cluckmaster

Hey guys...yesterday morning I was on the way to drop my twin 3 yr olds off at daycare so I could head to work and some joker pulled out of a gas station right in front of me to cut into the oncoming traffic, and SCREEEECH..BOOOM! I T-boned him on the drivers side at about 35 mph. Thank god, everyone was ok, and he admitted the accident was completely his fault and the police agreed. Anyway, now I have to deal with the insurance companies, and the truck is being towed to the collision center tomorrow to be evaluated. The hood is crunched up some, bumper, lights, etc. plus the driver's side fender was pushed back a little so the drivers door won't open od close properly. There was also tranny fluid on the ground and the airbag deployed. Here's my concern- my truck is a '97 with almost 350k miles, and I'm worried they will decide it's not worth fixing and total it, then offer me the value af a standard old '97 Dodge. Problem is, I have a BUNCH of money and even more time in this thing. Its also a clean truck and I have always taken great care of it- always ran Amsoil (changed every 10k), greased all joints, kept interior nice, etc. Its also has all the mods listed below plus some. I have a strong feeling they aren't going to give me enough money to either buy back my "totaled" truck and fix it, or buy another truck is the same condition and build it up like mine. I also don't think they're going to compensate me for all of the time I have in building it (all work was done by myself, my Dad, and a buddy).

Soooo...anyone else have any experience with this? Any suggestions on how to handle it? Thanks in advance!!! -Josh

Redliner

Depending on your insurance company, if you can provide reciepts for the mods SOME will repay you back for them. A buddy of mine tried to do some redesigning of the town and took out a pole with 3 transformers on it and ended up in a house. The insurance paid for the full billet trans and the new DDP injectors that were just put in the truck the day before. Get reciepts and talk to them and see what they say. Sorry for your loss....

tx02

The same thing happend with my buddys bike. He t-boned a 3500 flat bed and totaled his new bike. The paid for every thing from his helmet to the 9k in mods he had done to it. Just try to get reciepts for all of it!!

ado2b1

Or buy it back, get a donor body, and put yours back in the original condition. The ins. money could be used for painting, or saving. BTW, for those that might think thats scamming the ins., I don't think so, you're simply paying yourself the significant cost of shop hours. That's if you have the tools and ability to do major work by yourself. If a shop gets involved, you're looking at a barely break even proposition.

Brokenarrow

i dont know about your insurance but by insurance will only cover upgrades that have been done in the prior 12 months

JasonblkZ06

It is different when it is the other guy's fault. You are dealing with his insurance company and the value of your truck. Whatever you do, buy back the "salvage" truck and take 10% less. Then decide to fix it yourself or part it out. You will make way more $ by doing either of those versus taking the total offer. Never accept their offer. Submit your value estimate and add some to it. Don't be generous for their sake, but for yours. They might want documentation, so you will have to do some research. It will be hard to find comparables. You might have to argue, threaten to get a lawyer etc. Receipts will help as well as any info you can provide in writing that shows labor hours of any work you have done. They will need to pay you based off of excellent condition and I would even argue off restored condition.

Someone rear ended me years ago in my 89 Colt GT. There were only 1500 of them (turbo model) made and the insurance company offered me $400 for my car. They provided comparables which were all of course the non GT version. I explained to them they were full of it. I fought with them and ended up getting $2800 for it which was way more than the $400 they offered. I also took $280 less ($2520) total and kept the car. I then parted it out and got around $1200 for the parts. Just an example on what you can expect. I have had a few wrecks all not at fault and was an insurance adjuster for a few years as well as an insurance service adviser, so let me know if you have any questions.

rams2500

I think you are going to be totaled. I flipped my 04 2500 a week ago and suffer extensive body damage and was a total loss. I was ok but still feel like crap because it was due to poor driving on my part on wet roads. Awesome truck was lost. Anyway the insurance company (mine anyway) took into account any mods I still had on the truck and pretty much offered about half their value. Hope things work out.

JFlory

I tried to buy back the wifes '01 Accord last year after she hit a deer and they totalled it. My response from the insurance company was that they DON'T and CANNOT sell totalled viehicles anymore. Something about too many cars with salvage titles, "magicaly", getting clean titles agian, then being sold as never wrecked. After confirming with a used car salesman, I was shocked. Everything is on computer files, that can be hacked and changed with relative ease.

Hope you can buy yours back. Best of luck and sorry to hear about the wreck.

rams2500

Same way in Illinois. Can not buyback IF less than 10yrs old. Must be a licensed dealer/rebuilder to buy at auction. Over 10yrs you can buy back.

67HotRod

Cluckmaster, any updates?