Here's the last photo taken of the rig before it was damaged.
So I had an accident where I rear ended a truck stopped at a red light after being faked out by them starting to turn right and then abruptly stopping again. My fault of course, but the inside of the rig being fully loaded from my seat all the way back didn't help my braking performance. Thankfully everyone was fine and I made contact with the rubber cone of the bumper otherwise it may have been a lot worse. I had to unbolt one of the little corners of the TJM bumper so that the tire didn't rub on it. Cosmetic damage is mainly the passenger side fender, the bug deflector, and the area under the headlight where the bumper got pushed in to it. I rinsed the car off today but apologies as it's still dirty from my final day trip with it this weekend.
So Cruiser gets inspected by insurance company shop. They quote about $1700 to fix. Get it to my shop and it's declared a total loss because they discover frame damage. Then I get to fight my insurance company who want to give me less than half of what I paid a year prior because they don't really understand a built up rig. For those with heavily modified Cruisers, I suggest you get an agreed value policy or be prepared to fight if your rig gets wrecked. I expected something like this to happen under normal circumstances which is why when I signed up with the insurance company I declared $5600 worth of the major extras that I was allowed to and paid a premium for all of it each month so I would be covered just in case something like this happened. I was told though all of that makes no difference. I pressed and they said that if for example my roof rack got stolen or was damaged they would cover full replacement value, this did not factor in at the end in a total loss scenario. I got $32 added to my payout value for having a "roof rack" even though it's a Gobi Stealth Rack and costs four figures new. Whoopee.
So after giving them comps and documentation to try to counter their insulting offer, they came back to me with the same figure basically saying "too bad." Not even an adjustment. I had to hire an independent evaluator to write up the car and give a fair pre-loss market value. They surprisingly agreed to give me that amended price which was over two times what they had offered initially and closer to what I had paid. So I come today with those words of warning but also wanted to see what you guys think the rig would sell for now as-is. Would be a shame to see this go to auction or a junkyard, so I'm thinking I have to retain the car and sell it independently so that I can get closer to breaking even and an enthusiast can have a shot at it. I figure this would make a great project car, off road rig, or even donor car for another project. Right now I'm just fact finding and will likely clean the car up and put a proper classified ad up in due time, but wanted to hear what you guys thought and also maybe get some stories from other members who have had issues with insurance and built up rigs getting wrecked.
Vitals: 1999 with 224,000 or so miles
Imperial Jade Mica with grey leather interior
Goodyear Duratrac 315/75/R16 tires with full size 5th
ARB front air locker and air compressor
TJM 100 Series Landcruiser Alloy T15 Bull Bar
TJM rear bumper (discontinued?)
Warn 9500 pound winch in front (not sure model)
Gobi Stealth Rack with removable sunroof insert and rear ladder
Custom rock sliders from Fearless Fabrication (welded on)
2.5" Old Man Emu heavy load kit suspension kit with Slee diff drop
Fox Racing 2.0 shocks
Doug Thorley cat-back exhaust
ScanGauge II installed in the dash
Snorkel intake (not sure of brand)
DEPO aftermarket black headlamps
WeatherTech floor mats
Kenwood head unit with bluetooth
Rear backup camera that worked flawlessly until a few weeks ago
Remote starter system
Pfrans LED interior lights
dark tinted windows
reupholstered driver's seat
Since I bought it I had a front axle replaced (OEM), did both front wheel bearings, replaced all four front ball joints, replaced front sway bar bushings, put in new steering rack bushings (I don't think it was enough so may need a new steering rack), replaced the sunroof panel, had an oil and filter change with Mobil 1, and got it aligned.
It can still get out and have fun though and is much more technically capable than I am as a driver!
So I had an accident where I rear ended a truck stopped at a red light after being faked out by them starting to turn right and then abruptly stopping again. My fault of course, but the inside of the rig being fully loaded from my seat all the way back didn't help my braking performance. Thankfully everyone was fine and I made contact with the rubber cone of the bumper otherwise it may have been a lot worse. I had to unbolt one of the little corners of the TJM bumper so that the tire didn't rub on it. Cosmetic damage is mainly the passenger side fender, the bug deflector, and the area under the headlight where the bumper got pushed in to it. I rinsed the car off today but apologies as it's still dirty from my final day trip with it this weekend.
So Cruiser gets inspected by insurance company shop. They quote about $1700 to fix. Get it to my shop and it's declared a total loss because they discover frame damage. Then I get to fight my insurance company who want to give me less than half of what I paid a year prior because they don't really understand a built up rig. For those with heavily modified Cruisers, I suggest you get an agreed value policy or be prepared to fight if your rig gets wrecked. I expected something like this to happen under normal circumstances which is why when I signed up with the insurance company I declared $5600 worth of the major extras that I was allowed to and paid a premium for all of it each month so I would be covered just in case something like this happened. I was told though all of that makes no difference. I pressed and they said that if for example my roof rack got stolen or was damaged they would cover full replacement value, this did not factor in at the end in a total loss scenario. I got $32 added to my payout value for having a "roof rack" even though it's a Gobi Stealth Rack and costs four figures new. Whoopee.
So after giving them comps and documentation to try to counter their insulting offer, they came back to me with the same figure basically saying "too bad." Not even an adjustment. I had to hire an independent evaluator to write up the car and give a fair pre-loss market value. They surprisingly agreed to give me that amended price which was over two times what they had offered initially and closer to what I had paid. So I come today with those words of warning but also wanted to see what you guys think the rig would sell for now as-is. Would be a shame to see this go to auction or a junkyard, so I'm thinking I have to retain the car and sell it independently so that I can get closer to breaking even and an enthusiast can have a shot at it. I figure this would make a great project car, off road rig, or even donor car for another project. Right now I'm just fact finding and will likely clean the car up and put a proper classified ad up in due time, but wanted to hear what you guys thought and also maybe get some stories from other members who have had issues with insurance and built up rigs getting wrecked.
Vitals: 1999 with 224,000 or so miles
Imperial Jade Mica with grey leather interior
Goodyear Duratrac 315/75/R16 tires with full size 5th
ARB front air locker and air compressor
TJM 100 Series Landcruiser Alloy T15 Bull Bar
TJM rear bumper (discontinued?)
Warn 9500 pound winch in front (not sure model)
Gobi Stealth Rack with removable sunroof insert and rear ladder
Custom rock sliders from Fearless Fabrication (welded on)
2.5" Old Man Emu heavy load kit suspension kit with Slee diff drop
Fox Racing 2.0 shocks
Doug Thorley cat-back exhaust
ScanGauge II installed in the dash
Snorkel intake (not sure of brand)
DEPO aftermarket black headlamps
WeatherTech floor mats
Kenwood head unit with bluetooth
Rear backup camera that worked flawlessly until a few weeks ago
Remote starter system
Pfrans LED interior lights
dark tinted windows
reupholstered driver's seat
Since I bought it I had a front axle replaced (OEM), did both front wheel bearings, replaced all four front ball joints, replaced front sway bar bushings, put in new steering rack bushings (I don't think it was enough so may need a new steering rack), replaced the sunroof panel, had an oil and filter change with Mobil 1, and got it aligned.
It can still get out and have fun though and is much more technically capable than I am as a driver!
