Coping with the possibility of total loss in accident after all work and time put into truck?

I have way too much money into my truck and when it looked it increased my premium so much I would have repaid for all of those mods in a few years. So now I just have regular insurance and hope nothing happens.

 

I know the feeling all too well and the attachment one can have to their vehicles. Of all of the shit boxes I have owned in my life, it was always the better ones that I loved that ended up being written off (2009 Impreza 5MT and 2016 Tacoma Sport 6MT). It never seems to be the shit box that would be a favor if written off. I love my 2020 but it does not have the feel my 2016 did. Plus, my 2016 was Inferno which had the orange dash trim and orange stitching in the seats that I loved. Will I get over it? Mmm... no, but life goes on!

 

Isn't that the game we all play? And you gotta pay to play. Sometimes it doesn't work out the way you want it to.

 

Call your insurance before an accident ever happens and add extra coverage for all the mods. Then you can start over with an even bigger check and not be too much in the hole. Im sure it would still suck, especially for those few that have done all the work themselves. But at least you get paid for the mods you had

 

For real though, that should be a first thought when you start. You either accept it or not and hope for the best

 

Its pretty pricey, but I have everything bundled - home, auto (3 cars), $3M umbrella policy and its like $500/month. I haven't really done the anaylsis to break out just the modded Taco portion.

 

I learned a few years back to not fall hopelessly in love with my cars. If mine gets trashed I just get another. I have always owned hot rods and feared every time I took them into a parking lot that some one would run in to them... which they did. One of the big reasons I got the Taco. I did not expect to like it so much that I would get on a Taco forum and find out why folks love em too. Now I just hang out for the laughs.

 

My Tacoma wasn’t heavily modified by any stretch when it was taken too soon, but things were done that that had taken time, effort, and money over the 6.5 years I owned it. Insurance for mods is a joke here, a very not funny joke.

It turned into an opportunity to get a Tundra which suits my needs better now, and a good thing in the long run. 6 years in and I’m still making it how I want. Business and budgets suck. LOL.

 

You are not alone, my friend. I lost my '06 last winter. The day before they took it to the auction yard I removed everything that wasn't covered by the insurance (which didn't cover any after market parts). Then I went to the dealership to see an empty lot where you could play frisbee but not buy a car.

Then I learned that used Tacos cost more than new ones. I bought a 2020 used AC from CarMax because no dealerships in Northern California had one (not even to order). CarMax has a 30day return policy. A week before the 30 days were up, a dealer called me and I reserved one he had found. The new Taco had a better package and cost 5K less than the used one from CarMax. So, I got a 2022 AC and started over. When I got the insurance I made sure to add the coverage that pays 20% more than the value of the vehicle in the event of a total loss. I added that for my Honda too. Getting parts has also been painful. I waited 5 months for an ARE truck cap, three months for a front bumper, and 6 months for the rear bumper which will finally get installed two weeks from now. I just got the 5.29 gears done on Monday...

 

i used to lie to myself about that too.

then there was that 3 months that i borrowed my parents ford ranger.

by the end of the 3 months, it had a new radio, new speakers, a freshly detailed interior with new floor mats, and i was pricing out wheels...

everything can be modded. you just need to spend enough time with it for things to irritate you!

 

Ha. Sounds about right. I mean more along the lines of money. I don’t think I’ll ever be in a position to sink that much money into a vehicle unless I win the lottery or something.

 

THIS! I work for an insurance company and I am a total loss rep…basically I appraise vehicles and total them. Get the additional coverages! They typically don’t pay a dollar for dollar match due to state specific guidelines but something is better than nothing right? Worst case you can pull the mods off and throw the oem parts in the bed of the truck and re-sell them.

 

Didn’t work for me. I tried that and it increased my premiums so much that I could have just replaced everything within a few years just from the extra monthly payment.