It'll never happen to you

[Brian894X4]

Remember that in Oregon insurance laws are on YOUR side. You don't have to get it repaired. You can take the cash.

The insurance company will try to get to you take it their place and will him and ha about it quite a bit, but you have the right to get the value of the damage instead.

Try to avoid totalling it. The insurance company will want the vehicle in exchange for total damage amount and they don't necessarily have to return it or sell it to you. I personally wouldn't let the vehicle of out my sight.

I'm not verses on the absolutely latest laws, but I know in the past Oregon's insurance laws are very pro-consumer.

If it was me, I'd turn that into a new rear steal bumper from Slee.

I'm afraid that actually fixing it would probably cost more than the vehicle is worth in this market, however. I can't answer the last two questions, but that would concern me greatly.

 

[96r50]

From past discussions I seem to remember that Chad (CreeperSleeper) an insurance agent in Oregon. If so, you might be able to get some good advice from him. Although given the condition of his truck he might just laugh at your "scratch"

 

[Ebag333]

Sorry to hear that. Make sure that goes on your insurance claim. You might get a whole new steering box out of the deal. If you do the rebuild/upgrade of your steering box, would you mind doing a write up on it with lots of pretty pictures for us visual folks?

If I do the upgrade I plan on it!

The insurance company will try to get to you take it their place and will him and ha about it quite a bit, but you have the right to get the value of the damage instead.

They've already told me I can take it wherever I want.

Try to avoid totalling it. The insurance company will want the vehicle in exchange for total damage amount and they don't necessarily have to return it or sell it to you. I personally wouldn't let the vehicle of out my sight.

So far Progressive has been excellent. They're not pushing me to do anything I wouldn't feel comfortable with (yet) and have made everything very easy. Their customer service has been good and it was easy to put in the claim. Last time I had an accident with them (fender bender in my old Corolla) it was also very easy, but we'll see if that holds up this time or not.

I may not have a choice in totalling it or not as (if I recall correctly) they go by their blue book for totalling it or not, not market price. My guess is that their blue book will only be about $7,000 or so. 70% of $7k (typical write off price) is only $4,900.

I will buy it back if at all possible if it gets totalled.

I'm not verses on the absolutely latest laws, but I know in the past Oregon's insurance laws are very pro-consumer.

Yup, and the nice thing about it is that Oregon is very friendly to salvaged vehicles. I turn in my title, and get a rebuilt one from the DMV.

I'm afraid that actually fixing it would probably cost more than the vehicle is worth in this market, however. I can't answer the last two questions, but that would concern me greatly.

That's probably going to be the case here.

From past discussions I seem to remember that Chad (CreeperSleeper) an insurance agent in Oregon. If so, you might be able to get some good advice from him. Although given the condition of his truck he might just laugh at your "scratch"

Well if Chad was interested in helping out he'd post up or PM me!

 

[wakesetter]

Hit and run seems to be quite popular here in the PHX area for some reason. Not sure if it's tweakers or drivers from other places with virtually no driving laws whatsoever who don't bother to get car insurance.

Seriously you don't know the reason for this? It's Mexi's with no license. They get caught, they get deported. Same way in the more hispanic towns in my area. They have like 10 times the Hit and Run as other less hispanic local towns.

Not racist comments here, its just that when you are illegal, you can't get a licensce or insurance. I got rear ended by an illegal with no license, no insurance. The cops didn't bother deporting because "he will just be back next week" That was the part that pissed me off. Come legally and get insurance

 

[Dusty]

this is a sweet xmas gift. take the monet and build away. get new bumpers

just get the bodywork roughed out and line ex the the lower half of the truck. you can easily get to the inside of that dammaged fender by removing the inside panel. DIY project

 

[Kaoscruizer]

Wow Gabe .. sorry man. I'm not sure how it works down there, but up here, they (insurance) try and stick you with aftermarket parts instead of OEM Toyota! Make sure you don't sign the dotted line until you are 100% happy with everything.

 

[skfj80]

Hey Gabe,
Sorry to hear the damage on your rig. Glad you have such a positive attitude on the whole thing. Hopefully it is a great opportunity for you to get your rig the way you want, a sucky way to get it done. Glad the gal was caught and nobody was hurt. Bummer, bummer. Keep your chin up AND your positive attitude!!!

 

[underthehood]

Those FZJ80s sure are strong. Yours looks like mine does after driving through Johnson Valley last month. I lost all my fender flares. Dented(and i mean no more paint) both my rear quarter panels and my right front door. It still drives great. It is my daily driver. I have red tape over my busted tailight. The other tailight made it some how. IMO you are gonna get a nice check and you can build your rig to do some aggressive wheeling. Now if you dont want to do some agg. wheeling and you want it to look nice and undented again then I am sorry for your loss. I love the stories where we let change happen and come out ahead afterwards. I would be concerned about the position of the left front tire. It looks like it got pushed forward. That would cause the steering wheel to turn. All you gotta do is pull the other fender flare off of the left rear door. Wash the dust off that was underneath. The paint will be a bit discolored, but who cares. Tuck that wheel liner back into position. Put some tape on that left tailight of yours and get the alignment checked. And with the money you get buy some MetalTech sliders,front bumper, 4" OME lift and 35" mud terrains. And then you will have one sweet rig built for wheelin. I got all my stuff from MetalTech and they were very helpful and provided me with exceptional equipment. Don't even bother with a rear bumper. The frame is right there and protects the whole back of the vehicle.
Now if you don't plan to make it a gnarly wheeler then that is cool too. I am just sharing the obsession with you. Have fun with the rebuilding process, you will have many, many, many ways to fix your rig....

 

[D3fiant]

oh gabe that totally sucks man. I say fix it so it drives straight, and tell the insurance you want the check made out to you an your fixing it yourself. thats waht ive done in the past. then eliminate your fender flares and use that money on some new steel bumpers

glad they caught the stupid let me know if you need any help.

 

[PHIL O]

give it to the highest bidder. impound her pathfinder till things are all good. that'll teach her not hit and run anymore.

 

[zombified]

ugh man that sucks. This is the type of reason why i park the cruisers in the driveway and the subaru in the street.

Check all of the suspension components and the drivelines. inspect that truck with a fine tooth comb if you are going to try to settle for $$$ to repair it yourself. If you miss something pre- sign on the dotted line, you may be out of asking for more $$$ when you find the easter egg.

 

[ALCO]

Yea, of course I really know why! I live in freakin PHX! We do have a major illegal alien problem here!

I didn't want to sound racist either! It's just frustrating.

 

[Ebag333]

We do have a major illegal alien problem here!

I didn't want to sound racist either! It's just frustrating.

We have a semi-serious problem here too. About 10% of the population is Hispanic (if I remember correctly), and a good chunk of them are not legal.

Interestingly enough though, based on ancedotal evidence the illegal immigrants are less of a problem than the white trash tweakers. The couple friends of mine who have gotten hit by illegal immigrants have had cash paid to them, and they've known someone who will fix it for incredibly cheap (and done a surprisingly good job in the one case I know of that they took them up on the offer).

The whiskey tango tweakers have no money, insurance, or friends who can fix your car.

So yeah, I'd actually rather get hit by an illegal than a tweaker.

 

[ALCO]

CA and AZ have the highest rates of Hit-Kill-and-Run.

The hit-kill-and-run state: Arizona nears grim title | www.azstarnet.com ®

 

[CreeperSleeper]

That sucks, Gabe... I say take cash-in-liue of repairs from the insurance co and get a 4x4 Labs rear bumper!

 

[hawaiicruz]

The whiskey tango tweakers have no money, insurance, or friends who can fix your car.

So yeah, I'd actually rather get hit by an illegal than a tweaker.

x2 on that one I'll take an honest illegal over a tweaker any day

...sorry about the whole thing but it seems like your making lemonade

 

[Ebag333]

About 4,500 bucks worth of damage.

As I said on the phone, Dan, right on the money.

Went and got 4 quotes today from local shops. Still haven't talked with Progressive yet so I don't have their quote, I will post the details when I get it.

Listing from cheapest to most expensive:

Star Body Works
$3102.68
Doesn't include the sector shaft, pittman arm, or a new rim. I frankly don't trust this company as I feel they tend to low ball their estimates and then gouge you on the back end. I figured they'd be the lowest.

Jim Nickels Auto Body & Paint Inc.
$4058.54
Includes the sector shaft and pittman, but not a new rim.

Anderson Auto Body & Paint
$4214.26
Includes a used steering gear assembly ($500, only 80k miles, this includes the sector shaft) and a new rim.

New Stage Collision
$5417.87
Includes the sector shaft, pittman, and new rims. This is the most comprehensive of the bunch by far, they even included re-linexing my front bumper.


Progressive will be doing their estimate tommorrow. So we'll see what happens there.

 

[retrofive]

FWIW Star is fine. They have done excellent work over the years for myself and many other people I know.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I will be willing to put money on Progressive's quote to be super low and it being a pain to get them to go higher... I hate the way Progressive handles claims.

 

[Fly Rod]

Gabe,

You own a concerned citizen a six pack! If you recall our Jeep was hit parked in front of our house. The gal was driving away when I walked out and she saw me and stopped. Two more minutes and she would have been gone! Her agent also told me to take it to the repair shop of choice. I took it to Lithia and it came back @ $2k +. They said they would total it and give me $800! It got interesting after that. I started listing the upgrades, ARB, IPF etc and they started saying prove it. I told them if they took pictures of the truck it is all visible for them to see. Long and short of it I wrote detailed everything on the jeep and they wrote a check for $1,300 and it was not "totalled."

Get your first estimate at Lithia Auto Body. They are the Toyota dealer and you are entitled to have it fixed "properly" by them. If the insurance company says they are going to total it then start detailing all your upgrades. You can probably keep it from being totalled and get a nice check to fix it up.

BTW, I hope that chick gets in deep s***!