A hello but with sadness

[westoning1]

Hi all,

Andrew here. Never knew this forum existed because it wasn't until my Cav was stolen on 28th February that I researched about them online

My Cav was a 1995 1.6 - and I think - a special edition, and had been in our family since it was new. It was my dad's company car before he decided to buy it outright before it then went onto become my brother's and then mine.

It was in really mint nick, bar the occasional iffy moment when the light lever used to flick on the main beam accidentally!

I was absolutely gobsmacked when I came home at around 1.30am after a night out to discover it wasn't in it's usual space. Usually I would have taken it to work as I work Saturday's but decided to have a few beers afterwards.

The next day, randomly, I lady came to my door with a letter addressed to me. She had found it by a row of garages about a minute's drive from my house. When I went to the site I found the parcel shelf and loads of stuff that was in my boot strewn over the place and on top of the garages themselves.

The police haven't found the old girl (the area where I live have no ANPR cameras) but I thought I'd post as the insurance company have got back to me and I was wondering if anyone could give me a realistic valuation (not the £75 we buy any car dot com provided!).

Not sure how to post pictures, I have a few after it was cleaned only a week before it went missing.

If anyone can help with a ballpark valuation that would be great.

There were a few Cavs around the area and always used to wave at on-coming drivers - if you're in the Luton/Dunstable area, I was the chap in the white cav!

[westoning1]

Here are some pictures, uploaded to photobucket

http://s1066.photobucket.com/user/westo ... t=3&page=1

Should note there is one wheel trim missing, but apart from that, it was in tip-top condition

[Ads]

Hi mate welcome to cavmk3, sorry to hear about your cav getting nicked, absolutley gutted for ya, i know what i would be like if it was mine, as for a valuation its hard to say, if its as mint as you say it as, id reckon about £600 - £800 as cav seem to be doing well price wise, but it dosnt really matter what you think its worth, unless you have an agreed value with the insurance company, they will only pay you book price, best of luck mate, Ads

[Cavalier342]

Hello and really sorry to hear that. Not only has someone who there is no name for on this planet stole the car, but to ravage through it and strewn the stuff everywhere is just unbelievably pathetic, hopefully you'll have some luck with recovering the vehicle in one piece and for them to catch whoever was responsible.

Value wise, as Ads pointed out won't be a lot through insurance eyes but private sale value could be anywhere from £400 onwards.

I also tend to flash/wave at other fellow Cavalier drivers, usually to no avail but yes there definitely is something about these workhorses that stays with you once you own one..

Best regards mate.

Andrei.

[ronnie1995]

Sorry to hear this, saw this on spotted dunstable. Shame as seems a good car for the year. Hope they won't target mine at some point. There are a couple of other cavs in the area too.

[ilovedmymantas]

Sorry for your loss. I've had a car stolen, even saw the bast**rds drive away, it's a shit feeling. It was found 3 days later, luckily with minimal damage.
-My 95 2l cdx was broken into in January. The only damage was to n/s/f door. GA wrote it off, they rated it as cat C, (for a door ? needed to go through vic (£40). Got estimates to fix a door - £300+
Car was valued at £620.
After a 26% deduction plus £50 excess and salvage value they paid out £334.80.Nowhere near the value, and it's written off ! Really wish I hadn't claimed now.
If you're lucky enough to get your car back with minimal damage (as was the case with my stolen car) avoid insurance - it'll haunt you for years

[westoning1]

Hi all, and thank your for the support.

Today I was about to phone the insurance company up to negotiate their valuation and then...

And, this seems a bit too spooky to me, but today, at 2.30pm, Beds Police called me to inform me my car has been found and in, as the PCSO told me, "in 'showroom' condition" !

I assume the hot-wiring of the car will be the (hopefully) the only damage. How much does something like that cost to repair? The excess on my insurance is £150. Not sure I want to fork out all the money. The whole scenario has been really quite frustrating.

Bitter-sweet moment but hopefully I'll have my cav back soon

[Cavalier342]

Well at least that is positive news, you are more fortunate than some owners...

Now you may just get away with new cowling around the steering column, if they damaged it, they are common to find as spares amongst owners here, and maybe a new barrel with a lock set, if you were thinking of changing the locks anyway that would be all covered with a full lock set. Not too difficult to fit, the door handle ones are the most fiddly out of the lot.

If there is much damage to wiring, it may need an auto-electrician to put it together, if the thief knew what they were doing, it might just be a case of re-joining two wires which were used to start it.

Hopefully it won't be too expensive if you do the work yourself.

[Lowrider Dave]

Welcome to the forum, sorry to hear of the theft but pleased you have an opportunity to get it back! I'm sure once you get some pics on the forum we can tell you what you need to effect a repair and we always have a fair amount of spares between us that could come in handy!

[westoning1]

Hi once again boys.

The insurance company's garage/estimators have said it's a right off - repairs coming to £878.36 - £656 of that the cost of parts.

I have absolutely no idea where to go with this. They said it's a category c right off; the steering column I think is the main issue but I'm off to have a look later today.

Shall I just declare it a right off? So frustrating to know it has been founded by not in a right state. Insurance company value was £550 (mins £150 excess, I'm left with £400). Does the fact the parts cost so much mean the value should be higher? As I say - I am clueless when it comes to cars. Just love me Cav!

Any help much appreciated!

[Mikebmth]

Welcome to the club if I hadn't already said hello..

I too have a Cat C Cavalier after an accident which left it needing a wing, door and front suspension leg the insurer offered me under £400 so I argued with them for weeks and got £900 minus my extortionate £500 excess!!

They wouldn't even quote on mine as it was way over the vehicles value but I paid about £60 to get her back as knew the parts were worth more if I had broken it up, my luck however was in as a local breaker had one the exact same colour and I managed to get all the parts it needed for around £300 and rebuilt it then Mot'd it which you will need to do if the insurer has decided to write it off.

People also say the Dvla checks must be done on it but thats rubbish, you only need the Dvla checks if you intend to sell it on after repairing it which there is little point as a Cat C Cavalier is worth pennys not pounds.

The parts are out there and thanks to this site I met a few mates who have helped me rebuild my Cavalier and have the experience of working on them which has been a god send to be honest, get searching and with what you have described you could probably get the bits you need for a couple of hundred and put her back together then enjoy it.

[ken707]

It's a pity the Insurers were involved but I suppose you had no choice at the time.

You could ask them to withdraw but there are probably towing charges and possibly storage to pay and the contractors will have no mercy on you.

To gain entry there has to be some damage plus the steering damage as well. If you can do your own work that's a big plus, I'm sure you'll get advice or help from someone on the forum for parts.

If the pre accident condition is as good as described, your car would be difficult to replace for less than £600/800....I certainly don't see good cars advertised for less. If you have to claim, you will have to justify the value so quote recent ebay and other classic car adverts to substantiate your claim. Insurers are supposed to put you back in the position you would have been in had the damage not occured, try not to let them short change you.

Best of luck anyway.

[westoning1]

Hi guys

Going to buy the old girl back for £42 - insurance company giving me £408 in return (scrap value £42).

Have posted the parts I need here: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2238&p=149373#p149373

Thanks for the messages of support chaps!

[Lowrider Dave]

Good to hear you're getting the old girl back - now's the time to think of getting all those bits and pieces/some spraying/polishing!