Comanche insurance value?

[magellan]

Anyone have any experience dealing with insurance companies after having your Comanche hit? Some kid hit me in the front left side today. He couldn't see to pull out and assumed the road was clear. He hit my right front wheel, fender, bumper and door. The top of the right door is out about 3" from the top. It won't turn right because the inner fender is mashed against the wheel. The axle appears to be knocked about 1" off center to the left. The right rocker is buckled all the way to the back of the cab. The firewall took most of the hit and the dash is bowed all the way across the truck. I'm assuming it will be totalled. I wouldn't want it fixed because it would never be right.

 

Unfortunately, I know I won't be able to replace it for what his insurance company will want to pay for it. This was a totally rust free CA truck with about 170K miles on it. The paint was faded badly, but it was dependable transportation and consistently got 19 mpg on my daily commute. It's an '89 with 4.0, 5-speed SWB with bucket seats.

 

Thanks,

Jerry

[jpdocdave]

You'll probably be lucky to get $1500, sorry to hear about it. These things never go well, you gotta fight the company for a while before you get anything decent.

[Automan2164]

Don't accept their first offer... The best place to go for some inflated prices to show the adjuster is the "Classic" or "Collector" value off KBB or NADA.

 

Rob L.

[sinkrun]

Go into ebays completed auctions and print out the highest auctions you can find, should be some decent ones.

[littlezeeker]

Fight them and Fight them and if you and recites from work you have done to it in the past year to 6 months take them with you, you maybe able to get you money on those too.

[xjrev10]

depends on the insurance company also.

[glundblad]

depends on the insurance company also.

Yes, if the kid had Progressive insurance or Geico, it will be a lot tougher. According to the body shop I spoke to when I got hit, "Any of those 1-800 insurance companies that advertise on TV".

 

I was hit by a Progressive insurance driver in my Tahoe in 2002. It was 6 months old and had well under 10k miles on it. They were calling junkyards for used parts. Then they leaned on the dealer to use aftermarket.

[juan]

I have lost 2 vehecles in this matter both were old cars in very good condition and very well taken care off. The problem here is that our jeeps are old and their value to fix them is worth more than what the jeep is actually worth. I fought the insurance for 6 weeks on my jeep, I waited and waited and argue - they do not care they can waite longer that you. I had done extensive engine work to my last car ( had all kind of receits) and the insurance company did not take it into account, and belive me when I tell you that I fought them hard but at the end they got their way - The insurance will stick to book value and thats it... BTW thru all this I consulted my local insurance state agency and they were able to tell my my rights, for instance I lerned I had the right to a rental vehecle for a resonable time untill a settlement was reached, also they have to pay you for any valuables that got damaged in the car - in my case they pay me to replace 4 children car seats. Good luck.

[jpdocdave]

insurance companies do not care about repair work you've done. I tried the receipt thing the one time I got hit, they said it's supposed to run, and you have to do repairs. I had about $500 in parts receipts in an old truck I fixed up to drive years ago, they wanted to give me $300 at first. They do not care about upgrades either.

[jimoshel]

If they don't want to be reasonable about it, just tell them to talk to your lawyer. The last thing any insurance Co wants is a court case.

[Herc]

If you want to make sure you get your money if anything happens to your Jeep, I have one suggestion. Keep your insurance company informed, what I am refering to is tell your insurance

-vehicle is * years old and a lot of parts have been replaced to keep it roadworthy

-suspension has been replaced with heavy duty replacements

-electronic recovery gear

-Heavy duty Front & Rear bumpers

 

add anything else that you think is pertinent, just have to word it right....

 

And add extra value to your insurance

I did this and pay another $10 a month well worth it if anything should happen!!

[xjrev10]

I personally have had great luck with state farm insurance. All of my incedents where taken care of in a very quick manner. I usually had my check from them in less then a week. Now i must say I have never had any issues with a mj tho. My issues have been with a 97 xj and a 01 dodge CTD vs a honda accord. Lol

[ParadiseMJ]

I think you'd be real lucky to get $1500. Totaled used to be a term for a completely destroyed car. These days most insurance companies will consider it totaled if it'll cost 75% of the value of low book to fix it (and/or the air bags deploy). I got $400 for a smashed front stock bumper, but the adjuster told me I wouldn't get more than $1000 if the whole Jeep was smashed. Didn't make sense then, doesn't make sense now.

 

A twenty year old truck, with expensive mods or not is still a twenty year old truck. Best thing to do is get the money and keep the truck (you'll get less cash). You might be able to fix it OR find a less than perfect truck and transplant the good parts to it.

[aabmike]

:agree:

[magellan]

Rebuilding it will be more of a project than I have time for. Got too many projects already. Here are some pictures of the damage. Notice how the upper and lower control arms apparently folded around the subframe when the body was slammed sideways. Also notice that the ashtray is crooked in the dash. The entire dash assembly has a slight bow along the bottom. Surprisingly, looking under the hood, there's no obvious damage at the firewall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still haven't been able to get hold of the guy's insurance company. Hopefully they'll be answering the phone tomorrow.

 

Jerry

[magellan]

After much research, stubborness, and heated discussions on the phone, I won. I originally decided that they'd pay $3000 and let me keep the truck I'd be okay with it. The insurance company started at $2100 minus $100 for the truck. Today we agreed on $3,547 minus $540 for the truck. I was able to establish a value of $3,600 using current ads and ebay auctions combined with the insurance companies methods of adjusting for mileage. They couldn't agree to my established value but they were able to make allowances for sales tax and for the rental car that they didn't provide. Overall, I had about 3 hours involved in making my case.

 

Now to decide what I'm doing with the truck...

[Automan2164]

Nice. Congrats. I'd say that's a pretty fair price for a Comanche.

 

Rob L.

[sinkrun]

Thanks for posting the results and good for you!

[juan]

Now the title of the jeep will have big letters stating its salvage title. Take pictures of all the repairs you do to the jeep, document evryting - you will need it when you go back to motor vehecle to try to clear the title from salvage to re-built. Every state has its own rules on how to go about it. In CT. you have to have proof of where the parts came from and details photos of what was done to repair the damage - in the meantime the vehecle must be flat towed to motor vehecle for inspection -it is not a fun process but it can be done. good luck.

[magellan]

The insurance company didn't require the normal power of attorney paperwork and such since I kept the truck. They said they just don't bother with it on vehicles that old. According to them it's my responsibility to disclose that it's a rebuild if I repair and sell the truck. Fact is, I don't have time for the project. I wanted to keep the truck because the BFGs have less than 5,000 miles on them. They're going on my Tracker. A guy at work is interested in the truck. He drives a Comanche and has another parts truck. He's been lusting after mine for a long time. He has more time and motivation to take on this project than I do. If that doesn't work out, I'll be posting it here.

[Automan2164]

The insurance company didn't require the normal power of attorney paperwork and such since I kept the truck. They said they just don't bother with it on vehicles that old. According to them it's my responsibility to disclose that it's a rebuild if I repair and sell the truck.

 

Thats what they did when I had a guy hit my '91. They gave me $2000, and let me keep the truck free and clear. I drove it for another year, and sold it along with my first collection of MJ stuff.

 

And my XJ fluid sentinel. :headpop:

Rob L. :wall:

[dakal]

my insurance agent said if i pay extra for the upgrades, 2or 3 dollars a month, they will cover them. i made the deal with my agent who has all my policies. so they don't have just one policy but four. if the claims agent isn't cooperative then i'll get my agent involved. worked before with a old caddy that someone totaled. i just had to prove it.