My 1996 4Runner was totaled. Took it to the car was last Friday to get a quick wash and the nimrod got the gas pedal stuck in the floor mat and rammed it into the back of another car in line to get washed. It's a 1996 SR5 4 wheel drive with 165000 miles. It's super clean, well maintained and would have lasted me several more years for sure.. The car wash insurance say's it's only worth $5800 and the cost to repair is $5300. I am basiclly screwed in this deal. Where in the heck and I going to find another in as good of condition for $5800. Any Lawyers here?

I am so depressed. I am not sure what my rights are.. the dam kid driving did not even have a liscence and is probably illegal to boot?

 

if he didnt have a license, then hell YEAH sue their arses off!

 

if the repair bill is 5300 and the truck is worth 5800 have them fix it you are at no loss if it is fixed also make sure they provide you with a rental for the time it is getting fixed.

also before signing any papers with their insurance you might benefit from a lawyer, the kid not having a drivers license may not matter because he was on private property and not on a public or state road.
where you in your truck when it was hit? you will have a better case with a lawyer if so.

just make sure to demand to the adjuster that you want it back to the way it was before and don't let up the adjusters job is to try to get you to take the bottom dollar and if you get no where with the adjuster on getting it fixed then get a lawyer.
is there a police report? if they claimed fault then they really cannot deny blame.

good luck to you also do you have any pics of the damages?

 

Insurance say's they won't fix it. It's more than 65% the value of the car.
I have pictures on my phone, need to get them down loaded.
They say if the cost to fix it is 65% or more the value of the car they total it. They will sell it to me for $4300 and then I woud have to spend X amount to get it fixed. It's just frustrating that I am the one getting screwed here and I was not even in the dam car!

 

Call up and bitch its worth more..

 

man, i would be very very sad. i dont know what to say man, you did everything right. idk if you can get your truck back scrap the parts, and maybe you can make more?
x2 where did he hit you?

 

I don't care to deal with parting out. Don't have the time. I just want my truck back. It's all just cosmetic work, couple fenders, lights and some repair to the hood and some paint and she's all good. What the F%$%&* are these Insurace company's doing?? I was not in the truck. The guy was taking off to put the vehicle in line to get washed, you know, put the tires in that machine that pushes the cars along in the car wash. The dude hits the car in line and it bounces off the steel frames of the entrance to the wash area and screws my truck all up. If it had not been for the brush guard it would have been worse for sure..

 

it was on private property, sure. but it was ALSO public property, and by law someone with no drivers license CANNOT operate a motor vehicle in a public area, no matter if its owned by a corporation or not. if its all cosmetic, do it yourself, but make the car wash owners pay for the parts and paint. id be findin a good lawyer, my friend. youre in for a fight.

 

can you sue the car wash? thats what id do.

 

yea, that's what I am thinking. I am going to contact the owner and let him know what I am feel'n and already have a call into a lawyer. Appreciate the feed back..going to bed..

 

my brother got a bad tank of gas(had water in the gas) in his 2006 BMW X5, at a gas station once, instead of suing the gas station, he went and talked to the owner of the gas station so the guy just paid BMW to fix my brothers car, which was a couple thousand dollars worth of work. Maybe if you tell the owner what happen he/she might try to make it right.

 

don't agree to any offers unless it is what you want and I would definitely talk to a lawyer or 2 and when talking to their adjuster demand they fix it and make sure to keep saying during the conversation that it was their clients fault and you did nothing wrong and you want your truck fixed and you don't care about that they want to total it it was not your fault it is theirs.
dealing with a adjuster can be a nerve wrecking experience if you get pissed make sure to tell the guy you know it is his job and at that moment of time you are not pissed at him but you are very unhappy with the present situation
and you did nothing wrong and if their client had not hit you you would be still driving your truck.

I have found that if you get pissed off with them and then apologize mid way through the argument and say "I know this is your job and I am not trying to get personal with you I am just mad at this present situation"

and if all else fails tell them you are done with them and they will hear from your lawyer and it is best to already have a lawyer in mind they do not want to deal with a lawyer it will cost them a lot more than 5800$

also where is your truck if you have a place to store it have it towed there it is still your truck and it will help in the price bartering over it if it is totaled out they will not want to tow it again and in all reality the wrecker yard will buy it from them for cheap.
get it back before the lot fees ad up.

with my roll over a month almost passed and I had noticed that they did not pay my towing bill lucky for me I called the girls insurance company and they cut me a check for the towing bill.

also talk to your insurance agent and see what they can do for you if you had full coverage what they will do is either fix your truck or total it out pay you off then go after the company who was at fault for reimbursement.

 

Yeah you should not even have to go through your insurance, the CAR WASH needs to pay for this. Your rates will go up and it sounds like they are not going to give you what you need anyways. Get on the car wash I'm sure they have insurance.

 

I am dealing with the car washes insurance. I am going to talk to the guy who has the truck and see what he thinks it really will cost to fix it. I have already been in contact with the owner the day of the incident and he was very polite but not sure if he will give a Sh*$! now that his Insurance is handling it. I am going to talk to him again today and fill him in on what's going on and ask him to pay to have it fixed. I have already blown up at the Insurance company. They did not budge, sorry that's all we can do was their response.
I talked to a lawyer friend who was going to ask around but was not all that optomistic.

Signed
Screwed!

 

quick question... how are his rates going to go up? he didnt do anything! and YES the car wash needs to pay for it.. depending on if the kid who caused the wreck gots a good family, id go after HIM. that kid should not have been driving PERIOD.

 

Seems to me if they are saying the truck is worth $5,800 and has 5,300 worth of damage and they want you to pay them $4,800 to keep it the math just doesn't work out. When I wrecked my 00 they said it was a minimum $8,000 worth of damage, they gave me a check for almost 13k and if I had bought it back I would have paid less than $4k. There is no way a totalled 1996 4Runner is worth $4800.

 

I agree that your getting screwed. The biggest thing being the buyback amount. The value of the truck is about right (remember you can't put a dollar amount on sentimental value, and unfortunately they go by things like kelly blue book instead of real world value.) If I were you I would get a second opinion on the damage estimate, as that seems a little high to me and also call and argue the buyback amount because that part is totally bull. I can see the buyback on a totalled 96 SR5 to be about $2500.

The Insurance company knows that they are screwing you so just keep calling and being a dickhead about. Dont give up just because they told you that was all they could do.

 

Don't be afraid to wait for your results. As others have stated, the people you are dealing with handle these types of situations all day long every day. They want you to cave and sign on their first offer if possible. They will be more flexible in a couple of months when they see that you are not going to budge on your position. They count on your hardship being on their side. Make them put you in a comparable rental, and sit it out until they fold. It's the only way you are going to be satisfied. I have done this twice now, and won both times. The first time I was in a rental for over 8 months. The second was 3 months. I guess they have a way of keeping up with who folds easily and who doesn't because last time it was much easier.

Edit: BTW, Wheelin in a rental on someone else's dime is a whole lot more fun!

 

Well, I am in a 2007 Chevy 4-door truck, not 4-WD but it's nice. Thanks for the advice. Yea, I thought the buy back was high especially since they valued it at $5800. $2500 or less seems more reasonable.. I am going to get the estimate from the body shop I took it to on Monday and will discuss this with him as well..

 

any word on the 2003 model 4Runner? First year model for redesign, any issues?? I am trying to be ready in case I don't get mine back and looking at a good used model..