The Steve Austin Project (1 Viewer)

[Fj60+]

I was an insurance adjuster for 10 years…the insurance company will only look at comparable vehicles in your area, most insurance companies will go off kbb or nada value pre-accident actual cash value, and aftermarket parts…for the most part…don’t hold too much value.
Aftermarket parts are outlined in your policy so I would check how they word it.
Having receipts for the aftermarket work is helpful but I wouldn’t expect to get all of it, in most cases, if they cover it, they will total amount and give you a percentage of it. Every company is different.

The insurance company doesn’t care if you take the rental or not. Most people think- oh I’m saving you guys money so add it to my value - they are completely separate things in the insurance companies eyes - they don’t care about people trying to save them money because they money is already set aside for each policy. Once they determine it’s a total loss- whether or not you keep it or not - the insurance company will report it as totaled to the dmv, in most cases this is not reversible.

Advice: be upfront with your adjuster on what you want so they can set the expectation off the bat. You can negotiate value up to a point, if you hold out for what you want and kick and scream, it may makes things worse. (When I was adjusting this happened A LOT) they can and will put you off- dragging the process out. Be kind. It goes a long way.

 

[doru]

If you don't like what the insurance offers you and you do not get anywhere, hire someone that has experience on this to negociate it. This is not unlike having a lawyer or having an accountant negociate with IRS. The rate I think is $500. Some do a free estimate before, to honestly let you know if the insurance is actually right or if you get any additional money after paying their fee. Some just take your money so be careful and shop around.

 

[kcjaz]

I was an insurance adjuster for 10 years…the insurance company will only look at comparable vehicles in your area, most insurance companies will go off kbb or nada value pre-accident actual cash value, and aftermarket parts…for the most part…don’t hold too much value.
Aftermarket parts are outlined in your policy so I would check how they word it.
Having receipts for the aftermarket work is helpful but I wouldn’t expect to get all of it, in most cases, if they cover it, they will total amount and give you a percentage of it. Every company is different.

The insurance company doesn’t care if you take the rental or not. Most people think- oh I’m saving you guys money so add it to my value - they are completely separate things in the insurance companies eyes - they don’t care about people trying to save them money because they money is already set aside for each policy. Once they determine it’s a total loss- whether or not you keep it or not - the insurance company will report it as totaled to the dmv, in most cases this is not reversible.

Advice: be upfront with your adjuster on what you want so they can set the expectation off the bat. You can negotiate value up to a point, if you hold out for what you want and kick and scream, it may makes things worse. (When I was adjusting this happened A LOT) they can and will put you off- dragging the process out. Be kind. It goes a long way.

thanks. The one 2013 "in my area" sold for $52K and had 104K miles so maybe that will help. Only mod was ICON suspension. KBB is what I'm afraid of though. Just have to wait and see how this goes. I agree that being nice is usually always the best approach.

 

[KShorthairs]

I just bought a 2013 in KC for mid 30s. Have docs if that helps as a comp. Also know several adjusters from my buddy's body shop back in the day. Let me know if I can help.

I used to get some of my work or farm trucks salvage title and fix them up. It is kind of liberating knowing you don't have to worry about it...

 

[kcjaz]

Still waiting on insurance. Perhaps all the info I sent them has bogged them down. We'll see.

In the meantime, I'm thinking about various repair approaches. What I hope to do is get the best deal I can from insurance and rebuild the truck myself. As I'm going to be into the roof and will have all interior panels and headliner out, and will have to replace/fix roof rack, I was thinking about ways to reinforce the rack or just build one. During the recovery we did put a winch line over the roof and down to the slider on the passenger side to prevent the truck from rolling after cutting the tree down that was holding the rig on the slope. The roof and passenger side was already messed up so more damage didn't matter. The winch line may have made the roof dent a little worse on the driver side roof but it was already tweaked from the roof rack hitting a tree on the other side. Here is a video of the recovery.

This has got me thinking about adding some kind of anchor points like a recovery point on the rack rails. I'm sure that this would require some substantial structure like full roll bar cage or something. I did find these via Google which are interesting but likely don't work on a US 200 and I'm sure would be super expensive:

Safety Devices - » Expedition Products » Expedition

www.safetydevices.com

TGSWEB2-2

RLB PRADO - Land Cruiser Prado roll cage

toyota-gib.com

Anyone gone roll cage yet on a 200?

 

[kcjaz]

Update:
After jacking with insurance for 6+ weeks, I finally have resolution. They initially totaled the truck with a value at $38.5 K and repair estimate at $28k which put it at slightly less than the 75% KS threshold. I sent them all my build invoices and they just now came back with $51k pre accident truck value so whole thing will be fully covered less my $500 deductible. I wasn't expecting they'd give me the added value for my mods though I argued for it. Now just time to get it done.

I’m currently in route to LCDC, in my Tacoma. See some of you there.

 

[tbisaacs]

Update:
After jacking with insurance for 6+ weeks, I finally have resolution. They initially totaled the truck with a value at $38.5 K and repair estimate at $28k which put it at slightly less than the 75% KS threshold. I sent them all my build invoices and they just now came back with $51k pre accident truck value so whole thing will be fully covered less my $500 deductible. I wasn't expecting they'd give me the added value for my mods though I argued for it. Now just time to get it done.

I’m currently in route to LCDC, in my Tacoma. See some of you there.

Wow. Was not expecting a happy ending. Enjoy LCDC.

 

[TheComedian]

Sounds awesome. Lucky you!
So now it is time to use a hammer, making everything tidy and beeing happy about an offroad car where you don’t have to care anymore about battle damage…
ok maybe invest in a new hood, window and fender. I think if you invenst like 10k into the metalwork should be fine if you have an good workshop around.
Got my 200 back on Friday with new handmade sills for around 1,7k

 

[kcjaz]

Sounds awesome. Lucky you!
So now it is time to use a hammer, making everything tidy and beeing happy about an offroad car where you don’t have to care anymore about battle damage…
ok maybe invest in a new hood, window and fender. I think if you invenst like 10k into the metalwork should be fine if you have an good workshop around.
Got my 200 back on Friday with new handmade sills for around 1,7k

Agreed. I do not need to make it show room pretty as it definitely morphing into a trail rig and I hang out with 80s, F-toy, a 40 on 40” tires that all get trailered to location.

That said, I wasn’t expecting a full repair from insurance and a $51K value. That means the repair can go to $38k. So I think the decision is really go full on OEM repair as that just costs me $500 (deductible) or try to come in well under the $28k estimate and pocket some cash for other things. repair time is a major factor for me too. While I’m pretty sure the $28k estimate can be beat if I’m willing to cut some corners and do some of the work my self but that will take time.

I’ve got a couple weeks to mull this over.

 

[kcjaz]

Thought some of you may be interested in the insurance company's valuation report. The use CCC to do the the valuations of the "pre-accident vehicles." When I gave them all of my invoices for mods (totaling an embarrassing $36K) they ran the truck as a "specialty vehicle" which is key here. Attached here is the report. You can see that they find comps (in this case just two) and do "puts and takes" for for mileage, OEM features, and specialty mods (no KBB thank God!). The value adjustments for mods are shown on pages 9 and 10. They didn't do this totally right as there seems to be discrepancies between their checks and X's vs. the dollars shown in the 3 columns but this does give you an idea of what they think certain mods are worth. They gave zero credit for skids (but did for sliders?) and radio/HU upgrades (didn't really surprise me there).

Overall, besides the fact that tis has all worked out in my favor, I think that the overall CCC valuation is pretty fair and accurate. Going into this I would have put the value of my built rig at $50K. If I had put it up for sale I would have asked $55K and taken $50. My basis was my own "comp research". CCC had also came back with a $38K value for the "stock" 2013 LC which is also pretty good and right at what I'd say (maybe even a bit generous) for a 2013 LC with 176K miles.

 

[YellowJacket]

Thought some of you may be interested in the insurance company's valuation report. The use CCC to do the the valuations of the "pre-accident vehicles." When I gave them all of my invoices for mods (totaling an embarrassing $36K) they ran the truck as a "specialty vehicle" which is key here. Attached here is the report. You can see that they find comps (in this case just two) and do "puts and takes" for for mileage, OEM features, and specialty mods (no KBB thank God!). The value adjustments for mods are shown on pages 9 and 10. They didn't do this totally right as there seems to be discrepancies between their checks and X's vs. the dollars shown in the 3 columns but this does give you an idea of what they think certain mods are worth. They gave zero credit for skids (but did for sliders?) and radio/HU upgrades (didn't really surprise me there).

Overall, besides the fact that tis has all worked out in my favor, I think that the overall CCC valuation is pretty fair and accurate. Going into this I would have put the value of my built rig at $50K. If I had put it up for sale I would have asked $55K and taken $50. My basis was my own "comp research". CCC had also came back with a $38K value for the "stock" 2013 LC which is also pretty good and right at what I'd say (maybe even a bit generous) for a 2013 LC with 176K miles.

Thanks for sharing this! Seems like pretty good news considering.

 

[TeCKis300]

Sorry this happened and glad to hear that you're well and the rig will be taken care of.

This mirrors much of what my buddy just went through after flopping his rig. The values worked out similarly. Though he opted to let insurance total the rig based on a generous valuation. He was able to turn around and buy a new to him freshy one with lower mileage a couple days ago. And they are letting him stop by the yard to grab most of his aftermarket parts this week, so wrench party. His mods are mostly ancillary bolt-on which are much easier to recover than your integrated bits, so this path made sense for him. He is also back into a vehicle with no downtime other than to re-apply his mods slowly.

Looking forward to your renewal build.

 

[kcjaz]

Sorry this happened and glad to hear that you're well and the rig will be taken care of.

This mirrors much of what my buddy just went through after flopping his rig. The values worked out similarly. Though he opted to let insurance total the rig based on a generous valuation. He was able to turn around and buy a new to him freshy one with lower mileage a couple days ago. And they are letting him stop by the yard to grab most of his aftermarket parts this week, so wrench party. His mods are mostly ancillary bolt-on which are much easier to recover than your integrated bits, so this path made sense for him. He is also back into a vehicle with no downtime other than to re-apply his mods slowly.

Looking forward to your renewal build.

Thanks. If they had totaled it at $51k value and if I could strip everything off and transfer over I would have to think hard about that. But when the valuation was $38k, the math doesn’t really work out.

I did find a 2013 near me for sale with only 45k miles and they were asking $52k. I have had the thought of buying it, transferring all my mods, then selling the wreck as is and use the proceeds plus the $28K I have from insurance to pay for the new LC. Assuming I could get $20k for the wreck, that gives me $48 toward the new rig. With 10% KS sales tax I’ll spend $57K on the new rig. All going that route does for me is reducing my OD miles from 176k to 45k. That’s a lot but I’d have spent $9k to do it plus all the hassle and time. Just not worth it to me.

 

[YellowJacket]

I shared your market valuation report with my insurance guy hoping to understand how I'd fair in your same situation. He had this to say and I was wondering if you had any further thoughts you could share:
"That is the third party that the majority of insurance companies use. Is he having an issue with the value? Keep in mind aftermarket parts and not covered unless you schedule them on the policy and pay an additional premium."

 

[kcjaz]

I shared your market valuation report with my insurance guy hoping to understand how I'd fair in your same situation. He had this to say and I was wondering if you had any further thoughts you could share:
"That is the third party that the majority of insurance companies use. Is he having an issue with the value? Keep in mind aftermarket parts and not covered unless you schedule them on the policy and pay an additional premium."

I’m happy with the valuation. They effectively added $13k to the valuation for the mods.

I don’t disagree with what your friend said about having to specifically schedule aftermarket parts/mods in your policy as probably being the norm. In my case though, my policy is silent and according to my adjuster, apparently in KS a policy has to have specific language regarding this. If the policy doesn’t specifically exclude aftermarket stuff then the valuation has to be based on the actual value as the vehicle was before the accident. I’m not 100% sure I really believe the explanation about KS have regulations on this. I think the adjuster just asked CCC to run it as a specialized vehicle so the did. I get the feeling all the folks I am working with are overloaded paper pushers and can barely keep up and they don’t really care one way or the other. It’s about widgets per day. I think it was just easier to run the truck as a specialized vehicle rather than arguing with me.

 

[Tex68w]

Thought some of you may be interested in the insurance company's valuation report. The use CCC to do the the valuations of the "pre-accident vehicles." When I gave them all of my invoices for mods (totaling an embarrassing $36K) they ran the truck as a "specialty vehicle" which is key here. Attached here is the report. You can see that they find comps (in this case just two) and do "puts and takes" for for mileage, OEM features, and specialty mods (no KBB thank God!). The value adjustments for mods are shown on pages 9 and 10. They didn't do this totally right as there seems to be discrepancies between their checks and X's vs. the dollars shown in the 3 columns but this does give you an idea of what they think certain mods are worth. They gave zero credit for skids (but did for sliders?) and radio/HU upgrades (didn't really surprise me there).

Overall, besides the fact that tis has all worked out in my favor, I think that the overall CCC valuation is pretty fair and accurate. Going into this I would have put the value of my built rig at $50K. If I had put it up for sale I would have asked $55K and taken $50. My basis was my own "comp research". CCC had also came back with a $38K value for the "stock" 2013 LC which is also pretty good and right at what I'd say (maybe even a bit generous) for a 2013 LC with 176K miles.

I am very happy for you, this seems like the best possible outcome you could have had. Not gonna lie, I'd be tempted to buy the low mile used one near you and transfer parts over from your old rig then sell it, but that's me. I am totally blown away that they offered you any aftermarket mods/accessories value beyond a few thousand dollars as most states and insurance companies require you to have a separate schedule and coverage for those adds. I am 'THAT GUY" when it comes to random crap luck and there's no way in hell I'd have your random stroke of insurance man being friendly that you fell into, you're a lucky guy haha.

 

[kcjaz]

Update:

As is often the case, things that seem to good to be true end up just that. The body repair shop very quickly got to a supplement claim that will total my rig (initial estimate was $28K for repair but when the shop got into it the supplement was an additional $32K for a total of $60K). The only good part is that it is now totaled at a higher value that includes credit for my mods so I'll at least end up with more money to go buy a new rig or decide to just go full on trail rig with the wreck. Either way, I'll be taking the Total payout and buying the salvage truck back.

I'm most likely to go the buy a new stock 200 and transfer parts route. Economically, makes the most sense. The hard part will be deciding what to do with the wreck after I pull all the aftermarket and newer parts off. The sensible thing will be to send it to Copart for auction and recoup as much money as possible but the little devil on my shoulder tells me to keep it because I'll never be able to have a spare drive train, wiring harness, ECUs cheaper than this. Essentially, if I just keep the wreck, it will effectively cost me $9 or $10K. It would auction for $19 or $20K . I know, smarter to auction it and put the $10K in the bank to pay for the future engine replacement if I ever need it. Just seems like like it would be cool having a spare drive train on the shelf.

 

[Tex68w]

Take the money and run. Auction the leftover carcass.

 

[grinchy]

This is your opportunity to have a 200 buggy.

 

[kcjaz]

This is your opportunity to have a 200 buggy.

Yes it is. Fenders are over rated. 37s clear now.