Post by
float_6969 »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/float-6969-u780.html
Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:11 am
Updates;
After I came up with over $24K worth of receipts since I bought the car in 2007, they came back with a new offer. They increased the value of my car by about $1K. Yup, so instead of saying it was worth $5,200, they now say it's worth $6,200. And their reasoning for that? Well only the turbo, cold air intake, "lowering kit", and wheels and tires add any value. Everything else was preferential, or maintenance. Yup, a freshly rebuilt engine with less than 300 miles on it is preferential or maintainance. That S15 helical and 4.36 gears? Same. How about all that suspension work? Preferential or maintenance. Why the hell is a huge turbo, cold air intake, "lowering kit", and wheels and tires, NOT all preferential, but everything else it? And the values they gave were a joke. $700 for an EFR7064. It doesn't have 1K miles on it. The cold air intake was valued at $250. It's a piece of 3.5" aluminum with a 90° bend in it, and a couple of silicone joiners, clamps, and an air filter. That thing is probably over valued, LOL! The "lowering kit"? $250. That's basically the value they're putting on a complete set of NISMO S-tunes with less than 1K miles on them. The wheels were valued at $425. That's slightly more than what ONE wheel goes for. I haven't found a complete set for sale at all, but they're averaging $325/wheel right now and comparable sets of Z wheels are going for around $1,200. They gave me $80 for the tires. Not sure what I think about that. They have plenty of tread left, but since I rarely drive the car, they're pretty old.
And all of that was if they kept the car. If I kept it, they were going to give me $5,500. It can't be fixed for that, and I can't buy another S14 that's in comparable condition to mine for that. I HAD to say no. They gave me until the end of this week to either prove it was worth more, or agree to this offer. If I didn't do either, they were "closing the claim" and send me a check for the $5,500. I started to freak out, but after talking to a lawyer, the "closing the claim" thing is a scam they use to try to push you into accepting their offer. In Kansas, you have 2 years to re-open a claim, for any reason. So now I know I have time, as long as I don't cash the check.
I then told him that I could provide links proving what these cars sell for, based on their condition and modifications. I said he'd take them into consideration. So I spent about 5 hours finding links to every S14 for sale on the internet in the US. I sent him a link to every one, with a basic description of the vehicle and it's value. Based on that information, the market value of my car, prior to the accident, would have been in the $12-$14K range. The body was not flawless. No major dents, but some door dings. The paint could have used a buffing, as the clear was starting to look a little oxidized on the hood and roof and rear spoiler, but otherwise, it was in good shape. The interior was in decent condition. It has some cherry burns from the previous owner, but wasn't badly stained or had any broken or missing pieces. The dash WASN'T cracked prior to the wreck, but I've noticed since then it's cracked. I always keep a sun-shade in the front window, so I'm guessing the wreck cracked it. It did have some minor rust in the typical spots, but I fixed all of it when I bought the car and all of my repairs have held.
SO, I'm not trying to compare it to some low-mileage, flawless S14. I know it's not perfect, but it's worth way more than $6,200.
So today they come back with a new offer after I sent all the links. They've offered to fix the car, but not for one penny more than what the original adjuster found the damages to be. That's $258.46 LESS than what they would have given me had I just kept the car and taken the payout.
Needless to say, I said no. I've told them repeatedly that I just want it fixed, or to be given enough money to buy a relatively unmodified S14 so I can swap my parts over to it and then sell my wrecked S14 so I can pay to replace the damaged parts from the wreck. I'd really rather just have it fixed. It would be the least amount of work for me. But I think trying to fix all that body work, and replace the damaged suspension and steering rack would push it well over what they could give me to buy another S14 would be. I offered to settle for keeping the car and a check for $6,500, but they refused that offer. I'm kind of surprised that they're really wanting to quibble over $1K, but lucky for me, it's winter, and I have time to fight, LOL!