Hello all-
My first post here, and I was hoping someone could help out with a little info.
I purchased a 69 220D about a year ago. I found "Chester" while riding my bike around, saw him on a lot with a for sale sign. He had come to the lot from a parking garage auction in 2005- the original owner had stopped paying the parking fee and the garage seized and sold the car, and there he sat for 2 years, so technically I consider myself the second owner.
Chester had always been garaged, and has flawless service records. There is minimal rust, the body is solid, and only one small dent and scrape on the passenger's side rear quarter panel. The grille is a little dinged up and the chrome is as well, but very minor.
He definitely could use a paint job, there is some crackling on the trunk and fading on the hood and roof, which resulted from sitting on the lot for 2 years. The interior is in very good condition, the original upholstery has some wear, the headliner is intact, dash and steering wheel have some minor cracking.
He has a newly rebuilt engine (timing chain was bad), brakes, some suspension work, etc. My intent is to fully restore him, and I have invested about 6,000 over the last 6 months.
Unfortunately about 3 weeks ago, someone decided to take a left-hand turn in front of me- I swerved, she swerved, and we ended up hitting almost head-on. Chester's driver's side headlight, quarter panel, fender and door were all damaged
Her insurance company has decided to declare him totaled and are offering me what i consider to be an almost insulting amount. They have all pertinent receipts and service records showing all the work I've had done, but they've determined this work to be "maintenence". I've provided them with ads for similar cars for sale to determine a fair market value, etc., but I'd appreciate any input anyone could give into getting a somewhat solid number together to counter-offer them with. They're very anxious to get this over and done with, but I'm going to try to stand firm as long as possible.
Thanks in advance!
