Thejoeshow5

i own a 1989 jeep cherokee. near spotless never mudded. no rust anywhere. california car that made it to ohio. i restored it to all original. garge kept. i treated like a collector car not a DD.

i was driving it on Sunday and somebody that was texting ran a red light and hit me head on. totaling my car. of course it was his fault and his insurance called it totaled and is supposed to pay me what my car is worth. the problem is the insurance people just see it as an old car. not a classic or vintage car. they fail to see any value in it.
they offered me 2,000
when i looked up the nada(too old for blue book) value as 15,000 in exellent condition 10,000 in good.

i am supposed to send things to support my claim that it is a collectable car that there is a market for.

when i try to explain to him that vintage 4x4 are worth money he kind of laughed at me.

so here is what i have ill post it below to support my claim. he said send him anything that says my cherokee or similar vehices are worth more than what he offered. can you fellow jeepers help me out to get enough money to fix my baby. im sure of anyone. you guys will understand that its not just some old hoopty.

send me anythng else you find that says my cherokee is worth more than 3,000. thanks for the help. i dont know where else to turn.

any add you seen an old cherokee sell for a good amount or ads/articles where they value vintage cherokees. anything will help thanks guy.

also below is a picture of my car before and after the texter hit me.

330 413 2754 is my number or pm me if you have any advice for me. it is my first accident and im feeling my way through this. also really sad to se something i put so much care into get wrecked by some texting bum.

Martlor13

Sorry for the bad news man but i think their offer is fair if not higher than i would have thought....cherokees are a dime a dozen. Sure they are dwindling and prices are slowly rising. But they still arent rare....plus those pics you posted are mostly asking prices. Not final sale prices.....plus those prices are absolutely ridiculous.

i probably wouldnt have offerred you more then 4k before the wreck if i wanted to buy it and that still might be pushing it haha and i love cherokees

4WD4EVER

You are correct, it is a fair offer because that's the one he agreed to when he signed the policy with its specific terms.

OP, while I certainly sympathize with you, you should have had a different type of policy on the vehicle to cover the potential of risks so you would have gotten more out of it. It's done everyday. Sure you pay a higher premium but that's the price you pay for having the difference covered.

Good luck!

andrewmp6

Half those jeeps you posted are wagoners aka fsj not a xj at all.I don't think 3k is that far off what your jeep as worth before the wreck in the real world.As far as those high dollar adds you posted,You can ask for price you want but it don't mean someone will pay that for it.And i really don't see anyone collecting xjs anytime soon.They are the honda civic of the 4x4 world.Only 4x4s i seen in collections are old like 50s napco pickups or ******* jeeps and early land rovers.

4WD4EVER

Here's a pretty good summary of what I stated in my previous post:

https://www.lelandwest.com/stated-va...-insurance.cfm

Sometimes specialized coverage for an object(s) isn't even something one would get through the typical household name ins. co's.

RocketMouse

I agree... I have seen fully restored SJ's go for stupid money, especially the older ones, like the mid/late 70s 2-door Chiefs. And while we may put a decent chunk into our XJ's, I'd have to agree with Martlor in that while a nice clean example of an older XJ, they are by no means ultra rare at this point. Heck in the town I moved to recently, I've seen more older XJ's than almost any other vehicle in this town. So my XJ feels right at home.
But I know how you feel. and there's no way to get the money we put into them back out. Probably more so than other models of vehicles on the road. But we still love our old Jeeps.

4WD4EVER

There is a way, but, as I have pointed out, it isn't done with your typical ins. policy and it would probably require a higher premium but that is the price one pays for specialized coverage of any kind.

jordan96xj

First off, most people have no idea. So careful with advice. In this case, it probably has nothing to with YOUR insurance. THEIR insurance has an obligation to make you "whole". They are not making an "offer" they are claiming they know what will make you whole (as in bring you back to the condition prior to the event).

If the vehicle were worth a lot more (like a land cruiser), you would get a lawyer. They would absolutely maximize the amount. But they will take a heck of a cut.

You need to start arguing with them with the proper terminology. Tell them they have an obligation to "make you whole" and that $2000 will not provide you with another good/mint condition 89 Cherokee. Blue Book and Nada are not sufficient in deciding this. But you will have to argue.

Also keep in mind, that they could TRIPLE what they have offered so far and not even blink about it. It is tiny compared to most of their claims. I had to replace a single panel on the back of my new van and it was something like $4000. No questions asked.

If it was your own insurance company, it would be different because they would simply tell you that if the vehicle was collectible or classic, that you chose the wrong insurance product (and they would be right).

But its not your insurance company, and they don't get to decide (alone) what they owe you.

4WD4EVER

Pot, meet kettle. There is no way in hell I would let another ins. co. decide for me. I've had enough works of art and automobiles insured over the years to know better.

jordan96xj

Point taken.

I'm not an expert. But the average person, though meaning well, usually only focuses on the "offer" without understanding the obligation that the insurer has. This is where an attorney can get you a lot more (depending), but the problem is that you end up sharing so much of that "more" that it is hardly worth it unless the vehicle is very valuable.

Plus, most of us just want to get back on the road and on with life.

A close family member of mine, who DID understand the obligations of the insurer, recently turned a $7K offer (after a small fender bender with an insured motorist) into something like $35k. When he described what he demanded (and why), it showed me that the average person (including myself) typically just takes what they are given, or complains, and perhaps gets a little more. Unlike most of us, this family member fought and made sure he was made -completely- whole, and was willing and able to sue if that didn't happen. Because he knew the rules, he got it done without taking them to court. Btw, this wasn't an "injury" thing, this was just related to the vehicle and the very small amount of damage done to it.

4WD4EVER

Agreed. Most people don't want protracted legal proceedings, attorney fees and just want to get on with life, as you say. That is partly the point I was trying to make and perhaps I was doing a poor job communicating it.

Having said this, I don't necessarily disagree with fighting for something sometimes, it's just that it can be a long and disappointing road.

jordan96xj

True.

But with just an initial fight and some moderate back and forth, turning that $2K offer into $6-10K might be fruitful and worth it. And I'm just being pragmatic and realistic, because if it were mine...I would want to replace it. It would take $6-10k to do that around here.

This exact topic haunts me a bit. Because mine is on the road every day, so I know the exact same thing could happen to me or anybody here with a nice XJ. So I'll definitely be following the thread.

4WD4EVER

Understood. Some, perhaps many, forum users face the same dilemma. Personally, I would rather go outside traditional avenues/co.'s (if necessary), pay higher premiums and not sustain the losses. I will be watching also; curious to know how it works out.

xjnm

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f59/97...-500-a-240316/

Maybe this will help... Sorry to see that beautiful cherokee smashed...

RocketMouse

Yes... I am familiar with what you mentioned. Some standard ins. with some companies I've heard them refer to it as an "agreed upon value". And if the ins. company agrees to the policy, then yes, the premium is usually a bit higher than a standard one for the same vehicle model/year.