Collision repairs

[norcal505]

Just as Andre said

In CA, the laws are pretty strict. If worst comes to worst, I've thought of re-registering my car to my family in Utah or Tennessee, then re-registering it in CA.

Andre, do you know if there are ways to track your car's title back? Mine's been registered in the state of CA since new. I plan on keeping my car till the end, no intent of selling.

[bryancohnracing]

Regarding all this title fun-ness, I have a friend that buys and sells classic British cars (Healey's, TR's, MG's, plus more) and on occasion will buy from estates, auctions, etc. Once in a while a car will have no title, but will be a perfectly good car. There is a company in Alabama that he "Sells" the car too on a Bill of Sale, then he buys it back on a Bill of Sale. Alabama is one of those state that either doesn't title car older than 25 years or has some other odd strange law that makes this legal. He then can take the Alabama bill of sale to the Missouri DMV and get a clean MO title.

There may be other states that do similar things. Hemmings Motor News would be the place to start.

I bet you could do the same thing to get a clean title for your STX, if it met the requirements.

[andrethx]

Just as Andre said

In CA, the laws are pretty strict. If worst comes to worst, I've thought of re-registering my car to my family in Utah or Tennessee, then re-registering it in CA. 5

Andre, do you know if there are ways to track your car's title back? Mine's been registered in the state of CA since new. I plan on keeping my car till the end, no intent of selling.

There is a multistate forum for car title information, CA participates in it. You can do a title history search, you have to go through one of their approved vendors and there's a fee involved.

http://www.vehiclehistory.gov/index.html

Not every state participates in this forum, though. Don't know how reliable it is, though for your car it's probably correct since it's always been titled in CA. As Bryan hints at in his post, there's a whole dark art to titling cars and getting around deficient titles (salvage, no title, etc.). There's a research project for you, your Google-fu must be strong.

I know that, for whatever reason, these title information databases are not 100% correct. The reason I am aware of the "title washing" issue is because CarFax got hit with a class action lawsuit a few years ago by people who had gotten a clean report from CarFax, bought the car, and later found out that the title had been washed and the car wrecked, stolen or whatever.

Andre

[Guest EUROTRASH]

Well, right now I'm focused on getting my car repaired. As norcal505 said "I plan on keeping my car till the end, no intent of selling."

Amen

[bryancohnracing]

We are a die hard bunch, eh?

In the course of 2 pages of posts we've pretty much torn apart the entire insurance industry as well as shown our devotion to the brand.

If Peugeot came back to the US I know some enthusiast that would be knocking on the door at 8AM on opening day!

[Peugeottogo]

Reply from Hagerty:

"Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We have researched the value of the 1987 Peugeot on the website, www.nadaguides.com. This site lists the value of your vehicle in "average trade in" condition as $1,712. If the vehicle was in "clean trade in condition" the value would be around $2,137.

While we wish we could provide coverage to every vehicle, our current underwriting guidelines prevent us from doing so. In order for vehicles built in the 1980's to qualify, they must have been produced in limited numbers and hold a minimum value of $7,500. Unfortunately, due to the value of the 1987 Peugeot, we will be unable to offer coverage. Please feel free to check back with us in the future to see if our guidelines may have changed."

This is actually good news, even the lowest estimate is above the repair costs. I double checked on NADA Guides and got the retail value:

http://www.nadaguides.com/default.aspx?LI=...=84087&da=1

I think I've got something here

Jeff, did you have your car appraised before you got it insured with Hagerty?

Ironically no, the only advantage I have is that I"ve insured other cars with them prior.

They have different policies Fernando, the one that stands out the most is a policy stating that the vehicle being insured is not for daily use which triggers your application to provide what vehicle you would be utilizing for daily driving and its insurer. This is the policy I have.

Jeff

[Guest EUROTRASH]

We are a die hard bunch, eh?

In the course of 2 pages of posts we've pretty much torn apart the entire insurance industry as well as shown our devotion to the brand.

If Peugeot came back to the US I know some enthusiast that would be knocking on the door at 8AM on opening day!

haha.. yea I'd be yelling "YOU BASTARDS!!!!!"

Update: I received the official settlement from the insurance company, my car was "deemed a total loss" and they're offering $987.89

My letter ends: "I will not accept anything less than the minimum cost of repairs, I suggest you revise your assessment. Be advised, you DO NOT have my consent to file my vehicle under "salvaged", or "total loss" or anything of the kind. If you chose to pursue this course I will take legal action."

It's on

haha