? for you festive fanatics..................

[loknlode]

let me start by stating I understand the way people get obsessivly connected
to things like they do. stamps, coins, cars, beanie babies (well not bb's, lol).

and they will justify spending what ever on what ever for their passion.


I'm not that passionate about any thing and maybe thats a curse or not.
I dunno. But when I see the shows where old people are trying to sell off
stuff they collected all their lives I think its more of a blessing. to me
things don't give you real pleasure but people do.

having said that...........

I do like cars mainly from the 50's and 60's but I do like the 80's G-body
GM cars like the cutlass and regal. its hard NOT to "get wood" when looking
at a well done or preserved Grand national, GNX, or Hurst Olds.

I have owned a 64 dodge dart, 57 and 66 fairlanes, 70 eliminator, 75 442,
84 H/O, 57 dodge hemi, 70 dodge polara coupe, 64 & 74 novas, 68 impala,
79 malibu, etc, and trust me, ETC., lol.


I like my little 89 festiva to the point of spending between 3 and 3500 on it
restoring it to near perfect stock mechanical condition and putting in a nice
sound system and tint. imo those were a necessity because I drive 3-400 miles
a week and in SC you need the tint come summer. The only non essential
things I did to it was to put 13" toyota wheels on it but I consider that an
upgrade, and I bought a deck spoiler for a great price ($125).

to me, thats the only thing I've done to it just to improve the "looks".
and the wheel upgrade was basically free. got the wheels for $0 and the
car was needing tires and I found a set of like new 13's on CL for $60.
heck, I saved money going with the 13's. the 12's were gonna be over
$200. (ever tried finding a set of those on CL?, not likely)

my ?

since my insurance co won't give me more that about 6-700 for it should
it get totaled why spend that kind of coin on it in the first place? I mean
other than the peace of mind knowing I won't be on the side of the road
due to to the mechanical rebuild why drop $ into it to make into whatever,
be it a hot rod or a custom truck? I GET THE LOVE OF IT.

so what would you guys who have dropped serious time and coin into these cars do
should you get into a wreck and your car actually does get totaled?

the reason I bring it up is because my daughter got hit by someone and drove
the car home. only damage was to RF (bumper, hood fender).
Ins. co. totals the car at $600 bucks. we paid 15 a year earlier.
Car was a nice 91 metro with low miles, ac, 5sp, and hardly a scratch on it.
gas was over 3 a g and that car got 45mpgs.

how do you get (or can you get) any more out of it if the "true value" is way
off from being the book value?

this is the reason I'm selling my bp car and going with a car that I can get
classic car insurance on. It's cheap and you will get a big % of your $ back
if totaled. I know I'll have more money in a classic but I'll get more out of
it when I sell it or if I wreck it.

not only that but a classic if bought right will appreciate whereas I never see
any stock festiva being worth more than 1500-2500 unless someone pulls out
a garaged and loaded LX with 5k miles on it and then 3500 or 4 would be about it.

here are some of what I'm looking to get in the coming year;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/391058992521?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

this stock regal is nice;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Buick-Regal-Regal-Limited-1987-buick-regal-limited-v-8-1-owner-39-k-miles-garage-kept-must-see-/321668508640?forcerrptr=true&hash=item4ae4efebe0&item=321668508640&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

but this one is ba;

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Buick-Regal-Grand-National-Turbo-1987-grand-national-turbo-used-turbo-3-8-l-v-6-12-v-automatic-rear-/311305742515?forcerrptr=true&hash=item487b44a8b3&item=311305742515&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

I like these if I can find one with t-tops;

https://www.google.com/search?q=1983+hurst+olds&client=safari&channel=mac_bm&biw=1200&bih=838&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=S4r4VKxB2KvIBIi9gaAF&ved=0CB0QsAQ

[loknlode]

a favorite;

http://classiccars.com/listings/view/576609/1987-oldsmobile-442-for-sale-in-troy-michigan-48083

[bhazard]

When I got hit back in 08 or so my insurance co valued the car at $1600 I think. Bone stock. Then they paid for $1400 worth of work to fix it.

You can also get aftermarket parts coverage.

[David88]

Get an appraisal and present it to your insurance company and get an areed to price for total loss. If they wont agree to a number that works for you suggest you might take all your insurance bussiness somewhere else. If they still don't agree...take all your insurance bussiness somewhere else.

I just saw this last night. Nothing special but seemed like a good deal.

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/ctd/4914133332.html

[ottoparts]

x2 for the appraisal.
Then insure the car at the price of the appraisal.

[legend123]

up here in canada manitoba you can get what is called collector insurance provided the car is 25 years old (waiting 1 more year for my festiva birthday) you have it apraised bye a car club who then gives you a written value for insurance purpases.my festiva is not 25 years yet what i did to make sure of a true value was take it to ford dealer and had it appraised then insured it for that value.was told to also keep any reciepts for any work or up grades done to car.

[jayber]

I actually sold mine KNOWING I was gonna sink more money into it than I wanted to. It was my only option

[F3BZ]

ya good luck. tried to get insurance on my 25 yr old GT-X from a national classic/collector car co. only tried to get coverage for what i paid for it which wasn't much above what a clean US festiva is selling for. got a response that they were not insuring that type of vehicle at this time. no explanation given.

[David88]

ya good luck. tried to get insurance on my 25 yr old GT-X from a national classic/collector car co. only tried to get coverage for what i paid for it which wasn't much above what a clean US festiva is selling for. got a response that they were not insuring that type of vehicle at this time. no explanation given.

Yours is a different situation. I wondered about that being its a foreign market car privately imported. You may get it insured but it wont be inexpensive.

[Gomez]

I have contacted my ins company about my car. They suggested a "custom car" type policy. I could get an appraisal and pay that rate or I could pay a rate I suggested that the car was worth based on an itemized list on what everything would cost to replace. She says there are a lot of guys that do that in my area. Pretty much name the price of wanted coverage and pay that premium. Don't know what that is called. They even offered me a special coverage for the time it is being built. Basically upgrade coverage as time goes on.

[sc72]

Gomez, in this area it's called a stated amount policy. good luck

[Advancedynamix]

Hagerty insurance is very understanding when it comes to this type of thing. I've had several friends insure their old water cooled VW's through hagerty and they were able to state what it would cost to replace the car rather than what someone else thought the car was worth. Their rates are also very fair and they have great customer service from what I've been told. Up until recently I could get another clean Festiva shell for less than 800 bucks, so I didn't worry about full coverage because all my hand made and rare parts could just swap over to another car. I haven't seen a Festy for sale down here in months though, so now I'm beginning to consider better insurance. If the car is not replaceable, it's priceless.

[1990new]

One thing everyone needs to do is to keep all receipts for everything you spend on your car and also document all the work you do yourself. Take lots of pictures too.
Make notes of every little thing so you can flood the insurance company with paperwork if you ever need to file a claim.
That's what I did when someone pulled out from a stop sign directly in font of my 92 Aqua GL a few years ago.
They tried to tell me they could only give me $1700 but I just kept faxing them documents and in the end they gave me $3400 and I paid them $500 to get the car back.
About a year later after I had fixed the car myself, I sold it for $2500.

Speaking of insurance ...what about your rates. Mine went up $30 this time on my March 6 months renewal.
I was paying $287 every six months for liability and comprehensive on my 3 Festivas and now its $317.

[legend123]

my insurance for my 1991 festiva cost 828.00 per year or 69.00 per month thats for basic insurance which means pleasure driving not for work

[legend123]

my insurance for my 1991 festiva cost 828.00 per year or 69.00 per month thats for basic insurance which means pleasure driving not for work would be more with out good driving record witch gives 30 percent discount.1year insurance is almost what i paid for car.