About 2 weeks ago or so I received a letter from my insureance company. It was time for a renewal of the appraisal report. Apparently they need a new one every 2 years - thought it was valid for 3 years. But it doesn't matter, especially since the prices are climbing rapidly it would have make sense to get this done soon rather then later. The previous time it did happen to be the first time I had a car appraised and I simply had it done by the company which was suggested by the insureance company. I thought it would not make much difference and the asking price for such appraisal report was much in line with other companies. How wrong I was. The guy who showed up didn't seem that much interested in the car and was just following his check list. At that time I didn't knew it's more or less a visual inspection, meaning no in-depth quality or technical inspection was done. Which was a surprise to me. I even had to ask the guy if he wanted to hear the engine run. I offered him coffee to get inside so I could show him papers, history and maintenance done on the car. But he was not interested. I found it a strange experience. Not much later I received the appraisal report, which admittely was a good report. But the valued price was below of what I expected (especially after all the maintenance done). Not that I'm interested in getting the highest possible value but I certainly expected a price which allowed me to buy a car back in similar (technical) condition. So I asked how he came up with that value. He mentioned he compared it with another 400 offered for sale in NL. When I asked which one he mentioned the company. Interestingly I did had that car inspected during my hunt. It was a car which I left after 1 minute of visual inspection, it was in a poor state; roof ceiling hanging loose, door rubbers damaged and hanging loose and other bits and pieces. I didnt even bother to make pictures and write up a small report about this visit. So I asked if he had seen the car in question, which he did not. I found that even more stunning, how can you make a good judgement or comparisson on a car you even have not seen or checked. After a little debate he revisited the valued price which I deemed more appropiate.
So this time around I was going to pick a different company. Due to my recent Cinecars involvement I recalled "Rietveld Taxaties". He often writes up supporting text on cars which were in the spotlight. And of course I had come across the name before (positively) on car fora. So I figured to check his website. And luck was on my site, he did happen to have special appraisal days for an attractive price. Due to the attractive price and the Climbing car values I also figured it would make sense to get my 8.32 appraised as well for the first time. So an appointment was made for both of them on the same day. I was looking forward to it as it meant I could drive them both again, Always nice.
So yesterday I went to him and apparently he knew my 400. Which is not a complete surprise due to his and my Cinecars involvement. In fact I learned a little more what was happening behind the scenes.
In any case, he turned out to be very knowledgeable on (Italian) cars and knew quite a bit of history on the 400 and even had a 365 appraised recently (it was the one which was the first car I visited on my hunt). There was in fact much more talk about 400's but I won't mention that here. The car inspection was more thorough and he was keen in seeing the original booklets, service and maintenance records for starters. The paint was measured and the body checked for damage, etc. Advise was given and an first value indication was given but he wanted to check more and read my blog. Clearly I felt more relieved with this inspection as he obviously had more insight and experience in these type of cars.
Of course the 8.32 followed next and afterwards I went to my mechanic to have some part exchange done. I mentioned the appraisal and where it was done. Turned out he had his Fulvia and Dino appraised previous month at this very same person. It's a small world.
Curious to receive the reports and know the final valuation.
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