Got Totaled, Again

[Retired W4]

The last time I went from ATL to Dayton, OH and was 5 miles from my sisters house and a girl rear-ended my F-150, after she side swiped 3 other cars. Totaled!

This time I drove from Montrose, GA (2 Hour drive) and was 2 minutes from home when a couple stoners rear-ended my Colorado LT. There were no skid marks. Total loss. They were driving his grand fathers wheel chair rigged Town & Country (w/ lift & hand controls). It too was a total loss. I feel for dummies GF.

Got a new Colorado 4x4 out of the deal but the hassle has been just that.

 

[Bald1]

Was Colorado totaled due to frame damage?

 

[M29since14]

It must be a poor design to total an obviously valuable vehicle with what appears to be fairly minor damage. I’ve seen a few cases like this recently that made me scratch my head a bit. What is going on here?

Yes, too bad for the fellow that needs that van. A real inconvenience for him, I’m sure. Trust you suffered no serious harm. Driving isn’t what it used to be.

 

[Heinz]

It must be a poor design to total an obviously valuable vehicle with what appears to be fairly minor damage. I’ve seen a few cases like this recently that made me scratch my head a bit. What is going on here?

Yes, too bad for the fellow that needs that van. A real inconvenience for him, I’m sure. Trust you suffered no serious harm. Driving isn’t what it used to be.

Look at the pictures again, the van went up underneath the bumper, the bed is lopsided in the photo. The whole back frame is probably bent. And the OP may have had to fight to get it totaled.

 

[glowe]

There seems to be big discrepancies when dealing with insurance adjusters. I feel that they may have too much latitude and some are by-the-book and others total a fixable vehicle so they do not have to deal with the owner. It seems simple, if you can repair for less than the value of the vehicle, fix it!

Another reason why I am glad to be in the wilderness. I would have a hard time finding a car to run into up here!!

 

[Retired W4]

I actually wanted the 2016 repaired. USAA valued it at $25Gs+ and the body shop said $15+ to fix it. I bought it 3 years, 9 months ago for $24 and got $25+ in the settlement. The trailer hitch took the hit then on to the frame. I was stopped waiting for the vehicle in front to turn left. The moron behind me was doing about 40, looking at a girl walking down the street. No attempt to slow prior to impact. The hitch went all the way into the spare. The town & Country is very heavy the way it was rigged out. Minor whiplash for me and my passenger. Thank God for high back headrests.

The salvage company will make a fortune on the parts.

 

[H Richard]

My Granddaughter car was in a hail storm (in Denver), about 10 months ago. She drove it 9 or 10 months then took it to the Insurance Co. (claims valid within 1 year of damage), and they totaled it and offered more than she had paid for it 2 years before.

 

[LVSteve]

Looking at how far the hitch has been pushed back, I wouldn't want it repaired. The frame is beyond "proof tested" for me.

 

[Rodan]

The cost of body shop repairs ain't what it used to be. For example, we had a Camaro a few years ago that got backed into in a parking lot. This was $7000 in repairs:

Most shop rates are probably 30% higher now than in 2019 when that happened. Not to mention the increase in parts prices.

 

[sophie]

If it wasn’t for bad luck, you wouldn’t have no luck at all. Dang, make you almost want to stay at home.

 

[WR Moore]

I put my late son through an auto technical school. To save weight, there are now a bunch of parts that are made of low alloy, high strength steel. Since the steel is stronger, they can use thinner sections, saving weight. Those parts can't be safely returned to their original shape/reused. Or, it might be cheaper to replace than fix so far as time is concerned. There's been a lot of that going on over decades.

This isn't to say that there aren't shops out there that say "no problem" and ignore the manufacturers specs. While the maker may/may not be padding profits, the safety aspect is questionable. Those shops may well be betting the customers life that the "old way" works.

 

[two-bit cowboy]

Glad you and your passenger are okay.

Hope you have another Vietnam Service Medal with the chopper
inset for your new tailgate. I hadn't seen one of those -- terrific.

 

[Doug M.]

The other side of this may be that the crumpling is intentional as a means of taking the energy and diverting it from the occupants. A guy I know had a nearly new Subaru Ascent totaled in a crash, but walked away unharmed.

 

[ameridaddy]

Don't settle til you're sure "minor whiplash" isn't chronic.
Glad you're OK otherwise.
That moron should lose his license for a year.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Glad you weren't injured.

Kudos to the engineers that designed this crumple zone as it saved my daughter's foot from being crushed and amputated.

 

[Bugkiller99]

Have a friend who hit a deer. Didn’t look too bad. But the cost the ship the parts from Germany pushed it over the line and it was “totaled”. It was a VW.

 

[Rudi]

But at least you are OK.

 

[glenwolde]

I don't know, they claim they can straighten frames but everyone I have experience with did not work out well. They were just never quite right. Weird tire wear, or funky handling, or repeated oddball mechanical failures. I'd prefer a total.

 

[Telecaster]

This is a thousand bucks of repair here. I said fuggetaboutit. Don't touch my car, they'll probably give it back with something new broken, anyway.

 

[Jebus35745]

If the frame on a truck is bent, being so tough to pull they would replace it. Never had to replace a frame and never wanted to, what a pain in the ***. Did body work my whole life. Larry

 

[Fishinfool]

Glad no one was seriously injured. A good friend of mine just went thru something similar with his 3 year old Tacoma. Sitting at an intersection, the dump truck in front of him decided to back up, crushing the front of his truck.

Thru interaction with both his and the other drivers insurance, it became clear his truck was worth almost as much in parts as it was running. Seems late model factory Toyota Tacoma parts are hard to get and are in demand. Parting out a high demand vehicle seems to result in little to no financial loss for the insurance company.

The at fault insurance co. offered him $14,000 for the trucks "repair" Two body shops laughed at the 14k, telling him good luck getting the parts, not to mention labor. Eventually he claimed the loss with his own insurance co., as he was lucky enough to have full replacement coverage (A very good idea, it turns out). He picked up a new 2023 Tacoma last week, PIF, except for the 5k he still owed on the old truck.

Oh, and an eye opener R/E prices. A little over 3 years ago, he paid about $34,000 for the truck. The identical replacement was $44,000.

Larry

 

[Farmer17]

I just a got a little hail damage on my Ram work pickup with 150K miles. You really can't see it unless you get your head down in bright light and carefully look across the hood. The insurance company examined it about 10 minutes and is sending me a check for 3 grand and I'm not going to have it fixed so I was pretty thrilled about getting the dough.

 

[arjay]

Was rear ended in my 97 f150 years ago and the damage didn’t look bad other than the bed being tilted down a bit.When the adjuster came by several days later he just totalled it (bent frame behind the axle)The explorer I’m driving now was left in the driveway when a hellacious thunderstorm hit. By the time I opened the garage door from the inside the hail was golf ball sized and I just thought nope! It was 8/yrs old,had 70,000 miles and looked new.They totalled it and I bought it back for $900 lol. Looks good from 30’ away! That storm trashed my tool trailer and the houses roof too.

 

[Narragansett]

Geeez, a good body shop should be able to buff that out.

 

[SMSgt]

I've been rear-ended four times since I moved to FL in '93, three times while sitting at a traffic light. The fourth was when slowing to avoid running over an animal. I'll never do that again.

 

[WardenRoss]

The last time I went from ATL to Dayton, OH and was 5 miles from my sisters house and a girl rear-ended my F-150, after she side swiped 3 other cars. Totaled!

This time I drove from Montrose, GA (2 Hour drive) and was 2 minutes from home when a couple stoners rear-ended my Colorado LT. There were no skid marks. Total loss. They were driving his grand fathers wheel chair rigged Town & Country (w/ lift & hand controls). It too was a total loss. I feel for dummies GF.

Got a new Colorado 4x4 out of the deal but the hassle has been just that.

Dang. Sorry to hear!

Did you attend the auction?

,

 

[sceva]

Back in late 2013 I picked up my 08 Corolla at the dealer where it had just receiver a new (rebuilt) engine on their dime (That's another story) headed home and had gone about about 1 mile when I stopped for people waiting to turn. Next thing I hear is tires squealing and BOOM; the driver told the police he was only moving about 20 miles per hour but I don't think they believed them. Totaled my car, badly damaged the one in from of mine. It went to the scrapyard with a new engine and four two month old tires. and yes, insurance took that into account and settled fairly.

 

[ServiceGun]

Three years ago had an accident with my 2015 Toyota Tacoma. 59K miles.
Apparently it was cheaper for the insurance company to pay me off and sell the damaged truck than it was to fix it so that's what they did.
The truck was registered in Pennsylvania and insurance companies there have that option.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

I actually wanted the 2016 repaired. USAA valued it at $25Gs+ and the body shop said $15+ to fix it. I bought it 3 years, 9 months ago for $24 and got $25+ in the settlement. The trailer hitch took the hit then on to the frame. I was stopped waiting for the vehicle in front to turn left. The moron behind me was doing about 40, looking at a girl walking down the street. No attempt to slow prior to impact. The hitch went all the way into the spare. The town & Country is very heavy the way it was rigged out. Minor whiplash for me and my passenger. Thank God for high back headrests.

The salvage company will make a fortune on the parts.

For a 7 year old truck you paid $24k for three years and nine months ago? I'd say you did well. DO NOT forget to make them pay the sales tax as well. ALSO I would suspect that an impact of that magnitude is going ot give you physical problems. DO NOT settle ant personal injury claim until you are sure you are not seriously hurt. TMJ is a real posibility and sometimes will not manifest itself immediately. Not trolling for work, but just pointing out stuff I have learned in over 40 years of practicing personal injury law scattered in amongst the other stuff. Believe it or not sometimes you are injured LESS when you do not see it coming and tense up before the hit as long as you are properly restrained. You have also learned that a trailer hitch is perhaps the best rear impact protection you can have. It seems to act as an added crumple zone.

 

[cmj8591]

ALWAYS take the ride in the ambulance!