same thing happened to me... although it wasn't a vanagon... it was a 76
loaf.  New paint, new carbueration set-up... sweet van.  It was in 1984.  A
driver forced my (ex) wife off the road and crushed the front end (not her
fault).  Bus was still drivable, but damage to the nose was severe.
Insurance company wanted to total it... repairs were just over half the
"alleged" value of the bus.  I absolutely refused to let them total it out,
citing all I had put into it and what it meant to me.  Finally convinced
them to make the repairs.  Blue book values are worthless.  Stand your
ground.

Mick Kalber
89 Syncro Westy "Daddeo"
Tropical Visions Video, Inc.
62 Halaulani Place    Hilo, Hawaii  96720
ph. 808-935-5557    fax 808-935-0066
hotlava@interpac.net
www.volcanoscapes.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of RTF_SSS
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2000 5:26 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: crash information

I had a similar crash on my Westy about 2 years ago.  I had just reguilt the
engine, and the paint job was less than a week old.  Both my insurance and
that of the Camaro that ran the stop sign were State Farm.  The adjuster
that was assigned was, to put it bluntly, an idiot.  She said there was no
way an '84 model van could be worth repairing at $3700.  I explained to her
that this wasn't just a van, but a Wolfsburg Westy with new engine and
paint.  She still wouldn't budge.  I got my agent involved, and he got her
supervisor to talk to me.  He said that if I could show several similar
models with pricing along the lines of what I felt the van was worth, they'd
consider it.  I found about 10 similar Westys, and gave them the copies.
Within 2 days, they agreed to fix the van as opposed to totalling it, as is
the case on yours.  I wish you luck, just stand your ground and you should
prevail.
Steve Sandlin