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

FarmerJim

If they total it and pay you off do not agree and sign untill they allow you to buy the truck back for salvage value which is usually pretty low. Then you can either fix it or get another truck and use your parts to upgrade. Get the agreement in writing not verbally.

D2 Cat

Jim's right on. Simply insist on the ins. company finding a replacement truck just like yours. They can't, won't. Then you'll have a little more leverage to insist you want YOUR truck.

I've stood in the ins. office while they called three salvage yards describing my vehicle to them to get a salvage value. They took the highest offer and sold it to me for that dollar amount.

mr.mindless

Generally the buyback price is very low. most policies allow an extra $5000 in coverage for modifications as described without additional cost. Too late for you now but for everyone else be sure to check into that and take advantage of the free extra coverage for your mods.