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You should see the other guy...


IvyRacer

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An '83 4x4 KC with almost all the bells and whistles, and kept meticulously clean inside by previous owners.  It was love at first sight.  Even with the body rust and out-of-state hurdles, I knew she was the one I wanted to spend all my time and money on... and I did.  I spent a little over a year and a few thousand dollars (total) to get her purring like a content feline.  All that was left was to smog her in CA, and save up for a paint job.  Then, tragedy struck.  A teenager who was driving a car full of classmates home from a school dance was speeding down the freeway behind me with his cell phone in hand - texting? updating his twitter???  What could have possibly been more important than looking straight ahead at the little red truck he was about to collide with?!?!  He swerved at the *very* last second, over-corrected, and ended up side-swiping me off the road.  Miraculously, no one sustained serious injuries.

 

I had taken these photos just days before the accident to post about my triumph over the many carb and smog issues HillbillyBuddha and I have been having with her.

 

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Now, the damage estimate is around $3400, so it is almost certainly a total loss.  What a shame.  I'm so freaking depressed right now.  The damage appears so minor, but I guess they consider it an old piece of junk.  I'm waiting to find out what their first lowball offer will be now...

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The moral of the story is PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN AND DRIVE, ASSH :mad: les  (and make sure you have full comp/collision)

 

My only consolation is how utterly trashed his camry was :devil: .

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Yeah, but if they total loss it he is stuck with a salvage title right?

 

According to the at-fault party's insurance, yes.  And it looks like they are going to call it a total loss.  I'm just so incredibly pissed, because I only bought this truck in the first place because it had a clean title and a straight body.  I didn't care about the 335k miles on the odometer because she was so incredibly clean and complete (plus, I'm about 99.9% sure the engine has been rebuilt or replaced fairly recently).  But now, if I take the settlement offer and fix what I can, she'll never be right again.  If I take a payout and let them crush it, I don't know if I'll ever find one I like this much for the check they'll most likely write me...

 

I always get too attached to my cars. :-P

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Convince them it's cheaper to fix than to pay out. Or skip the settlement and fix it yourself. It's totally drivable and the damage is cosmetic. Keep an eye out for a door and fender and put them on yourself. Pay a shop to bang out the dent behind the door.

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Convince them it's cheaper to fix than to pay out. Or skip the settlement and fix it yourself. It's totally drivable and the damage is cosmetic. Keep an eye out for a door and fender and put them on yourself. Pay a shop to bang out the dent behind the door.

 

I'm seriously considering the salvage option.  It does drive, but it's shaking pretty badly in the front end when I go faster than 40mph.  I may be looking at a new rim as well, unless it can be straightened and the wheel just needs to be rebalanced.  I guess my main concern is that my deadline to smog it is the 27th, but this happened the day before I took it to the shop after finally getting it tuned.  I don't want to spend another dime on the dang thing until I know what they are offering (but that's just me throwing a hissy fit)

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Yeah, but if they total loss it he is stuck with a salvage title right?

 

According to the at-fault party's insurance, yes.  And it looks like they are going to call it a total loss.  But now, if I take the settlement offer and fix what I can, she'll never be right again.  

 

If the title is in your name, and you keep the truck, it shouldn't become a salvage title? Usually that doesn't happen until it goes through a salvage auction?

 

 

If I take a payout and let them crush it, I don't know if I'll ever find one I like this much for the check they'll most likely write me...

 

They won't crush it. They'll send it to a salvage auction. And they can't force you to take the check. Find comparable trucks for sale and show them the value, and/or call an attorney. 

 

I bought a super clean, all original '84 200SX a few years back. Pampered grandma's car, low miles, perfect interior and paint, etc. A 16-year-old girl who just got her license rear ended me. She was going 40mph, I was going 5mph. Inexperienced driver not paying attention. 

 

I told the insurance company that they'd pay me every penny I had in it, minus the salvage value, I'd be keeping it, and if they didn't like it they'd hear from my attorney. And suddenly, my back seems to be aching. A lot. 

 

Check came the next day. 

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The shake is probably the wheel and/or the alignment got outta whack.  You _should_ jack up the front (on jack-stands), pull the wheels, and compare the sides to see if the suspension looks like it was damaged at all.  I could easily imagine that a tie-rod got damaged, depending on how good they smacked your wheel.

 

That said, if you can put the truck into RWD mode (I don't know the 720 4x4s at all), just make sure it's running as well as before and take it to get smogged.  They just strap the vehicle to a RWD dyno and run the tests, so it doesn't have to drive around at all.  If the truck is full-time 4x4, then they don't even put it on a dyno; they just do visual and tailpipe with the engine revved while in Neutral/Park.

 

Take a look around the engine bay to make sure nothing got knocked loose and all the vacuum lines are in place, but if the truck was good to go before the incident, it should still be good to go now.

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Take in all our receipts for all the work done and try to get the value of the truck bumped up or talk to an appraiser if they try and total it. This method saved my 720 from the dreaded rebuilt title after it was rear ended. They cut me a check for what the body shops estimate was, I repaired it for a fraction and with parts I wanted.

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Getting in a wreck with my old truck worries me all the time! especially as I start fixing it up! I know the a-holes of insurance only see old vehicles as junk with zero value. Is there a way to avoid a salvaged title or "total loss rebuild" branding?

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Is there a way to avoid a salvaged title or "total loss rebuild" branding?

 

Check your state's laws governing what the insurance company can and can't do. I know here in Texas it only gets a salvage title once it actually goes through a salvage auction. So as long as your insurance company doesn't take it from you, it will never have a salvage title. 

 

And make sure every car you have has your name on the title as soon as you buy it. A lot of multi-Datsun owners are guilty of this.   B)

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They've offered a wopping $780 to total it, or $300 if I salvage. On top of that, the power steering pump is now leaking (spraying actually) from the strain, and my rear view mirror fell off when I barely touched it with my window shade. The cab was obviously hit harder than it looks, but they just don't care. I'm going to lawyer up on this one. I don't have time to get jerked around with lowball offers. I've paid about $500 just in dmv fees to register the damn thing, and I couldn't even replace the tires for 780. They msrp for 650ea (not that anyone ever pays full retail). Ugh. I don't have all the receipts, and we did almost all the work ourselves since no one in town knows this truck well enough to make their time worth my money.

 

I have an lawyer in mind. I'm not taking their offer.

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I've never hired a lawyer before in my life, so the whole prospect was daunting. Then, it turns out the lawyer HillbillyBuddha knew is an absolute shark. He doesn't usually take on such small cases, but he owes us a favor (sort of - he genuinely was happy to help). What a huge stress off my mind!

 

They contacted the adjuster's office immediately after our meeting yesterday. Someone else got back to them this morning saying he went on vacation and won't be back until next Monday. So he basically called me to drop the bomb before he left the office on Friday, knowing he wouldn't have to deal with it until he got back. What a circus.

 

Updated moral(s) of the story:

-ALWAYS save that receipt, no matter how minor it seems

-get the best insurance you can afford

-if a third party insurance company is involved, don't bother trying to be civil or play nice, they will screw you every chance they get no matter what. Everything you say can, and does, get used against you -_-

-oh yeah... HANG UP AND DRIVE lol

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a new rim, check your ball joints and tie rods, also upper and lower A arms

 

Its shaking probably due to the dent in the rim?   Ive done worse to a truck.  Fender, door, pop the dent out. Get as much as you can, but don't let them total it...

 

PS.  Yeah that is a sorta clean 720. But cleaner better ones pop up here and there....  With less miles even.  There was a red one recently in washington that looked like it just rolled off the lot.  Immaculate condition.

 

needs motor, could use paint... has a push out on the back passenger quarter. you could push it back in by hand...

http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/cto/4383404903.html

 

 

Pretty straight looking.  could use a slight bit of rust repair in the rear wheel lip (common on these) and paint.

http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/cto/4380047223.html

 

 

They are out there, patience and persistance.

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  • 3 months later...

I'm baaaack!

 

I decided that I didn't want to put another penny into the truck as a "salvaged" vehicle (no way around that since insurance deemed it a total loss), so I took their offer plus a little extra that my lawyer was able to squeeze out of them.  All together, I got $1100 to try and buy a replacement.  I've been hunting craigslist near and far for a few months, and I finally found the right candidate!

 

She's a real eyesore, but running well and complete.  Less than half the miles, and has the factory a/c setup (which saves me the trouble of finding one at the junk yard to fix up).  He was asking $1500, but he ended up happily taking $700 after I drove 2.5 hrs to meet him.  He's even delivering it to my garage!  Haha, back to the drawing board...

http://goldcountry.craigslist.org/cto/4547036130.html

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I had to give them the truck for the $1100. But I swapped every new or aftermarket part I could with the old ones I had, so I have a shelf full of parts and upgrades ready to pass onto the new (to me) truck. I thought about keeping the fender flares, but after the accident it only had three... Also, they would have given me more trouble if they noticed I had taken anything off the truck. They have photos of everything on the body and in the cab. Didn't even look under the hood though! Plus, they basically considered it inoperable (well, unsafe to drive, technically) so I didn't have to drive it to them. They sent a flat bed to haul it away. So I still have my weber setup, a brand new battery under warranty, the "datsun" branded floor mats, and hundreds of dollars in other new and spare parts.

 

Back to square one! I'm just thanking my lucky stars that the po of the '84 I'm getting already changed the cursed oil pressure sensor, haha

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  • 1 month later...

That really sucks man! Glad you were able to find a replacement.

 

Fortunately the ALL STEEL flatbed on my truck should keep the pesky idiots out of my sheet metal, and the rear is built out of thick steel, so good luck coming through there as well.

 

Full coverage is the way to go!

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