Hi guys, this is my first post here but I need info and I don't know where to look. The search function didn't turn up anything productive so I'm going against my usual practice of lurking before posting on an unfamiliar message board...
Long story made short, I bought a gold 96 240sx SE in december. I know, I know... I didn't like the gold paint too much and was thinking of repainting it at some point down the road with money I had left over but it's a good thing I didn't. On january 31st a woman ran a completely red light, made no attempt to stop (no skid marks), honked at me while I was turning left on a green arrow seconds before hitting me and totalling my car.
It was in perfect condition, only 65k miles on it (highway miles at that), mint black leather interior, had never been modified or altered in any way, had perfect maintenance records, had never been in an accident... In short it was a unique car (especially here in AZ).
If you're interested there's pictures of my car at http://www.osirion.com/photos
With that out of the way, here's my questions...
a) Where would I find/Does anybody know how many S14s of the SE model were sold over the following intervals; 95-98, 95-96, and just in 96
a1) How many of those SE models were sold in gold?
b) I've never had to deal with a totalled car before, I was told by the guy at the body shop that not only should I find prices for similar S14s but comparable makes/models of cars... WTF is comparable (insurance wise, saying S13 or AE86 does not help) to my lost car???
c) Again, I've never dealt with a totalled car before, so this is unfamiliar terrritory for me. Should I expect more money for my car based on its rarity? By rarity I mean the condition of the car (milage, interior, etc), as well as my suspicion that there weren't a lot made to begin with (let alone of the SE variant that are available for purchase in AZ). Does the rarity of the color (I always see red and white ones, but I've only seen one other gold one) factor into the amount I should get back for the car?
d) I had a 96 that was in better condition than most of the 97-98s I looked at. The way I figure it, I have a much better chance of finding a 97-98 in similar condition than a 95-96. However, going from a 95-96 to 97-98 pushes the price of the car up by a couple thousand at least. So should I expect the value of a 97-98 in the final settlement or a "95-96 + good luck finding a car :P" ? I'm not going to accept the latter but I'm curious as to what to expect.
I know I should've posted this here a while ago but I've had a lot to do in these past weeks. I'm giving my statement to the insurance company this afternoon so if anyone can provide this asap I'd greatly appreciate it.
Pics of my totalled S14 SE and I need for info on # of S14s sold
Sorry for you loss. 
Most likely you'll only get blue book value. Or maybe some other rating that her insurance company might use to try and screw you over. YOu did get a police report right? She is not denying the blame is she? I doubt that it makes a difference how rare the car was unless you're going to sue her. I"d suggest take the money they give you, buy the totaled car from the insurance company and sell whatever is go on these boards. People are always looking for interior parts, wheels and all sorts of things that can be salvaged after the insurance company has totaled a car. In my opinion, this is the best thing you can do.
edit: I can't get your link to work.
Most likely you'll only get blue book value. Or maybe some other rating that her insurance company might use to try and screw you over. YOu did get a police report right? She is not denying the blame is she? I doubt that it makes a difference how rare the car was unless you're going to sue her. I"d suggest take the money they give you, buy the totaled car from the insurance company and sell whatever is go on these boards. People are always looking for interior parts, wheels and all sorts of things that can be salvaged after the insurance company has totaled a car. In my opinion, this is the best thing you can do. edit: I can't get your link to work.
Wow, looks like my servers been busy, says my bandwidth limits for the month have been exceeded so I'll have to find somewhere else to put the pictures.
A few other things for now,a) She was driving a PT Cruiser (rental car) from Thrifty, if you could see the pictures you'd be able to see a perfect imprint of her front end in my passenger side front 1/4 panel. This is what happens when you're starting from a dead stop to make a left turn and you get hit by a moron running a red light at 40+ mph.
b) I've got a witness (an offduty cop actually who almost got hit as well), the rep from her insurance company actually said that I have "a very strong witness" so her claim that she went through on a yellow only makes her look bad. She got the citation for the accident and I got nothing except medical bills and a life thrown into chaos.
c) I'm not going to sue unless it comes to that. So far their insurance has been very pleasant to deal with in terms of medical bills, expenses, etc. If they try and screw me over on the value of the car however I will definitely lawyer up. This was completely her fault and I will not suffer for her negligence.
d) As far as proving the condition I've got pictures of the car before the accident, after the accident, I can get in touch with the woman I bought it from to verify the car's "mint" condition, I've got the carfax report stating that it only had 65k miles and had never been in a accident, etc, etc.
Thanks Bunta, I didn't think that the paint would come into condition but it's good to have reassurance in my thinking.
Profuse thanks to J-Spec Tuner for the numbers, are those for the SE model or total # made and imported?
A few other things for now,a) She was driving a PT Cruiser (rental car) from Thrifty, if you could see the pictures you'd be able to see a perfect imprint of her front end in my passenger side front 1/4 panel. This is what happens when you're starting from a dead stop to make a left turn and you get hit by a moron running a red light at 40+ mph.
b) I've got a witness (an offduty cop actually who almost got hit as well), the rep from her insurance company actually said that I have "a very strong witness" so her claim that she went through on a yellow only makes her look bad. She got the citation for the accident and I got nothing except medical bills and a life thrown into chaos.
c) I'm not going to sue unless it comes to that. So far their insurance has been very pleasant to deal with in terms of medical bills, expenses, etc. If they try and screw me over on the value of the car however I will definitely lawyer up. This was completely her fault and I will not suffer for her negligence.
d) As far as proving the condition I've got pictures of the car before the accident, after the accident, I can get in touch with the woman I bought it from to verify the car's "mint" condition, I've got the carfax report stating that it only had 65k miles and had never been in a accident, etc, etc.
Thanks Bunta, I didn't think that the paint would come into condition but it's good to have reassurance in my thinking.
Profuse thanks to J-Spec Tuner for the numbers, are those for the SE model or total # made and imported?
Hey Ebola..sorry to hear about your loss. I am curious if you would be willing to sell me a couple items off of your wrecked car..please consider it, and email me at [email protected] and I can tell you what I am looking for and we could discuss pricing.
Thanks and hope to hear from you
Torso
Thanks and hope to hear from you
Torso
http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....taled
Take a look at this thread, started after I totaled my J. There is a lot of good information about claims in there. I got a very good settlement on my J, based not on the year, but on the milage and condition. I used my service records, my low milage, and an Autotrader nation wide search, using milage as a filter not year to come up with a "fair market value" - which is what you're entitled to. If I were you, I would push for a valuation based on the milage (since yours is low) within the generation (s14), without regard to model year. Good luck.
BTW, once the car is totaled, it belongs to the insurance company. To part it out you'll need to buy it back. If it hasn't been assessed by the insurance company that is paying out, don't start taking parts out - it wil devalue the car if the assessor is shrewd.
Take a look at this thread, started after I totaled my J. There is a lot of good information about claims in there. I got a very good settlement on my J, based not on the year, but on the milage and condition. I used my service records, my low milage, and an Autotrader nation wide search, using milage as a filter not year to come up with a "fair market value" - which is what you're entitled to. If I were you, I would push for a valuation based on the milage (since yours is low) within the generation (s14), without regard to model year. Good luck.
BTW, once the car is totaled, it belongs to the insurance company. To part it out you'll need to buy it back. If it hasn't been assessed by the insurance company that is paying out, don't start taking parts out - it wil devalue the car if the assessor is shrewd.