New 1996 Wagon

I met a gentleman at a bridge tournament about 1.5 years ago who was delighted to see my wagon. He said that he had one just like it that he bought new in 1996. It has 100K less miles than mine and he described as pristine. I gave him my ph # and asked him to call me if he ever wanted to sell it. I got the call three weeks ago.

I sent him check and after it cleared flew to St. Louis to pick it up. It is beautiful. All of the side molding, fly away panels, interior fake wood trim, etc is intact.  It still has the original floor mats. It is tight as a drum, quiet, and squeek free.

We drove on to Colorado Springs gettiing just under 24 mpg. The car is completely stock, no mods. The A/C quit working two days before we got it and the cruise control doesn’t work. Everything else does, including the antenna and horn switch.

The only other potential problem is that the fuel pump is 16 years old with 80K miles on it.

My other wagon has 243K miles and runs great. I thought that it would be my last one as I am retired and drive less than 2000 miles a year. We mostly take my wifes pristine 1995 sedan.

The gentleman has my sympathy because the car is his pride and joy but he is quite old and feeble and just got diagnosed with a bad cancer.

Russ

Sounds like it got a good 2nd home.

Glad to hear stories like this one. Don't forget to share some pictures when you can.

nice find!

nice score, love the color combo. 2nd one I ever looked at was this combo (first was black over tan).
At the time it was on the high end of the price scale and out of my reach (mint cars were still around 12K in 2007).

Hagerty and Gundry insurance will insure it inexpensively for $15,000 as a collector car but it has to be kept in a garage and it is too long for mine.

just tell them it's kept in a garage and if they want a picture take one of the car as far in as it can go with the picture angled so they can't see the garage door open, Hagerty has never confirmed for my 87 Pontiac Safari, and my 1986 gmc crew cab dually is insured through them aswell and I told them that that one is left outside but on gravel or pavement.

goldwolfnhn wrote:

just tell them it's kept in a garage and if they want a picture take one of the car as far in as it can go with the picture angled so they can't see the garage door open, Hagerty has never confirmed for my 87 Pontiac Safari, and my 1986 gmc crew cab dually is insured through them aswell and I told them that that one is left outside but on gravel or pavement.

my buddy did similar and then had his policy cancelled when his wagon showed up on google street view parked in the driveway.

try SAFECO. I know someone that had collector insurance through them and they parked outside. I was looking to them for my T56 swap car, but it got wrecked before the policy was written

Any insurance company will deny coverage for a loss if the policy was obtained under fraudulent statements on the application.

Sprocket wrote:

goldwolfnhn wrote:

just tell them it's kept in a garage and if they want a picture take one of the car as far in as it can go with the picture angled so they can't see the garage door open, Hagerty has never confirmed for my 87 Pontiac Safari, and my 1986 gmc crew cab dually is insured through them aswell and I told them that that one is left outside but on gravel or pavement.

my buddy did similar and then had his policy cancelled when his wagon showed up on google street view parked in the driveway.

So they aren’t allowed to ever take the car out of the garage? Maybe they were washing it? Pulling out of the driveway to go to the store. Cleaning the garage? Way too many variables there.

My 96 wagon is with Hagerty and states on the policy - driveway kept
I do have other cars with Hagerty. They know my garage is full.
Die happy. Lots a toys.

I have 3 cars insured with Hagerty: a 1996 Caprice wagon, a 1996 Fleetwood Brougham, and a 1993 Volvo 240 wagon. All 3 are kept in a garage, but I don't recall being asked by the company if they were garage-stored, and I certainly provided no evidence of whether they were or were not.

I am a current Safe Co. customer. Have declared values on my 94/95.

Are there usage limitations on the SAFECO policies? I'm slowly getting a '96 RMW ready to be a daily and it's got a ton of work into it, but it's not nice enough to be a collectible. I want to drive it as often as possible but have an agreed value on it so I can get out what I have into it if it gets totalled. Is there a policy like that?

Great find! I look forward to seeing pictures.

Sherlock, they track mileage. I daily one of mine, 10k declared value. I liked their rates better than Hagerty. Plus Hagerty wasn't keen on the daily driver.

I am insured by State Farm. I just insured, my new to me, 94 Fleetwood. It is an antique, full coverage with collision, declared value of $6500, which is more than fair. $140 per year

My 94 Caprice wagon, declared value of $5500, $120 per year, full coverage with collision.

Come March my 96 Fleetwood will be on the antique rate also.

Plus I also got antique plates for the 94 Fleetwood. It was about $112 compared to $155.

I used to take coverage off for the winter, but with it so cheap, it doesn't make sense.

Tom

be aware declared value and agreed value are different. You want agreed value, but guessing those policies are more restrictive. I have an agreed with Hagerty on my Austin Healey and it has to be in a locked garage. My motorhome is also on an agreed policy with Progressive, but has no parking restrictions. The two policies are close in value (30K and 27K) but the RV policy which is a lower $ amount is over 2X the yearly price of the other one! Probably because there is a better chance of it catching on fire, lol.

Sprocket wrote:

be aware declared value and agreed value are different.  You want agreed value, but guessing those policies are more restrictive.   I have an agreed with Hagerty on my Austin Healey and it has to be in a locked garage.   My motorhome is also on an agreed policy with Progressive, but has no parking restrictions.   The two policies are close in value (30K and 27K) but the RV policy which is a lower $ amount is over 2X the yearly price of the other one!   Probably because there is a better chance of it catching on fire, lol.

This is very valuable!

From Hagerty's website, "Stated Value is coverage that reflects an amount that is “stated” at the onset of the policy. You tell your insurer what your car is worth (with proper documentation) and it is insured for that amount. The caveat here, however, is that the insurance company can choose to pay you either the Stated Value or the Actual Cash Value, whichever is less."

Hope this helps everyone.