Need some suggestions/help - Son's Tacoma totaled.

[Azca]

Hi guys, hope all is well.

My son, while coming back from a hunting trip rolled his Tacoma. He is a little scraped up and seems far more upset about what happened to his beloved truck than anything else.

We were north of Seligman on the Boquillas Ranch. While driving the bottom of a canyon road there was a sudden gust of wind which kicked up so much dust it absolutely blinded him. He said it was only a few seconds but seemed much longer. He immediately applied the brakes, perhaps a bit hard, and the back end of the truck started to walk out on him. The back tires must have caught the berm on the other side of the road or, perhaps his front tires on the near side???

In typical Toyota fashion, we winched it over, got in, and it started right up. Drove it another 10 miles or so till we got it to one of the ranch houses.

Anyway here is where I need help. We have State Farm insurance and will be calling them tomorrow. The truck has had so much work done to it that I know I won't get anywhere near what we have in it. Mechanically it was VERY sound. All new belts, hoses, water pump, timing belt, valve cover gaskets, spark plugs, coil packs, radiator, cv axles, upper and lower ball joints, tires with less than 5k on them, new Bilstein struts and shocks, 16" rims. Inside we had swapped 4runner seats and lots of new plastic, moulding, rubber gaskets, side view mirrors. All replaced lighting on the outside, new bumper on the front and I know I am missing something.

It is obviously totaled. Paying to get it back here can't be cheap. Should we just walk away? The second problem, time is precious for me as I am working three jobs right now. Wondering if I should just take off the tires and light bar and call it good.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[medtro]

Glad your son is okay. Not sure I can help but I will offer my experience for reference. I had State Farm on my LX450. They didn't cover most of the upgrades except for the bigger tires, satellite radio and winch. They considered all the upgrades as luxury items. They offered me $50 for the Warn 8000 winch, I chose to remove it. I don't know how much extra I got for the satellite radio and bigger tires, I am sure it is not much given the $50 offer for winch. They allowed me to remove all the upgrades provided I put the stock items back. They also offered to tow the vehicle to my storage place if I buy it back from them.

 

[Azca]

Thanks Medtro. I just hauled it back to town and will be taking off the struts and shocks as well as swapping the tires tomorrow.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Sorry to hear but super happy everyone is OK.
IH8insurance best of luck

 

[murf]

Wow, glad he is ok. The most important thing!

 

[Living in the Past]

Glad your son was okay. This reminds me of back mid nineties on a run with the now dead TLCA club the back way to Crown King. A brand new white Tacoma (still had the paper registration) passed us on the way up. Seen it parked in Crown King. Heading back it flew by me around Cleater. When I got to the turn off to Bumble Bee took that way to cut down on my highway driving in my old 68. A mile or so before heading up the switch backs that Tacoma was just off the road on it's side like this one. Assumed no one got hurt as there was not a soul around including inside the cab. Figured it was a combination washboard road, light rear end and speed. Age of the driver probably didn't help. If the driver would still been there could have pulled up right with my winch. At the time remember thinking how the aluminum wheels would look good on my 68. It was also a time when I could count my cruisers on one hand.

Not sure of the years and mileage of this Tacoma but agree just grab what you can and.let the insurance company have it. In 2004 I rolled a Tundra on FS3 a few miles south of the old Happy Jack ranger station. Got towed to Clint's Well. I made a trip up and grabbed everything I had added to it then just let insurance company have it. If I would have had the garage space at the time might have thought about buying back for the power train and parted the rest. Front clip and box were still in good shape. Cab took almost all the damage.

 

[Azca]

I am going to let them take it. The powertrain was in very good condition but it ran a bit with it on it's side. I am sure that did not do any good for the motor. Pulled the struts, shocks, wheels and coil packs off it today (they have less than 2k miles on them).

Sad to see it go, it was a good truck and sure it would have seen my boy all the way through college and well beyond. In the end, it saved his life. Seeing him walking away from the rig and waving me down is something I will never forget.