[duetto]

Dear Alfisti,

I was recently hit in a service station by someone who did not see my Duetto and backed into me (see pics). Aside from sending me a note of encouragement to ease my depression, can anyone recommend an Alfa-friendly body shop in the upstate New York area? Closest to where I live would be either Ithaca or Auburn, although Syracuse is only an hour away.

Another area of ignorance has to do with the insurance process for accidents (yes my first). The insurance claims person is due to arrive tomorrow for an assessment fo damage. Based on your visual of the attached pics, what do you think will be recommended? I've priced body panels at IAP and elsewhere and could get replacements for the damaged ones for around $2.5K. Do you think a good body shop could restore the panels without replacement? Given the cost of good body shop labor, is it cost effective to relace panels or to pull out and attempt a rebuild of existing panels? What are the trade-offs?

Thanks for any advice on how to proceed and whether I will be given options in this process. In case it matters, the car has Collectible Vehicle Insurance from Condon & Skelly (MetLife) who have been really terrific so far.

--jim
[email protected]

 

[Tifosi]

I can't offer much of anything other than to have the prices for the replacement parts handy.

It's not uncommon for the insurance adjusters to do a less than half-assed job looking for replacement stuff and will just total the vehicle when they don't find things readily available at the local scrapyards or off the shelf at a dealership.

Basically you want to have your ducks in a row as far as cost and availability of parts, particulalry if you can prove the parts tally less than the value of the vehicle, otherwise they'll try to just scrap it. (spook around the forum a bit and you'll likey dredge up more than one tale of woe along those lines)

 

[WithanF]

You are doing the right thing by searching out a great, not good, shop.

I only had one accident in 20 years of Alfa driving. I called my Alfa dealer, who also sold Ferraris, and asked for a recommendation. Not to age myself, but this was pre-internet. They gave me the name of a shop. I took my car there (Philly area). The repair estimate floored my insurance company, but they paid the bill and my car was totally perfect. Call the local Ferrari dealer and ask what the "right shop" is for a Duetto. They'll send you to the right place. If no one here has a recommendation, that's what I'd do.

 

[Zunige]

Sorry to hear about your accident. Be sure to have handy the value of not just the OEM parts (from several sources, such as IAP, Centerline, DiFatta, etc.), but also the overall value of s4 Spiders in comparable condition. For this, I would use auction prices, etc. (See this threads for example: http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/showthread.php?t=35841, and http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/showpost.php?p=105231&postcount=12) You don't want your car getting totaled due to a $5-6k repair estimate...

Best regards,

 

[duetto]

Basically you want to have your ducks in a row as far as cost and availability of parts, particulalry if you can prove the parts tally less than the value of the vehicle, otherwise they'll try to just scrap it.

Thanks, Tifosi. So, how does one equitably establish the value of a '67 spider? The value established by insurance appears to be considerably beyond the cost of parts in question.

--jim

 

[duetto]

The repair estimate floored my insurance company, but they paid the bill and my car was totally perfect.

Thanks for the advice. Did you encounter any problems levetating the insurance agent off the floor to agree to your estimates?

-jim

 

[duetto]

Sorry to hear about your accident. Be sure to have handy the value of not just the OEM parts (from several sources, such as IAP, Centerline, DiFatta, etc.), but also the overall value of s4 Spiders in comparable condition.

[snip]

You don't want your car getting totaled due to a $5-6k repair estimate...

Best regards,

Hi Enrique,

Good point, but I wish the issue at hand were an S4, where values are more uniform. The value of S1 Spiders is more variable. Thanks for the condolences.

--jim

 

[Tifosi]

The value established by insurance appears to be considerably beyond the cost of parts in question.

If your insurance already has a total value in mind and the parts (ideally + repairs) doesn't yet reach that value, then it's a good thing on your part as most paying policies won't demand declaring the vehicle a total if repairs don't exceed value.

The big trick will likely be getting your insurance company to fight with thier insurance company to agree to that.

At some point there might be a stink from 'them' about valuation, (one of those 'just because you say it's worth X doesn't mean it is worth X, and you have to prove it' scenarios) but if your company already has an agreed value then they'll need to be in your corner (unless they want to get delt with by your attorney for overvaluing your car with the sole purpose being to line thier pockets with your premium rates)

If you've ever had it appraised or carry and agreed value type policy, then it's all the better for you as you have the proof neccisary to show the car was valued at X before the twit backed into you.

One other thing to consider:

In NY, it's sometimes possible to have the vehicle totalled, yet you still get to keep it and the insurance company doesn't report it to DMV since they don't have possession.

Basically they say 'it's totalled' and just give you the $, but as you get to keep the car, you also get to keep title (I know title doesn't apply to yours, but registration does) which means it never gets recorded as having been totalled. (as far as DMV knows or cares, your registration and insurance never lapsed, unless you discontinue it yourself)

What this does is leave you with the car and whatever monies you get based on the totalled value of the vehicle to do with as you please. (like repair it and pocket the balance)

I know it can happen as I managed to have the same vehicle totalled twice and still didn't have to give it up until I decided it needed to go to the junkyard instead of the shop.


Nw do take into consideration this is just stuff I've experienced and not neccisarily the hard and fast rules of how these things work, but as it stands it 'seems' like you've got the upper hand in this particulalry instance and will likely see enough $ to repair the car without worry about them trying to toal it, along with getting the satisfaction of knowing the dink that hit you will be paying through the nose on his premiums for the next 5 years. (even better if there was a ticket involved for unsafe backig on his part. Then it'll be 3 years of that built into the 5 years it takes NY insurance companies to 'forgive' such indiscretions)

 

[redspiderveloce]

I don't know how insurance companies and totaling cars works in NY, but when I got in an accident in NC, I was forced to pay out of pocket for my repairs. Took the car to an excellent body shop and got two quotes. One was to just bang out the fender, the other was to prep it for paint. My damage was similar, except I didn't have a "crimp" in the front quite like that. The estimate for smoothing out and prep was only $800. If they can save the panel you should be fine.

Good luck,
Andy

 

[Tifosi]

Generally here it's a case of going out and getting 3 estimates then providing those to the paying insurance company who in turn will cut a cheque.

 

[alfaparticle]

Sports Car Market is the best source for realistic values. My 73 GTV was totaled about 3 years ago and the claims adjuster was a joke. He invented a dealership for a quote and used KBB. To cut a long story short, I got a very good lawyer and got the SCM price but it took about 4 months to get the money. If it gets sticky, start collecting sold prices of duetto's from ebay and have some friends who know your car give testimonials to it's condition and value.
Ed Prytherch
79 Spider
88 Verde