My husband ws in a low speed accident, with damage to the front more on the passenger side. They say the frame is bent 10mm and it would cost to much in mechanic hours ,so of course they totaled it. we can buy it back for just under $5,000. though. What a joke, how could they total this vehicle and how can we get a second opinion
It is the insurance company who decides whether it is worth it or not to fix. If the repair is more than what the vehicle is worth, then it is a total loss. It is not just the damage that a vehicle has that determines that.
Take it to another shop and see what they say, that is the second opinion.
Here is how it works Blooppy…They “Total” your truck. Cut you a check for $xxxxx. They then turn around a sell the truck at a huge weekly auction where hundreds of vehicles just like yours are sold. “Re-builders”, shadowy, down at the end of the street then left along the fence and you will see it" operations where non-English speaking workers work overnight miracles and Presto! Your Silverado looks good as new and is back on the used car market or is loaded on a transport truck and gets exported to a third world country…This is a MAJOR underground industry and your insurance company works all the angles and percentages. Your truck will probably sell for less than $5000 at the auction, so they are trying to clip you again if you buy it back from them…How many MILES on the truck? Very important when assessing value…
I think a good body shop with a frame puller could straighten the frame. That’s the way it used to be done. I agree that you can rest assured that your truck will soon be on the road again in the US or a Latin American country.
I bet they would sell it to you for 5K,which is probably high book when running, I know it is for my 2004 F-150.
Here is a more logical and less paranoid explanation. True, it will go to an auction and maybe get bought by a rebuilder but most likely a salvage yard will buy it and part it out.
I would not buy the vehicle back if I were you. Any damage found after you settled with the insurance company will be out of your pocket, not the insurance companies.
If its totaled -that’s it. If the 5k is way off a reasonable book value you could go make your case with them. Bent frames are one thing - all the unknowns about damage to stuff mounted on the frame is another. Take the $5,000 and walk away. Turn the problem into an opportunity to update your ride.
When a vehicle is totaled and the owner wants to retain it the insurance company sells it back at far lower percentage than retail.
My point exactly, the are not offering to sell it back at far lower than retail,they are offering to sell it back at more than retail.
I would be inclined to search the market for a similar Chevrolet pick-up truck the same year as your truck at a dealer and see what the dealer will take for the truck. Then I would go after the insurance company for this amount of money. We had a 1988 Ford Taurus that was totaled by another party back in December of 1995. I called a dealer who knew my car and asked him the value. He said he would sell it on his lot for $4000. I then picked up a free publication at the grocery store and combed the local paper. Cars like mine were selling between $3800 and $4100. The insurance company wanted to only give me $3125. I asked the adjuster to locate a car for me and get a guaranteed price from the dealer. The adjuster said that he did not go shopping. I told him that I was paid $150 an hour for consulting work (that was my charge at the time) and I would invoice the company for my time. We settled for $4000.
If the frame is bent, I don’t want a vehicle. I know that frames can be straightened, but I don’t want to take a chance with alignment problems. If I were in your shoes, I would get the most I could from the insurance company and move on to another vehicle.
None of know the details of the vehicle but a bare bones Silverado reg cab with 50,000 miles has a clean retail of about $13,000. The $5,000 is far below retail but again, we don’t know any real details here.
I checked my F-150 (moderatley equiped with 80K) and can’t find anyone to list it over 5000.00. Does a silverado pull 8K more?
I checked my F-150 again and trade in value still is under 5K but private party value has gone up too about 6700. How does it happen that value goes up? (last time I checked was during the 4.00 gas era)
The insurance company wanted to only give me $3125. I asked the adjuster to locate a car for me and get a guaranteed price from the dealer. The adjuster said that he did not go shopping. I told him that I was paid $150 an hour for consulting work (that was my charge at the time) and I would invoice the company for my time. We settled for $4000.
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Ha Ha Ha Ha… It’s about time somebody screwed with the Ins. companies like they screw with us! Nice goin Triedaq
What I posted above is the condensed story. My son had taken this car to college and was working with a church. One family in the congregation needed to take their daughter back to an out of town college and couldn’t get their car started. My son loaned them his car. On the way out of town, a motorist got out of her lane and hit the car head-on. My son wasn’t even in the car. Since my son needed the car for his work, I told him that the insurance company should provide him a rental until we settled the issue. When my son inquired of the insurance company of the party that hit the car, he was told that they didn’t have the police report. He got the police report and then was told that they couldn’t do anything because the computers were down. The third day he was told that since he was under 25 they wouldn’t rent him a car. At that point, I told him to give me the telephone number of the insurance company. When I called, I used my doctor title (I’m a professor–I’m not the kind of doctor that does anybody any good). I had my graduate assistant in my office with me when I made the call. When I started to get the hassle, I told the person that if I had to make a 100 mile round trip to take care of the situation, I would charge them for my time. I then signaled my graduate assistant and she yelled out, “Doctor, you are needed immediately in the lab!”. I then told the insurance person that I had an emergency and would call back as soon as possible. “Don’t bother”, she said. “He has his rental car as of right now”. I didn’t tell the insurance company that I was needed in the computer lab. At any rate, my son called back an hour later and said that a rental car had been delivered to his door.
It was a couple days later that the adjuster called and said that the car was a total loss and he would send me a check for $3125. When I argued about the price, he said that he had a “computer accurate” report. I then told him that he needed to get a guaranteed price if he didn’t like the prices I had found. He told me most indignantly that he didn’t go shopping. It was then that I told him that if I had to search for a replacement car, I would charge for my time. He then responded, “I don’t have to listen to this crap”, and hung up. Since we had the rental car, I decided I would just wait for the next call. The following day he called and said, “We have to get together on this car business”. I responded, "Young man, I want two things from you: 1) an apology for your conduct on the telephone yesterday; and 2) $4000 for the 1988 Taurus that the party you insured destroyed. He replied, “I’m sending out a check to you for $4000. Send me the title when you receive the check”. He then hung up. I only got one of my two requests, but I did get the better request.
EXCELLENT !! The $4,000. request was the better of the two anyway. The apology would have been a hollow victory comeing from that mutt, since they probably would have not sincerely meant it anyway.
I looked up clean retail, thats the difference.