R.I.P. Fleetwood

[okccadman]

Thanks to a careless motorist who ran a stop sign, my Calypso Green 95 Fleetwood has been dealt her death blow.  Now the fight with the insurance company begins on her true replacement value!   She is repairable but not economically so. 

[R Schroeder]

Man, this is like the second car in the last month that has gotten hit.
Sorry to see this happen to you.
Roy

[Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373]

Sorry man.  Hopefully you wern't hurt.
Jeff

[jyinger]

So sorry to here about your loss.  I hope you have good insurance.

I have Hagerty (they don't pay me to say this), and they are the best.

When my '51 Imperial hardtop coupe arrived from Maryland, something had gone awry and the hood was smashed in.  Hagerty covered it, even though I had not yet notified then about my purchase.  the transport company, incidentally, were complete deadbeat.  Hagerty paid the whole thing.
Less than a year later, I was driving the same '51 Imperial down the 91 freeway about 65 mph, a car cut in front of me,, I jammed on the brakes, and the rear end locked up. The car skidded across the freeway, depositing me in the median.
Hagerty paid again (a lot), and even offered to help with the medical bills, although my health insurance paid for that.  I'll attach a post-repair photo.
Jon Yinger CLC#26643
1949 Fleetwood (2)
1949 CDV
1952 Fleetwood
1958 Eldorado Brougham
1951 Imperial Hardtop Coupe
1951 Imperial convertible
1956 Imperial Southampton (4)
1956 Imperial Sedan (2)

[76eldo]

Sorry to read this Jim. Hope you were not injured.

[harry s]

Jim,  Sorry to hear that news. I feel your pain. I hit a deer several years ago with my '37 which is insured with JC Taylor. I was very satisfied with their handling of the claim, if that's any consolation.    Harry

[okccadman]

i guess I have a long uphill battle to fight.  The other guys insurance company seems to think you can buy extra clean Fleetwoods all day long for $3600. 

[narnone]

Sorry to hear about it. I have a 95. Getting what it's worth from a regular insurance company will be tough.

[Dan LeBlanc]

i guess I have a long uphill battle to fight.  The other guys insurance company seems to think you can buy extra clean Fleetwoods all day long for $3600.

Of course you can - until you ACTUALLY go to buy one.  Bean counters behind a desk who have no idea what a car like this is or probably never even saw one until they saw the photos of your wreck are unfortunately working this.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

.........The other guys insurance company seems to think you can buy extra clean Fleetwoods all day long for $3600.

Get the Insurance Company to supply you with one that matches the condition of your car, before the crash, and then they might reconsider.

But, don't forget it is up to your own Insurance Company to fix you up, then get the cash out of the offender's Insurance.   In these cases, most Insurance Companies work on a Knock-for-knock basis.

Bruce.

[Glen]

The only way I have been able to get properly reimbursed by an insurance company is to actually repair the car at my own expense then threaten to sue the driver of the car that hit me.   

You can not sue the other driver’s insurance company because you have no contract with them and they are not responsible for the accident. 

If you can get your insurance company to pay you that would work too. 

[waterzap]

The only way I have been able to get properly reimbursed by an insurance company is to actually repair the car at my own expense then threaten to sue the driver of the car that hit me.   

You can not sue the other driver’s insurance company because you have no contract with them and they are not responsible for the accident. 

If you can get your insurance company to pay you that would work too.

What happens when you sue the driver? Who pays in the end?

[Glen]

If you win the other driver is responsible and his insurance should pay for him.  But I did not have to actually have to go to court.  With a list of my expenses in repairing my car the insurance company knew they would not win in court so they paid me. 

[Lucas Feininger #15674]

Jim, I hope you weren't injured and that you think twice about giving up on this car.

Glen is right -- most drivers carry insurance for damage to others property, which would include your car. If the other driver was at fault and the police report says that, you would have a strong case to collect from the other driver's insurance company.

Although it may be too late in this instance, I think all collector cars should have an appraisal. Yes, they are expensive (several hundred dollars) but an appraisal from a licensed appraiser would prove that the car is worth more than the "book value". For instance, book value on my 1963 convertible is $300. I have an appraisal for $14,000 which is what I would use if I ever had to after an insurance company.

[76eldo]

Agreed value policies take all of this stuff out of the equation.

They pay you first, then go after the other party and do not raise your rates unless you have multiple losses.

Insure a car for $10,000 and they will either fix it or total it and give you ...drum roll..................................................$10,000.

If you buy a $2000 car and insure it for $10,000 you may have a problem, but in my limited experience with 2 claims in 30 years, I got paid, no questions asked.

Brian

[pinkcaddy96]

Tragic

[okccadman]

I was able to get an almost fair settlement out of the other guys insurance and  lucky enough to find a great replacement.  I found this 1996 Fleetwood Brougham with 80,000 miles in a small town Oklahoma funeral homes garage and was able to trade up with minor out of pocket expense.  I kept the crashed 95 and am tryting to decide if i should sell it to some as a rebuilder or keep it for spare parts.

[76eldo]

Nice car and great news!

Brian

[Dan LeBlanc]

Nice score.  The more I look at these cars, the more they grow on me.  There may be hope to get me out of a Lincoln and into a Cadillac daily driver yet.

[cadillactim]

Personally I think the 93-96 Fleetwoods were the last of the "real" Cadillacs.  They are RWD and have plenty of chrome that makes them nice looking vehicles. I really like my 95 Fleetwood as a daily driver, even though it does not "float" down the road like my 67 does. The gas mileage is really pretty good on these Fleetwoods as well.  And I'll take the LT1 engine over a Northstar any day!

Tim