Valuations

[Kiwiflyer]

Hi Guys,
I am only a matter of weeks away from registering my 73 Avenger after a rather lengthy restoration/customisation and need a valuation for insurance, can someone please point me in the right direction?

[oldschool]

I insured mine with AA Insurance Classic Cover, didn't need a valuation. They just asked me how much I wanted to insure it for, I said $4000, they said fine. Only cost around $80 for comprehensive, but has a 5000km limit per year.

[Kiwiflyer]

Thanks oldschool, but I have spent twice that on just bodywork and paint (inside and out) and really need to look at insurance from a custom car point of view, my insurance company suggested I contact a custom car club for a valuation, they said they would accept this! I did a Mini for my daughter and have an agreed value of 15000 with no limitations on use so am looking to go down this track with the Avenger, just not sure who to contact, I am kind of out of touch with the car scene in NZ as I live in OZ for most of the year.

[avengertiger]

do you have a local classic car club someone there may be able to do a valuation for you or your insurance company may have an independant assesor who can put a value on the car,it may not always reflect what you have spent on the vehicle to get it to that condition though its usually market value that dictates the agreed value and the dearest avenger i have seen on trademe has been 6500.
so maybe the hot rod association may be of some help as they will have experience dealing with modified classics.

[blekkja]

can you use foreign market value? what does a good original/restored tiger [or replica, racecar, or similar] go for on ebay in the uk? might be a better indication than what you can get here.

[Nikolai]

If you could post photos on here, with a list of modifications, we could give you some sort of figure to use as a ballpark?

[Kiwiflyer]

Thanks for all the feedback, I realise that what you spend is not always what the car is worth but thats not what this project has been about however I would still like to get as high a valuation as is possible and will look further at my options. I will post some photo's along with a list of what has been done once I get the car on the road, I am back in NZ for this coming week, the car is about 80% complete and I intend to get it mobile so I can get it to the Auto Electrician on Thursday for installation of the Stereo, Central locking and alarm system, will then head back to OZ for 6 weeks before returning to finish putting the new interior in, do the suspension, wheels and tints before I hand it over to my son in mid December for his Birthday.......Finally. If anyone can help, I am still looking for the roof drip rail molding for the left hand(I think) side....really need this as the car has a new vinyl roof! A good secong hand one would be great.

[avenga]

Value and money spent are two very different things.

I have spent over $20,000 on my Avenger but my insurance company will only cover it for $4,000. Even though I have spent crap loads on my Avenger and it is an awesome little Avenger it isn't very valuable. I think I would even strugle to sell it for $4000 in the open market which is want insurance is covering you for.

Another example of this is with my Charger. I brought that for $10,000 7 years ago. Over the years the value of Chargers has increased and now it insured for $26,000. Last year I spent $10,000 rebuilding the engine and suspension but that did not increase the market value or insured value at all.

With classics it is all about the popularity of the make and model, and less about the modification. Unfortunately the Avenger is really under valued so no matter what you do to them you aren't going to get that much more value out of them.

[kierbear]

apparantly turners is good but im unsure about how much they know about old cars

[kierbear]

yeah thats so true avenga, value and money spent are completely different. i get 3k if mine gets stolen, which i think is more than what i can sell it for even. but have put alot of money into it, also sentimental value. if the money was spent on something like a ke30 or something popular and common then u could easily flick it for heaps. i didnt even know what an avenger was before i bought it so obviously not very popular, amongst young people anyway

[blekkja]

but consequently it is cheaper to buy a new one. i've seen rolling body mazda hatches go for 10k.

[kierbear]

yeah. i saw on the old school advert that a new avenger was something like $1999. ripppped off haha. i paid just a tiny bit more than that and it was already 35 years old!

[Kiwiflyer]

Yes guys, of course you are all correct in what you say but you only have to look at the number of new members on this forum to realise that the popularity of these little cars is growing and a recent article in the English Classic car magazine stating that the Avenger was a becoming sought after and would be a good investment will also help!

[kierbear]

haha i think the popularity of escorts is also increasing becuase thats what everyone seems to think my car is. good luck with you valuation though

[kierbear]

how did the valuation go??