Hail damage totaled my 01 LC

[REKCUT]

Explain, sounds interesting...

ITs from the same people that think the moon landing is fake

 

[REKCUT]

Salvage value is high because of all the parts on the truck. Slavege business is booming last several years as folks are keeping there cars longer.

 

[REKCUT]

What insurance company do you have and did they write any of the estimate via pantless dent repair?? Its very odd to see a trucks repair estimate not written with PDR these days unless the truck is just destroyed.

 

[ColoradoBoy]

Buy it back and keep it as a weekend trail rig

Oh, Yeah!!

 

[REKCUT]

Every state is different. In missouri if you choose the option of keeping the truck plus the check then the title never changes hands and its not branded as salvage.

 

[ColoradoBoy]

Let me help you out here
Get 2 or 3 body shop estimates for repairs. These are going to be a basis for negotiations. Average the estimates and here is the goal for you. Plus some money for a rental car and diminished value if your state allows that.

Value of your Land Cruiser. go to Auto trader and Craigslist and Cars.com. Find 3 or 4 cars and print off the ads find comparable mileage and condition to your car. Any extras or great maintenance be prepared to provide receipts for to add to the value. Be realistic the parts on your car are used a bumper installed 3 years ago has less value than one installed last week.

Now that you have an estimate for repairs and a value of the Land cruiser look at 75-85% of the Land Cruiser value. If the repairs are over that number insurance will want to total it. This varies a little depending on the company. Your goal since you like the truck is to be under that number for repair cost. Be aware they can put it in the body shop with a 60% estimate and still come back with wanting to total the car due to hidden damages or higher than expected parts cost.

Since this is your car and you like it Call a Paintless dent removal (PDR) guy. Get an estimate from him and tell him you are paying the bill in cash. Talk to 2 or 3 of those guys or find the guy the dealerships use. You can maybe get most of the dents fixed fairly cheap going this route. Very few insurance companies go this route. Keep this in your pocket and don't share it with the insurance .

It is very important Do not let the insurance company total the truck if you want to keep it. A lot of insurance companies will not cover a salvage or totaled truck or will only do minimum coverage. They do not want to have to total a truck twice.

I used to handle some accident stuff for my former employer a trucking company. Any questions just ask.

I had to 'fight' with my insurance company for about 6 months to get a true value out of my rig when a deer jumped in front of me. They kept trying to lowball me with crappy example trucks that were not even close in comparison to mine. Keep copies of all communications, don't cave in. Stick to your guns and you can come out OK. After 5 months I told them that their actions were totally based upon trying to defraud me, and I was going to take them to court. Low and behold, an offer of just above what I was looking for came in their next letter to me. Good luck!

 

[ColoradoBoy]

This is my fear with my '99, fighting insurance on value. I currently have full coverage, but am wondering what what point I should drop that expense. If they don't budge on price, I would drop the claim, remove full coverage on the vehicle and get a few of the dents popped out myself for a couple hundred bucks.

I am quite shocked so many have problems insuring a salvage titled vehicle. My '03 Jeep has had full coverage insurance since '04 and its title reads "Rebuilt - Previously Had Flood Damage". I bought it with a hydrolocked motor at the end of '03 from a salvage auction.

One way to insure yourself is to go get a professional vehicle estimator to work up a value on your rig. If something happens in the future, you have that to fall back on for value. I got mine for about $200. Use the system against the insurance companies...

 

[REKCUT]

Never had any luck with appraisers. It jus takes time. They eventually need to close file. I have usually taken the tactic of telling them you want them to replace it as the price they have given you won't let them. Tell them to find you your year and milage. My last one the insurance started at $6800 for a 93 locked 80. It took several months but i ended up keeping the truck and getting $8700.

Its a game you have to play.

Also its very hard to tell from pictures but after doing PDR for almost 30 years I don't see a truck that would be written up with a new hood and roof. Granted you could have 1000 small dents that don't show but I would be curious as the the estimate that was written

 

[Whiskerz]

Don't believe what he says about salvage. You need to make no salvage title a goal no matter what. How about take 50% as a check and no salvage title. Any age car can get a salvage title. I am not seeing a roof replacement. I have seen worse on used cars on car lots.

 

[SF1911A1]

If you were to sell your cruiser today, I don't think you would get even 2k less for it than before the damage. That's from what I can see in the pictures anyway. I would by all means keep the claim, in fact I would love to be in your position! I would let you put those dents in my cruiser for 4k. I would let you dent mine like that for 2k even, and keep running it with the money in my pocket. By all means get them up a couple of thousand dollars more on the offer if you can. You should come out on top no matter what in this deal though!

I completely agree with this. Don’t retract the claim, maximize the payout and run to the bank with the check once y’all agree on a value. Better to have the same cruiser you always had with $4k (or hopefully more) weighing your wallet down. In the meantime, get an insurance quote with another company to see if you can find one that will insure a salvage title if that ends up being the outcome. If you can find an insurance company and a policy you are satisfied with, I think it’s worth trading a “salvage” on the title for whatever you decide to do with all the money. I would also get a letter from the insurance company detailing that they totaled the truck for hail damage only and no crash or flood was involved. This could help you tremendously with a future buyer should you decide to sell the truck. Keep us posted, I’m very curious how this turns out. I had a hail storm miss me by one street about a month ago. Literally roofs being replaced a block away and I had just a few tiny bean size pieces of hail. Was happy at the time but now I kind of wish I was in your position.

 

[Whiskerz]

I completely agree with this. Don’t retract the claim, maximize the payout and run to the bank with the check once y’all agree on a value. Better to have the same cruiser you always had with $4k (or hopefully more) weighing your wallet down. In the meantime, get an insurance quote with another company to see if you can find one that will insure a salvage title if that ends up being the outcome. If you can find an insurance company and a policy you are satisfied with, I think it’s worth trading a “salvage” on the title for whatever you decide to do with all the money. I would also get a letter from the insurance company detailing that they totaled the truck for hail damage only and no crash or flood was involved. This could help you tremendously with a future buyer should you decide to sell the truck. Keep us posted, I’m very curious how this turns out. I had a hail storm miss me by one street about a month ago. Literally roofs being replaced a block away and I had just a few tiny bean size pieces of hail. Was happy at the time but now I kind of wish I was in your position.

The problem becomes 3 years from now when drunk uncle Jimmy runs the stop sign and hits the OP right in the salvage title Land Cruiser. He now has drunk uncle Jimmies insurance offering pennies on the dollar due to the previous salvage title. A salvage title hinders you in many ways down the road. Resale is also reduced in the future. Many insurance companies will only offer minimum coverage or no coverage on salvage title cars. I would take less money to not have a salvage title. There is no upside to the salvage designation only down side. Your agent or the adjuster saying they will cover you with a salvage title and them covering you are not the same. That decision is made at a higher level than the guy on the street.
A kid who works for a friend of mine bought a salvage title Mustang. He has been dropped by 4 insurance companies in a year as soon as they found out it was a salvage car. It had only cosmetic damage and did not even pop any air bags in a minor accident. It was driven from the accident even. He knew the former owner. He is now on cut rate lower tier insurance to get coverage.

 

[Whiskerz]

Update...Insurance indeed totaled the vehicle. I was told they would give me $8146 and take it or I could buy it back from them and end up with a check for $4100. So the salvage value is $4000. I told them that was ridiculous! How could the slavage value be 4K and the perfectly normal value be 8K? Shouldn't the "salvage value" be less that half the regular value?

Anyway, I did not agree, asked them to do a little more research on the value of my vehicle and so will I.

They also would not let me find a repair shop that would fix it for less than the 60% of the value to negate the "totaled" designation. It would save them money, but still wouldn't do it.

I can still get coverage if insurance company inspects that all work was done. The title would not show "salvage" as vehicle is over ten years old, but will still be in the database.

I need to find some 01's with less than 200K for 12,000!

Here is how the salvage value becomes $4000. first go to Copart since they are the easiest of the crash auctions to search and look for your Land Cruiser. Remember the insurance company has storage fees and sellers fees in the sale as well as the wrecker and paperwork processing. The person who makes money on wrecks is Copart. They also charge buyers fees as well as assorted misc fees. A good example Copart will not let a wrecker on the yard when you buy a car here in Ga. they charge $35 to deliver the car to the wrecker that takes it away. Literally at the gate.

 

[2020 Rocks]

Call around and do your own due diligence regarding insuring a salvage titled vehicle. I recently sold a 2000 salvage titled Subaru Outback with 123k on the odometer for $1800.00, which is right about KBB value for that vehicle. I had insured it with Progressive Insurance with liability and uninsured motorist coverage for something like 50 bucks a month. If you have the patience to do so, find better comparables to yours, and start the negotiating. I'd work real hard at the buy back being a grand and see where you end up, I would definitely say no to the 4k buy back. Just remember this is their first shot over your bow, you do not have to accept their initial offer as others have said. Good luck!

 

[Txagg007]

The problem becomes 3 years from now when drunk uncle Jimmy runs the stop sign and hits the OP right in the salvage title Land Cruiser. He now has drunk uncle Jimmies insurance offering pennies on the dollar due to the previous salvage title. A salvage title hinders you in many ways down the road. Resale is also reduced in the future. Many insurance companies will only offer minimum coverage or no coverage on salvage title cars. I would take less money to not have a salvage title. There is no upside to the salvage designation only down side. Your agent or the adjuster saying they will cover you with a salvage title and them covering you are not the same. That decision is made at a higher level than the guy on the street.
A kid who works for a friend of mine bought a salvage title Mustang. He has been dropped by 4 insurance companies in a year as soon as they found out it was a salvage car. It had only cosmetic damage and did not even pop any air bags in a minor accident. It was driven from the accident even. He knew the former owner. He is now on cut rate lower tier insurance to get coverage.

If you can avoid the salvage title, by all means do it. But if it has to be salvaged for you to walk away with 4-6k cash and your cruiser, do it. Lets say two weeks later you get hit, and the insurance wants to pay you less out because of the title. What would that amount be? I would say 4k or more, since 4k is what they value a junkyard parts condition vehicle. So now you have 8-10k cash, in a worse case and unlikely scenario. My dad drives a salvage title 2017 Camry, no problem at all insuring it. I think the salvage concerns are valid, but we are not talking about a porsche here. The most likely outcome is you keep documentation showing why it has the salvage title, and when you sell it down the road you barely take a hit that is more than covered by the extra 4-6k you already banked on it. If you do not want the cruiser in the condition its in or with the bad title, I would still do the deal. Buy it back for 4k and sell it for 6k here on mud in a heartbeat. With your insurance money and selling the cruiser you should have 10-12k to go buy yourself a special non salvage non hail dented cruiser. I would rather have your cruiser for 4k as is, than one with a clean title without that damage for 10-12k though.

 

[sleepdoc]

What insurance company do you have and did they write any of the estimate via pantless dent repair?? Its very odd to see a trucks repair estimate not written with PDR these days unless the truck is just destroyed.

I have Farmers Insurance and they did not ask me to get a estimate and said if i did it would make no difference. They have to go by what their adjuster says...

 

[sleepdoc]

So...I have spoken with my Farmers agent and a State Farm agent. Both say they would insure my cruiser with a salvage title as long as they inspected it and saw that the damage was repaired. I guess that is good.

I also have spoken with several people that say that the title WILL NOT say salvage because it is a) >10 years old and b) because it was hail damage and not something that makes it un-roadworthy. The salvage rep from Farmers said that OK is like KS and TX and none of them require a salvage title in those cases.

I have forwarded two 01 cruisers from listing I found in Oklahoma. One had 175K for 16,500 and one had 130K for 13,500. I am going to expand my search radius a bit and see if I can come up with a good regional value that includes Dallas area or Kansas City or Little Rock.

I have had a great place here (@Cruiser Corps) look at my vehicle and say they could repair the damage for $1500 so I am really just trying to maximize my payout and hopefully get more work done with the extra. I need hood painted and some leather work done and they do a great job with both of those.

I am not in any hurry so if time is my friend, I will hold out until they come up more. the agents from both companies have said not to worry that while they can't get the salvage value down, they are confident that they can get the buy back value increased.

I will see if I can post the paperwork that was sent to me by Farmers so you all can see the details.

I have had Farmers insurance for 30 years...surely that counts for something.

 

[2020 Rocks]

Getting comparable quotes should pay off for you. Give them three from your state and three from each state surrounding you. Make your argument for a higher value based on YOUR data collection. I think you’re on the right track and will likely look back on this as Christmas in July.

 

[REKCUT]

I have Farmers Insurance and they did not ask me to get a estimate and said if i did it would make no difference. They have to go by what their adjuster says...

Exactly, getting estimates make no difference. 99% of the hail cars i fix, i take the insurance estimate and then once its in my shop i will examine and then send the insurance company a supplement for the rest of the damage. Ordinarily insurance companies bank on the fact the people will pocket the check without fixing and they won't raise the amount of repair money offered until the car is in a shop being repaired. Many times the supplement is equal to or more than the original amount. This however is not what your up against. You up against a total and thats a different dog. I personally don't understand what its being figured so high especially with a local company offering to fix at 1500. It should work out for you if you keep working them. If you can get that replacement value at around 12k and keep the truck with a check for 8k what does it matter if you are keeping truck. You get 8k, fix for 1500 and still have $6500. Even if you reinsure and the insurance gives you half value the next wreck or if the truck is stolen then you still would have the $6500 plus whatever they give you then. Say $4500. That in the end nets you $11k in worst case scenario

 

[sleepdoc]

Exactly, getting estimates make no difference. 99% of the hail cars i fix, i take the insurance estimate and then once its in my shop i will examine and then send the insurance company a supplement for the rest of the damage. Ordinarily insurance companies bank on the fact the people will pocket the check without fixing and they won't raise the amount of repair money offered until the car is in a shop being repaired. Many times the supplement is equal to or more than the original amount. This however is not what your up against. You up against a total and thats a different dog. I personally don't understand what its being figured so high especially with a local company offering to fix at 1500. It should work out for you if you keep working them. If you can get that replacement value at around 12k and keep the truck with a check for 8k what does it matter if you are keeping truck. You get 8k, fix for 1500 and still have $6500. Even if you reinsure and the insurance gives you half value the next wreck or if the truck is stolen then you still would have the $6500 plus whatever they give you then. Say $4500. That in the end nets you $11k in worst case scenario

I hope it works out that way. I just need to get the value of mine up to 10K+ in order to feel like I am not getting the shaft. I understand that salvage value on hail damage is more than front end accident damage, but market value on mine has to be more than $8800.

 

[REKCUT]

I think a clean 100 series cruiser with 175k listed on craigslist for 9k sells very quick.