Thanks to all who have responded.  I'm implementing the various suggestions
[can you tell I was a buearocrat in a former life?].

Van has rebuilt engine with 30K on it.  All new suspension parts.  New
starter, AFM, cat., Ox sensor, tires, AC converted to R 134a.  They credited
me $495 for these items.  And deducted 305 for mileage of 196k.  One of
their two comps was an 86 regular van that had had a one burner stove and
hand pump sink installed selling for $1800.

I'm still collecting comps and agent says nothing is final until I sign the
final acceptance document.

Mike

On 9/12/03 12:38 PM, "Grant Braddish" <braddish@MAIL.COM> wrote:

> First off, I am an insurance adjuster.  While I don't deal with total loss
> vehicles, I can say that there is not a specific conspiracy to screw Westy
> owners by the insurance industry.
>
> The bottom line is, we all own very unique vehicles.  They are not quite
> passenger vehicles and not quite RVs.  The evaluation systems that insurers
> use are designed to evaluate the most common vehicle types and do not do very
> well with 15+ year old 'specialty' vehicles.  KBB.com and others do the same
> poor job of providing actual pricing on Westys.
>
> Keep in mind that the common misunderstanding of VW campers is that they are
> owned by pot smoking hippies who keep them running with bailing wire and
> nitrous oxide balloons.  It's not easy to overcome this misconception with
> your future in-laws or your insurance company.
>
> Every week I see posts discussing a 'fair price' on a Westy somewhere in the
> world.  The typical reply is - it depends on the condition, mileage,
> maintenance, etc.  As we all have seen this can add or subtract thousands of
> $$ from the 'fair price'.
>
> As a Westy owner, we all are willing to put up with various quirks our
> vehicles inherently have.  We quickly forgive the engineers.  It's important
> to remember that one other quirk that we have to deal with is the difficulty
> of determining a 'fair price' for our Westy whether we want to sell it, buy
> another, or face the ultimate disappointment of having it 'totalled'.
>
> Your insurer should respond to quotes from local dealers (ask your local VW
> dealer if they will share some recent sales receipts for Westys), on line
> classifieds, local classifieds, etc. They will not care if you just dropped
> $3500 into your coolant system (an average car is supposed to have a working
> coolant system, remember?) or other 'mainteinance'.
>
> If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.
>
> Grant
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Eric Zeno <vw4x4@FYI.NET>
> Date:         Fri, 12 Sep 2003 14:55:13 -0400
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject:      Re: Totaled camper van
>
>> Mike,
>>        Don't waste your time.   This is the ripoff of all insurance
>> companies
>> today.   Simply tell them no, and ask them to contact you when they want
>> to make a reasonable offer.  Here in PA they have 2 years to pay.  If it
>> gets
>> close to that time,  they will be very reasonable.
>>
>>                                                               Eric
>>
>>
>>
>> Mike Miller wrote:
>>
>>> Volkites,
>>>
>>> I need some asking prices for full camper Westphalia water boxers.  My van
>>> has a big boo boo and the insurance company wants to total it for $1800 so I
>>> need comparative prices, preferably Northern California, to show them.
>>>
>>> TIA,
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
> --
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