Whoa, I feel as though I am BACK. Our family got hit with some after Covid symptoms and they have dominated everyday life for a while now. I have been appraising a number of cars, trucks, boats, guitars, you name it. But let’s get back into cars and car advice. And needless to say I love my work and seeing all kinds of cool cars.

Sadly I have been out on a number of estate appraisals for the families. I would have you run and look in the mirror and check for grey hair. I always spell GREY with an E instead of GRAY with the Y and I don’t know why. If you have some or lots of grey hair then you too may have to create an estate plan. Or have it created for you by someone who doesn’t have a clue what they are evaluating. I have heard many times that there just aren’t any books that can help them get an accurate value for the estate distribution or valuations. Well, actually there are 3 or 4 valuable sources…..and just google whatever the car says it is and try to draw an average value as you see the car.

That’s where I come into the picture. Getting an ‘AVERAGE VALUE. The Old Car price guide and the NADA ( of which I am on the advisory board) can get you somewhere near what the values are IF it is a stock car. But as soon as you start customizing or street rodding the car then you need an honest and accurate appraisal. This value is as close to an accurate evaluation as you can get. Thanks to 30 years of chasing cars like my ole dog Chubby, I have that accumulated knowledge.

Another problem can be splitting up the estate. Our kids used to have a favorite car or truck when we kept 5 of them to mess around with. One son wanted the fastest one and another wanted the Model A. They finally figured out that Grandpa wasn’t a keeper but instead a “seller” of whatever came into the driveway.
Anyways, think about it or talk it over with your wife, or brother, or sister so more than one knows what you really hoped would happen to your cars.
I didn’t start writing this morning about estate planning but I had just finished clarifying the values on two cars in a local estate. One went at the figure I quoted and the other was dragging its feet to sell at my appraised value figure. I suspected it could be a problem but was optimistic it would sell close to my evaluation. It needed an readjustment of the appraisal in order to make the general valuation reasonable for the family to purchase the car. Made sense to me. And finally I just got off the phone with another estated truck and she said “Well at least the state of Arizona won’t get it.”

So protect those investments and have them appraised. Thanks for listening to the Rambler. 480 792-0766 or my cell phone at 602 684-8562 Take care.

– Gary