jfreisner

As the title says, my 95' 4Runner aka Total Chaos (see avatar), died a valiant death yesterday. She was killed in a chain reaction fire while waiting in a parking lot to be serviced. It had been sitting in the parking lot for about a week so it could have a final check-up before it was sold. The fire quickly made its way to my Total Chaos and...

Anything I should tell the insurance company to collect more money? I'm going to price the lift, tires, wheel, etc. Any opinions?

Cargun

Yet another reason to avoid mechanics like the plague.

Don't know about the 95's, but I've noticed most blue books way undervalue the 84-89 Runners. If that's the case you may need to collect a bunch of for sale adds to show your agent to prove the real value of the vehicle.

I had a 92 that I paid $800 for, it's book value was $3200. It's real value was ~$2000. If it was as cherry 92 I could see $4000+ for it. So depending on how good of shape it was in you should come out OK.

4rnr

Good luck

I just got done fighting my insurance company over the value of this...



They tried everything they could to get out of it. It was a long month of hoops I had to jump through dealing with people laughing at me and telling my truck worth nothing.... They made their final offer around $1700, I asked the lady (just to be sure) "do you think if I put that truck out on the street today for 3k it would not sell?" She laughed at me and said of course not!

So she finally said we have to have it appraised. So they send out thier appraier (a 70 yr old guy) he takes one look at it and writes up an appraisal for $15,000!! END OF CASE!!!

In order to know what to do you forst have to talk to them and see what they say. Everyone of their actions has an appropriate reaction. If you want some help with this PM me.

tc

First, before you waste a lot of time, pull your insurance policy and read it word for word. A LOT of insurance exclude various items, lifts being one of the biggies. Also, look for whether it is for replacement value or fair market value. If you have a local agent (some insurance companies do, some don't) you may want to call them - they can help ALOT and it's in their best interest for you to be happy and to stay with them as they usually work on commission.

For everything not excluded in the policy, get either your receipt where you purchased the item OR a photo of the item installed on your truck AND an estimate for replacement.

I would also begin to investigate the liability of wherever you had it, as they may have to pay if the fire was caused by their negligence.

Lastly, and most importantly, realize it's just stuff, not a human life, and don't take it hard when you get screwed (which is likely to happen)

4rnr

Sorry TC but,

THE WORST ADVICE EVER.

FIGHT HARD!!! THIS IS YOUR TRUCK AND YOU PAY THEM TO COVER IT!! DONT TAKE ANY CRAP FROM THESE SCUM, THEY WORK FOR YOU!

As for the mods my company tried several tactics to get out of them even after I presented 17,000$ in PARTS invoices

tc

I never said dont fight - but at best, there's going to be a compromise and you WILL, to some degree, end up screwed. The Ins company is going to give out more than they want, and you aren't going to get all that you ask for.

Here's how I know:


I did OK on the actual replacement cost of the equipment, but any labor or custom work, I got $0 for.

traben27

Wait what happened to your rig?

HairyTheWombat

Sorry to hear about a nice rig like that being destroyed.
that said...
as the Godfather would say... "go to the mattresses"
don't let them push you or get away with anything, like 4rnr said, 'they work for you' you pay them monthly to insure your vehicle in case something like this happens but when the time comes to pay you back for your loss they start ˟˟˟˟˟-footing around and trying to get out of it because that is how they make their money!
good luck and keep us posted!

hanksyota

this is completely inaccurate. insurance companies make money by investing the money taken in as premiums. most companies pay more in claims than they take in for premium. its usually like 1.07 paid out to every 1.00 brought in. i will agree that companies will try to low ball you first(not every time), and its ok to disagree. just do your research, have your paperwork in order (receipts, pictures, current local sales on a comparable vehicle), and you will do just fine. remember people usually dont get what they are asking for on a used vehicle, but get stuff together and you'll do ok. sorry to hear about the runner man. sucks big ones. if you have insurance specific questions, let me know. i can try to help. ive been an agent for 3 years.

95SASMudRunner

when my 4runner blew up i was able to get money for most everything the loophole that I found was that the company would pay for "anything done in the last 6 months" so coincidently I had just done everything and submitted paperwork and receipts and they covered things like my stereo that they would not have normally covered, best of luck what happened at the dealership perhaps a lawsuit is in order?

4rnr

Look for a thread in the near future, I am cronicaling the entire experience so hopefully trucks like mine cant be over looked.

However, the truck is ok and will be back on the road better than ever very soon!!

HIJACK over.

4rnr

Doesnt this fall under the shops insurance??

traben27

Rehijack.

Good to hear its okay now, I was about to when you first said that.

End hijack.

fastkevman

I was in a pretty bad accident last year in a Corolla and it wasn't my fault but, the insurance company tried screwing me REAL good.
I literally told them to go eff themselves and overnight their offer for my car was tripled, I actually made money off the car to be exact.
No matter what I will NEVER accept a first offer EVER for the rest of my life.
Incidentally, thank god for airbags, I would have been killed, as my seatbelt(that I ALWAYS wear) did not lock, I hit the windshield and suffered a concussion and broken neck.
Had I not had an airbag to slow me down the force of my head hitting the windshield would have killed me(according to trauma surgeon).

THE ABOVE IS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE "LIMITED TORT"!!!!
I got zilch for pain and suffering!

isaac338

My buddy totalled his Tundra in a rollover. The insurance company's first offer was $16k, he laughed at them. Two days later they came back with $28k. Twelve thousand dollars for laughing at a guy - sounds good to me! He basically told the agent that if they were only paying $16k on his rig he'd like them to go and grab his XM radio, his amp, his deck, the weld alloy rims, all four BFG tires, the tonneau cover, and all the other crap he'd put on the truck, and they could pack it all up in a box and mail it to him at their expense. No idea why that scared them, but they came to their senses apparently.

hanksyota

unfortunately, the state chooses whether insurance is on a TORT or a NO FAULT basis. it just depends on the state legislatures as to which they choose. unfortunately.

Whitey13

Everyone can learn something from this gentleman.

how many vehicles were lost?

4rnr

Here my story

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...epared-132755/

JBS4X4

I would make sure you had a bunch of things inside of it .....Tools, CD's, ect... make a list of anything that can fit in it, that way you can get something out of it.

Yes don't stop fighting with them, keep on them like stink on CHIT!!!!!!

Just got done fighting with my insurance on my repairs. I even got my $500.00 deductable back......

Josh

Whitey13

That's called fraud and is completely unnecessary...