15k$ in body damage

[abuck99]

Dude- way to make it out alive! On the other hand- not way good that you got in over your head with wife and kids in your rig. We men do stupid things, and that's best left between us an not shared with the women in our lives.

Lesson learned

The upshot: What a great opportunity to do the necessary upgrades you've always wanted;

Front bumper $1k
Winch $1k
Rear bumper: properly set up $2500
Sliders $900
Depot headlights $350
Suspension upgrade for all the extra weight $1800

Some rhino liner for the rash: $500

$8000 in upgrades to make your truck all mo better - 1/2 the cost of those body shop quotes.

Get a check for as much as you can from ins. and have fun with your rebuild

 

[Juanblzer]

I just said this out loud, and then I read your post.

Pretty much my plan

 

[Bardiya]

Here in the UAE that kind of damage would set you back like $4K, not at the Toyota dealer of course.

 

[VidereStudios]

Man, glad you guys made it out safely!

On the vehicle side of things, I would get the max you can from insurance and then do what everyone else has recommended. You have a unique opportunity to get insurance to pay for your trail rig. Pay the thing off and then have fun with the mods!

 

[vipergrhd]

For $15k I could get an entirely complete LX 470! Did you get a second estimate?

 

[Juanblzer]

2 quotes already for 15$k

 

[abuck99]

Btw

Do we get to see any pictures of the offending terrain? Surely you took pics.....

 

[savirc]

I'm having trouble understanding what happened, were you rocky road narrow and slid into a groove?

 

[DJCloz]

Seems like the a sign from God to get a aftermarket steel bumper

 

[OTSWolf]

Dude- way to make it out alive! On the other hand- not way good that you got in over your head with wife and kids in your rig. We men do stupid things, and that's best left between us an not shared with the women in our lives.

Lesson learned

The upshot: What a great opportunity to do the necessary upgrades you've always wanted;

Front bumper $1k
Winch $1k
Rear bumper: properly set up $2500
Sliders $900
Depot headlights $350
Suspension upgrade for all the extra weight $1800

Some rhino liner for the rash: $500

$8000 in upgrades to make your truck all mo better - 1/2 the cost of those body shop quotes.

Get a check for as much as you can from ins. and have fun with your rebuild

Good thing that you and the family are ok.

In terms of the insurance, it really depends on the insurance company and their specific formula for calculating the value of the vehicle and balancing that against the cost for repairing it. If the cost of repairing it exceeds some predetermined percentage of the vehicle value, they will total the car out. So, you will have to talk to them to get a better idea.

However, some insurance companies will give you the option of buying it back, and you will have to talk to them and maybe do some convincing. What they will do in this case is calculate what they would have given you for the totaled car value, then they will subtract your deductible from that and the amount they would have received from selling the totaled car to a junkyard. So, if they are willing to give you $15k and you have a $1k deductible and they would get from a junkyard $8k, you will end up with the car back and $6k in payout to you (this is just a hypothetical). Depending on what you get, you might end up with a better rig in the long run if they are willing to do this.

If I were you, I would talk to the insurance company and see if buying it back would be an option. If not, you could take the full payout and see who they sell it to or what insurance auction it goes to and buy it back that way, but some of those auctions require a special license to buy.

Good luck and glad you all made it out safely.

 

[Juanblzer]

No pics of event. I had cactus all over my feet / legs. It was just not on my mind.
Picture a slot canyon with a trail leading through it. We weren't even in 4 low. As we kept going through the canyon we noticed it getting narrower and narrower. We rounded a bend and noticed there had been a weather related land slide of the canyon walls. We started to back out and the land slide got us too. Luckily it was not boulders or really large rocks that covered up to mid-door. It was Just sandy gravel and fist sized rocks, branches and cacti. At first I thought we were stuck. I climbed out of the window and stepped right onto some buried cactus.
It took some unburying (by hand) but I managed to free us. The front bumper caught on some debris and jettisoned itself. We backed safely out in 4 low. I went and retrieved the bumper and we drove home.

 

[savirc]

No pics of event. I had cactus all over my feet / legs. It was just not on my mind.
Picture a slot canyon with a trail leading through it. We weren't even in 4 low. As we kept going through the canyon we noticed it getting narrower and narrower. We rounded a bend and noticed there had been a weather related land slide of the canyon walls. We started to back out and the land slide got us too. Luckily it was not boulders or really large rocks that covered up to mid-door. It was Just sandy gravel and fist sized rocks, branches and cacti. At first I thought we were stuck. I climbed out of the window and stepped right onto some buried cactus.
It took some unburying (by hand) but I managed to free us. The front bumper caught on some debris and jettisoned itself. We backed safely out in 4 low. I went and retrieved the bumper and we drove home.

Wow... scarry scenario specially with kiddos glad you made it out safe.

 

[cwmoser]

You did this to your wifes LX470?
Bet she cut you off

 

[fjfar80]

Ah...easy fix, pop those bumpers off, hop on Slee's website...order some new ones. Call your local Toyota dealer...order the rear tail light, install it. Then go buy a high powered random orbit buffer...and get to work. She'll be fine.

- Mark

 

[PabloCruise]

a mere flesh wound... My experience with insurance companies is if you document value and don't give up they give in... I would think they should pay you 12k and you keep the truck

They can do a market survey if need be

That market survey can sometimes be very inadequate - be prepared to argue for any options and upgrades they have not included.

Glad to hear you and the kids are ok!

I would argue with insurance if they tried to total it over paint and bumper covers. Get the settlement, buy some steel bumpers if wanted and pay the rest toward the note.

Brag to Your friend that you drove it out of a rockslide with nothing more than a few scuffs.

I would argue - get the settlement and then pay off the $9600 owed on the vehicle. If they total it, insurance $ will likely go to the finance company holding the paper on the rig.

Man, glad you guys made it out safely!

On the vehicle side of things, I would get the max you can from insurance and then do what everyone else has recommended. You have a unique opportunity to get insurance to pay for your trail rig. Pay the thing off and then have fun with the mods!

Yep, pay it off. If totaled, you will probably have to buy it back from the finance company, who may have a different idea of what the salvage value would be vs. your insurance company.

Good thing that you and the family are ok.

In terms of the insurance, it really depends on the insurance company and their specific formula for calculating the value of the vehicle and balancing that against the cost for repairing it. If the cost of repairing it exceeds some predetermined percentage of the vehicle value, they will total the car out. So, you will have to talk to them to get a better idea.

However, some insurance companies will give you the option of buying it back, and you will have to talk to them and maybe do some convincing. What they will do in this case is calculate what they would have given you for the totaled car value, then they will subtract your deductible from that and the amount they would have received from selling the totaled car to a junkyard. So, if they are willing to give you $15k and you have a $1k deductible and they would get from a junkyard $8k, you will end up with the car back and $6k in payout to you (this is just a hypothetical). Depending on what you get, you might end up with a better rig in the long run if they are willing to do this.

If I were you, I would talk to the insurance company and see if buying it back would be an option. If not, you could take the full payout and see who they sell it to or what insurance auction it goes to and buy it back that way, but some of those auctions require a special license to buy.

Good luck and glad you all made it out safely.

Like I mentioned above, insurance company may pay the finance company, and then you have to buy from the entity holding your title.

I have heard of some insurance companies that exclude off road damage - I hope you do okay on this! Let us know...

 

[blatant]

Juan,

Where was this exactly? Also, you should consider checking out the local page. Runs every mth, meets every month, lots of really good folks. Swing in and say hi if you haven't. I'm sure they'd all be interested in where this was and any back story you care to share. Glad you're safe. If you need parts, contact Camelback Toyota, they'll get your sorted properly.

AZ- Copper State Cruisers

 

[SNLC]

View attachment 1292630 Was on a forest service road that runs through a slot canyon. It started to get way too narrow so as we decided to back out the surrounding cliff sides buried our lx470 to about mid door. It was scary as hell. Both my small children, dogs and wife were in the rig with me. The debris and rocks and cactus damaged both sides as we put it in 4low and managed to back out completely.

I have full coverage but I'm worried the 2001 lx470(I owe 9600$ on the car loan) will be totaled out. I made a claim on my insurance already (my wife insisted).

Sadly, I love this rig (my first Toyota product) and I don't care about dings and dents.
Has anyone had to argue the value of vehicle to insurance? How much will they possibly sell the rig back to me if they even allow that?

Yup just went through this in June. Only had my truck since November of last year. I paid $11.5k. Insurance offered $10.5k to buy it from me, I had option to buy it back. My estimate for repairs was $10.2k. Or I could take a check for $5800 and keep it. So I took the $5800. Best part was n salvage title! I owe the bank $7k on it so taking the $10.5k didn't make any sense. Fixed my truck myself, used Toyota parts which ran me $2k.

Good luck!

Cheers

 

[ponytl]

That market survey can sometimes be very inadequate - be prepared to argue for any options and upgrades they have not included.



I would argue - get the settlement and then pay off the $9600 owed on the vehicle. If they total it, insurance $ will likely go to the finance company holding the paper on the rig.



Yep, pay it off. If totaled, you will probably have to buy it back from the finance company, who may have a different idea of what the salvage value would be vs. your insurance company.



Like I mentioned above, insurance company may pay the finance company, and then you have to buy from the entity holding your title.

I have heard of some insurance companies that exclude off road damage - I hope you do okay on this! Let us know...

That is not correct... he owns the truck the finance co just has a lien on the truck... YES they will get what is owed ONLY (the $9600) no more no less ... they have no rights beyond that.. it is 100% up to the owner of the truck what happens to it... the insurance co has no rights to the truck other than compensating the owner for damages, IF the damages reach the total market value of the truck = total loss ie cost to repair exceeds the fair market value... THAT is always the point of contention "fair market value" I would contend a rust free truck in good repair like the OP's has a REAL world value somewhere close to 15K (ever wonder why your premium doesn't go down each year with the deprecation of your truck?) so 15k plus whatever extras including area of the country very high level of maint & care you might be able to argue to 16k... so we have reached the total mark... you have a 16k loss they owe you 16k... BUT they value the salvage value @ ?... ( full disclosure I owned part of a salvage auction holding lot many years ago) 20+ years ago we got tow fee, ($100 at the time) Paperwork fee ($125 at the time) storage ($10 a day) and then we held the weekly auction and we got a sales fee (20%) we couldn't sell until we got all the releases and a title stamped salvage/flood/theft recovery ect.. sometimes took 60days @$10 day...

This little bit of information lets you know THEY do NOT want your salvage truck... we often sold car/trucks for less than $500 so the insurance co ended up having to send us a check for hundreds of $$ for "disposal"

so your first offer is... "pay me the $15-16K and I'll keep the truck... they will cut a check to the lien holder for the payoff and a check to you for the balance... you get the title free and clear AND it is not marked "salvage" (in most states) might not even show up on car fax because no police report and no work done by a dealer... maybe... that is the starting point... I'm sure you have a rental car they are now paying for and they will continue to until they make a reasonable offer to fix or total... if fix then you have the rental until it is fixed... this can add a $1000 easy to the cost of the claim to them... so they want this done Quick... worst case I would think no more than "deduct 1k and i keep the truck" the more you insist that "i love this truck and just want it fixed" the better off you will be... they know that "unseen" damage can cost a few extra K and they might be in at a point of no return (had a 911sc once they spent 20k to fix and then gave me 25k to take it as is after it was fixed)
stick to your guns and good luck don't get mad... (they don't) just stay on it and treat it like a game... you have been damaged and they have to make you whole...

 

[jebuwh]

Jeez that is way high. I'm a production manager for a body shop up here in Utah. Based on the pics I saw a lot of the replace parts could be repaired and what not. But anyways... I would gather all the comparable for sale vehicles around you and come up with an average, plus tax, title, and license. They are obligated to give you enough to replace the vehicle with a comparable unit.

Usually I never recommend keeping a salvage title rig, but in this case you could possibly pay it off and have money to upgrade it. Weigh out all the options then decide.

 

[txtortoise]

Vehicle will be considered a total based on your repair estimates and estimated current market value, no question.

2001 LX 470 (Miles?) ; Assume KBB average miles of around 150K and vehicle will probably value out at around $10K by the total loss firm most insurance companies outsource this stuff to, depending on overall condition which the body shop and/or adjuster will be able to see....might be able to get to $12K if it's low mileage and super clean prior to the current body damage. I'd start looking for comparable vehicles for sale in your area, then expand area, as that's the best way to argue current value, other than a recent sales receipt I suppose. If you can get to $15K, that would be great.

Insurance company will pay you market value, plus sales tax, less your deductible and take title to the vehicle, as it's cheaper than repairing it.
The finance company will get $9600 of the settlement, or actually just be a party to the settlement check as they are on your policy.
They may offer to find you a comparable vehicle in lieu of payment, but doubt it since you have the lien, but could be interesting discussion.

The two key values from this point forward are the agreed upon market value and the salvage value, which the adjuster already has at least two quotes on. They will most likely just tell you the highest value, i.e., the most they will get for truck. It will be significantly more than what you would get if you shop it to salvage on your own.

Assuming market value of $10K, less salvage value of $5K(?), you could keep the truck and take the $5K difference.

Big gotcha is you still have to pay off the finance company, which means you end up with functional, cosmetically trashed truck, $5K dollars and have to come up with the $4600 to pay off the lien, which no one will loan you on the truck as-is. Note: no dollars left to repair vehicle.

Some nuances, some insurance policies have total loss endorsements that may increase their payment to you by 20% over market value. I know USAA has one, but I didn't find out about it until after my total.

Bottomline, you pretty much want to fight for the highest market value you can and if buying it back, the lowest salvage value.

Lastly, if you end up with the truck it will have a salvage title. This doesn't always happen, as it depends on the settlement values and your state, but given the repair cost is in excess of market value....expect salvage title. An insurance company total is not the same as a total loss as defined by state regs, but I don't know what percentage to market value threshold Arizona uses before considering it a total loss.

Let us know how the numbers are presented, as this scenario comes up more often than we'd all like and each experience is useful.

No real happy ending to this, but always fun to start looking for another.