Is my Explorer totaled?

[Jerseyguy]

Hi everyone,this is my first post on this site. My question is regarding my 96 Explorer XLT 4.0. My wife was in an accident in which someone hit her from the side and spun our explorer around about 180. While there wasnt very much body damage,most of the contact was made with the real drivers side wheel. It appears that the axle,leafs, ect. shifted a couple inches over on impact.It appears the wheel itself is slightly bent or it may be the axle is bent. My question is if this is worth repairing or can it even be repaired with junk yard parts? The truck has 155K on it and runs good otherwise.I understand there is no way of knowing if the frame was tweaked which would change everything,but my guess is that there is no direct frame damage. It still runs and drives with a minor wobbly wheel. We are the second owners of this fine vehicle. If its not worth fixing, can I have an idea what its worth as a parts vehicle?Its a four door,black with gray int. Thanks for the responses!

 

[ranger-93]

as long as it didnt bend the frame im thinking it should be able to be fixed with junk yard parts.

 

[gtyates]

If mechanically in excelent condition let the the insurance company total it (they will) and then buy it back for pennies on the dollar from them and fix it your self. I did that on a car my daughter owned and actually pocketed about $500 (after repaired) on a $2000 total. My '96 is a solid vehicle and I would do the same if it were me. Again, as long as no frame damage.

 

[Jerseyguy]

gtyates,please explain what you mean. Your from Tenn so im thinking your laws are much differant then for us Yanks. We didn't have collision insurance on the Explorer and since the accident was my wife's fault,we can't get squat from the ins. co. Another question is how much work is actually involved in swapping in an axle with the springs and everything. I'm probably better just trying to get 500 to a grand for the truck as a whole for parts.

 

[ranger-93]

Prolly means that if your insurance totals it they will buy it from you than you buy it back for what its worth in its "totalled" state. Than fix it out of pocket. Isn't hard to swap in an axle and springs.

 

[Electrohacker]

when my sister totaled her Taurus we almost considered pulling the trans until we saw how bad the car was, we had just rebuilt it and the engine

 

[gtyates]

Yes, in TN if your car is totaled you have the option to buy it back. My daughters car was worth around 2k or so, so that is what they offered. I bought it for $200 then had it fixed, keeping about $500 in pocket and her still driving the car. Mechanically her car was in excellent condition and I knew for $2k my options to buy anything else were limited. In her case someone else hit her car so their insurance paid us (minus what I bought it for of course). TN is not a "no fault" state so whoever is at fault has to pay for damage to the person the hit (either themselves or their insurance) as well paying for their own vehicle. Sorry about your accident and not having collision coverage. I keep full coverage on all of mine because you just never know what might happen and the extra cost for collision coverage is not that much more in relation to the value.