Ok, I know some have wanted to know what happened with the insurance on my wrecked S281E and how did it settle. It is settled as of today. Here's the deal. A quick review for those who didn't know, back on sept 11, I brought my S281E Saleen to my local Ford dealership for some minor warranty work. A mechanic took the car out for a 'test drive' and totalled the car. What the mechanic said happened was(he was on the freeway) he was trying to downshift the car from 4rth to 3rd, and got 1st by accident(no pun intended). He says the tires locked up and he started doing spins until a confrontation with both guardrails. The police were involved, and I went down and got the police report. The eye witness was 4 cars back, and all she said she saw was a lot of smoke, followed by the car spinning. A week later I ran into a guy who was RIGHT BEHIND the mechanic. He said he shifted it into 3rd and goosed it, lost the rear end and started spinning. Hmmm. The day after the accident, I came down to the dealership to talk to the GM. I was being very patient, and he said he was 'out of the loop' and I would have to deal with their insurance. OK. -So I call the insurance co., andthey say they will start on the vehicle immediatly. I knew it might take some time, it being an E car. After going to look at the car(I'll put up some of the totalled pics of it soon), I knew it could never be fixed as new. -So, I called the insurance co. to let them know that fixing the car wasn't an option. They said they wanted to try and fix it, and i said that's not an option, or I'd sue 'em. So they said, ok let us spend some time on the car with Saleen, and we'll let you know. Ok. A month later I'm starting to wonder what's going on; I had been very patient. That same day the insurance guy calls me and says that they were going to total the car, and they were prepared to offer me 27,500$ for the car. I said, did you guys realize that this was an E model Saleen? They said, oh no, we didn't. -Back to the drawing board. By this time my patience is running thin, so I go back to the dealership to have a little talk with the GM. What I wanted from him at that point was to get a little more proactive with the insurance co., as it had been almost 2 months since the crash. He accused be of harassing him and he said that he was out of the loop. I told him, "guess what, If I sue ya, you're in the loop". After butting heads with this idiot for a while, I tell him about the police report discrepancy. He says to me, "that doesn't mean dick to me" At that point I lost it and asked him if his job meant dick to him. I left the GM's office and proceeded to give the president of Lithia Ford(the dealership was a west coast chain) a call. After a long and helpful conversation, I told the president that the GM has lost me as a customer from his rudeness, and that he has probably lost others as well, and will probably continue to do so until the GM is removed from his position, or re-aligned in the company. He said he would get corporate involved. He did. Twoo days later the insurance guy call me and says he needs more than just the NADA specialty book to value the car, so I send him a pic of the cars value in the Kelly black book(this is Kellys high end value book; shows values of exotics) At that point I tell him that when he calls me to give me a value, he better not low-ball me; the right value the first time. He agrees, and 2 days later he says he is going to average the two book values and cut me a check and add in 6% tax. Amazing how fast things get taken care of when corporate is involved. The value of the car in both books with beryllium paint and chrome wheels is $59,800, and my check came today for $63,487. Realize that about a year ago, I bought the car for $48,000. -So I'm happy. I've got an 05 beryllium E car on order, they are building 2 prototype E cars to start. One is for Steve Saleen, and one is for me. -So I'll have the first publicly owned E car. I called all the mustang mags, and all are interested in doing a feature on it. Jim Campisano was very interested. So there you have it. Who says you can't make $ on a Saleen. Any questions?
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02 S281E #60 R.I.P.
01 S281 #582 Procharged
07 S281E sometime right before hell freezes over
http://www.ihra.com/profile/topfuel/rick_cooper.html
http://ihra.com/statistics/points/2006/TF.htm
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I have a question, wheres the blower? I got money burning a hole in my pocket!! but way to show them who is boss! can't wait to see the 05 E car!
As it turned out, the blower was pretty shot. The neck on it was bent and the rotors weren't 'true'. If you hand spun the blower, it would lock up after a half turn. The engine is also questionable, it is cocked in the engine comparment at an angle. The internals are probably ok, but you'd have to open it up to be safe. The suspension is also pretty shot. The interior is fine. The T56 is also questionable, at best. I will see if I can get some pics of the wrecked car up. Its pretty scary.
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02 S281E #60 R.I.P.
01 S281 #582 Procharged
07 S281E sometime right before hell freezes over
http://www.ihra.com/profile/topfuel/rick_cooper.html
http://ihra.com/statistics/points/2006/TF.htm
I have a question, wheres the blower? I got money burning a hole in my pocket!! but way to show them who is boss! can't wait to see the 05 E car!
As it turned out, the blower was pretty shot. The neck on it was bent and the rotors weren't 'true'. If you hand spun the blower, it would lock up after a half turn. The engine is also questionable, it is cocked in the engine comparment at an angle. The internals are probably ok, but you'd have to open it up to be safe. The suspension is also pretty shot. The interior is fine. The T56 is also questionable, at best. I will see if I can get some pics of the wrecked car up. Its pretty scary.
dang that mechanic must of really fuxored the car up!
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“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”-- Edward Abbey
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~Ride Till I Die~
Brother 03 Roush Supercharged lined up with a 69 Camaro they took off bro was winnin at bout 90 then camaro 110 pulled ahead ma bro shifted and pulled ahead again back left tire went out, at 145 bro died doing what he liked to do best
Glad you got the insurance folks to pony up and meet the book value. Hate you had to lose the car but, sounds like you have great replacement coming.
Looking forward to the pics of the 05.
The E car insurance story in full
Any questions?
I got money burning a hole in my pocket!! but way to show them who is boss! can't wait to see the 05 E car!
