About  our  Valuation Service

Mead & McGrouther was, for many years, the “go-to” reference for vehicle valuations and served the trade well. It was however not that useful to the man in the street in our opinion. Misuse and incorrect data often resulted in vehicles being underinsured and consumers being left short in the case of a write-off. This was frequently the case with cars older than ten years or cars that were in the category of exotics, replicas, and collectables. 

Our mission is designed to ensure that, in the event of your car being written off, you will be sufficiently compensated to ensure that you will be able to procure an adequate replacement in a similar condition with the same or slightly better specifications, in the local marketplace.

Our focus is not on owners of newer vehicles who use their vehicles every day and who are likely to exceed 8500 km per year. Insurers will have more appropriate products for this type of usage. It is also not designed to provide a recommended Selling Price for TRADERS which will commonly be a factor below that of the recommended Insurance Value. 

Each certificate however also contains an estimate of the average selling price( Market Guide) of up to 8 units adjusted for a negotiation factor. This is an indication of a potential selling price for similar vehicles at the time the certificate was issued.Low-mileage vehicles will typically commend a premium on this value.

To make use of our valuation service, you will need to complete the details on My Account > My Vehicle Information and have posted at least 5 photographs of your car and recorded   the Registration No.  One of these photographs must be of the vehicle's odometer indicating mileage. Your actual Mileage on a date must be entered.

The cost of the Service is R600.00.  Please provide proof of payment to alvin@weprepare.co.za

Some insurance requires an annual re-evaluation and this is a simple process as your car details can be simply edited to update mileage and any changes in condition. The cost of an annual update is R350.

Purpose

The challenge is, particularly for vehicles that are over 10 years old as well as exotics, replicas, collectables, and special editions, that there are few reliable sources of market value. Values tend to be trade values and not replacement values. Owners are therefore frequently left under-insured and with little prospect of acquiring a similar replacement vehicle in the event of a total write-off.

It was therefore our wish to develop an in-house tool to bridge this gap and provide owners with a more realistic retail replacement value for a similar vehicle.

To this end, AutoValues developed a semi-automated web-based process to determine a Fair Value and issue a certificate to this effect. This is for Insurance purposes only.

The basis of this Insurance will be that of an Agreed Value underpinned by a Fair Market Value. Fair market value is the price of a vehicle in the current market that one would obtain between a willing buyer and a willing seller who have no relationship to each other

Ultimately the Agreed Value is a matter between yourself and the Insurer and finally at the discretion of the Insurer.  Valuations are subject to Terms and Conditions

Process

Only cars that have full details and pictures uploaded on My Vehicles Information can be evaluated.

The process includes an Owners Declaration questionnaire 

The Service Costs from R600.00 per Valuation 

Multiple downloads are permitted during the year of your subscription

 

Once you have Subscribed

 

Make sure you are Registered, Log in and go to My Account, then  My Vehicles Information, then Add New

Complete full details including Mileage and estimated mileage for the forthcoming 12 months.

You will need to add 5 photographs

Select Valuation and complete the questionnaire ( Owner Declaration)  and Submit

The Process is initiated by selecting and completing an online Owners Declaration questionnaire by the current registered owner. This input from the Owner will serve as an indication of the overall condition of the vehicle as well as any upgrades, accessories, or recent repairs. A false declaration could lead to the invalidation of the Valuation Certificate or insurance fraud.

Make Payment if you have not already done so.

Please also ensure that you have accurately recorded the current odometer reading at the date and have indicated your estimated km for the year ahead.

Tick the box confirming the validity of your Declaration

Remember to SUBMIT or START AGAIN if you have made a Mistake.

This information will be used to determine the overall condition of the car and will be applied to a Market Average Database which will be determined by the retail sales values on offer of up to eight cars of the same description, model, and year. We have already collected data on almost eighty such recent sales. The database is updated daily. This computed value is further and finally adjusted by the information contained in the Owner Declaration which is a 50-point questionnaire covering details of the car's condition, operation, and history.

Aspects included:

Mileage

Accident Damage

Service Records

Paint Condition

Clutch and Gearbox

Specifications

The Owners Declaration is a statement of fact and inaccuracies therein can invalidate the valuation and may constitute insurance fraud invalidating both the Valuation Certificate and any subsequent insurance,

This comparison and outcome will then be reviewed by up to two Assessors and adjusted, if necessary. Auto Values Reserves the Right to request a physical Inspection or withhold issuing a valuation.

On completion, a Certificate of Valuation is made available for Downloading. You will be notified of this via email. Some Insurers also require the Owner's Declaration and this is available complete with photographs.

Please note that due to high levels of demand, Valuations can take up to 14 days to complete.

Valuation

Upon completion of the process, you will be able to download a Valuation Certificate. The certificate also contains an indication of the average price obtained for your year and model. This figure is usually lower than the actual assessed Valuation for your vehicle unless it is in poor condition 

Finally, A Valuation Certificate similar to that below will be made available for Download.

Our Certificates are numbered and reflect your vehicle's Registration, Vin and Engine Number. In addition and now frequently required by Insurer, We provide a seperate and unique Condition Report( 25 points) which is specific to your vehicle and includes 5 Photographs.

Some Comments on our Valuation Tool

We acknowledge that any valuation methodology or tool (and there are many available), has an element of subjectivity. The older a car is, the greater that element becomes. Ultimately the value of a car is determined by Supply and Demand.

Insurance companies avoid trying to estimate the value of vehicles older than 7/8 years and generally call for an Independent Expert Appraisal and many thereafter grant cover on an Agreed Value basis.

Valuations are generally of importance in two specific but different situations:

• When trying to determine a realistic asking price ahead of the sale of the vehicle.
• When attempting to set an Insurance Value that will ensure an equivalent replacement in the event of a total loss.

Our Tool was developed to address the Insurance Value aspect above only and whilst it provides pointers on a realistic market value, this is not its purpose. It is not an indication of the Resale Value. Please refer Market Guide Number which is a better indication of Resale Value.

The Auto Values has worked closely with both Brokers and an Underwriter in developing a tool that has their support. Our methodology is built on there pillars

• Research into similar Vehicles on Sale currently and in the recent past
• A comprehensive questionnaire and its answers by the Owner as well as at least 5 photographs
• Experience and Judgement by the Assessor and Assessors

To be specific, the suggested Insurance Value is aimed at assuring the owner in the event of a total loss, that he would be readily able to procure in the present market, an equivalent or marginally better vehicle as a Replacement.

In the process of determining values, the Auto Values makes use of multiple sources of information, including:

1. Cars advertised in the market and those offered privately adjusted for a negotiation factor
2. Cars advertised or reported sold by past or present Subscribers
3. Recent documented sales where the purchase price is detailed.
4. Inputs from a select number of Traders  and Clubs with whom  Auto Values shares information
5. Mathematical modelling, our Application is self-learning and becomes increasingly more accurate over time.

We have assessed more than 70 cars since the implementation of the valuation tool.