I got ~$2300 for a '90 245 with ~250k mi that got it's hood, headlights and grille crunched in that was written off as a total loss in '06. Bought it back for $400 and put about a thousand into it to bring it back together (ecodes, new grille, new hood, front cross-section that hold the radiator, various other bits). Haven't had it painted yet -



but she's still running strong at 269k mi+. Did a thousand miles last week from Anchorage to Chena Hot Springs with my parents visiting and almost didn't miss a beat. I think I'll have to do the blower fan soon, though - managed to let a little bit of the smoke as we were leaving, making me briefly scared about no fan for the 450 miles back, but the lower speeds worked fine after a short while.

Good luck,
Zach
Anchorage, Alaska
1990 245 w/269k mi+

Can you post that valuation link?

My '83 245GLT met its maker recently when a lady made a left turn against a red light to her. I did not carry collision and as far as my own insurance company was concerned, I was on my own. First estimate from her insurance company was so low that the adjuster knew something was wrong. He called later in the day to give an estimate and suggested even this might be too low (except for paint, car looked and showed care) and that he was forwarding it up to their total loss adjusters and suggested I might want to fax them all receipts of work that I had done recently (they were considerable). I had found a near twin on Craigslist, forwarded tax value, receipts, etc, all amounting to over 20 pages. I refused to accept their first rendering of value. Firmly, I told them to not contact me until they had carefully reviewed my data. I had the sense in a phone call that they had not examined all my data I had faxed. My biggest drawback - paint work was faded over hood, roof and tailgate. Paint makes a big difference, running condition (before wreck) and cosmetics other than paint do not seem as important. They stated I had high mileage - 283K. I reminded them that the car was 25 years old and if they did their math, 283K was not high. There were other negotiating points. Nonetheless, this was my experience. We settled for $1070 after subtracting for salvage value.

Mike
--
'83 245 GLT, '90 760 GLT

Hi Joe,

Sorry about your loss! Since the value of the car is pretty subjective with a buyer wanting it cheap and the owner having a sentimental attachment, the best way to go is for the highest number, including adding the cost of the new rubber. You need bargaining leverage like an emergency room visit or a doctors visit with pain prescriptions to really get their attention, but if the car was a daily driver that you needed for work or school, you are also entitled to a rental until the car can be repaired or replaced. Just remember that the insurance company has a whole bevy of attorney's talking to them so you need to hustle one up also. It will cost you around 30% of the settlement, but since there will be no settlement if you do your own negotiating, it is well worth the money. I hope it works out well for you!

Regards,
--
Will Dallas, www.willdallas.us, www.willdallas.org, www.willdallas.com, www.dallasprecision.com 86 245 DL 222K miles, 93 940 260K miles, 88 765 GLE 152K miles, 88 780 246K miles

That seems high. I paid $3200 for a 1992 245 with 125k miles about 3 years ago. I don't see how you'd get over $1000 for a 250k+ brick.
--
...
'92 245, Black & Tan, Virgo Mags, 140K

My condolences. Looks like we're in the exact same boat.

Josh in IL