Automotive Information Clearinghouse - La Mesa, California- Files corupted!

[55cmndr]

Hello-

I have a 1955 Studebaker Commander 2 door sedan, 16G8F2,body # 460.

Several years ago, i used this service.They determine how many of a particular model that you have is left not only in your state,but nationally.

I recently sent money in, to have them do the numbers again,the last time was in 1997.

Back in 1997, it was determined by them that for both of the 16G8F1,(Flat windshield) and the 16G8F2,(Wraparound windshield) 32 were left nationally, and 3 here in Washington state, out of 1400 built.

Anyway, after about 3 weeks of nothing in the mail,and no returns of my phone calls,I was finally able to reach someone there from a phone number posted on the local chamber of commerce site.

I talked to the guy at AIC and, he said that they have had a catastrophic computer failure,and the files for my car are no longer available.But he had done one for the same model last month.i asked him if any other files on cars had been destroyed, he said he did not know,but that they were"looking into it"

I really hope that this didn't happen to you too.

He also said that no effort will be made, to undo the damage since it would just cost to much,and that it would upwards of "5 digits"This may have happened to other models as well,since this just happened last week.

Is there another service out there,that would be able to get this same information?
He asked me which insurance I had ,since i mentioned that I usually send in any updates on the car with documentation as well as photographs.send this to Haggerty.

He had mentioned that Haggerty is pretty much the bottom of the bucket( I have read online that this guy is an insurance guy and gives talks all over the place)

I mentioned that they do " agreed upon value" I sent in photos of the car inside and out. the pictures included my VIN# a copy of the production order Including the production numbers from the turning wheels magazine from Febuary 1994, including numbers from AIC.He had mentioned that no insurance will not do the agreed upon vulue, unless it is in person,and inside out,is this true?

We use Pemco, for our home but have not called them about the Studebaker since we are all paid up until next year.

Has anyone else heard that Haggerty is pretty much the at the bottom of the insureance companys?If so, who would be the best for our classic cars?


Here is the contact information for AIC-

The Automotive Information Clearinghouse
Box# 1746
La Mesa California
91944



55CMNDR--

[64V-K7]

"""He also said that no effort will be made, to undo the damage since it would just cost to much,and that it would upwards of "5 digits""""

That place (AIC) must be a hack organization. Haven't they ever heard of doing backups? Cost a lot less than '5 digits' ..if they cared..

[BobGlasscock]

How in the world could anyone know how many of a model are in existence??? The only way I can think of to count cars is through vehicle registrations, and we all know that only a percentage of existing cars are driveable and registered. Sounds like a scam company to me.

As for insurance, I carry mine with State Farm for an agreed upon value. It covers any damage up to that amount. Costs about $200 a year.

[rockne10]

Less concerned with how many are left than with the one I've got.

[StudeRich]

There could be no way to count 16G8-F1 Models, since most if not all States do not even record the exact model of car on the title, registration cards or their System.

Back when the Cars were built the Titles HAD the coded model type such as RGCO Sedan, but they would not even know a Regal Commander 2 Dr. from a 4 Door, nowadays they make them all "Sedans" and call it good, so most would be re-titled in 50 years and have no model info at all.

Here in Washington State, they record the COLOR, of all the stupid things to bother with, I have several that are no longer the title Color, and some that the Vin Number Inspection Wash. Patrol Officer that checked them when I brought them in from Calif. was Color blind, so the Title shows his or her interpretation of the color!

The number of any of my Cars still in existence or built, is of absolutely no value to me.
All Studebakers are actually rare compared to their competitors massive numbers, so I can't understand why some people want to know.

[JimC]

How much does this service cost? I ask because looking at documents others have posted from them, it really looks like their figures are a "best guess" based from looking at registrations and salvage info.

Frankly, I wouldn't bother to pay for a service like this. Especially with a make like Studebaker, your own investigations would probably yield a better estimate, and again, their service is only providing their best guess.

[barnlark]

You'd get a closer idea (closer, not completely accurate) if you entered all of the data from the SDC Roster than with those guys. Oh yeah, and after you painstakingly do all of that Roster work, back it up on a couple other hard drives. Just a thought. It would be more productive than, say, being on ebay all day!

[Skip Lackie]

I have always been skeptical of such estimates of "how many remain", since for most common cars, the only way to obtain the data would be to analyze and tabulate every registration record from every state and province. We probably know with considerable accuracy how many Duesenbergs are still on the road because very few were made, and most Duesenberg owners belong to the ACD club. But as Rich notes, most states don't even KNOW whether a vehicle is a 2-door or a 4-door sedan, since those details weren't entered into the data base in the first place. I know that here in DC, all Chevys are just registered as Chevrolets, with no indication as to whether it is a Corvette or a Cavalier. Admittedly, the VIN includes characters that indicate what model it is, but one would have to pull that data out separately to develop a useful data base.

BTW, our local DMV recently converted to new registration software. While my Chevys are still identified as Chevrolets, the registrations for my Studebakers show the make to be "other".

[2R5]

Hey Skip , up here in Ontario they are registered as "Stud".....maybe thats the driver <g>

[studegary]

Companies like this have no real way of determining how many of a particular model still exists. They usually use a survival algorithm. This type of estimate is okay for your average Chevrolet or Ford high production model, but could be way off for cars like Studebakers (a good exampe is Packard Hawk survival).

As far as insurance for collector cars - I consider Hagerty to be among the best. They do issue agreed value coverage with pictures and description (no inspection necessary for the vast majority of cases).

[Skip Lackie]

Hey Skip , up here in Ontario they are registered as "Stud".....maybe thats the driver <g>

\
Bob-
Obviously they knew you owned a couple of them . . . .

[55cmndr]

Yes I agree with all of you-

My only reason for using this service was:

A- Because back in 97 when I used this, I saw it advertised in one of the old car magazines(don’t remember the name)

B- I was very new to the hobby.

C- I thought that this was on the up and up, but after 14 years since I used them last, I see that I was wrong.

D - And the only reason I even posted this was I was assuming that others in the old car world, had used this service, and didn’t want them to go through this as I had indicated before- that it now smelled fishy to me.


Thanks for all of your input; at least I learned something after 14 years.


55CMNDR-