Another One Bites the Dust

Allen M. · **Posted:** Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:29 pm

So there I was, beautiful sunny fall day on a nice tree lined two lane in South Tulsa, no shoulders but a nice mown shoulder really wide. I stopped for a car turning left, waiting for traffic to let up so she could go. I was far enough back to see plenty of pavement between us. Heard a screech of tires and it’s getting closer, crap, Blam and Blam. I hit neutral and shut her off before plastic quits flying. A$$hole not paying attention, speeding and as yet unknown, impaired. Anyway, this guy left 50’ of skids to hit us and totaled his girlfriends, mine, and damaged a third. The car in front #3, sustained damage to the rear bumper, and tailgate. Mine #2, totaled, sustained damage to the front, would have needed new front plastics, Massive rear end damage. The number 1 car, because of my trailer hitch, the engine now occupies the space the firewall used to be with a cracked block.
The damage to mine, now the insurance company’s:
The front plastic, no real structure damage nor anything critical.
The front seats both broken, had daughter with me, seats belts should be replaced, no air bag deployment. They did transport us both to the hospital because I had serious neck pains and the daughter went into shock. We are ok, better living through modern Chemistry and a massage.
The rear; trailer hitch, bent down at 45 degree angle and twisted a bit to the left. All plastic from the wheels back, the rear door, tire, mounting etc. wiring, Fuel tank pushed touching the rear end just barely, so fuel lines, fuel filler. When the hitch bent down, it tore out the rear bolt holes and crinkled the left rear unit body between the mounting holes. No glass broken, but if you look at the car from the back end, it is twisted slightly down to the left.
No doubt it’s totaled because of the crinkled unit body and high salvage value, diesel you know, I just did an oil change service, new battery, well maintained. The tank was empty, going to fill up closer to home. I had it for sale and sent the adjuster the photos I took. New glow plugs, I did have a coolant leak on the egr, I was getting the parts for luckily not ordered yet. Chrysler did replace the tranny and TC about 35K ago. I would have jumped in her and headed to Alaska from Tulsa no problem.
The insurance company valued mine at $9,300 an ’05 with 136k miles, Minus $500 because it is yet undetermined if his car was insured A$$hole, I will get it back if he has insurance. But I do have several parts for sale:
1. Water Pump, new in box - $225
2. Weather tech mats – front and rear cargo, tan in color – all - $100
3. Summer and winter front grill mats. I do have the stick on connectors - $40
4. SP diesel turbo timer - $50
5. Owner’s Manual - $20
All items are sold with shipping in North America, PM me.
If interested the car is at CoParts in Tulsa, OK Stock number 30825064 (918) 582 3828 ?Coparts.com? They might have better photos.
This thing was fun to embarrass kids in their daddy’s pickup, I am going to miss it.
:dead:

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ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue Oct 28, 2014 1:39 am

Glad you and your daughter are okay.

Jeeps can be replaced.

racertracer · **Posted:** Tue Oct 28, 2014 4:28 am

Glad your OK...

from looking at the photos on COPART.com, it seems to me that it is a minor repairable damage. What was the reason for labeling it as a total loss?

RockyMountainYote · **Joined:** Sun Oct 20, 2013 8:32 pm **Posts:** 77

Holy shart! glad you're okay! I have a CRD in the for sale section, flexible on price :lol:

Allen M. · **Posted:** Tue Oct 28, 2014 6:31 pm

I think they totaled it because of the left rear hitch mount, when it bent down, it crinkled the unit body and gave the thing a twist to the whole body. Yes, they probably could have replaced it but the adjuster must have thought a high salvage because of the engine and drive train was untouched.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Wed Oct 29, 2014 9:34 am

There are a variety of factors that go into an insurance company's decision to "total" a vehicle but as far as I know "salvage" value is never part of that decision. Things considered a) does the cost to repair exceed the vehicle's actual cash value (which may be the same or less than replacement value - ideally when you purchase insurance consider paying a bit extra for replacement value); b) whether or not the repair can be done in a manner to make the vehicle safe to drive; c) differing state regulations on what is "totaled". It is possible for an insurance company to "total" a vehicle when the repair cost is less than actual cash value. In any case if you have any doubts about whether or not your vehicle is "totaled" you should discuss with the appropriate insurance company exactly step by step how and why they made that decision not to mention discussing the value they offer to pay you.

Personally my experience has been limited to:
1. minor obviously repairable damage - ex. my 1973 Plymouth Satellite 4-door was rear ended in ca. 1995, I stopped at red light driver behind did not. Other vehicle Ford LTD lost front bumper, grill, radiator, hood, both front headlights, front fenders, etc. Satellite had a tiny golf ball diameter dent in rear flat panel under trunk lid that did not bend trunk lip and a scratch on the bumper that did not go thru the chrome. Insurance offer to me $250. I did the repair with a tablespoons worth of bondo and a couple of squirts of silver, matched the panel, paint and about 30 min of time
2. major damage to my original 05 KJ CRD Sport when rear ended by medium large loaded dump truck, same red light scenario, except that turbo lag was just enough that I could not dodge right when I saw him coming in rear view mirror. Top of rear lift gate pushed to ca. 6" behind the back of the driver's seat, no harm to me. Obviously totaled. Offer as I recall ca. $16,500; I found an 05 KJ CRD Limited with ca. 10,000 more miles on the odometer and got the other driver's insurance company to cover purchase of that vehicle plus sales tax. In FL at least if one trades in or handles a private sale as a trade in a vehicle there is no sales tax on the difference in value between the trade in and the replacement vehicle so I pointed out that by only offering ACV they were stiffing me on the sales tax. They paid the extra to cover sales tax without a quiver. Settled in like 1 week had replacement in 1.5 weeks.

It would be good to know exactly how crinkled that corner is, how much and how feasible is it to fix, and whether or not the whole body is actually twisted. There has been at least one if not two cases where a rear end collision appeared to twist the vehicle but the actual damage was to easily replaceable rear suspension/axle parts.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Wed Oct 29, 2014 11:08 am

A good body shop with a state of the art Frame Rack machine can do wondrous things; even to a uni-body frame vehicle....they can be straightened...
:mrgreen:

joelukex4 · **Joined:** Thu Sep 29, 2011 4:54 pm **Posts:** 386

The worst thing I see is the way that hitch let loose. Did it rip out of the unit body? There was no center support above the draw tube which frightens me. I don't know how this can handle a 500LB tongue weight long term. This appears to be the factory hitch which are usually stronger. Does it have 3 bolts per side or only 2? I have never liked aftermarket hitches which only have 2 bolts per side. Typically not a long enough bolt up flange to the frame or unit body.

At least it protected the Fuel tank from leaking. Shows that Chryslers recall fix for rear end damage and fires by adding a hitch will work. Ha Ha

Allen M. · **Posted:** Wed Oct 29, 2014 6:51 pm

Honestly, I don't know the insurance companies policy on totalling a vehicle. So how they came up I don't know. But with a suicidal deer a couple of years back all the plastic on the front and guessing the back would be over $4K add paint then straiten the body. The left rear bolt on the hitch pulled out of the unit body, don't know if there are 2 or 3 bolts! But there is a definite crinkle in the body underneath and the rear cargo deck is bowed, the rear door springs about a inch when you open it as well as being bow in about 2 inches.
The good, the rear suspension was untouched, I think, the fuel tank is just barely touching the rear different cover. No glass broken sun roof closes fine.
I think with some body work and time I don't have it could be running again.
Yes the hitch did protect the fuel tank but it was mostly empty, full it might have been a big mess.

Another One Bites the Dust

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