Has anyone done any appraisals or looked at valuations of their Cougar specifically or any classic cars for that matter lately? I happened to do a quick valuation on the Hagerty Insurance website recently and was amazed at the valuation that popped up for my particular XR7 convertible. It lists the average value at $39,300US & $52,600CDN!!! Looking at the historical values graph and chart it appears that the value spiked in January 2019 from about $24,300US & $31,500CDN to about $40,100Us & $53,700CDN. Those figures are for a #3 condition vehicle. I realize Hagerty, like many of the classic car insurance companies, tend to over value classics a bit to sell higher insurance premiums but this is out of the ordinary.
I know all of us Cougar enthusiasts know how beautiful and rare these Cats are and truly know their value as we’ve been waiting a long time for the proper love and respect for our machines. But can this be true?
Did something happen at Barrett-Jackson this past January and prices went through the roof or something? Anyone have any thoughts?
I would take all the stuff you see online with a grain of salt regarding values. The value of your car is what a guy will hand you in folding money in exchange for your keys. Insurance replacement value is a whole different thing.
I called Hagerty Insurance to get an idea of where these numbers are coming from and how they’re calculated and was told by my agent that Hagerty constantly is scouring the marketplace for information to give reasonable values for as many vehicles as possible. Their work is very respected in the industry. They use data from Barrett-Jackson and Mecum sales, eBay, internal sales, meaning customers who insure with them and what they may have sold their vehicles for and various other outlets. He felt that the spike happening in January 2019 most likely coincided with some sales at Barrett-Jackson.
I did ask that if we see a huge spike up is it possible that we see a similar spike the other way. Although nothing is impossible, in his years with the company, he’s never seen that happen. You may see a trend downward but never to this magnitude and it stays pretty flat moving forward.
This is good news for Cougar owners in general. These cars seem to finally be getting the recognition they deserve!
I do agree with Royce though. Just because you have your car insured for $100,000 doesn’t mean you will get that if and when you decide sell it. Alternatively if anyone wants to send me that $100,000 I’m sure I wouldn’t have to think too hard about letting my XR7 go.
One thing to also consider is cost to repair any damage that hopefully never happens vs. price you can actually can expect to get for a car. I’m sure many of the members on this site will agree that we’ve all sunk way more $$$ into at least 1 car then we can ever hope/expect to get back in a sale. The valuation from an insurance company is certainly a number to know and to make sure it covers your needs should it ever unfortunately need a repair, but unless your car is seen in person by an adjuster who knows antique cars…
I would also comment that everyday transactions not involving the premium auction places like Mecum would also tend to drive the price lower than those sales numbers might show. For anyone with a driver vs a pristine car worthy of these high end actions, that is what you are more likely to find if you ever sell.
There is a huge difference in the posted value between Hagarty and Nada Guides. A base 67-68 in prime condition according to Hagarty will only be worth 18k, give or take a few thousand. This is actually the original price of the vehicle adjusted for inflation. In essence, the car really did not appreciate in value. Nada Guides will take that same car, same condition with an estimated market value 2x the amount Hagarty lists. Who is correct? It depends on the markets. There are websites such as ‘ConceptCarz’ that provide auction statistics that provide a more accurate barometer as to the potential value.
Totally agree. But what about insurance replacement value? I have been using NADA average retail which is up to $44k for my 70 XR7 vert with 351c. Doubt I could sell it for that, but seems a good number for insurance replacement value?
Be careful what exactly they use as criteria for a #1 car its not the same as a #1 car many on the internet believe their car is. Hagerty calls a #1 car world class.
I was doing research on a couple of Fords and a Cougar for someone recently. I looked at both the Haggerty and NADA valuation websites to help me. I did notice that the values are quite different, but also saw that they compare vehicles in a different way as well. I believe it is Haggerty that will show value for the top notch concours (number 1) vehicles, where NADA will only go as high as about a number 2 in their evaluation. Both have four levels of value so it can be a bit confusing as it would seem that the comparison is more apples to oranges, rather than apples to apples, etc.
If my car were stolen - a #2 condition GT-E - first it would take a good, long time to find a replacement - let’s say a crusty barn-find at $50K. Then it would take another $100K to restore it. Why you want your insurance to have a high replacement value.
Hagerty is very reasonable setting agreed values, and their rates are competitive. I have heard nothing but good reports when it comes to claims.
After checking out all my cars #3 condition, I would not sell any of them for the value that they have listed. All seemed low except 68 XR7-G
67 XR7 GT 19,000 I don’t think so.