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My truck was hit from behind


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It was hit while parked legally on the street.  There's damage to the bumper and the passenger side tail light assembly and that part of the truck bed side.  The insurance company is telling me they're going to total it because the body shop can't find parts and because the cost to repair is a certain percentage over the value of the vehicle.  

 

1.  I'm going to fight with the insurance company about repairs.  I believe it should be repaired because the driver that hit me didn't have insurance and because there's no way I was negligent.

 

2.  If I don't win that fight, how on earth would I repair the damage to the bed side?  I've attached pictures to show the damage.  I can't get a bumper and tail light assemble from a junk yard but not a truck bed unless I can find a comanche and either cut that piece then weld it to mine for find an entire bed.  I think.

Truck_damage_1.jpg

Truck_damage_2.jpg

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I've been through the whole totaling scenario , normally when damage exceeds 80% of the vehicles value they total it out . 

 

Your insurance treats it the same way unless you have it insured for a higher amount . Every state is different, but if you want to keep a clean title find out the dollar amount that won't total the truck out and consider taking that amount . If you don't care about a clean title get whatever money you can from the insurance company, buy your truck back and fix it . This varies on state to state , but that's how it is in Ohio . 

 

Average price of the

tail light $50 

Bumper $150-$200 

and that bed section should be easy to harvest off of a rusty bed that is going to be scrapped anyhow . Any idea what they're dollar amount is ? 

 

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21 minutes ago, rylee144 said:

If they low ball you try this. Worked for me.

Go online and find MJs for sale that are equal to yours in condition or slightly higher. Print those out to send your insurance company for comparison. 

Will do

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15 minutes ago, rylee144 said:

Not sure what they'll give you for yours but it should certainly be more than $500 bucks. 

Facebook has a truck for $500. Somewhat close to you. Could sell what you don't need and make some money back.

https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/460199534537128/?ref=browse_tab&search_query=Jeep comanche

I have contacted that owner. Thanks! 

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2 hours ago, Virginia said:

If I don't win that fight,

 

 

 

Do NOT under any circumstances let YOUR insurance company total YOUR truck!

See here- https://www.tn.gov/revenue/title-and-registration/additional-information/salvage--non-repairable-and-rebuilt-vehicles.html

 

Let's assume you have a $500 deductible and they offer you $1000, your gain is $500, less the salvage fee and your fee to apply for and go through the process of obtaining a Rebuilt Title. You then have to have it inspected and you must apply a sticker to the door jamb and you must sell as 'rebuilt'..........you'll never have a clean title again. 

 

 

Stop right here, call your insurance company and tell them to F right off. 

 

 

 

As for repairs- 

Drive it as is........do the red tape over the tail light deal until you have a resolution..........just let things be for the moment. 

Look for, as suggested, a donor bed.

 

 

As for a cut-n-weld patch..........I doubt you'll find a body shop willing to take the job. If you do, maybe a restoration shop, estimate will be at least $3K. 

You'll have a better chance of finding a shop to paint a loose bed...... they can handle that........scuff and shoot should cost you around $800. 

Get a couple of guys together to help swap the bed and bumper. 

 

 

 

If they offer you $6K.........well, that's another matter.......but....they won't. In that case demand salvage rights. 

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Did it do any other damage?  Is the bed shoved forward or any other visible movement underneath?  I'd be finding the true extent of the damage before deciding on a repair path. 

 

But definitely as stated, don't total it.  It may seem like you will lose money on the surface but like Jeep Driver said, there are other costs to consider going the rebuilt route.  May even be cheaper not to file a claim at all.

 

$500 could pretty well fix the visible damage if you do the work yourself.

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There is a term for it which escapes me at the moment- Your insurance company is responsible for helping your recoup any damage costs from the other driver, including the hiring of an attorney and filing a law suit. Talk to them about this. 

 

Here-

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/car-accident-claims-bad-faith-failure-settle.html

 

and 

 

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/tennessee-car-insurance-requirements.html

 

 

You need to sue the driver who hit you. Was he/she cited for the accident? arrested for no insurance?

 

I can become extremely ugly to those to do not treat me fairly, to those who have harmed me or mine.........get tough with this, you've been wronged, make it right!

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I was hit exactly like that , except it was the drivers side and a bit worse . Tail light , bumper and bed were ruined . The kid that hit me I went to school with ,he was drunk behind the wheel and lived 5 houses down from me . His father sold insurance 30+ years and fought tooth and nail with his company to get me the money I needed to fix my truck , went to my insurance company after they wanted to total my truck and they wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole and I had full coverage. Unfortunately the insurance company doesn't pay for sentimental value or value of other Comanches out there , only the price book they go off of . 

 

My my brother in Colorado and his roommate were hit by in milk truck at 2am (while asleep) in a cultisac . My brother had a 2014 Jetta with 40k he just paid 10k for 5 months before  , and his roommate had a 2018 escape with 9k miles . The milk company was very apologetic, but in the end they totaled out both vehicles with very minimal/fixable damage . Here is the damage 

IMG_0850.JPG

IMG_0852.JPG

IMG_0853.JPG

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The other thing to consider about rebuilt status is some jurisdictions won't allow you to do it more than once. I don't know about where I presently live, but where I did before, they would total out a vehicle for a theft regardless of damage found at recovery, for example. Lots of good complete vehicles went to the salvage auctions as "irreparable, theft recovery, second total loss". They also would make anything over a certain age irreparable automatically, citing "emissions" reasons. 

It's well worth avoiding salvage and rebuilt titles if at all possible, even if you don't care about resale values. 

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2 hours ago, Jeep Driver said:

There is a term for it which escapes me at the moment- Your insurance company is responsible for helping your recoup any damage costs from the other driver, including the hiring of an attorney and filing a law suit. Talk to them about this. 

 

 

Subrogation

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Eagle...short bed.

 

I won't let them total it.  She has already said I can go pick it up from the body shop since it's driveable.

I'll talk to her tomorrow.  The owner of that truck that that was sent to me in an early response has already responded.

Says it is 500.  5.5 hour drive from my house then would have to tow it back.  I will probably do that after I talk to 

the insurance company.

 

Thanks everyone for the advice.

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