Car written off and insurance co offering half value

show them current adverts for a similar condition (pre accident) version of your car, they can be persuaded to go up, their first offer will not be the last. If you cannot find suitable adverts then you have little to base your claim on. something like that will have devalued at about 500 a year, so their offer is about right, but you have nothing to lose by arguing, so long as you can back up your argument.

You've had a car for 2.5 years and expect it to be worth the same as you paid for it then?

For a P reg (basically a scrapper) sounds like that is a good price unless you have receipts for its upkeep to prove it was in exceptional condition. You paid over the odds for it which is hardly the fault of the insurance company is it.

Insurance companies always start off with a low offer. What you are entitled to is the cash to replace it like for like - not better. However,

1400 sounds not bad if you paid 2500 retail two years ago and have abused the car since then.

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)" writes

I agree. I wrote off my Cavalier in 2000, and they paid out the full market value within a week or two, but it was in top class condition, FSH, had just been main dealer serviced and two new tyres fitted before the accident. I should have put the new tyres on the rear, which broke away. ;-)

The pay-out on the car alone was abut 9 year's premiums, and I don't have the cheapest insurance.

which broke away.

Impressive. Of all the Vauxhalls I ever drove up to 2001, the main handling characteristic (among an overall shortage of grip) was amazing amounts of under steer.

In message , Zathras writes

Under normal conditions, yes. The skid started when I got the two nearside wheels on the gravel on a fast corner (60mph). I rather over-corrected the slide and went into a tank-slapper which just touched the opposite wall with the rear lamp cluster. I can't remember what my right foot was doing but maybe my reactions were wrong and it should have been lightly on the accelerator. It was a very grippy road, and the speed was mostly scrubbed off by the time I rammed the LH wall.

I learnt two things;

Do not try to read tempting off-road signs like STEAM RALLY HERE on the approach to a bend. Controlling a rear end slide on a grippy road is a different ball game than having fun on a bit of snow/ice in a safe place. :-(

Heh. I took an overly long time to realise that if Vx weren't willing to do a decent chassis/suspension then I shouldn't open my wallet a buy one.

In message , Zathras writes

Our accident was not the fault of the Cav, I found it very forgiving during extreme manoeuvres, it was down to my lack of concentration. We were lucky to escape without a scratch.

My reply wasn't meant as a criticism of the Cavalier in your accident more a personal observation over many years of Vx ownership. The Cavalier was, arguably, a better handling car than many other Vauxhalls - not that that is saying a great deal IMHO.

They are taking the piss.

1: It's a limited edition of a limited edition and an Import.

2: There are fewer Taxed, Insured and MOTed on the UK's roads than there are Aston Martin DB5. With so few Juniors in the country you will have problems finding an advert for one that's for sale and even more difficult to find Lynx special ed.

+ 4 sorn, auto 9 + 2 sorn Quite a few more SWB Pajero 1000.

At 17:48 10/ June 2011 there were no Pajero "Junior" for sale on Parkers or Pistonheads or Autotrader.

30 SWB on Autotrader. Looking at them the value is higher than what you paid for it. Nothing P reg most are N, M, L reg. Some SWB on Pistonheads too.

DB5

and 38 SORN. They have increased in number, over 100 more than in'94 but the number SORN hasn't changed much. So there was a stock ofcars from before '94 that were never sorned as they last ran out oftax before sorn came in. It does appear to have leveled off since 2003so possibly not many more of the original 1000 are left to be "found".With 88% taxed, it would appear that DB5 owners now have the attitudeit's worth nothing shut away to gloat over. For many older cars it'sunder 50% that are taxed.

In message , Zathras writes

Understood.

Yes, and?

It's just a Shogun Pinin, there are, quite literally, fahsands of those heaps out there.

Well, quite. There's a 95k Mile X-plater on Autotrader for £1295, and 01 platers seem to start at around £1700, so £1400 quid for a P-plater really doesn't seem too bad a deal.

Yeah I know. The assumption is that you would have taken your car to the market and sell it on the day of the accident. This is of course completely unrealistic, in most cases what happens it that you're just being severely inconvenienced, had no intention whatsoever of selling your car on the market, and in many cases might have just forked out good money for servicing and repairs with the intention of keeping it in reliable condition. How Insurance companies can get away with it, I don't know.

The problem is that the OP had no intention of making a deal with the car. Running around and for finding a like replacement cost time and money...

I tried to find a decent Pinin last year. Every one for sale within 60 miles of the house was a shed and all the owners were lying bastards. I also suspect that the majority of the owners didnt know or care about maintenance, if the service logs were anything to go by. So, though they may be available for £1400 I'd despair at the thought of trying to replace a decent one for that money.

An oxymoron if ever there was one.

Just remind me about the sheds that occupy your garage.

I rest my case.