Experience with Insurance co total and buyback?

[Garbage_Mechan]

A close friend of mine has a 97 F250 4x4 Powerstroke diesel auto extended cab with 280,000 miles that I help him maintain. Yes I know it's not an IDI but that has nothing to with my question.
About 4am this morning on the way to work he hit a couple of black cows. Took out the grille and headlights. Bent hood, left fender, and left door. Bumper brackets bent a little but I think bumper is OK. Minor dent behind left door. Completely driveable, no frame damage.
This truck is well maintained all stock and kept up well. The only thing it needs is the left seat bottom reupholstered.The paint is very good, no dents.
He has full coverage insurance on it with State Farm. The adjuster came out same day, looked at it 15 minutes an pronounced it a total. I expected this to happen, and had advised him not to settle so quickly, to argue the value and the buy back, also not to end up with a salvage title. Waiting to hear insurance co reply. I know you have to stand up to them.

Anyone been through this lately or have any advice?

Hoping Towcat might chime in since he is in the business.

 

[Koch13351]

I went through this when I got into an accident in October. Someone made a left hand turn, directly into my front drivers side tire, while I was going through an intersection with the right of way. It was a Mazda 6, and the front end of her car got pretty much sheared off. My truck on the other hand got no body damage from it. But from the shock of the impact, the sector shaft of my steering box snapped. As you can imagine, the tie rod ends took a beating as well. And the upper balljoint on the drivers side was damaged. Her insurance company totaled my truck. The buyback was only about $250, so I was cut a check for approximately $3500. Now, I'm not sure why they insisted on totaling my truck with no major damage, as it only cost around $600 in parts to fix (I did all tie rods, balljoints, bearings, rotors, brake pads, brake lines, etc. on both sides). The weird thing is, and maybe it's because the vehicle title transfer was still in process, I got my new title, and it's clean. Not salvaged. In the paperwork I received from her insurance company, it clearly states 'total loss' and one of the things listed on the deductions from my payout was a salvage title application fee of $20.

 

[pafixitman]

No real experience other than I have a Hyundai Elantra at the body shop for over 6 weeks now. It is all based on cost to repair versus Fair Market Value - and there in lies the problem. The body shop actually stopped work on mine to talk to the adjuster again. Original estimate was 3900. I was rear ended at a traffic light but she caught the tie down hook under the bumper and shoved the trunk floor forward. Never caught the "frame" rails. All sheet metal. BS was comparing to the wonderful ex rental car market and thought the car was worth about 9k. Adjuster booked it at over 15k due to non rental, very low miles and over all condition. In Maryland you need to hit 75% of FMV to be deemed a total. I highly doubt he can buy it back and not get a salvage title, but with the miles and his desire to not sell it, who cares.

 

[jwalterus]

AThe adjuster came out same day, looked at it 15 minutes an pronounced it a total. I expected this to happen, and had advised him not to settle so quickly, to argue the value and the buy back, also not to end up with a salvage title. Waiting to hear insurance co reply. I know you have to stand up to them.

I dunno about CA, but in ND, it'd have a salvage title regardless, state law, and I believe it's going to happen that way in any state, going to have to repair all the damage and make sure all required equipment (lights, mirrors, horn, etc) are functional and have it inspected. Also, his truck will not be eligible for full coverage anymore (I don't know why he'd be carrying full coverage on a 20 year old truck unless he had a loan on it anyway, and a salvage title means nothing if he's keeping it). His insurance company IS NOT required to sell him back the vehicle, so I wouldn't argue that part too much or they may withhold the buyback offer.
In my experience with insurance companies, they consider an F-150 a comparable vehicle for pricing as well for a 250, about the only thing he'll be able to argue on that score is that they have to be the same body style (ext. cab long bed, 4wd vs 2wd), they should give him a list of the vehicles they are comparing for pricing on fair market value, also it will most likely be based on trade-in value, he can argue it should be private party value. State Farm is one of the easier companies to work with in that respect.

I suspect he'll probably get about 7k and the truck back, time to make it a toy with the money.

 

[crash-harris]

I got just over $2000 on mine and that was about 75% of what All State thought my truck was worth. Adjuster said that at 80% they have to run it as a total. I guess 8t was a good thing that he refused to acknowledge half of the damaged caused by my wreck in Novemeber. Got hit by an Escalade (passing illegally on double yellow/blind corner). She struck my truck on the drivers side trying to avoid an oncoming car and knocked me in the ditch (about 4' deep with a hill as the other side). The entire front clip is now pointing to the passenger side. Popped drivers fender out at the cab, smashed turn lamp/headlight together (he quoted price for new turn lamp assembly, not the bucket that is broken), collapsed passenger fender just enough to ripple and make the door pop when opened (he claimed the running board pulled it down and into the door and was unrelated!), bent front bumper, he didn't acknowledge the high speed gravel that peppered my rear bumper (and I quote, "you can't dent chrome with rocks"), passenger mirror got mangled via the hill and it also took some fiberglass and paint off the passenger dually fender flare. Her boyfriend's mom's Escalade was toast though. Rolled multiple times and landed on tracks.

And I don't trust State Farm. Had them when I was younger and I switched to Progressive. More coverage, cheaper and their agents aren't rude as hell.

 

[madpogue]

I've done this twice, once in WI and once in MI. In both cases, the title never even came out of the drawer. I simply received a check for the blue book value of the vehicle, minus the scrap value. Of course, it varies from state to state, but "total" to an insurance company means something different from a "scrap" or "junk" or "salvage" title to the state. The former refers to the DOLLAR amount of damage, relative to the value (in the eyes of the insurance company) of the vehicle. The latter refers to whether the damage is sufficent to make the vehicle unsafe to repair. With today's collision repair costs, it doesn't take much to "total" a vehicle wrt. its value, even with damage that has no impact (no pun intended) on the structural safety of the vehicle.

Another factor that MIGHT be in play is that this was not a collision with another vehicle or a fixed object associated with the roadway. IOW, it wasn't a "traffic" crash. That's what applied when a deer hit our Saturn many years ago. I no longer had collision coverage on the car, but I DID still have "comprehensive" coverage, which includes fire, theft, vandalism, etc. Since it was damage from an animal, and not a collision with another vehicle or, say, a guard rail or bridge, it was covered under the comprehensive. So it MIGHT be that, if your truck "totaled" under the same coverage, the salvage/scrap title status wouldn't apply.

In any event, check in with the insurance company AND the state. If the damage didn't involve anything structural, there should be away to avoid a salvage title.

 

[Garbage_Mechan]

Wow, lots of passion and detail. Thank you all for your time to comment.
I spent some time looking for comparable trucks last night. Looks like it takes about 10k to buy a rust free well cared for truck to replace it.

 

[firehawk]

Its your vehicle, you don't have to buy it back. You just agree to a value, and they deduct that from the check. Agree upon a value of the vehicle to deduct (you want low number) then the value of the truck (you want high). They will often have no problem with a low number for you to keep it, but expect a low ball number for the value of a similar truck. Do your research and have that to support the value you want to get back.

Anyone that has a vehicle that they think is worth more than others like it, should ALWAYS get an appraisal, and get it reappraised every five years.

 

[towcat]

Firstly, in kali, the only way to avoid the salvage tag is by not reporting the claim to begin with. Now that its been reported and State Farm has tripped the VIN for salvage, there's no going back. kali DMV has already been notified. At this point all you can do is print up comps from CL and Trucktrader(if they even exist anymore) and argue with the adjuster on the value.

 

[dunk]

I was gonna say avoid salvage title at all cost. Just a load of government BS that will haunt you forever. With more info from Towcat I'd say move out of CA to a more free state?

Don't have to accept anything they offer. Figure out what a same or better condition truck is worth in the regional market. Probably $10k-ish off the top of my head for a rust free 80-97 SC or CC powerstroke 4x4 with D60 front. I see it's a 250 so if still TTB maybe $1500 off, if a regular cab maybe lose another $1500. That's northeast prices though. If any upgrades, improvements, recent engine/trans rebuild, etc. done those receipts will be very useful. If he went through the whole brakes, suspension bushings, cab mounts, wiring/electrical, etc. then his truck is worth a couple grand more than an untouched original truck. Take a sampling of every 94-97 powerstroke 4x4 within a 500-1000 miles radius and figure mean and median asking price. Ebay sold listings help too for confirmed sale price. Adjust value according to differences or improvements.

IMO insurance is worthless unless it's agreed value. For me it's either liability only or agreed value, self insure with the savings. If you live in a communist state be sure to pay more for full tort insurance.

 

[Koch13351]

Firstly, in kali, the only way to avoid the salvage tag is by not reporting the claim to begin with. Now that its been reported and State Farm has tripped the VIN for salvage, there's no going back. kali DMV has already been notified.

I reported the accident to both of our insurance companies. And somehow my title is still clean, even though the paperwork from insurance states it was a 'total loss'. And a fee for the salvage title application is shown in the numbers. I suppose someone screwed up.

 

[pafixitman]

Firstly, in kali, the only way to avoid the salvage tag is by not reporting the claim to begin with. Now that its been reported and State Farm has tripped the VIN for salvage, there's no going back. kali DMV has already been notified. At this point all you can do is print up comps from CL and Trucktrader(if they even exist anymore) and argue with the adjuster on the value.

The digital age sucks. Back in the day if you were any good you could "clock" a car before it got off the hauler and wash titles in WV or TN!

 

[towcat]

I reported the accident to both of our insurance companies. And somehow my title is still clean, even though the paperwork from insurance states it was a 'total loss'. And a fee for the salvage title application is shown in the numbers. I suppose someone screwed up.

state farm is good at killing titles. which insurance co. did you go through?
yes, someone ****** up on yours. go get a lottery ticket.

 

[madpogue]

Leave it to the People's Republic to put that kind of power in the hands of the insurance companies. Out here in the real world, the title is a physical document that represents ownership, and only the holder(s) of the physical title can change its status. Since my vehicles (and my wife's) are all paid off, there's only one name on each title, and the titles stay securely in a drawer in the house. Only the owner can sign it off to a new owner, or sign for a status change. The physical document in my possession trumps any stunt an insurance company might try.

I had to go there for work in 2014 (5150 miles on the '95 SCLB PSD); we got the heebie-jeebies as soon as we saw the "inspection stations" (fortunately closed on Sunday) crossing over from AZ. We couldn't wait to get back across the Colorado River after the conference. Gotta wonder how many Californians register/insure their vehicles in other states, using friends'/relatives' addresses, just to get around this kind of stuff.

(/soapbox)

 

[riotwarrior]

Most often here ICBC ins comp have unwritten sugestive instructions to write off anything between 5- 7 and almost for certain 10+ Years of age even for minor issues.

It keeps newer vehickes on road...