texasz

Ok, you can not 'force' an insurance company into doing what you want...but you can try and direct them in the direction you would like to see it go. As the others have said, if they are trying to total the car it's simply because the cost of repairs are at or over what they feel the value of the car is. This in NO way implies that the car can not be repaired. They are in business to make money and this means paying out the least amount on a claim they can get away with. I also want to clarify something that a couple others have states here. If the repair quotes you got are $3k this in no way means that the insurance company will pay you $3k. It has been mentioned that you take the $3k and find another car or take the $3k and buy back your car and fix it. I do not see anywhere that you have said that they offered you $3k for your car so please understand how the process works. Now as for how to keep your car and get it fixed. I once was in this situation and the car I had was above average for it's age/make/model but the insurance company still wanted to total it because of the cost of repairs vs. the value they determined the car to be worth. In my case I did end up taking the money we finally agreed upon for the car to be totalled (more than the initial offer) and then "bought the car back from them" and had it repaired. NO title was ever exchanged therefore it never showed as a salvage auto. How did I manage this you ask? I refused to settle the claim, I NEVER released the car to them. This did a couple things, they could not send the car off to the crusher as I never released it to them, and the longer it sat the more they were racking up in storage fees from the repair shop it was at. This equates to a little bit of leverage. I also did what has been mentioned here...I gave them three options, 1) fix it 2) replace it with one in like condition (this would have cost them the most) 3) pay me what I showed the car to really be worth (not the blue book value) less their salvage cost and I would get it fixed. They obviously choose option 3...but not for several weeks. It ended up where the claims supervisor called me and flat out asked me what I wanted and that's finally when we were able to come to an agreement. Of course by this time the repair shop had already fixed it by my request as I knew that I would be keeping the car one way or another (options 1 or 3 above as I knew that they would not take 2 due to the added expense in locating a car, inspections, and the purchase price that one would run). Yes, this was a risk I ran but it paid off. Now this car was nothing special, it was only an '84 Accord, but as many may know the Honda's are worth more than what the blue book lists them at (or at least that's the way it was at the time). Oh and for reference this accident was in early summer of '90. Ways I showed the car's true value was through receipts, however know that if you show a repair for brake work they will say "so what, that's normal maintence" but any modifications done that would increase the value will help. Don't believe me...I tried this because I had just pur $350 worth of new tires on the car two weeks before the accident and got the same reply! I also pulled ads from the paper and car dealerships for other cars of the same make/model and explained that neither I nor they knew the condition of these other cars but we both knew the condition of mine and could clearly see that their value was too low. I also provided the paperwork from where I had bought it two years earlier for more than twice what they claimed it to be worth. All of this kind of information will help you and support your claims about the value of the car. If you are also wondering my basis for some of what I stated here...I used to work for one of the largest auto insurance companies in the country. I didn't work in claims but certainly do understand how they work and still remember many of the rules...every state IS different so please also keep this in mind. I hope that this information and my story helps you out. I suggest not pressing too many buttons until you are certain that you will not be able to close the claim to your satisfaction. The claims person is you friend and can be very helpful to you so do not alienate them right off the bat or you will have an up hill battle on your hands.

Ok, I fixed the size problem!! It's now only 1MB.

I will work on it this weekend and get the size down and also see what the deal is with the 'damaged file' error. Sorry guys, I was in a hurry the other night and was not paying much attention to the details of the file size... :stupid:

Here's a link to an article I just got. It's from July 1971 Road & Track magazine and is a comparison of five $3500 GTs including the 240Z. http://www.pape.ws/allan_and_rosanne/Z-Car_Stuff/The%203500%20Dollar%20GT%20Article/The%203500%20Dollar%20GT%20-%20July%201971%20Road%20and%20Track.pdf NOTE: for some reason this came out to be a 19MB file...it's only a 7 page pdf so I am unsure why it's so large.

Must have just been the computer I was using...I got to it from a different computer with no problems.

What's up with the link?

No problem at all, I'm glad I could help.

MSA carries Spicer. They are not all that expensive either considering the quality.

More popular than that blasted orange!? I have seen tons of the orange...I have two (my good car and my rust bucket parts car).

"Are we there yet!?" Sorry, couldn't help the Shrek2 reference...seen it a few times with my nephew.

This was just discussed...try searching for the other thread...there was a lot of info in it.

Damn! I would be there it not for the fact that we are having my daughter's first birthday party that day. Have fun everyone who attends!!

You're looking at a care in SA, where are you located?

YEP! June through September as I recall.

Yes, how about more info...and a link to the website.

I like them and want to put them in my Z some day when I pull the dash to have it redone (cracks and all) but two things that concern me... 1) I have a series I and would have to have the right overlays (i.e. the speedo starting at 20mph) 2) I want them to be durable and not fade, discolor, curl up, peal off etc. once installed

Thank you for setting me straight Will....once again. I had not realized that there was this kind of a difference. I'll have to make sure and properly tag the parts I just pulled from a '75 parts car I'm stripping down so as to not get them confused and so I know that they will not work in a 240Z.

I believe that all the 2 seater Z cars from '70 up to '78 all had the same doors, hoods, hatches, and fenders so these are all interchangeable...be sure you don't get parts from the 2+2 as some of those may be different.

Climb back up under the car and twist the half shaft watching for where the play is located. If it's a U-joint you will see the play in that location and then know that this is what you have to replace. If your u-joints are tight and the play is at either end of the half shaft then repost with your findings and someone here who knows more than I do will be able to assist you further.

DAMN HIM!! No, He told me he was listing them all on eBay and would be letting the auctions run their course. The one I was trying to buy before it was listed on eBay is the one from your previous post, the 1970 VIN #3486. :mad: You can bet he'll be getting another email from me!!!!

What do you need? I just picked up a '75 280Z parts car last night and will be cutting it up very soon.

Left as in driver's side? I just want to be clear as I have a 280Z that I'm going to be cutting up and the driver's side is torn but I believe that the pass. side is in good shape. Also, you can probably just ask Charly at Zedd Findings and he'll sell you just the side you need. I was going to do this for me with the floor pans as I only needed the pass side. Shipping was the same but parts cost was 1/2. All you have to do is ask.

That's a bunch of $^!# if you ask me! I had been in contact with him and wanted to buy one that he had not even listed on eBay yet and I was told that he would not sell them outright, he was going to list them all on eBay and let the auctions run their course. I contacted him asking about this just this morning and am waiting on a reply. I'm not too thrilled at this point with his way of doing business. I see that you are bidding on one lonetreesteve. Good luck.

If the above info holds true then I'd say that the P30 is a 280ZX crank.

Ok...Johnson Family Vacation! Funny movie for anyone who has not seen it. Reminds me of the Lampoon's Vacation series but not quite as dumb.