Rolled my 80- Geico woes

[ColoCruiserJeff]

Well, I flopped my 80 this weekend- and now I'm stuck with dealing not only with my wife...but with Geico too.

The wife factor is understanding - but just really annoyed now at the whole Cruiser thing in general....simply put.

The thing is, I have like 10K in CPE (Custom Parts & Equipment) coverage itemized out on my policy. However in the event of loss or damages...irregardless of how much the items are worth - their liability will never exceed the ACV of the vehicle. - this is the s***ty part! The bumpers and winch, tires and aftermarket crapola won't add value over and above a lousy street value of a 21 year old vehicle!

So, with an offer of $4800 from Geico to "Get me whole again" - I'm quite angry and had to vent...and I knew my compadres on Mud would sympathize with my dilemma.

More frustrating is that I just dumped $$$ and TONS of hours putting in the H41/Toybox setup...and it's not worth s*** to an insurance co. I'm not trying to rip-off Geico...but hell, even stock FJ80's are going for well more than $4800- with more miles on 'em to boot!

Arugh- so frustrating. I will be taking this up the chain of command and deal with the adjuster's supervisor and hopefully some good will come of it!

 

[JETTIX2]

You should be able to provide a list of other local FJs that are selling for more money (ie, $6-7k maybe), and get them up a bit on the price. You'll never get 'em up to $10k, so you may have to buy the vehicle back from them for a small amount and part it out in order to get your $$ back out of the rig. Just a thought. Good Luck!

 

[Riad]

Eh, sorry for your dilemma. It's probably a l o n g shot; however, will they let you take out all your after market parts + $4800? Assuming they are offering $4800 for totaling it. If so, you could take $4800, buy another 80 and start over. Just a thought. Hope things work out for you.

 

[bkfj40]

when I had my 60 totalled out from the insurance company due to a fire, I got a fair offer off the bat and they said I could buy it back for 10% of the value...so that is what I did.

You didn't mention in your post, but have they totalled it? I would agree that you might be able to get maybe another $1k from the insurance company on the street value of the truck. Your best bet is to work out a deal where you get to keep the truck as you know the parts value exceeds the worth of the truck.

 

[rockrod]

how bad is the damage? Is the aftermarket equipment damaged from the roll?

IIRC, if you want to insure a vehicle for more than the book value, you have to take it to an appraiser and and a value, and then buy a policy for that amount. Hot rodders do this because you can't apply a book value to a rodded out 32 t-bucket. I think Progressive offers a policy like this.

 

[yotakrawler]

My experience with insurance companies is that they always low ball the first offer. Hold out for more and then buy back you old cruiser.

 

[skintunes]

Sorry about your truck - good thing you're ok- We do need the story and pics however-...

 

[phxtlc]

I had stock 15's stolen off mine, first ins offer was crazy low. I pulled comps off of the web and they adjusted their offer up a bunch. Stick to your guns. It will be a bit tough with the gecko from what people have told me.

 

[bignasty]

Read this first before you make any decisions.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/524603-insurance-value-highly-customized-94-fzj80.html

 

[MaK92 4RnR]

I totaled a 95 integra GSR with a salvage title. Granted it only had rims, tires, intake, exhaust and stereo. Insurance gave me 6,000 dollars, and let me go to the junkyard to yank my mods off. I have state farm insurance. I didn't even bother with parting it out ( i should have ) but I bought my now 4Runner for 4,000 and put new shocks, rims, and 31x10.50 tires on it.

 

[Frankencruiser]

They always low ball you at first. As everyone else stated stick to your guns, get dealership prices for comparable vehicles from the area and make them an offer.

 

[profro]

Insurance is a racket.

Life is full of risks.

 

[PHAEDRUS]

No insurance is a for profit venture.

The only way to get more money is to show damage to your custom parts, or to find comparable for sale vehicles in your local area. Anything else and you are wasting your time.
Dave

 

[HMalice]

I worked at geico for a few years, I've never heard of endorsements being capped at acv. Granted its been a few years and I was on the west coast and not Colorado but I can't imagine policies being that different. Geico (and most insurance companies) tend to fly thru employees like dirty underwear, I think it's a case of the adjuster just not knowing the policies. Escalate it to management and the department of insurance for misleading underwriting if need be, I take this away from things: you pay collision coverage to take care of the truck if it's ever a loss, why would you have paid more in endorsements to receive nothing additional from a loss?

 

[HMalice]

*my take away... Sorry, iPhone spelling.

 

[rhyary]

Exactly why I don't have collision and i have high deductible.

You pay high fees all these years and when something happens you get squat

I rather pay little and get squat

Sent from my iPhone using IH8MUD

 

[nuclearlemon]

pics or it didn't happen

 

[mainemike]

I always wonder about canceling my comprehensive, for me it costs $245/yr for my 1996. Comprehensive is storm damage, vandalism, etc. I used to justify it for hitting a deer but the ARB solved that concern, but I don't know much about the insurance industry and where to draw that line financially. Typically we keep small claims off the books anyway, but I've never even had any incidents in the Cruiser. I don't mind collision figuring on a worst-case solution I'd get a cheap buy-back offer and start over or have a parts truck.

 

[Trapper50cal]

Sorry to hear about your troubles...

as others have said:

A: This guy may not know the nuances of your policy
B: They always start with a lowball, show them you aren't going quietly and it will start to get more reasonable. Once they cost/benefit the act of obstructing vs. doing it right they will come around.

Good Luck!

Oh and not to nit-pick in your time of grief, but irregardless isn't a word, it's just regardless.

 

[Ebag333]

Oh and not to nit-pick in your time of grief, but irregardless isn't a word, it's just regardless.

Not to nit-pick your nit-pick but.....

From Merriam-Webster:

Irregardless originated in dialectal American speech in the early 20th century. Its fairly widespread use in speech called it to the attention of usage commentators as early as 1927. The most frequently repeated remark about it is that “there is no such word.” There is such a word, however. It is still used primarily in speech, although it can be found from time to time in edited prose. Its reputation has not risen over the years, and it is still a long way from general acceptance. Use regardless instead.

Irregardless, back to the original topic, everything I said in the thread bignasty linked too still holds true.

Location has a huge part, where are you from?

FWIW, insurance in the PNW judged the value of my '96 and '97 at ~$12k. Oregon does state that it is the market value for a like vehicle, and you can't find a '96 or '97 on a lot in as good shape or low miles (~150k) on the cheap, so that no doubt played a part.

For your vehicle, a few years older and 50k more miles would drop that some, but not a ton. Just my personal WAG I'd say maybe $8k-$9k, but I have no idea as to the condition of the vehicle, state specific insurance laws, or comp values which all play a part.

Most insurance co's won't pay for aftermarket upgrades unless they were declared and paid for as part of the policy. Did you claim them? It's not always worth it as often they can be swapped out (if the vehicle is bought back).

Don't accept their first offer. I've never had the first offer be the best one they'll give. They often hope that you'll accept it and save them a bunch of money.

Do learn the insurance laws in your state. Insurance co's will play fast and loose with them sometimes, and not give you what the law specifies they should. As an example, in Oregon they have to replace with like, but on my truck they wanted to total it out at around $6k value. It wasn't until I did my own comparison research and handed over a stack of print outs of dealer pricing for similar vehicles that they revised their estimate to more than twice their initial (which ended up not totaling the vehicle).

Do post pictures. We all love carnage shots.


Good luck with it all, and don't be afraid to ask questions.