car was at the time of the collision.You can do this by 
providing the insurer with info on recent 164S asking prices.Affidavits from 
Alfisti who recently sold/purchased a 164S provide hard data.Also make sure 
you provide documentation of all invoices for parts & labor,particularly 
those expenditures that were for enhancements rather than maintenance.I live 
in Houston where Alfa prices are very low. Alfas are worth more in other 
parts of the US.Don't limit your sample prices to your region.I have seen 
well maintained 164S's advertised for 10grand and up.You will have to 
educate the adjuster about your car.
         The issue of Alfa FMV is one that isn't often discussed because it 
only comes up when someone's car is written off.People naturally avoid the 
subject.It is an area where the digest members can REALLY HELP another 
alfisti by providing sales info. While I realize the data is personal,how 
about we maintain a record of actual sales prices to provide people like 
Vasco with hard data on FMV?



_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided