Import car in accident : how to get most of my value
 

yeah I've been in an accident today, I don't think I'll be at fault at all but I would like to know what is the best way to get the most out of it if I do get it written off / repaired.

If it's being compared with a local equivalent (equivalent my ass give me twin turbo AWD in a US Galant then it's equivalent) I'm pretty screwed, but can I say this is very very similar to a [insert car here] and see if I can get a better value?

the car in question here is Galant VR4 E84A, there's the local Galant in US (FWD 2.4 non turbo lame ass shit) and then there's the 95-99 Eclipse which shares my platform...

My car specs wise is more a Eclipse than a Galant because it's turbo AWD.... can I get a Eclipse value when being adjusted?

Or, can I get import companies to quote me the price to get an exact equivalent imported and use that value as reference as well?

Coz if I get US spec Galant money for my VR4 I think that's very unfair.... :(

well that's the downside of importing a car that is not sold here. If you search on this forum I think another guy's friend had the same problem with a s13 and a skyline.

Wah... sad to hear, hope everything works out for you.

whoa pat, are you okay? what happened?

adjustors will never say your car is a Eclipse or whatever...

I have heard 2 different versions of an imported car story from Richmond ICBC. Either
they will pay the imported price value (it happened to few R32, they couldn't find parts
for them, so they just pay whatever the owner bought from the dealership) OR they will
low ball you by comparing yours with something ridiclous or USDM version (300ZX especially).

How to deal with it? get as much information about your car and current market value to
the estimator including milage and all the cost you have incurred. Then differentiate
your car with the USDM one (they will listen to your reasoning). Calling them stupid or
you know nothing about car will never get you more.

Ic thanks for the advice.

I got T-boned by an N driver making a left turn on stale green.... I don't know how tunnel vision she had to be to begin accelerating as my car ENTERS the intersection straight on in the CENTER lane of the 3 lanes.

Rich my track day experiences and autoX experiences taught me to get out of this with much grace I could have easily did an offset head-on collision or a pole crash from the loss of control if I didn't have those under my belt.

I'm fine the car is driveable but if it is estimated to US version values it's 99.95% totalled because the B pillar is caved in (by a maybe 2 inches, at most), and a US spec Galant is worth peanuts.

I'll gather some info.... but I imported this car because it's rare and that just makes it that much more difficult.

^ pffft...screw galant...get a FTO

http://www.car8.com/2cardetails.php?id=118281

^ PFFFT screw FTO Why do I want a front heavy wrong wheel drive car with no elegance in chassis tuning (read: Lancer MR suspension i.e. struts) with crash rating so bad it directly caused its demise IN ITS HOMELAND? 240bhp twin turbo AWD wins every motherfucking day. My car would be 90% less heaty than an FTO as well. I know it hangs tight with the EVO people on an SMD from experience too. It's all the good things of an EVOI minus all the bad things of an EVOI. Win win win situation.

"Import car in accident" = lose lose lose situation.

hmmmm so I went to claims center and all the adjuster asked was how much I paid for the car....
and then I'm merrily on my way to bodyshop. bodyshop is looking after it and I'm off with a courtesy car. I'm quite excited as a frame alignment is a good thing for a car of this vintage actually. :D

repairs estimate comes to $4400 and it's still getting some love. I'm liking this.

post pics of the carnage?

If it is that rare, why didn't you get the car appraised before you put it on the road?

getting it appraised professionally is over 10K I believe....? Or you know anyone who might be able to do it at a more reasonable price? The car itself is worth 8K even in my standards. But it's a rare machine no less. .... It's like a Lancia Beta Zagato targa top is rare as hell but it wouldn't fetch a lot of money anyway, despite being Italian and all.

here is some carnage.
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...SANY0004-1.jpg
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...0/SANY0005.jpg
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...0/SANY0006.jpg

And here is why I mentioned Lancia Beta Zagato:
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...SANY0007-1.jpg
so freaking cool, probably rare in north america, but still, not worth much.

Awww :(
I sat in that once.

Maybe get it for 3000gt value with Galant/Eclipse offset Variance?

I'm guessing the Chassis is torqued?

we are like comparing good looking woman with woman who is a wife material :lol

whatever floats in your mind.

^ true that LOL.

FTO is nice but 200bhp these days just fall short somewhat especially not turbocharged with gallops of torque. I'm not sure but I think in 1993 they only made the GP the GPX came later. GP means no MIVEC and 160HP.

meh I have the same FTO engine on my car anyway LOL with 2 turbochargers attached ftw.

those are the pimpest rims i've ever seen!

guess you are lucky too
coz your driver seat is on the right side.
well, it's better if you can written off the car and get the $$$ back. It's hard to sell cars these days.

^ I bet I won't get $4400 or near there if it's totalled though.

there's the problem of RHD cars not being valued by auction/junkyard because it's only good for scrap metal. Rarely another vehicle of the same spec come along and grab parts from it. Making it worth only its weight in scrap metal.

show this to icbc and make them pay you $70,000hkd...lol

http://www.28car.com/sell_dsp.php?h_...4&h_srh=galant

^ lol funny you mention that I think it's either

a) a joke, or
b) an error in the 28car database, pulling some super old ad up and displaying it as Aug 25th 2008

coz from all clues this was exactly MY CAR. Every detail in the engine bay matches up, in fact I have had that doraemon sunblock panel in HK until just before I shipped it.

LOL.

Lucky Star itasha FTW!!!

Look at the classifieds at the back of Hemming's magazine.. I think there is a guy who is in White Rock listed there.. I know a few Jag nuts went to get their cars appraised and I am pretty sure they were not charged anywhere close to $10k.

However the caveat here is I don't think ICBC considers import numbers.. but they consider the total run of the certain model worldwide.

for my car it's maybe about 5000 units made in total that share the same specifications....

+1 for that
formerly owned by a celebrity