Things that go Bump

[Mulva]

Just my luck. Some dingbat decided to make a left hand turn into my lane the other week at an icy intersection, the laws of physics took place that say 'No two objects can occupy the same space at the same time'. Needless to say the passenger front of the mini van is missing a bunch of plastic and the front wheel as a good 45 degree bend in it.

My cruiser (90 HDJ81) ended up with a tjm bumper looking like the letter V, broken headlights and front grill and an accordian looking hood due to the light bars on the tjm being bushed against it.

I figure there is ~$7000 of damage and the other insurance company says their driver is 100% at fault. They have towed it to an autobody shop and am waiting to hear back from them and the adjuster.

The rig was in excellent shape (imported from OutBack Imports). There doesnt appear to be any damage to the frame, engine, etc.....it was leaking antifreeze after the accident.

FYI the beast acted like a tank and had not problems driving it. The police had a different opinion as it had no headlights.

I just have PLPD insurance so I will be dealing with the other insurance company directly. I have the feeling they will want to write it off and pay me their north american blue book value.

Any suggestions on how I should approach this?

 

[canucksafari]

Pics? It is kind of hard to say until we see the damage and it is confirmed that there is no frame damage. I presume if the front bumper was a V then the TJM bumper was their alloy one.

If it was ICBC, they would likely want to write it off and place a not rebuild-able status on it. If the frame is fine and the damage is limited to the body and bumper, then you might be able to get a decent deal out of it. I would look at taking the write-off and buying it back for the residual value (parts/scrap value). Then I would look for the front body and mechanical parts (likely from down south). get the body parts resprayed for a colour match and rebuild. First make sure you check the territory regulations regarding a write-off and getting it rebuilt.

I do not think you will get what you want or need to replace it with another rig. But it never hurts to try. Realize that you are negotiating with them, so start from a high position so they feel good about moving to an amount they can feel good about too. Did you have any physical injuries? I hope you at least went and saw a doctor for you or any other occupant with you. That stuff has to be documented. It also puts a bit of fear into the insurer not to dick around with you. Physical injuries often amount to a lot more money for an insurer than the value of the vehicles involved. I learned about that the hard way when my wife got hit by a red light runner. I wondered why they were so nice to us and then had a friend ask what they paid for the concussion injury.

 

[Mulva]

My bad on the pictures.

Here are a few taken with the telephone. Did not get any pictures of underneath but it looked good. TGIF and almost time

 

[Mulva]

Here is the picture of the offender. I believe that their 2010 caravan is in really bad shape due to the front passengers wheel wobble. Funny it is still loosing parts!

Thanks for the insurance information. Will wait and see what they come back with. Am hoping that they look at comparables and not some NAmerican blue book value.

No one was hurt and the doctor gave me the ok to

 

[canucksafari]

It looks very repairable. You may not even need new fenders. can you open both front doors without them rubbing? Are there any creases further back in the fenders? Make sure you look at the inner as well as the outer fenders for damage. Look for movement and damage at the body mounts even if you don't see any frame damage. I am sure the adjuster will check all of this. You'll definitely need a new front bar rad, rad mount and front cross members, new rad fan and clutch, an AC condenser, lights, etc.

Get them to give you the money so you can buy and install a real steel front bar later. Just get a quote from TJM USA on a replacement alloy bar shipped to you and submit it.

For parts, you got TLCA & MUD member shops in BC who likely have gently used 81 parts: ATEB, EBI, Radd Cruisers.

They cannot just go on the book value of an 80. They are totally different machines. Even ICBC can not go on the book value. Anyone can successfully argue the real value by searching listings of comparable 81s, printing them out and submitting them to the insurer. In your case, you also have to add the cost of getting a replacement vehicle to the Yukon. They may not agree, but I would submit that as well.

Good luck. But I don't think it is a write-off. And I hate seeing repairable RHDs written off because it just allows the industry to fudge their statistics and say RHDs are more likely to be written off. Then we all have trouble getting them insured.

 

[Mulva]

Thanks for the information I will keep you posted on what the outcome is on this. I would imagine I will be driving this Ford Edge rental that has the worlds worst blind spots for a while!

 

[Mulva]

UPDATE.....

Well after 7 weeks the insurance has decided that my Crusher has destroyed its last minivan and they are working on a total loss estimate for my truck.

Friday the adjuster came back with an estimate of $8000 and I asked them if it was fair to trade in a mint Landcruiser for a cavalier.

Any ideas on its current value (prior to accident)? 178,000 km, Full syntheics, twice yearly oil changes no leaks brought in by Outback Imports in 2006, only owner. I figure it is around $15+

I sent them supporting documentation on why it is worth much more than $8000. Service records, bill of sales, etc...

 

[IanB]

If you bought it through Outback imports then you should have their website and bill of sale to support that your truck was not comparable to some of the 2nd rate junk you can find for sale further south, and demand they "put you back in the position you were in prior to the loss". If they are being resistant insist they get an appraiser involved, or pay for one out of pocket if need be, to research and realize what you had and make recommendations as such. You are in a negotiation, and how well you come out of this is up to you.

You could also come out of this with your truck and a cash settlement and rebuild it without a total loss designation ever being placed on the title.

 

[ForealBoreal]

contact john at Radd Cruiser and ask him if he knows of anything for sale. He might.
Start printing out HDJ81 adds that are similar calibre to your truck if your not going to fix it.
Look into buying it back and parting it out if your not going to fix it!

 

[IanB]

Look into buying it back and parting it out if your not going to fix it!

The only issue with that plan is shipping prices from the Yukon, that's going to eat into your profit margin in a big way if I had to guess.

 

[canucksafari]

The only issue with that plan is shipping prices from the Yukon, that's going to eat into your profit margin in a big way if I had to guess.

There are other 81s in the Yukon, so he has some local market if he wants to go down that path. Small stuff is pretty easy to ship in the mail or Greyhound. I suspect there is a fair amount of empty backhaul coming South, so one could likely find decent prices for the bigger items from truckers. It would take a bit of research.

 

[mac]

Lots of freight options out of the Yukon. I bought my first 80 from Dawson and it had to come in a trailer as it had a dead engine. Sending the whole rig down for someone doing a conversion would be easy.

 

[Mulva]

Well after a week, the wonderful people at the insurance company came back with a one time deal of $10000. Which ended today about three hours ago.

Kind of weird that it was a one time only offer and it was only good for a couple of hours.

I politely told them I can't make such a quick decision on thousands of dollars and would get back to them next week. Not too sure how important it is for insurance companies to get these kinds of things off their books.

I will hope for $11000 plus the vehicle.
hope it isn't wishful thinking!

 

[IanB]

Not too sure how important it is for insurance companies to get these kinds of things off their books.

I will hope for $11000 plus the vehicle.
hope it isn't wishful thinking!

Not very important really, not to the point that there's any reason to put a time limit on a settlement offer like that.

 

[canucksafari]

Not very important really, not to the point that there's any reason to put a time limit on a settlement offer like that.

I agree. It is an insurance tactic to get you to settle by thinking you will get less if you don't say yes right away. Keep records of everything they say and offer you. But I doubt you will get 11,000 plus the vehicle. If they know anything, they know there is likely about $2000 value in it to sell to a wrecker. The value to a wrecker is more like $4000-6000 parted out. Everyone has to make money. If they offered me $8000-$10000 with the vehicle, I'd take it and run. The provision of course is that it has to be rebuildable. I don't know about up there but ICBC has been putting a provision on RHD write-off that the vehicle can never be rebuilt. They require photo proof the the winning bidder actually parts out and scraps the whole vehicle.

Frankly, I do not know why they are writing it off. What actually has to be repaired? I just don't see $10,000 worth of damage. Did you see a detailed damage report repair estimate? Makes me think they are playing the same game as ICBC to inflate the stats so as to eventually prevent registration and insurance of RHDs.

 

[Mulva]

Well, after 2 and a bit months a settlement of $10,500 was reached without the vehicle. They would not give me the option of buying it back. Back on the prowl for another vehicle.........

 

[canucksafari]

Well, after 2 and a bit months a settlement of $10,500 was reached without the vehicle. They would not give me the option of buying it back. Back on the prowl for another vehicle.........

They will likely sell it to one of the local wreckers. They could put a condition on it that it is dismantled. You could like buy it from them. In such a case, the removal of the engine would suffice the insurer. The private insurer, unlike ICBC, does not have the power to prevent someone from buying a total loss vehicle and rebuilding it. If it pass inspection, it gets rebuild status and is registered again. Not sure if you want ot go this route. You may be able to score it as a cheap parts vehicle. The scrap yard probably will not pay much over $1000 for it. You can try to offer them $2500. Then either keep the whole thing or part out the pieces you don't want. The engine and drive line is easily worth twice that if it is in good condition. They just might bite on a quick flip up there.

 

[onefsatchevy]

They can and will write it off so it can't be fixed. Happened to me. I did manage to get mine back, it had really low miles so I got 16 for it, and just for kicks had an auto body shop look at it, about 6k to repair. Total scam by the insurance company. I fought for a year to get it re-listed as reparable, even went to the government of alberta. Nothing doing. I ended up selling it to a guy who was going to do a swap for someone in the US. I bought another 81, and after 6months my insurance company sent out a guy to make sure I didn't fix the old one and give a fake VIN, I had to prove it was a different truck (even though EVERYTHING was different, colour, interior, model, transmission). What a joke...