Originally Posted by Big Ron

The question you should ask yourself regardless of the value put on the car by the owner or an RSOC valuation is will the insurance company pay out?
It's all well and fine saying you have a valuation with said insurer but has anyone actually had something happen and the insurance company pay out on a valuation put on a car by its owner?
The benefit of having a valuation done through The RSOC is that they deal with affiliated insurance companies who recognise valuations done by RSOC officials so should anything untoward happen your correctly covered.
As far as registrars valuing their own cars as mentioned especially standard ones at a higher premium I can safely say that this is completely untrue, you should never believe everything you read! Especially on the internet!
I'm the Series 2 registrar and I don't even own one now and my Esc Cos and Focus's are all fairly modified, I'd value standard cars most of the time at a higher value!
Being realistic as Paul mentioned Saphs currently aren't worth fortunes due to the sheer amount available and at the end of the day it's always going to be a family sports RS as it has too many doors!
I think taxi is the word I normally use! No offence intended!
People need to be realistic! It's very easy to make/obtain receipts so what's stopping everyone saying their engine has had 30k spent on it?
Values on most RS models have increased in recent years and having some form of continuity with this will only help values to continue to rise as the years go by!
In my personal opinion there is way to much of a difference to what some owners expect as a value to what it should actually be worth!
The man in Scotland that values the Saphs does go south!
I'm sure if memory serves me right he was at Knockhill, Croft, Lightwater Valley, Lakes Tour Donington and Silverstone in 2013 to mention a few, so there is no need to drive the length of the country for a valuation, other registrars are also available to view cars on his behalf should it not be logistically possible.
Unfortunately it's one of these topics that will never keep everyone happy however allows people to voice their opinion in the hope that things may come closer together.
Surely the bench mark for a valuation should be a standard concourse car with all the other permutations of aftermarket bolt ons taken into account?
I think that in the current climate a standard Car is certainly worth more than a modified car, modified products are available from the shelf, on a standard car nothing is available period so if your lucky enough to own a standard car in concourse condition surely the owner has to be a luckier owner than the man that can buy a nail for 2k and spend 10k plus on it??

Well that's my take on it, hope it makes sense!!