find any similar vans on theSamba ?
that's one crude way to see what they go for.

I hope the very notable seam rust and non-color matching doors doesn't take
away from the value too much.
You do not have to accept their first offer of course ...
or their 3rd or 4th, or whatever.  Stick with it and you'll get as much as
they are willing to pay .....
and I hope it's something over 3 or 4 grand.  Negotiate to keep the van .
Would surprise me they off you numbers like 1,500 to under 2,500.
Either repaired,  or turned into a parts donor van, especially the westy
parts .........lots of value there.
That's a great year too, 85.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed Duntz" <eduntz@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 12:26 PM
Subject: van wrecked; documenting selling prices

Last Friday on the way to a VW camping event, another driver was making a
turn, swung over into my lane, and crashed into me. It was clearly her
fault, and her insurance company (Geico) is taking responsibility, but now
the work has to start on my part to show what my van was worth. They have
declared it a total loss, saying that the damage is more than $7,000. Our
vehicles colided on the driver's sides. The damage to my van is from just
outboard of the headlight, to the wheel arch, driver's door, lower part of
the middle panel under the camper inlets, and both driver side wheels, as
well as likely suspension damage on the driver's side.

I have started to look online at various sites to document to the insurance
company what similar vehicles sell for. So far, I'm looking at or will look
at The Samba, eBay completed listings, GoWesty, Poptop Heaven, JDB
enterprises, cars.com, autotrader.com.

My van was a 1985 Vanagon Westfalia, that Hershey brown experior with the
usual brown interior. The interior was in very good condition, the body was
very good except for a few rust spots (but very litttle noticeable seam
rust), and a different color brown slider and passenger door. The skylight
was new, the tent was in escellent shape.

If anyone has any leads on a replacement similar to mine, or if you have
recently documented any similar vans for insurance/valuation reasons, I'd
appreciate some input. I'm about to call the adjuster back, who has some
numbers for me.

Thanks,
Ed Duntz in CT