Sad Day

[Windex]

Abacus, how long have you had that cam? Are you happy with the performance? I have a Chinese knockoff that looks very similar to that cam, and the only issue I have with it is that it refuses to start up some days - just boots to a start screen and never records - once it warms up after a few minutes it works fine.

So I leave it running (constant 12v+) and it works fine, but I would much rather it start with the ignition.

On a side note - the demo video for that cam is shot in Toronto - My hood!

And this is one of the reasons I now have a dash cam that automatically starts recording if the car is bumped.

 

[Abacus]

I've had it since Sept this year. It works great and I have a 64Gb card installed. I have it set to 5 min interval files and it'll record about 2 days before overwrite. I have the hardwire kit but haven't installed it yet. For now I just start-stop it manually.

 

[Steve Addy]

I've been spending some time reviewing dash cam stuff here

Steve

 

[TDIL3dad]

What kind of insurance do you guys carry on our B4s ?
Historic? Exotic? ??

Even if the insurance company treats you fairly, they are generally lazy and for comps they look at prices of 1996 Passats in general which are around $1000 (?) and then they take the position that the car is totalled even for minor damage.

The drive-in adjuster was totally unimpressed when I walked him around my black B4 with deer hit damage to front right fender, and pointed out the 1000s of dollars in upgrades, mods and options I had installed on the car. Had to call and raise hell with people further up his food chain and started posting nasty feedback on as many blogs as I could find. It took them a couple of days and then they agreed to repair using OEM fender.

 

[twentyeight]

Not completely a B4, but I'm pretty sure we carry "Vehicle Replacement" insurance on the T4 Van. Our Beetle TDI was hit while parked a couple months after this thread was started by a drunk and his insurance company was completely and totally unethical in arriving at compensation. He had USAA. Truly awful company.

I don't trust (or really even hope) "the other guy's" insurance company to do the right thing. Unfortunately I was just rear ended in the van a few days ago so we'll see how Nationwide treats the people their clients hit. Luckily it wasn't bad this time at all.

 

[TDIL3dad]

.......... we carry "Vehicle Replacement" insurance on the T4 Van......

Even at replacement value, would not the adjuster just look up recent sales on Craig's List or Auto Trader, find a few gasser 1996 B4 sales and then agree to pay something ridiculously low that won't actually buy a replacement?

 

[twentyeight]

What they actually did in our case was to call a Podunk used-car dealer in the middle of the desert, talk to the high-schooler secretary who answers the phone, and ask her if, say, $500 seems like a reasonable price for a '98 Beetle TDI.

When we talked to her she said she told them she didn't know and "I guess," which they then relayed to us as "experts in the field considered all the options on your car and valued it thusly."

The idea behind vehicle replacement insurance means they ensure you have an equivalent replacement vehicle, meaning whatever it costs you to buy they're on the hook for. I'd have to talk to my wife about the details as she handled the discussion, but knowing how hard it was to find a Eurovan made it seem like a pretty good idea at the time.

Incidentally, I just saw the the first B4 I've seen in town for probably well over a year today. It was a GLX, but it made me realize how rare B4s are getting, at least around here. I can't imagine trying to find good comps for one in that situation (or what the insurance company would offer).

 

[Camel413]

I recently just went through this insurance issue. I talked to my insurance agent and explained that there was not many b4Vs in the US. Even though they are not a rare car they are hard to find in good shape. I explained that the replacement value is much higher than the book value. He said he could value it for more if I had an appraisal done on it.

I took it to a body shop that did a little research and wrote up an appraisal for me based on actually looking for other cars for sale. He made the appraisal just like a house appraisal with comparables. I took this to my insurance guy and he just made a special policy for it. By doing this I now pay $3 less for full coverage at a value much higher than book value as opposed to liability.