Wrecked

[Justin B]

Well, I was in an accident yesterday, thought I'd share the photos of the carnage. His car didn't stand a chance.

I was waiting in line for traffic to start moving, the light turned green and I began accelerating. At the time I was stopped, there was no one behind me. As I was pulling away, the guy in this car was fast approaching. I checked my mirrors expecting him to change lanes and since I didn't have enough speed to get out of the way I stayed where I was.. well, he missed seeing my truck for reasons I have yet to find out and made a pretty solid connection with my bumper and tow hitch.

I say I don't know his story because he departed in an ambulance and the officer said he would be summonsed for 'following too closely', at the very least I'd say.

Other than my sore neck, the truck faired relatively well; however, my insurance is already throwing out the "total loss" words without even looking at it. In addition to the damage in these photos, the frame is tweaked at the mounting points for the bumper and hitch, and the impact was enough to cause the bed to contact and dent the cab on the driver's side. The body looks straight and the reveal between bed and cab is even now, so I'm assuming it just flexed and returned to it's original shape. Regardless, I'm already looking for a donor truck to swap this drivetrain into. I had intended to use this as a tow vehicle for a travel trailer and now I don't know if I'll ever trust this frame 100%. I'll consider your opinions if you have them in regards to that!

I'm in the Virginia area so if anyone knows of a truck with good body and frame for sale with clear title I'd be interested! I'm not overly concerned with the configuration (2wd/4wd, manual.. etc) but I would prefer 4wd with the ZF5, doesn't matter cab size, drw or srw, as long as it's clean

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[Macrobb]

Honestly, if it flexed and straightened back out, it might well be just fine.
Total out the rig, buy it back for a small fraction of the totaling price, weld in a new hitch, straightening as required - just add extra support to any bent sections -and get your branded title back. Insure it for collision only(no comprehensive / at-fault repair) and you've got some extra money on top of everything else.

It requires almost nothing to total out a rig as old as this, and it could be as simple as a single damaged body panel - the 'value' of the truck is low.

If you were in my neck of the woods, I'd offer to buy it off you and drive it. Aside from bumper/hitch, it's still in better shape than anything else I own.

 

[david85]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer truck

I got rear-ended by another F250 a few years back (thread name: "ford bites ford"). In my case both trucks survived and left the scene under their own power. He nailed my truck center mass, so no tweak happened to either frame. I was asked by my insurance company if I wanted to write off the vehicle. I said no, so I didn't get much but I didn't want the title to get compromised. We were both fine and his truck took less damage than mine (lift kit put his bumper into my tailgate).

 

[Justin B]

Glad you were alright! It takes a lot of effort to move 6000#, lol. My truck stayed running after impact and I was able to pull off to the shoulder. I probably could have driven it home but my lower radiator hose popped off and spilled my $20-a-gallon antifreeze all over the road way. I haven't refilled it yet, but we did fire it up for a minute to get it off the wrecker. Mechanically it still seems fine, but the cost of repairing the body damage will add up I'm sure. If I could convince insurance of turning loose of enough money I've wanted to put a flatbed on it, would just need one with an integral receiver, again, as long as someone "in the know" can convince me my frame is ok. Appraiser is coming out Tuesday so I hope to know more then.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

Sorry for your mess. Any competent body & frame shop can probably straighten that frame. +1 on buying it back from insurance after they most likely total it.

Start looking for a competent frame shop and that flatbed you've always wanted.

 

[david85]

Yeah, I was fine but like you there was some neck and shoulder soreness for the next few days. Thank god I didn't have the bench seat in there anymore. Frame to frame made for a loud bang.

Be careful what you post online in terms of details and hypothetical repair cost. Some insurance companies like to troll for evidence that can save them money. Definitely talk to a reputable frame and body shop.

 

[Danielle]

Whew, glad you are ok!! This is why my daughters will be in a slow old pig for their first vehicles. Hope that dude is more careful from now on, if you had been in a Neon..

 

[mu2bdriver]

I’m glad you are alright. One thing to consider is that the insurance company probably doesn’t even want the vehicle. If the other drivers insurance is going to be paying you off, I would make it a priority to take possession of the vehicle. Prepare yourself for an insulting payoff amount. Also consider the value and effort getting a salvage/totaled vehicle back on the road. You will probably need a body shop and insurance report to present to DMV for inspection. Good luck and it sucks that good drivers have to tolerate shitheads like this on the road and then take a second or third screwing on dealing with their insurance company. Best of luck.

 

[Justin B]

The other driver has coverage and I've already checked NADA, not a pretty sum. VA does salvage titles, but I might play heck getting it insured if I go that route. My daily is a little Honda Civic since I commute to work 60+ miles a day.. I took the pickup on my errands just to stretch her legs a little, glad I did. My wife and I had met up in town and she was a couple minutes behind me with my 18 month old in the car, I'd probably be feeling a lot of more intense emotions if she was involved.

Thanks for everyone's kind words and advise, I really appreciate it. I'll follow up with my experience.

 

[franklin2]

You said it looked straight, but I was in the same situation with my little ranger pickup, and all it did was tweak the bumper and busted the pass side taillight. It's not a very nice truck so I told him to give me $75 for a new taillight and that was it, no insurance no cops. What I didn't realize was how the side of the bed had bowed out. The whole wheel well area was bowed out about 3 inches, I didn't notice it till later.

I kicked it in with my foot and it went back in except about a inch or so. Just wanted you to maybe take an extra careful look, you can't really see it unless you get behind the truck and sight down the side of the bed. This happened to my little truck about 5 years ago, and I still drive it everyday, no problems.

 

[Cubey]

When my 93 Geo Metro got rear ended by a medical supply minivan, and I was pushed into a pedestrian, their insurance paid $1500 to a body shop to fix my car, despite it not being worth much beyond that. They didn't even object. I guess they were glad I wasn't suing them, like I'm sure the pedestrian was.

 

[Shadetreemechanic]

I don't understand why you are talking to your insurance when you got rear ended. Shouldn't you be talking to their insurance? I have had much better luck negotiating with insurance companies of the other party. If its their fault they just want you to take the check and go away. Last time we got hit I was able (with some patience) to negotiate their value of my car up 35% which was the difference between totaled and a check for repairs.
That would be where I would be heading if I were you.

 

[franklin2]

I don't understand why you are talking to your insurance when you got rear ended. Shouldn't you be talking to their insurance? I have had much better luck negotiating with insurance companies of the other party. If its their fault they just want you to take the check and go away. Last time we got hit I was able (with some patience) to negotiate their value of my car up 35% which was the difference between totaled and a check for repairs.
That would be where I would be heading if I were you.

My daughter was in this same situation also. Got rear ended, not her fault. Little stiff neck also. Her car was totaled. They finally gave me a rental car for a couple of weeks. Called me up and offered me $1600 for the car. I said "wait a minute, low value was $2300". She asked were I got that from, I said KBB. They checked back with me and offered $1800, I took it. The engine was wore out anyway. Then about 3 months later I get another call, asking if my daughter was ok. I said yes, they said they were going to send me a check and a paper to sign. They gave her another $500 and a paper relieving them from all responsibility from then on.

 

[Macrobb]

VA does salvage titles, but I might play heck getting it insured if I go that route..

Check with your insurance company.
Having gone through this in Idaho(which is probably one of the easiest states to do this in), I was told that as long as I just want liability(If I hit someone, their vehicle/them get fixed, I get nothing for my vehicle), everything is fine. Getting a repaired/branded title insured for full coverage might be harder.
In my case, from salvage to rebuilt title was as simple as going into the DMV, and filling out a piece of paper stating what work was done to fix it. No inspection even!

 

[Oledirtypearl86]

Check with your insurance company.
Having gone through this in Idaho(which is probably one of the easiest states to do this in), I was told that as long as I just want liability(If I hit someone, their vehicle/them get fixed, I get nothing for my vehicle), everything is fine. Getting a repaired/branded title insured for full coverage might be harder.
In my case, from salvage to rebuilt title was as simple as going into the DMV, and filling out a piece of paper stating what work was done to fix it. No inspection even!

I've had several salvage titled trucks in Utah that we're easy insured and registered and always passed inspection @Macrobb where ya at in Idaho i head to Lewiston a few times a year