How do you find original MSRP?

[rrbyrd]

Hi, I am remodeling a 75 land yacht into a commercial kitchen. I am also trying in insure it. Agent needs original asking price. Where do I find these prices?
Thank you!!

[Alumaholic]

Sounds like you may be dealing with the wrong insurance agent.
Original MSRP on a 1975 is meaningless.
Having insured two different 1976 Airstreams, I was never asked that question.

[rrbyrd]

Really, I was wondering that as well. They tell me they start at the original msrp & go down to the year from there. They don't know how to insure my trailer with equipment inside...

[Kevin245]

Originally Posted by rrbyrd

Really, I was wondering that as well. They tell me they start at the original msrp & go down to the year from there. They don't know how to insure my trailer with equipment inside...

Not a realistic approach.

I went throught the same gyrations a few years ago. Here's my take, but by all means choose the path you feel best suits your needs.

Tell them what you value you want it insured for. The original purchase price is irrevelant in most cases. My prior agent gave me this standard line about needing the original purchase price and could not justify the reason why when I questioned him about it. I contacted another agent with the same underwriter for a quote. He asked me several questions such as my purchase price, replacement value, and desired deductable.
Points I pondered:

1. It's not realistic to expect someone to know the original purchase price of an older unit, and NADA values don't typically give a good representation of some market trends.

2. Say it cost $10,000 ten years ago, and now it's a rare, or highly desireable model worth considerably more than the original purchase price. Or worth substantially less than the original prurchase price. In either case you could end up significantly under/over insured.

It was worth another phone call in my case. I received more coverage and a better rate.
Regards,


Kevin

[AWCHIEF]

Here you go:

http://www.airstream.com/files/libra...50c82cac94.pdf

[Protagonist]

The agent in question doesn't know his stuff. The current NADA Recreation Vehicle Guides only go back to 1978.

Look for an agent that offers an "agreed value" policy, and negotiate the "agreed value." The Airstream in your case will be business premises, and so the insured value should represent its value to your business, not its worth as a regular trailer.

You know what you paid for everything, and should have documentation to prove it. You also know what you bought on sale and what you paid full price for, so you know what items will cost more to replace than you paid, and can adjust the agreed value (during negotiations) so that your coverage provides enough for full replacement.

Note: You may want to join Good Sam Club if you don't belong already. Several RV insurers, including big names like Progressive and GMAC (but not Allstate!), offer substantial Good Sam discounts on agreed value policies. The membership only costs something like $24 per year, and if it saves you more than that on your insurance, the membership is money well spent even if you never use the membership for anything else.

[AWCHIEF]

The problem is that most of the insurance underwriters will not touch a vintage trailer. Progressive, Allstate (my current car and home company) and several others would not even talk to me about coverage. I ended up with a very good agreed value policy with Foremost. They understand vintage trailers and are very open to reasonable priced coverage. No stupid questions and no survey required.

[azflycaster]

Most vintage trailers in good shape are worth more today then when they were new. However, if you factor in inflation, they are worth much less. My 75 Trade Wind MSRP was $8,760 which is equal to around $37K in today's dollars. If I was selling, I would ask for more then the original price, but less then the inflated price.

This year I had my trailer appraised and was surprised to see that the replacement cost was higher then I thought. I sent the appraisal to my insurance agent. My company that insures my car and truck would not touch it, but Progressive picked up the coverage.