Tacoma has been totaled.

Yup. If I even door dinged another vehicle in a parking lot I'm waiting around for a bit and leaving a note or something, regardless of the other vehicle. Disgusting.

 

I'm glad your son wasn't injured. That's a major loss to the 1st gen world. Looks like a beautiful truck. Agree here with others: Challenge it. Be professional, pleasant and persistent and see it through to the end. Is the OR rare for that year? It makes a difference in the value. Do some leg work/homework and see if you can get one of the Classic Car insurers that are out there to give you an estimate on the value, and what a policy would cost to insure it. I too suspect they likely are basing their decision on age alone. Dig out all of your repair records and receipts. You have nothing to lose. Scrutinize the internet for like examples out there that are for sale. Used Tacoma prices are crazy right now. Educate them. Good luck!

 

Classic car insurers that offer agreed value coverage also have a lengthy list of restrictions regarding coverage and vehicle usage.

 

This. A friend of mine long ago was hit in his Blazer that he had a lot of money in and the insurance tried to give him $1200 by book value. He won the battle fortunately as he was fastidious about keeping receipts and whatnot though.

 

Don't let them total it. Get if fixed. About 10 years ago or so, I had a 2004 DC 4x4 Trd (white) that was hit by an illegal alien. The insurance said it was totaled and I said fix it and they did.
There is enough data out there on the true value of those trucks (as opposed to NADA) and it is probably worth much more than the cost to repair.

 

The state law defines when a vehicle is totalled. Every state is different. It's 75% of the actual cash value in California. So if the repair cost exceeds 75% of the vehicles actual cash value, the law says it's totalled. Insurance doesn't have a lot of leeway in this if they wish to remain compliant with the laws and policy requirements. OP could find ACV based on listing or sales data from dealers, but insurance already has this. If it's a lowball number, that's worth discussing. If it's within the ballpark, this is basically a done deal.

It's worth chatting about this with the insurance company, but they will explain much of what I mentioned above.

I had this conversation with my adjustor before when I was aghast at my beloved Subaru being totalled. Still kind of mad about that and it was 18 years ago.

 

I would be interested depending on the buy back price…

 

The front end does not look damaged but there is shifting on the left side of the truck. Both driver's Side front and rear doors open but there appears to be some panel gap irregularities. Hood shifted to the driver's fender also and like I mentioned earlier, the bed is shifted even though it wasn't touched. Possibly loosen the bolts and straighten out is all it needs.

You're telling me. Might have to sell off some cars to save on insurance but which ones go.

1632 N Lake is the building where we think has some association to the Hit and Runner. Accident happened right in front of that building.

My neighbor said the same thing this am. I don't even take my nice cars out anymore for that reason.

 

I'll find out tomorrow or early this weekend and get back to you. It's currently at C&C Collision in Alhambra, cA.

 

Whose is this reply directed to? I'm trying to make sense of it. Someone post a forbidden link?

 

I'm running to pull off the front grille if anyone is interested in it.

 

Yes but the post (link and all) is no longer..nobody still here need worry.

 

I would fight this one like no tomorrow. They look up the blue book value, get a (likely inflated) repair estimate, if that estimate is over the BB value they call it totaled. Looking at that damage, it's easily a home repair job unless the frame got bent.

 

... A bit curious on the mileage or had it been mentioned previously?

And looks like the perps vehicle was sporting a buzz saw with that cut on the door

 

Don't let the insurance company take it. They scam people by totalling vehicles with even minor damage and then repairing the damage and reselling the car. If the frame is not bent it looks to be a relatively easy fix. You might want to try selling the truck to someone who will work on it if they will pay close to what the insurance company is giving you. I did that recently with an 04 Lexus ES330 with a smashed front end. I plastic welded a 2 foot gash in the bumper cover, painted it with Wallyworld spray paint (touchup black) replaced radiator, condenser, fan with aftermarket parts, both HID headlights with used ebay headlights, a junkyard hood a couple of junkyard radiator supports. Fenders were OK. The frame shop to straighten the frame was most expensive, but its back on the road after around $1k in parts and frame shop. Fair amount of wrenching tho, at 75 I wouldn't want to do it again.

 

The vehicle has 211,000 miles.

Found out that the perp is none other than Speed Racer.

Who would be the people repairing this damage. In my experience I was always given first right of refusal to buy the car back. I also have a close relationship with the bodyshop. The only thing I can think of is my buddies over at the shop don't know the tru value of these 1st gens. I'll be there in the am to pull some stuff from the vehicle. I'll gather more info tomorrow.

 

I’m not an expert but it doesn’t look too bad. Before going down any repair route I’d take it to a shop that can see if the frame is tweaked.

 

Oh they caught the guy? Hope that's what you mean re Speed Racer.