APPRAISAL – VALUATION – SETTLEMENT ASSESSMENT
An appraisal is different from a pre-purchase inspection (PPI) in the way that it is not as intricate and elaborately technical as a PPI. I provide APPRAISALS for domestic Insurance applications – mostly after a special car has been restored / altered and the insured value is not sufficient anymore. Most policies require an “Actual Cash Value” report when requesting the insured value be changed. These values fluctuate greatly immensely based on the quality of the parts and professional services used in restoring your vehicle. I will make sure to state the fair, exact replacement value of your vehicle based on the quality of the car and parts/services used.
Who better to appraise your automobile than someone who knows from first-hand experience the cost and dedication required to restore a vehicle? My appraisals are accepted by all major insurance companies. That does not imply I am affiliated with any Insurance Company – I work independently on a very discrete basis; solely for my client. I am a member of Technical Advisory panels for several Classic car clubs. My articles on appraisals have been published in several Insurance Brochures, magazines, and illustrations concerning Classic Cars.
I also get some oddballs like these but through extensive research, we always end up at the correct value; acceptable for all parties. Hey, and Ricky and I are car guys so we LOVE to deal with these!
And yes, sometimes accidents happen and Ricky and I also get called out to assess damage on a special car. In this case, a tree was in the way.
Unfortunately, some cases end up in Court where technical aspects of Vehicles are under scrutiny and I would be available to provide this service in US Courts. I have worked for and with European Customs to apply forensic methods to determine the origin of certain questionable VIN’s in vehicles to be registered. I have pretty much seen it all so little throws me off anymore. So my service is not to just obtain a blue book value, hire me ONLY if your car has been highly upgraded, modified or restored and the present insured value is not up to par anymore.
SALES ASPECTS
Sometimes when an owner decides to sell a car my services are needed to set a fitting asking price and provide the prospective buyers with enough information to decide if the car is what they want. In such cases, my report is written towards selling the car and will be delivered in PDF format to send out to anyone asking for details. Because my reports are so detailed the seller just got rid of 99% of the lowballing tire kickers out there. Of course, also all of my appraisals will be supervised by Ricky!
Every Appraisal will be custom written towards your needs, consist of a multi-page; multi-color layout with pictures, VIN research if possible and a full listing of costs / details pertaining to the particular vehicle.
PRICING
My fee varies due to the vehicle’s location and my travel expenses. A local (non-rush) appraisal runs around $400 and any additional vehicle is $175 when available at the same time; turnaround is under a week. In the case of multi-car collections, I will quote depending on the circumstances.
