Truck took a hit

Chris828 · October 3, 2021

10 hours ago, MikeBMW said:

Yeah, a stock truck might be fixed ... once modified with different tires and a lift, well, it's a crapshoot ...

The only modifications to my truck are window tint, amp/subs, more aggressive tires, airaid intake tube and interior lights. No major modifications or ones that can't be removed.

mikeyk101 · October 3, 2021

I had that happen 5 years ago. Happened early A.M. and my previous truck was parked. Major damage to left rear and impact was so hard, truck was pushed forward about 20 feet and front right tire was pushed over the curb and onto the grass. Funny thing was that our block was only a block long and a "T" on both ends. I still don't know how stupid was able to get up enough speed to do the damage that he did. Of course he took off. I heard the crash but was recovering from surgery so there was nothing I could do. Luckily, my wife had just come home from work and was in kitchen when it happened. She grabbed her keys and pistol and ran out the door. She was able to track down this guy and found out he was drunk. She was able to get the police there quickly and they arrested the guy. He was driving a Silverado and I was actually surprised at the lack of damage on his end.

I was more than pissed because I was about to trade this truck in soon. It was a 2008 that I had bought used and had it for almost 5 years. It had no previous accidents. Now it took a major hit. Luckily he also had insurance and between his insurance and mine getting involved, it got fixed. But now it was going to have a strike whenever a Carfax report was pulled. So I discovered info on Diminished Value and filed a claim for that with his insurance. This covers the difference between what a accident free vehicles value is compared to the value of vehicle with accident damage. At first they tried lowballing me and I rejected their offers. Finally they came through with a figure I was happy with. It ended up covering the difference when I did trade in the truck. But on top of that, his insurance while managing the DV claim, also got involved with body shop as they felt certain things of the fix weren't done to spec and had the body shop correct the mistakes. IMHO, the mistakes were very minor but his insurance wouldn't sign off until the repairs were done 100%. That actually worked out to my benefit.

So look into Diminished Value. It doesn't matter if repairs are made or the vehicle is totalled. It still had a certain value prior to accident and lost significant value as a result. If it is totalled, insurance will still try to lowball you. If end settlement is less than what the value should be, Diminished Value would help cover the difference...

Just to add, you don't have to even be ready to trade in vehicle. Bottom line is the day before you vehicle was hit, it had a certain value and the day of the accident, it's value has significantly dropped. You are owed the difference even if you plan on keeping the repaired truck...

Edited October 3, 2021 by mikeyk101

Chris828 · October 7, 2021

This is the adjusters estimate before going to the repair shop. I have a pretty strong feeling that total will be going up once they dig into it.

mikeyk101 · October 7, 2021

7 hours ago, Chris828 said:

This is the adjusters estimate before going to the repair shop. I have a pretty strong feeling that total will be going up once they dig into it.

Yeah, it may go up a bit but usually just on smaller stuff that is hidden. I know when it happened to me over 5 years ago, mine came out to just over $7100 not including the rental car and the insurance company wouldnt total it out. I was kind of hoping they would based on the damage. And this was on a 8 year old truck that would have been worth between $14 and 15k prior to the collision.

Edited October 7, 2021 by mikeyk101

Chris828 · October 7, 2021

3 hours ago, mikeyk101 said:

Yeah, it may go up a bit but usually just on smaller stuff that is hidden. I know when it happened to me over 5 years ago, mine came out to just over $7100 not including the rental car and the insurance company wouldnt total it out. I was kind of hoping they would based on the damage. And this was on a 8 year old truck that would have been worth between $14 and 15k prior to the collision.

Oh it's definitely going up, got a call from the shop telling me they had to bring it to their other location. Told me they were better equipped for trucks and that they believe there is substantial frame damage.

dieselfan1 · October 8, 2021

50 an hour labor?

That place works cheap. Too cheap. I'd question that.

You can't get anything done for 50 an hour these days.

As a carpenter I wouldn't even start my truck for anything less.

Chris828 · October 8, 2021

40 minutes ago, dieselfan1 said:

50 an hour labor?

That place works cheap. Too cheap. I'd question that.

You can't get anything done for 50 an hour these days.

As a carpenter I wouldn't even start my truck for anything less.

That was the insurance adjusters quote, I highly doubt the collision shop works at that rate. I'd say double at least

CrawlSlow · October 8, 2021

Double A M C O will do it for that price, hint, why insurances quote is so low. Bondo bondo.

Chris828 · October 27, 2021

Just an update to my truck, the collision shop is replacing the entire frame and rear end on top of the other estimate. The other drivers insurance is handling everything including the rental I have been driving around.