I hit a deer about a month ago. Body shop said no problem you'll be under the limit for repairs. I get a call from State Farm today telling me it's getting totalled.

I repaired the frame in '11, you can see my rebuild in my sig.

I rebuilt the motor last summer, with a full enginbldr kit, Oversized valves, etc. new clutch. She runs like a top.

Do I take the $3300 and walk away? Or do I take the $1700 repair it, and have a truck with a salvage branded title?

Thoughts?

 

That's a hard one. 3300 buys another truck and you get to start all over again, or there's the other side. The salvage title. Glad its not me making the choice.

 

Here are two pics:

DeerDamage2.jpg?t=1364855034

DeerDamage1-1.jpg?t=1364855029

 

Also once I removed the valance so it didn't rub the tire, I have been driving the truck every day.

 

It comes down to what you want I would either fix it or keep it and part it out.

Do you have the room to store it to you score another one all your goodies can be switched over too.

Are you between a rock and a bigger rock and need something to drive.

A salvage title is no big deal at least to me I have 3 on the road now.

If I didn`t have more work then I have time for I would say I would buy it from you if your still near Fredrick.

Well you have my thoughts.

Good luck no matter how it plays out.

 

How's the frame?

No brainer if the frame's okay. Engnblder rebuilt motor humming in there, good frame, new clutch "runs like a top". Take the $1700 and enjoy the rig for the rest of your life.

With $3300 any truck you get is going to be a crapshoot. I bought mine five months ago and within a month the head gasket blew. There went $2,000 immediately.

 

I had a lot more damage (I think; hard to tell for sure from the outside), and I managed to fix it for about $400 in parts (bumper, valence, fender, misc.). Your time is worth something, though.

I am curious: how much extra did that collision coverage cost you per year, when the maximum payout would never exceed $3300? If it was $1100/year, you were "betting" that there was more than a 1 in 3 chance you'd total it within the year (and it would not be someone else's fault).

(PS: I would not weigh a "salvage" title too negatively. If an insurance co. says your truck is "worth" $3300, how much less would it be worth with an extra word on the title? And then, only if you're trying to sell it. No matter what you do, it will still be 19 yrs-old.)

 

-ignore: finger slip -

 

I only pay like $600/year. Multi policy, homeowner, safe-driver, etc.

I guess I'm glad to hear that I'm not crazy fro still thinking about fixing it.

 

If the frame isnt bent, i would keep it and repair it. I could get replacement parts from the local wrecking yard for easily under $250. Salvage title arent a big deal unless your looking to sell and make a profit. Worst case, even with a sketchy frame, it would make a great trail rig!

 

i disagree with this 100%, buts that my 2 cents

I would keep it and fix it

 

If I understand you correctly, you either get $3300 and the ins. co. keeps the vehicle, or you get $1700 and you keep the vehicle. At $600/yr for that coverage, you're losing money if you don't wreck it (and no one else with ins. is at fault) at least once every 3 years. How good a driver are you?

People will differ, but I usually drop collision coverage once my vehicle is 4 yrs old, and drop comprehensive (theft, hail, tree falling on it, ...) once it gets out to about 6 years. It requires a little more thought than this, because some vehicles are so easy to fix that the coverage doesn't cost much. But all this depends on how willing you are to be "surprised" to the tune of $3300, just to save that much over 5 1/2 years.

 

Don't feel crazy when mine was totaled I bought it back and fixed it, the frame was a little tweaked but after the repairs it was back to normal and made it better. Sorry for the crap first pic.

 

How can you disagree with this 100%? Even with thorough inspection, compression test etc you have no idea how hard the previous owners have driven it, what oil/filters they used, how often they changed the oil, what coolant, how often fluids were flushed etc. Over the lifespan of a toyo obviously all of this matters. Oil pressure determines the life of our guides/tensioners and correct coolant/flushing/temp regulating determines the life of our HGs. Both HUGE $$$ and time jobs. Unless someone reproduces receipts from a recent timing chain and HG job, I say crapshoot. But no ones going to do that around the $3300 price range.

 

Haggle with the insurance guy. See how much more of that "missing" 1600 you can get out of him. No way they'll get that at the salvage yard, they base salvage off curb weight and we're just not that heavy.

Also get a copy of the body shop inspection/estimate. So you have a good idea of what they found.

Looks like about 600$ + paint from here

 

Original estimate was around $1900 total. State Farm wouldn't approve aftermarket CAPA parts, so the repair estimate went to about $2800 with everything coming from the dealership.

 

Could you take the 3300, buy back the truck for scrap price, buy a "new truck" and turn this one into a trail rig???? my neighbor just did this for a similar incident... just a thought

 

I agree that the salvage title doesn't mean much for a vehicle of this age. You've already added numerous modifications. No one should expect a vehicle this age to be in pristine factory
condition. It's a "project" vehicle at this point, suitable for loving customization.

Also, two things I recommend never spending money on. The first is extended warrantys on cars or anything else. The second is collision/comprehensive insurance on any
Vehicle you don't owe money on and is worth less than about 8-10K. The insurance companies are in business to collect premiums from you and to return as little of that
money as possible in the form of claims. Never forget that, because they sure won't!

I'd repair the vehicle and enjoy the heck out of driving it. Good luck!

RJR

 

Just letting ya know any insurance company will try to put aftermarket parts on first. If the car is more than 3years old they try to use aftermarket parts. I would ask them why the aftermarket parts weren't approved when that's what they use first on any wreacked car.

 

Because the blue book is not much over 2k and they knew they'd get there if the insisted on dealer parts. Just a hunch of course since we're heading for the "corporations are evil" venue.

Don't forget to check out your state insurance laws.
http://www.auroracollisioncenter.com/faq/ #2 & #11 = Grrreat!