How much does a classic car appraisal cost?

$350 at Harry’s Appraisals in Grand Rapids, the same as any other appraisal. A pre-purchase inspection on a collector car is $500. The vehicle doesn’t change the price — the price follows which service is performed.

Do I need an appraisal for classic car insurance?

Often not. Some collector-car insurers, including the largest, write agreed-value coverage from photographs alone. An appraisal is genuinely needed on modified, custom, and restomod vehicles no guide covers, on cars above a carrier’s no-appraisal threshold, and where a stated-value policy requires substantiation. Ask your agent before paying for one.

What’s the difference between an appraisal and an inspection?

An appraisal answers what a vehicle is worth and produces a valuation report, usually for an insurer. An inspection answers what condition it’s in and what’s wrong with it, usually for someone deciding whether to buy. Different documents, different decisions — $350 and $500.

Do you appraise motorcycles, boats, or RVs?

No — cars only, including trucks and SUVs. Harry’s Appraisals doesn’t work on motorcycles, watercraft, recreational vehicles, or heavy equipment.

Can you appraise a car that isn’t running or isn’t finished?

Yes to both. A car that isn’t running, or isn’t finished, is often the one with the most undocumented value — money already spent on parts and labor that shows up nowhere else. Harold appraises it as it sits, in whatever state it’s in.

Classic, custom, and collector car appraisals in West Michigan

A classic isn't a different service — it's a different car, getting one of the same three. $350 for an appraisal, $500 for a pre-purchase inspection, priced by the work rather than by the car.

Old, modified, restored, and collectible vehicles are most of what comes through Harold Bloomer's shop in Grand Rapids, and they're what the ordinary machinery of valuation handles worst — no database holds a comparable for a car that's had four years and a rotisserie spent on it.

Request an appraisal Or call (269) 680-7706

Pastel green 1950s two-door hardtop parked beside a gray building

Which one do you need

Somebody totaled it, or the insurer's number is wrong.
A total loss appraisal — $350. The gap tends to be widest here, because a system searching for comparable sales has little to find for a restored or modified car.

You're thinking about buying it.
A pre-purchase inspection —$500. Someone looks at the car in person and tells you what it actually is before you send money.

You own it and need a documented value on file.
A prior to loss appraisal —$350. Agreed value, stated value, or a defensible number of your own for a car the guides don't cover.

The price follows the work, not the car. Full pricing.

The vehicles

Classic and antique cars

Value is condition, originality, and documentation, in that order, and none of the three shows in a listing photograph. A well-preserved original and a good restoration differ by a multiple, not a margin — and telling them apart is trade knowledge, not database work.

Muscle cars

Where the difference between a real car and a well-built tribute runs to tens of thousands, and lives in numbers, tags, date codes, and paperwork rather than in how it looks or sounds. The appraisal is as much a documentation exercise as a valuation.

Custom builds, restomods, and modified cars

The hardest to value and the likeliest to be underinsured, because no guide has an entry for what you built. A modern drivetrain in an old shell, a custom interior, an engine that cost more than the car — real money, invisible to book value, worth nothing in a claim unless documented first. That's what the prior to loss appraisal is for.

Collector and appreciating vehicles

The policy was written against yesterday's number and the market moved. If the car is totaled the settlement follows the paperwork, not the market.

Late-model collectibles count. So does the 1990 BMW 325i on the documented outcomes page — offered $10,800, settled at $20,286. Not an exotic. A well-kept coupe the valuation didn't recognize for what it had become.

Why the background matters here

Anyone can pull comparable sales. The harder part is looking at a car and knowing whether the work is any good.

Harold's appraisal work grew out of a restoration and repair business he has run since March 2018 — filler where there should be steel, a repaint hiding a repair, panel fit a few millimeters off because the shell was straightened rather than replaced, a "restoration" that stopped at the parts you can see. None of that is in a database.

He's a licensed Michigan vehicle dealer, which in Michigan is what's required to perform appraisals. More about Harold.

Documented outcomes

1990 BMW 325i

Grand Rapids

Insurer offered: $10,800
Settled at: $20,286

What happened

A 1990 BMW 325i — a black E30 coupe — was damaged in a collision in the Grand Rapids area, and the owner’s insurer moved to settle it as a total loss. The offer was $10,800.

The E30 is a car the collector market has repriced. A valuation that treats one as an old sedan lands a long way from what it would actually sell for.

What the insurer’s valuation missed

The insurer’s number didn’t account for the car being a collector vehicle — it was priced like an ordinary used 1990 sedan rather than the appreciating E30 it had become.

How it was documented

Harold photographed the car and researched comparable sales for it as a collector E30.

Outcome

The claim settled at $20,286, against an opening offer of $10,800. Because it was a collision claim, the appraisal took about 3 to 4 working days to put together.

Black 1990 BMW 325i coupe with aftermarket wheels and a roof rack, parked on a driveway — Photographs of the 1990 BMW 325i taken during the appraisal.

Close view along the side of the black BMW 325i showing a dent above the rear wheel arch — Photographs of the 1990 BMW 325i taken during the appraisal.

1969 Chevrolet Camaro

What happened

A customer found a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro for sale more than 500 miles away. The seller’s listing ran more than 150 photographs — a numbers-matching car in Garnet Red, with the “Hockey Stick” stripe package, the D80 spoiler option, and a factory air conditioning system updated to R134. The buyer still wanted someone to look at the car in person before buying it.

What the inspection found

Harold’s multipoint, in-depth inspection covered the whole car. It turned up a leaking transmission — a problem none of the listing’s 150-plus photographs showed.

How it was documented

Harold photographed the leak and wrote it into the inspection report, the same as every other finding. Then he and the customer got on a follow-up call to go through the results.

Outcome

The customer negotiated a better purchase price, backed by a documented, photographed defect instead of just a listing.

Red 1969 Chevrolet Camaro convertible with the top down, parked outside a tan metal building — Photographs of the 1969 Chevrolet Camaro taken during the appraisal.

Collector cars in West Michigan

There's a real scene here — the 28th Street Metro Cruise through Wyoming and Kentwood every August, the Gilmore Car Museum up the road at Hickory Corners, and lakeshore towns holding collector vehicles well out of proportion to their population.

Harold works out of 5723 Division Ave S, Grand Rapids, MI 49548 and travels to the vehicle across West Michigan — Wyoming, Kentwood, Grandville, Holland, Muskegon, Kalamazoo, and the lakeshore. Farther out than that? Ask before you book — it costs nothing to check.

Questions people ask

How much does a classic car appraisal cost?: $350 at Harry’s Appraisals in Grand Rapids, the same as any other appraisal. A pre-purchase inspection on a collector car is $500. The vehicle doesn’t change the price — the price follows which service is performed.
Do I need an appraisal for classic car insurance?: Often not. Some collector-car insurers, including the largest, write agreed-value coverage from photographs alone. An appraisal is genuinely needed on modified, custom, and restomod vehicles no guide covers, on cars above a carrier’s no-appraisal threshold, and where a stated-value policy requires substantiation. Ask your agent before paying for one.
What’s the difference between an appraisal and an inspection?: An appraisal answers what a vehicle is worth and produces a valuation report, usually for an insurer. An inspection answers what condition it’s in and what’s wrong with it, usually for someone deciding whether to buy. Different documents, different decisions — $350 and $500.
Do you appraise motorcycles, boats, or RVs?: No — cars only, including trucks and SUVs. Harry’s Appraisals doesn’t work on motorcycles, watercraft, recreational vehicles, or heavy equipment.
Can you appraise a car that isn’t running or isn’t finished?: Yes to both. A car that isn’t running, or isn’t finished, is often the one with the most undocumented value — money already spent on parts and labor that shows up nowhere else. Harold appraises it as it sits, in whatever state it’s in.

Talk to someone who knows the car

Say what the vehicle is and what's happening with it. Harold will tell you which of the three applies and what it costs.

Request an appraisal Call (269) 680-7706

5723 Division Ave S, Grand Rapids, MI 49548