Long travel and insurance total loss !!

My Daughter just got in an accident last night with her tricked out Tacoma Prerunner!! Talked to insurance today and they are acting like they may want to total the truck before even seeing it. Truck is a 2003 TRD preunner xtra cab with total chaos long travel and king coil overs with king triple bypases, rear is a full bed cage with total chaos shackled Deavers and king triple bypases with king bumps, two spares, glass works front and rear, full cab cage, race seats and belts. The custom front bumper prevented a lot of damage but the front fenders are bowed and cracked, hood is bent up, radiator was leaking and grill is wasted ! One front tire is kicked out but just looks like the tie rod bent, Truck only has 90,000 original miles!! Any one ever deal with insurance in a situation like this? I'm thinking of going to Solo motorsports to get a estimate of what has been done to the truck and we don't want to lose the truck with a total loss!! Looks like I can fix the damage with out too much problems but this truck is her baby and we need advice on how to deal with the insurance company to save this great Tacoma from certain death if the insurance company get a hold of her. By the way we were told be the police officer at the scene that it was not her fault!! She center punched a new Tundra that pulled in front of her coming the opposite way. Tundra looked pretty BAD!

 

Was the LT kit and fab work disclosed to the insurance company and being actively covered? If not, total the truck and buy it back.
Anything added to the vehicle aftermarket must be disclosed to be insured or included in the vehicle value when considering a total loss. If you never told insurance, then the value (and your buy back price) is based on the OEM equipment/value.

Only caveat is that if you buy back your total-loss vehicle and repair it, it will then have a salvage title forever. Not too bad if she plans to hold it for a while or if you can adequately prove the damage to a future buyer. Also, getting insurance coverage on a total loss vehicle or salvage title can be tricky, and in CA is basically up to the agency to decide.

Since you have notified insurance already I'm pretty sure you can't rescind your claim and fix it yourself to retain the clean vehicle title.

 

Insurance was not notified of improvements , I'm glad she's alright but I was just getting ready to pull the trigger on the build of my 2nd Gen truck and now it looks like I will be working on hers! I'm trying to figure out how to add pictures to this post!

 

I kinda had this problem.. I had a mid travel ford ranger and my insurance actually only covered for the ranger ...no work that was done.. so even though I threw tons of money at it. they ended up not covering for what it was worth but for what it would be for stock parts on it.. thus I ended up getting a Tacoma.. and now just going to buy an off- road vehicle..

 

Yeah pics would help. like mentioned above you may just have to buy it back to get sny money back. Be careful As you mentioned it sounds like she might have a non street legal vehicle as well. I dont know how that might come into play with insurance. I think some states after market bumpers are illegal because they dont crumple and could cause more damage in an accident than being stock. Good luck!

 

Yep .. this is the gamble we all make when taking modified daily drivers off road without wanting to pay a larger premium for insurance

Good point Chris .. if the vehicle is determined to not be street-legal there is the possibility of it defaulting to be her responsibility. Could lead to repossession or no payout from the insurance company.

 

Here's the wreck !!

 

Like others have stated let them total it out and find the price to buy it back. It will be a salvage title then so keep that in mind if u try to sell it down the road. Be carefully telling them its modded they may try to say if it was stock it wouldn't be as bad... Good luck with it man

 

does any LT peeps have their aftermarket parts and work insured?

 

I have an extra $15k in coverage through Wawanesa.

 

Depending on the structural damage this could be really good for you $$$ wise. It gets totaled, you take the pay out, buy it back for a fraction of that pay out, and spend the rest on new glass to make it look like new again. Might have a decent chunk of change left over too.

 

I will add the coverage to my 2005 when its done, I have everything in the shop ready to pull the trigger just waiting for the time! Now I will probably be rebuilding hers instead of starting mine.

 

What was the premium on that? If you don't mind.

 

Extra $13/month, I pay 9 months a year for a 1 year policy.....3 months down.

 

really depends on the insurance company and the state the truck is insured in . my insurance from state farm covers every little modification on my truck and i dont have to notify them of squat . i just have to keep everything documented .
if you want some useful info straight from someone with insurance industry experience contact me at definedengineering@msn.com

 

is that suspension/work and other stuff as well?

 

No salvage title if the owner buys it out.
Title is only branded if it changes ownership. If the buyer wants to keep the vehicle, the insurance company deducts estimated salvage value from fair market and writes a check for the difference.

 

Unless the law is different in California, it doesn't have to change ownership for the title to be branded. I've been through the process twice in WA state, and if the vehicle is totaled, the title gets branded. But, like I said, maybe California is different.

 

unless you know this for a fact, im pretty sure youre wrong. the insurance files it as a total loss before you can buy it back.