Total or Not to Total? That is the Question

[JoeCo]

Even if you "can't tell" a dealer, or any intelligent used car buyer, is going to pull that carfax, see 3 collisions and start taking money off.

If you plan on keeping the truck for a long time it may not be a big deal... but make sure to keep every scrap of paperwork covering all the repairs, you may need it in the end.

It does look like they did a great job with the repairs, sucks seeing vehicle owners suffer from things that aren't their fault.

Would have to agree, the only way you'll get what a non-nearly totaled truck would get is if someone just comes and looks at it and buys it without doing any homework. And really, that wouldn't be right at all, I wouldn't want to screw someone over like that. A truck that was nearly totaled should not get nearly as much as an accident free truck.

And I agree, it really sucks when someone gets shafted by something like this when it wasn't their fault, but I think the right move would have been to fight for it to be totaled and not assume the massive loss in value, unless his lawyer can get additional payout for that to cover the loss. Either way, I certainly wouldn't try to pass it off to someone who is unsuspecting, never know what people will do when they find out they've been wronged. I'd definitely try to pass it off to a dealer and hope they don't look up it's history though, they have it coming!

 

[buddy guy]

i wouldn't. couldn't afford the lawsuit a dealer could lay on me. probably criminal charge for fraud etc possible too.

 

[kp4243]

Would have to agree, the only way you'll get what a non-nearly totaled truck would get is if someone just comes and looks at it and buys it without doing any homework. And really, that wouldn't be right at all, I wouldn't want to screw someone over like that. A truck that was nearly totaled should not get nearly as much as an accident free truck.

And I agree, it really sucks when someone gets shafted by something like this when it wasn't their fault, but I think the right move would have been to fight for it to be totaled and not assume the massive loss in value, unless his lawyer can get additional payout for that to cover the loss. Either way, I certainly wouldn't try to pass it off to someone who is unsuspecting, never know what people will do when they find out they've been wronged. I'd definitely try to pass it off to a dealer and hope they don't look up it's history though, they have it coming!

In North Carolina at least you can’t fight to have it totaled. Because I DID! Hard! But according to the state the insurance companies and my Lawyer. The insurance company has the right to fix it if they want. Now granted if I would have been at fault or didn’t know or fight. They would have cut it up and patched it. But because I cared and was knowledgeable enough to know better. There has been zero frame damage to the truck. I insisted on Painstakingly removing ever panel at the factory weld and replaced every panel with brand new factory FCA parts.

 

[Moparfanatic21]

Personally it depends on how close you are to the truck. I have put about $20,000 in repairs in 4 months into my 01 Ram 2500 dubbed "Power Wagon" that is MAYBE worth $8k on a good day not tti count the mods

 

[Purplert]

Holy hell I’m surprised they fixed that. Awesome end results though


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[JoeCo]

In North Carolina at least you can’t fight to have it totaled. Because I DID! Hard! But according to the state the insurance companies and my Lawyer. The insurance company has the right to fix it if they want. Now granted if I would have been at fault or didn’t know or fight. They would have cut it up and patched it. But because I cared and was knowledgeable enough to know better. There has been zero frame damage to the truck. I insisted on Painstakingly removing ever panel at the factory weld and replaced every panel with brand new factory FCA parts.

Ah gotcha, I missed or forgot the part where you fought for it to be totaled...I'm glad you got it good quality work and parts on it, however, it still doesn't take away from the hit in value it's going to take, so I hope your lawyer can finagle something for you there as well.

 

[buddy guy]

In North Carolina at least you can’t fight to have it totaled. Because I DID! Hard! But according to the state the insurance companies and my Lawyer. The insurance company has the right to fix it if they want. Now granted if I would have been at fault or didn’t know or fight. They would have cut it up and patched it. But because I cared and was knowledgeable enough to know better. There has been zero frame damage to the truck. I insisted on Painstakingly removing ever panel at the factory weld and replaced every panel with brand new factory FCA parts.

did you do the work yourself? are you a certified autobody person or mechanic? not a criticism. i say this because at least in the provinces i've lived in in Canada, insurance expects repairs to be done by qualified bodyshops to as new standard (within reason. fixing a dent is likely going to involve some bondo right?) I'm speaking to the point of the vehicles value after repair. I could see if a person does it themselves to the best of their ability how someone could argue that the work may not be performed up to par, but if it's done by a qualified shop, I would expect the value to be as good or better than the vehicle before.

that all being said, people's perception is what it is. by the way for anyone arguing about disclosures or not, had a friend who got a great deal from a dealer on a mustang. i can't recall what the giveaway was (i don't think it was on a carfax or he would have been stupid not to check it first. i did when i bought my truck even though it was new) but it had been in a front end accident and repaired. the dealer argued in court they had repaired it to new or better in their own shop. the judge said thats not the issue. the issue is you didn't disclose it to the buyer. they had to take the car back and return his money plus i recall 2500 bucks for his time and trouble.

 

[kp4243]

I am Mechanical Engineer for Corning. I am certified ASE mechanic and also very good at auto body work. I spent the last 24 years as a NASCAR Crew Chief, mechanic, heavy fab fabricator, and cup tire changer before going to work at Corning. But no I didn’t do the work myself. It was done by a Certified FCA Repair Facility and done to FCA specifications. As far as the carfax we shall see what it does as I have to take it for an appraisal for the attorney. But unfortunately right now it’s not a apples to apples comparison. Since I have done every mod on this forum. So it’s basically a Laramie now. So we will see. Stay tuned.

 

[buddy guy]

im interested to hear!

 

[NCRaineman]

As far as the carfax we shall see what it does as I have to take it for an appraisal for the attorney. But unfortunately right now it’s not a apples to apples comparison. Since I have done every mod on this forum. So it’s basically a Laramie now. So we will see. Stay tuned.

Where trade-in value is concerned, mods are generally worth zero to a dealer. I'd be interested to see what your carfax report looks like now.

 

[chri5k]

IMHO, I would sell it ASAP so you can make your diminished value claim. That was my lawyers advice when someone nearly totaled my truck in a parking lot while I was in the store. He said you have to actually suffer the loss of value before you can claim it. The longer you wait, the less the insurance company wants to give you for diminished value.

 

[dhay13]

Way back my mothers ex boyfriend had a brand new 1990 Pontiac Grand Prix SE turbo. He owned a plumbing business and drove one of the trucks but needed a car for when he went somewhere nice so leased the G.P. Shortly after that him and my mother started going out and she had a brand new car so he rarely drove the G.P. and wanted to get rid of it but had quite a bit of time left on his lease. He got the car with about 3000 miles on it as a demo. One night it was dark and I had a 1979 GMC Sierra with tinted windows and a cap on the back with tinted windows. I backed out of her driveway and barely hit the front corner of his car. It broke the headlight, bent the hood and I think it cracked the front bumper and maybe bent the front of the fender. Can't remember now. But anyway, took it to my buddy who was the beat around at bodywork. He looked at it and found a 'Genuine GM replacement parts sticker on the fender. It had a dealer name and town on it and said this car had been wrecked and repaired. My mother called that dealer (York Pontiac in Buffalo) and told her she was looking at buying a car but found these stickers. They told her that car had over $8000 damage (this car was probably only $20k brand new). The car was front wheel drive and he had to replace the rear tires at about 5000 miles cause the edges were worn. So anyway, turns out the rear end alignment was out, both rear tires pointing in. She called the dealer he got it from and they hung up on her (Unis Pontiac in Aliquippa, PA). She ended up calling Pontiac in Detroit and they sent 2 reps to Unis. In the end they took the car, ripped up the lease agreement and refunded 2 months of his lease and offered a new lease with 2 months free. He didn't want the car anyway so didn't take another car. But that dealer owner was arrested for all kinds of unrelated charges (serious) later. In the end I didn't have to pay to fix it and he thanked me for hitting it...lol

 

[TruckNut]

They sure did a great job........probably re-assembled better than factory. I'd keep it and enjoy it too. Now, if you get hit again, then the truck is jinxed and you have to sell it!

 

[gfh77665]

Not sure if you see it as a silver lining, but you got $6000 of rental covered, and 6 months of putting zero miles on your personal vehicle. That has to be worth something.

I too would sell it now and pocket the "diminished value" coverage. Redeploy the funds and get a great deal on a brand new RAM!

 

[Jbp19classic]

If you like the truck and are happy with where it’s at now after all the upgrades you’ve put into it, I’d just drive it and enjoy it. And that shop did an amazing job! I grew up doing body work, used to work in a body shop at a new Chevy dealer, and I’ve bought totaled cars and rebuilt them for personal use and to sell....so I don’t personally get scared away by accident damage. As long as the work was done correct, which it certainly appears to have been, then the truck should be no different than if it was never hit. Diminished value could be a concern of course, but even that concern goes down the longer you have it. It’s not like a carfax is going to have pictures and details of exactly what happened to it. The carfax will show that it has been reported in an accident, and that it has a clear title with no history of being totaled. It’s not even that strong of a bargaining chip for a buyer to use against the value if they have a truck sitting in front of them that is in great condition and can’t even tell any work was ever done to it. I’ll be very curious to see what the appraisal comes back at, but based on the pictures at least I’d be surprised if you have too much to worry about.

 

[Slick61]

When I bought my Ram in 2016, I had a 2000 Super Duty supercab V10 4x4 in pretty good shape, with 87,000 mile on it. When I went to trade it in, they offered me $1500. When I balked at the offer, their explanation was that it had a branded title... which I knew... but I also knew what the truck market was like. I halted things right there. I put an ad on Craigslist. Within 2 hours of posting the ad, I had 3 calls. First guy that showed up the next morning bought it for $5k... and I know I could've gotten more, but didn't want to be too greedy, since I had only paid $4200 for it 4 years earlier.

 

[kp4243]

*update* went two places to get it appraised this weekend and even though the Carfax said 3 accidents and them going over it with a fine tooth comb. I even showed one place the pictures of the extensive repairs. They told me this truck was nicer than anything on their lot, then offered me...... are you sitting down? $2k less than I originally purchased it for . Now granted, I got a fantastic deal on my truck and that appraisal price was now for a fully loaded truck. So still not comparing apples to apples but I was pleased, that is much better than it's worth $7k or more, less. Allstate sent out a private appraisal company on Monday to survey the truck but I won't have an offer back from them until probably next week for the diminished value. I have retained all the original equipment and was able to provide them proof of original equipment when purchased. Explaining that my math that showed according to comparable trucks on the market and where the appraisals from this weekend were that I was out about $3500-$4K in the hole from diminished value. Which is an accurate estimate knowing that if I were to remove all the mods the book value drops dramatically. So "IF" I can get $1750 to $2250 I will be in good shape. If I get more.....Well YAY ME! What that tells me is that keeping a clean (OCD CLEAN) truck and the modifications do add a significant amount overall. But I agree with @gfh77665 that I still did alright overall with the rental, sunroof ect. I was respectful of the rental they gave me but not gonna lie I used it up. Want to say I put close to 30k on it moving from Charlotte to the beach. We will see what they say.

 

[kp4243]

*second update*Lawyer just called! Verdict is.... $3600 in Diminished Value minus their 20% fee so that's roughly $2900. Not bad! I'll take it. I tell you straight up and I can't stress this enough to each one of you. If you are ever in an accident regardless of who's at fault, there is no excuse now a days! PICTURES, PICTURES,PICTURES!!! I documented everything down to the tread on the other cars tires!!! I truly believe that is why I have made out so well on this because I did all the leg work for the attorneys up front and Allstate knew from the very start I had them on lock. OH yes and dumb (bad) luck maybe?

 

[buddy guy]

don't forget there's a bunch of us waiting for our consultant fee on this post. i'll pm you my address to send the cheque

 

[kp4243]

don't forget there's a bunch of us waiting for our consultant fee on this post. i'll pm you my address to send the cheque

lol. Check’sin the mail!!!