Got Rear Ended.

AtTheDriveIn · November 2, 2014

Hey guys,

So I haven't been on the forum for a while because my Explorer was giving me trouble free, reliable service. Well I was leaving work at midnight on Thursday morning and I was stopped at a red light and POW!!!! I got rear-ended by a 2004 Dodge 2500 pickup. I got carted off by an ambulance but all of my X Rays and my CAT scan came back negative thank God so all I have are a wholllleee bunch of pinched nerves and pulled muscles. I obviously got a lawyer for my personal injury and my truck has seen better days.

It doesn't look THAT bad but I know these trucks (especially mine) aren't worth much nowadays. (Mine was worth about $1400 before the accident.)

Here are some not so great pictures my wife took:

-The tailgate needs to be completely replaced as it no longer closes because it's bowed.

-He pretty much hit the left side of the bumper so hard, it's pushed in past my left rear taillight:

-A side view of the driver's side rear impact:

So I'm assuming it's safe to say that the driver's insurance company is going to attempt to total the truck ? Honestly as sentimental as I am about that this truck, I want them to total it. It's needed a left front axle for a while, needs 2 front tires, 4 struts BADLY and the transmission has been starting to slip lately. I have no place to store it either sadly.

So whatdaya guys think? No, I don't want to ghetto-rig it either. I'm done driving beat up looking vehicles as it's something I did for a good portion of my life so NO, that's not an option lol.

Flash · November 2, 2014

Sounds like you have a put a bullet in Ol' Yella.
What will the insurance company pay you for it?

Just today a learner driver cut right across in front of me while I was driving my SAAB, if I had connected it would have been right into her bullbar.
I think they would have written off the SAAB which is worth more dead than alive.

drdoom · November 2, 2014

Might wax out...

bill06447 · November 2, 2014

Well, considering the salt that trucks undercarriage has seen, both by land and by sea, the Dodge driver may have done you a favor. Hint: use searchtempest to scour craigslist ads for the most expensive Exploders of your vintage you can find, to use as comparables when negotiating an insurance settlement. Book values are meaningless once you get over ten years old or so.

Bill

koda2000 · November 2, 2014

oh they'll total it for sure. a while back a guy here got his truck totaled for a cracked front bumper cover. you probably have a bent frame horn besides the tail-gate and bumper pieces. get what you can from the insurance company, buy it back and fix it for a few hundred dollars if you want to keep it. or just find another one on craigslist. I just bought a 2000 V8, in pretty good shape, with 4 brand new tires and a brand new battery for $1500. I put less than $200 into it (and a few hours of my time) to make it mechanically perfect. the worst thing about it is the sun has started frying the paint on the roof sides (Texas truck).

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/picture.php?pictureid=7528&albumid=763&dl=1414882729&thumb=1

AtTheDriveIn · November 2, 2014

bill06447 said:
Well, considering the salt that trucks undercarriage has seen, both by land and by sea, the Dodge driver may have done you a favor. Hint: use searchtempest to scour craigslist ads for the most expensive Exploders of your vintage you can find, to use as comparables when negotiating an insurance settlement. Book values are meaningless once you get over ten years old or so.

Bill

Yeah, the undercarriage isn't in the prettiest of condition and I won't take less than a grand for the truck. They're giving me a rental at no cost to me so that will be a nice thing to have since I have no transportation right now.

There's two prospective Explorers in my area that I could have for around $1000: A rust free, 2wd '95 or a nice condition awd V8 97.

Yeah, this guy did do me a favour lol....Well at least in the transportation department....Sucks that I'm going to have to put a bullet in ol' yeller though because my mother and father bought it brand new back on New Years Eve in 1997 with 27 miles on it.

bill06447 · November 2, 2014

http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4729018987.html http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4718157731.html don't settle for less than $2500 for yours (I really didn't look too hard for examples btw)

Bill

koda2000 · November 2, 2014

bill06447 said:
http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4729018987.html http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4718157731.html don't settle for less than $2500 for yours (I really didn't look too hard for examples btw)

Bill

$2700 is a lot of money for a '98 in my part of the world. still it is a V8, looks clean and is AWD (if that's a plus to you). i'm thinking they meant 140,000 miles as 14,000 does not seem realistic. 140k isn't a lot for a V8. the one for $1800 is more like it, but it's not a V8. i'd like to know where you can get a new battery and brakes for $75, but why get a '98 when you can get a 2000 or 2001 for about the same money?

AtTheDriveIn · November 2, 2014

bill06447 said:
http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4729018987.html http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4718157731.html don't settle for less than $2500 for yours (I really didn't look too hard for examples btw)

Bill

WOW. Alright I won't haha. I wonder if the adjuster will try to low ball me on a price anyways. The insurance lady I talked to was really nice to me and even offered to give me a rental truck before I even asked. Maybe, just maybe I won't have to fight for a fair amount of money? lol

AtTheDriveIn · November 2, 2014

koda2000 said:
$2700 is a lot of money for a '98 in my part of the world. still it is a V8, looks clean and is AWD (if that's a plus to you). i'm thinking they meant 140,000 miles as 14,000 does not seem realistic. 140k isn't a lot for a V8. the one for $1800 is more like it, but it's not a V8. i'd like to know where you can get a new battery and brakes for $75, but why get a '98 when you can get a 2000 or 2001 for about the same money?

I'd love to have an AWD V8 Explorer. They sound sexy.

I'm an ex mechanic and the way I view vehicles is the older, the better. The 1980s and early 1990s made the most reliable, easy to work on vehicles and boy oh boy did the auto companies learn their lesson and start changing that around starting in 1995 with the introduction of the OBDII system and changing everything to plastic. Honestly my dream Explorer would be a 1990-94 4WD 5Speed. I don't want an Explorer newer than a 1999. (Yeah I know I sound crazy, blah blah blah.)

**** if I have a rental truck I guess I'll look in CT and MA for the Explorer I really want.

bill06447 · November 2, 2014

koda2000 said:
$2700 is a lot of money for a '98 in my part of the world. still it is a V8, looks clean and is AWD (if that's a plus to you). i'm thinking they meant 140,000 miles as 14,000 does not seem realistic. 140k isn't a lot for a V8. the one for $1800 is more like it, but it's not a V8. i'd like to know where you can get a new battery and brakes for $75, but why get a '98 when you can get a 2000 or 2001 for about the same money?

It's not realistic, and it is a lot of money, the point of this exercise is to help the OP get the most money for his vehicle that he has lost through no fault of his own. I was hit head-on and totaled my 85 Gran Fury I had paid $400 for three weeks prior, but the other drivers insurance co. paid me $2100+ because that's what it cost to replace. And that's the goal, recoup what it will cost to replace his daily driver, not what some "book" says it should be worth. Don't be afraid to ask the adjuster where to buy a replacement with the lowball offer they will approach with to start. Then wait for the stammering to begin.

Bill

koda2000 · November 2, 2014

wow, I've owned a bunch of 80's and early 90's vehicles. "reliable" is not a term i'd use to describe them. mostly because of all the vacuum lines controlling the emissions equipment and non-existent horse power. you must have lived in a different 80's than I did. below is a link to a site that lists different cars and model years with owner complaints. the V8 2nd Gen Explorer's look pretty darn good to me and there's little-to-no difference between the '98-'01's. the way I look at, it the older the vehicle the more problems it will have, from paint and interior wear to rotten rubber parts and rust. not to mention poorly done repairs it may have had done to it over the years. but, to each his own I guess. I don't want a restoration project. I want to drive a truly reliable vehicle. I do nearly 100% of the repairs and maintenance on my 5 Explorer's/Mountaineer's. I find them easy to work on and inexpensive to own. if you neglect any vehicle you will have problems with it. neglect it long enough and the cost of repairs starts to seem overwhelming and not worth it. JMHO.

http://www.carcomplaints.com/Ford/Explorer/

AtTheDriveIn · November 2, 2014

bill06447 said:
It's not realistic, and it is a lot of money, the point of this exercise is to help the OP get the most money for his vehicle that he has lost through no fault of his own. I was hit head-on and totaled my 85 Gran Fury I had paid $400 for three weeks prior, but the other drivers insurance co. paid me $2100+ because that's what it cost to replace. And that's the goal, recoup what it will cost to replace his daily driver, not what some "book" says it should be worth. Don't be afraid to ask the adjuster where to buy a replacement with the lowball offer they will approach with to start. Then wait for the stammering to begin.

Bill

I completely agree with you Bill and I didn't even look at it the way you were : The cost to replace the vehicle I had. That also factors in sales tax and cost of registering a new to me vehicle which should be another $150.00 .

I will say that when they try to low-ball me and I'll also say that I'm sure their insurance company will appreciate your low ball offer instead of offering me a reasonable offer so I can buy another vehicle instead of costing them $200+ a day for my rental car.

I really do have them by the balls and even more so with a rental car since I can essentially drive it until I feel they've offered me a fair price for the car. ahaha.

This would be a dream Explorer for me :

http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/4717504871.html

I always wanted an 1st gen and I finally have the opportunity to buy one. *Drool*

lobo411 · November 2, 2014

Mine was rear ended by a drunk driver in the middle of the night while it was parked on the street. She was driving a Toyota Corolla or something and didn't notice that the street went from 3 lanes to 2 right before where my car was parked, so she was going like 40 MPH. Hit the car so hard that it pushed my Explorer about 8 feet, partially up onto the sidewalk, and partially into the rear and of the next car up.

I still have the truck...it's a 96, clean CA body and interior, and 142k on the clock at the time of the accident (3 yrs ago). The girl's insurance totaled it and gave me $3100 after I bought the car back for $300.

There was some frame damage (the rear bumper was turned up at a 45 degree angle, so I had to straighten out the frame in that area using a Harbor Freight hydraulic puller, and I re-shaped the frame rail using a sledgehammer, jack, and a steel bar (a trick my dad showed me). Then I bought a new rear bumper, and a new front valence from Ford for the front end. Ended up costing me about $800 to fix (the bumper was $500 at rockauto, valence was $100, and the puller was $100), so I made $2300 on the deal.

The girl? The cops caught her within 30 mins b/c her front bumper fell off, with the license plate still attached.

AtTheDriveIn · November 4, 2014

My lawyer's office called me today and told me that the guy's insurance company accepted full liability for the accident and their adjuster will be out either on Tuesday or Wednesday to appraise the truck.

I just did a KBB valuation of my truck with all the features it has and apparently it's still worth 2100 bucks in fair condition??!? http://www.kbb.com/ford/explorer/1998-ford-explorer/sport-utility-4d/?condition=fair&vehicleid=6491&intent=trade-in-sell&mileage=196000&options=247187|false|247190|true|247215|true|247203|true|247209|true|247212|true|247217|true|2729448|true|247223|false|247226|true|247247|true|247273|true|247251|true|247254|true|4237263|false|247278|true&pricetype=private-party&persistedcondition=fair

Also it's supposed to be Rhode Island law that the insurance adjusters have to use the KBB/NADA value of a vehicle (Fair market value) for total loss vehicles.

Idk, I'm getting nervous because this sounds way too good to be true that I'll get a check for 2 grand for my truck. I'm not a lucky person (Except when I found my wife.) and I'm terrified that I'll be low-balled and I'll be forced to accept some bullcrap low ball $500 offer since my lawyer's office said when it comes to the valuation of vehicles, "It is what it is and there's not much wiggle room when it comes to the offer."

But the offer better be generous and quick like the office said because I'm driving around a rental (A piece of crap 2014 Ford Edge) that gets 14MPG, can't steer for crap and has a myriad of blind spots lol.

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm so used to being screwed over that I'm almost in denial that I could get 2 grand and buy a really nice Explorer with it.

bill06447 · November 4, 2014

When you're buying it's fair condition, when you're selling it's excellent condition. Sell that insurance adjuster an excellent condition truck!

Bill

1992fordgreen · November 5, 2014

Frame might have been violated, I'd expect it's totaled. Try and get asd much as possible for it.

Got Rear Ended.

AtTheDriveIn

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Flash

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drdoom

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bill06447

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koda2000

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AtTheDriveIn

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bill06447

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koda2000

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AtTheDriveIn

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AtTheDriveIn

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bill06447

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koda2000

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AtTheDriveIn

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lobo411

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AtTheDriveIn

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bill06447

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1992fordgreen

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