Could she be totaled?

[AdamsGuitar]

Welp, it never ends, heh.

After buying my new daily driver ('01 Grand Prix GTP: Balls to the Wall fast!!), I let my friend (whose Ranger is getting a new engine in it) drive my X for the past couple of weeks. She was driving it today when, while sitting stopped for road construction, a moron in a 97 Accord plowed into her at 45mph.

Miraculously, my friend is alright (it seems). She was checked out by the doctor and he says she is OK.

However, the X may be another story...

On the surface, it just bent the bumper down a good bit, but it also seems to have bent the tailgate. The transmission now clunks when shifting, whereas it didn't before (it's only 13 months old), so that will have to be replaced, too.

It's all being handled by the dealer and Nationwide, so it's no hassle for me, but the problem is I am fearful that they may total the X, which would be a HUGE pain. I *just* had it regeared to 4.56's for my 33's, and I really do not feel like paying for that again in another car. For reference, here is a list of mods:

33" tires on 15x8 rockcrawler rims
4.56 gears in front and rear
Rancho 9000X shocks
Warn Trans4mer winch mount
Warn XD9000i winch
3" body lift
2" tt & shackle lift

1) What of these mods would her insurance cover, should the vehicle be totaled and they'd have to replace it?

2) The tires and shocks are no problem to get off. The gears are pretty much impossible, as the whole cost with gearing is installation. Will insurance cover that?

3) I should be able to just take the mount off and mount it to another X without a problem, right?

The BL and shackles I will just leave. The bl is worth another $150 just so I don't have to spend the time getting it off.

So, my questions are...

1) Do you guys think this will be totalled? The tailgate is $1500, tranny is about $2000, exhaust (which was hit) is about $300, bumper is about $300, which puts us at about $4100, maybe more, maybe less.

2) If it is, what will I be allowed to remove from the car (including stereo) after they total it?

3) I was considering a 96+ V8, but it seems they're all AWD, as I recall. Were any 4wd V8's made, and if not, how much would swapping in a 4wd tcase on the V8 be?

 

[MONMIX]

1A ) Insurance will only cover to a certian amount after market products. Usually around $500.00 to $1,000.00
If you have more than that and you want it insured you need to have it sub-written into your policy

2A) Only if being repaired

3A) ?

1B) With the tranny, maybe. I am sure the insurance comapny will seek junk yard parts. ( Nationwide loves junkyard stuff ) If it seems they are gonna total it you can negotiate a buy from the insurance comapny.
Before you do this discuss it with the body shop and see what short cuts and arrangements can be made.
It is likely you'll have to out of pocket some money but you can keep your EX. Again, discuss this with the body shop BEFORE you buy back the total.

2B) Yes, but you have to tell them and must replace it to operational conditon. Meaning if you remove your shocks, you must put some back on.

3B) I dunno

 

[AdamsGuitar]

This is being covered by the OTHER person's insurance, not mine. THEY have nationwide.

This is being done through Town and Country Ford, one of Nationwide's blue ribbon repair shops, and they are required to guarantee the work that they perform for the entire life of the car, so I doubt they'd go for a junked tranny, knowing they'll have to replace it before long.

 

[MONMIX]

The shop I work for also has such a warrenty, however we do repair some total-buy-backs. In cases like that however we do not extend the warrenty.
( the paint warrenty remains though )
I have a good hunch they will work with you, with the understanding that the warrenty is voided.
Don't let that scare you, it sounds like they are a very reputable shop and will take good care of you.

 

[espnfreak]

Could Swap a V8 into your truck...thats what im doing, only gonna cost me like 1500 with a 50k engine and 0 mi transmission...plus you can get the advanced adapters kit to make your vehicle 4wd with a v8

 

[AdamsGuitar]

They're a great shop with a HUGE (60+ bays!!) facility and a top-notch body shop. My friend's dad is a higher-up in the service department there, so I know everything will be done right.

Wouldn't doing a total-buy-back make it unable to be registered, or does it just give it a salvage title?

How does a total buy back work? They total it, and would be giving me a check for their determined value, correct? How do they determine the sale price of the total? Would they just pay me the difference?

 

[udmsvt]

based on the description, i soubt it would be totalled. we had just over 3k in damage to our 91 eddie and it isnt worth that, but they repaired it because they said blue book was 3500, so it was cheaper to repair it and that meant highres rates too (my girl was at fault). the accident itself want much but it somehow threw something off and needed a new flywheel ans starter because we drove it for a while after it happened (see pic):

it doesnt look like much but she hit a road sign coming around a curve then backed up over it (i think thats what meed up the tranny). a week later she nailed a wooden fence for teh fron corrale coming into the driveway (we just claimed it all as one). the helarious part for me is that that fender and headlight and all were about 6 mis old from when she rearended a guy. and a month after we had this second round of repairs, she hit a deer wit hher new car then side swiped a guy on the highway a week after that (lets just say i am glad she cant drive my truck)

 

[AdamsGuitar]

Well that is definitely good. I do NOT want to deal with the hassle of having it totaled.

 

[Premier]

Originally posted by udmsvt
it doesnt look like much but she hit a road sign coming around a curve then backed up over it (i think thats what meed up the tranny). a week later she nailed a wooden fence for teh fron corrale coming into the driveway (we just claimed it all as one). the helarious part for me is that that fender and headlight and all were about 6 mis old from when she rearended a guy. and a month after we had this second round of repairs, she hit a deer wit hher new car then side swiped a guy on the highway a week after that (lets just say i am glad she cant drive my truck)

Umm, did she take drivers ed?

 

[udmsvt]

beleiev it or not, michigan has a grad liscensing program. we have to get 50 hours of driving with our parents...her parents signed off because they cant stand it (even though they are the same way)

 

[RobertF]

Originally posted by udmsvt
beleiev it or not, michigan has a grad liscensing program. we have to get 50 hours of driving with our parents...her parents signed off because they cant stand it (even though they are the same way)

Like most parents unfortunately do. My parents made be their driving ***** for 6mo. while I had the permit. I musta logged about 8000 miles during that time, at all hours and weather conditions. I feel much more comfortable behind the wheel because of that. I know my abilities and know how to react to situations because a lot of things happened while I had a knowledgable drive with me (Blowout, Overheating, etc..) I think the law should be as many hours as humanly possible in the car, minimum 100. But that's just me....

 

[IAmTodd]

Originally posted by udmsvt
it doesnt look like much but she hit a road sign coming around a curve then backed up over it (i think thats what meed up the tranny). a week later she nailed a wooden fence for teh fron corrale coming into the driveway (we just claimed it all as one). the helarious part for me is that that fender and headlight and all were about 6 mis old from when she rearended a guy. and a month after we had this second round of repairs, she hit a deer wit hher new car then side swiped a guy on the highway a week after that (lets just say i am glad she cant drive my truck)

Ummm, yea sounds liike drivers ed would be a very good thing. Here, we have to have a manditory 6 months and 50 hours driving time. All of which I had to log

 

[udmsvt]

we do too, but they dont check the logs, they just have the parents sign a waiver saying the student completed it....i had my log in hand when i got mine because i had to do all 50 hrs (house rule)

 

[dmasini]

Check my photo gallery to see when a Dakota ran into that back of my old 97 X. It cost the insurance company a little over $3000.00 to fix. That included a bent frame in 2 places. My tranny started slipping right after the acident but insurance would not cover it because they said it was not physically hit. Same with the t-case, it started making clunking sounds evertime the traction control kicked in. So I ended up having to get that fixed myself to the tune of around $2800.00. That all happened in June and I'm still trying to get reimbursed from Fairfax County, who is "self-insured".

I hope everything works out in your favor but expect the worse. I would never wish my experience with a acident that wasn't their fault on anyone.

 

[MONMIX]

If I am not mistaken the title becomes a salvage title.

Basically, you buy the car back from the insurance company as is. You usually have a few bucks left over to go toward the repair, but not enough so you will have to out of pocket.

Keep me in the loop on how things go.