Another one bites the dust

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Joined
Oct 27, 2015
Threads
7
Messages
17
Location
Los Gatos, CA
An unfortunate accident happened last weekend, and a tree decided to fall on my LX450. Insurance has declared it a total loss. This is my first time handling a loss, so any suggestions how to negotiate the best payout from the insurance is much appreciated.

Any guesses what I'll get from insurance?

It was a '96 with 180K miles.

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Can't help you there. But I can tell you buy it back for small fee and part it out. Some of those parts are worth good money to others and they aren't making some of the parts anymore. sucks I know and I hate to hear that it happened to you
 
Very sorry. Are you interested in selling any parts? I need the spare tire jack tooklit and rods.
 
Buy it back.... that will buff right out!!
 
Become an Organ Donor!
Sorry about your luck, Man!
 
Bummer. I'm gonna say their first offer will be 4-5k +\- You should start putting together a nice spreadsheet of comparable vehicles from eBay, Autotrader, Mud, etc.
 
Sorry for your loss....that sucks. Seriously, buy it back and use it for parts vehicle for your next 80.

That is one tough vehicle. Similar size tree fell on my Mom's 2012 Ford Escape in a wind storm and completely caved in the roof.
 
Buy it back. Buy a body from SOR (<$800). Paint the body factory correct color, and put her back together again. With the exception of a little glass you already have all the parts!
 
Damn, that sucks!

Buy it back, part out all or some of it, could also build a buggy for offroading.
 
Buy it back. Buy a body from SOR (<$800). Paint the body factory correct color, and put her back together again. With the exception of a little glass you already have all the parts!

Under 800 for a body?! Wow, that's really good.
 
Sorry for your loss.

Do some searching for "total loss" or "insurance" on here. There are many very good very detailed threads about how folks have handled these types of things. Depending on what your talents and abilities are will determine if there is ANY plan for a buy-back and rebuild.

The main thing is establishing a value on your "low mileage" LX.
 
I had a bear get into my wife's subaru, and the door closed once it was inside. The bear decided to try its best for ~10 minutes, angry and pissed, to claw out. You can imagine the interior damage. Eventually it pushed/broke the driver's side window out after it ripped all the interior paneling off and cracked most of the other windows.

We had comprehensive coverage and basically got these two offers (vehicle was totalled, but it was all interior / windows):

- $6,100 if we kept it
- $6,400 if they took it / scrap yard

So for $300 I kept it. Spent $300 on the window, another $300 on another window, and a weekend re-assembling as much interior as I could. It drives fine and smells just a smidge like bear piss on the passenger seat.

Third car now, salvage title, planned non-op since we don't use it, and I have a fun little project car to poke around with or to use when the Land Cruiser is up on blocks / getting worked on and I need to grab lunch/tools/parts in town.

Also, when you get the initial replacement value back, make sure you send in receipts of upgrades you put in. They calculate the cost by looking at same make/model/year sales that happened within a few hundred miles in the last year. I got $600 more because I pointed out that it had brand new snow tires and showed the receipt.
 
Thank everyone for your input. I'll keep you guys posted, but for now if you want anything, send me a DM and I'll keep an interest list.

Joe
 
Im pretty impressed how the roof top handled the brut of the force and didnt cave in, but I was surprised the rear windshield shattered.

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Did you have a history with this 80, was it locked, and do you have a spare vehicle / loaner car to get you by until this is hammered out?

Are you mechanically inclined & have time & such for a buyback - or is it a simple situation where you bought it cheap last year & it's a standard gold 450 w/o lockers?

All the above factors into the path that's right for you - initially I'd be focused on maximizing your total value & thier buyback $$$ if dealing with it would be of interest to you.

Having a set of wheels while negotiations are happening means you can play the game as long as they want to, without impacting your 9-5 situation.
 

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