[TR] TR4A sale values, insurance

[Steven Newell]

I carry USAA for all my cars. Since we only have old cars, and drive the 
tar out of them, collector policies don't really make sense for our 
family. I've had two USAA claims on old cars. The first was my '72 BMW 
2002 in a hailstorm around 2001. The coverage was "replacement value" as 
is my TR4 now. I had to put in a little time researching and educating 
the adjustors, but ultimately it turned out well. Their first offer was 
$1250 based on the only rocky mountain region newspaper advert they 
could find. Nowadays they'd find lots comparables online. After some 
cajoling on the phone, they noticed a collector car value guide laying 
around their office and offered $3000, which I accepted. I'd bought the 
car for $3500 in '97. They said salvage value was $900, so I kept the 
car and got a check for $2100. I drove the car another 2 or 3 years 
before selling it for $1800.

Second claim: I ran the Triumph into a Ford Explorer 5 years ago. The 
repair estimate was $3500. They had my photos on file, and looked up the 
value of the car in their guide then said "yep, that's definitely worth 
fixing. We have no idea where to have your car fixed, so just pick a 
specialist and have it done." They direct paid the shop, my favorite 
local British car specialist, and the guys did a great job. I heard 
later they beat up the shop owner on price, but he didn't mention it 
till a year or two ago.

A totalled or stolen Triumph may be harder. But if you can prove the 
condition of your car -- say with regular photos and car show awards or 
whatever -- then it's relatively easy to find comparables and establish 
the cost to replace a car. If you spent $50K on a restoration, you won't 
get your money back, but you wouldn't when you sold it either. If your 
car is mechanically in great condition, and you have receipts to prove 
it, that counts a little. Again, you don't get your money back, but you 
should be able to narrow the list of comparable cars to those in similar 
cosmetic and mechanical condition for purposes of establishing a value. 
It might not be enough to restore a family heirloom, but it would be 
enough to buy another nice Triumph and drive it hard.

Steven