This may sound like a dumb question, but how do car appraisals work?

Does the appraiser use comparable sales to determine the value and make market adjustments for dissimilar items, or is it primarily cost driven?

I will need to get my '72 Olds appraised this Spring and am wondering how this process works. Anyone know what a typical appraisal costs?

Thanks

 

Bump.

Nobody here has had a vehicle appraised ???

Help a brother out...

 

I would call a couple appraisers in your area and ask what their procedure is & how they price.

 

I would think the appraiser takes everything into account. He will research what comparable vehicles in comparable condition have sold for as recently as possible. He'll make adjustments for major things like the engine if it's not stock or unusual in some way and perhaps other major system. But whether or not the car has power windows will probably not make a big difference.

He'll probably also do some checking into repair costs, but remember that the goal of the insurance company is to make you whole again for the least expense. One of the oldest maxims in the old car hobby is that cars generally are not worth the money that is spent to restore them, so you're usually better off finance-wise to start with a car in as good a condition as possible.

So a car that you might have spent $30,000 fixing up might be worth only $20,000. And THAT's what the insurance company will look at. If your car were damaged in an accident to the point that the cost of repair exceeded the value of the car, they'll just give you the value of the car, not what you spent on it, with the assumption that you can go out buy yourself another '72 Cutlass convertible in the condition of the one you had for $20,000.

Now a lot of people have "agreed value" coverage where you and the insurance company agree to the value of the car, and if it were totaled, the insurance company would hand you that amount of money. But my guess is that if you insist on a value above what the market is saying, such as insisting that the agreed value of your car be $30,000, to use my example above, even though the market says it's worth $20,000, you'll play significantly for that coverage.

Why, exactly, are you having the car appraised? Is it for insurance purposes, so you can get an agreed-value policy? If that's the case, I think you're wise to get an independent appraisal, and maybe more than one. If the car is worth any significant amount of money, and it looks like your car could fall into this category being a convertible, it might be worth whatever two appraisals cost just to have the ammunition when it comes time to discuss the policy with the insurance company.

On the other hand, if you just want a rough estimate of the car's value, there are price guides out there.

Collector Car Market Review puts the value of a '72 Cutlass Supreme convertible in showroom condition at about $21,000, and there are various additions and subtractions depending on major options or lack of them. Do you need more precision than that?

http://collectorcarmarket.com/menus/.../72olcume.html