Words can not even express the amount of anger and rage that I felt/ am still feeling after what happened Wednesday evening. I have always had a soft spot for the 80-86 f150's. granddaddy drove them, dad drove them and I always wanted one as a kid. I started looking about a year ago for a truck. My list and expectations were high. I would only settle for a 86, 4x4, lwb, lariat xlt, 351 auto, original clean truck, one owner. I finally found one in Chattanooga TN. Freshly rebuilt 351 .30 over, pro comp can, and holly 700 double pump on top. Ran like a champ, for the 30 min I got to drive it. Needed tires and wheels. I happily paid the man $6500, well worth it in my book (fresh paint job) and brought it back to Atlanta. Dropped it off at discount and had new bfg at and Baja wheels put on. Looked awesome. My wife picked up the truck all excited. 200 feet from the entrance of our neighborhood a woman in a Honda Accord ran a stop sign. There was no time to react. The ford hit her at 45 mph dead square in the side. My wife was wearing her seat belt and walked away with bruises, the truck however,.... the frame is bent at a 90 angle from the radiator forward, it is bent at a 45 from the motor mounts forward. The entire front clip, inner and outer will need to be replaced. Luckily the fenders pushed out and around the doors so the were saved. The Frame is bowed under the drivers seat under the cab. Motor mounts broken, front driveshaft bent. Motor is broken from the trans. So the question is, what to do next. It will easily take $7000-8000 to fix this truck right. I'm worried about the insurance company screwing me over here. Any one of you had experience dealing with insurance on the classic trucks? Should I keep the truck and try to fix it? Im going. To fight for what I have in the truck. The fact that I hav been looking the last few days and can't find a replacement is heart breaking but with time one will come along. I'll post pics below and a link to a tour tube video

 

Poster Child for "Agreed Value" insurance policy..Good Luck ...jv....

 

Man, My heart goes out to you. If yours got that much damage, I'd hate
to see what that little ricer looks like.

 

I had a meeting set up with hagerty on Friday to appraise and put full coverage on it. He looked it over and gave it a $8200 insurance value. At the time it was on my GEICO policy. Nationwide has accepted full responsibility but I have a feeling they will try to comp it to a rust bucket listed on Craigslist for $500. I pulled eBay listings of like trucks that actually sold and got a range of $7500-9000.00. The options are simple, I'll pick my truck up in two weeks, or I'll expect a check for full replacement value based on the comps. I have notarized bill of sale and title showing value around $8500.00 but still insurance company's are snakes.

 

Well we drove the ford up on the wrecker and off the wrecker into the drive way. The Honda Accord was a 2017 3 weeks old. A Persian lady was driving. It looks like it was wrapped around a pole. Total loss as well. Ford pushed the Accord a good 100 feet sideways. The lady was crying. Thank god my wife was in this and not her Dodge Journey, she would have been in the hospital I'm sure. The truck is pretty much worthless now, it still runs but it's basically a parts truck.

 

Sounds like you're owed $6500 + cost of tires + fair compensation for your time and costs to pick up the truck from TN.So, looking at $7000-$7500 payout. Anything is repairable, but given the abundance of 80-97 trucks and frame interchangeability I would not spend time or money fixing that major of a frame issue on one of these.

You need to decide if you want to find a replacement or keep this one and get a cheap truck to swap everything over and do a new front clip and paint. You'll have to negotiate buyback price. Also figure out approximate replacement cost. You have a legal right to be made whole, which means you are owed by the at fault person (and/or her insurance company) an '86 F-150 XLT 4x4 with a hopped up 351w and whatever other criteria, since this was not just an 80-86 pickup to you (easy to find a replacement for a reasonable price) but a nicely restored specifically optioned one year only classic vehicle.

See what their insurance offers you and go from there, they may offer $1000 or some BS but remember you are under no obligation to accept anything that does not make you whole, and strictly monetarily without worrying about a replacement vehicle the cost to make you financially whole is all documented in the past 24 hours. So that route should be easy. Also, if you want another of that specific truck or reasonably close fitting your criteria, insurance companies will sometimes search the country for you and help arrange purchase and transport so you might look into that as an option.

 

I had a highly customized Mercedes clk55 amg that got hit. Tried to offer me $4500, ended up settling at $12,500. Adjuster is coming on Monday (Tmr) we will see what comes of it.

 

As I posted before good to hear no one got hurt (real bad).


I do have a 81 4x2 long bed frame it's yours if you want it.
I just need to remove the bed as I plan to use some of it for my project truck.
Cab has been stripped out but still bolted to frame, everything else is stripped off frame.
Dave ----

 

 

So sorry to see that you've lost the "find" that took you so long to discover.

All of this just reinforces my intention to go with a classic car insurance company like Hagerty for Dad's truck. That's because I've already talked with my current insurance company and know that they just want a local guy to appraise it. That guy sells used classic vehicles that have relatively amateur restorations, and I'm confident he won't appraise it for what it will be worth. However, Hagerty flies a guy in that does nothing but appraise classic cars, and I know that one guy on here got an appraisal for over $20K for his well-restored truck.

 

That was my plan. Hagerty came out Friday and looked at it, appraised it as if it was not wrecked, so I at least have that paper work for nationwide. I'll know what's going on by tmr noon.

 

That Cat might have been me. My recently restored 1985 F150 Lariat was appraised at $26K, and that was before I even finished putting the interior in!

I have my truck insured with Grundy. They were recommended by my painter and the appraiser. Premiums are only around $350 a year.


Tough break, soundmanford. That must really be hearbreaking. I hope you find yourself another Bullnose. Just curious; why did you insist on a 1986 model year?

 

Yep, you be that cat, Fonz.

 

Keep in mind that insurance companies are not non-profit organizations. On average you WILL pay more in premiums that they will pay you in settlements. If that's not true, then the insurance company is losing money and they will go out of business.

So if you get reasonable premiums on an "agreed value" policy on a high buck vehicle it's because the insurance company has some reason to believe that vehicle is not likely to be damaged. That usually would be because the coverage is limited to specialized use and/or very little use.

So you can get cheap insurance for an expensive car that is only driven in parades and trailered to/from car shows. But if you then use it as a daily driver you are at risk of getting no settlement at all because the insurance company can say that you were using outside of the conditions it was insured for.

The rule of thumb my dad had driven into him, and that he drove into me, was to never insure anything that you can afford to lose. A $25,000 car that you'd need to replace with a similar car if it was totaled? Probably insure it. But a $25,000 toy that you'd be heartbroken to lose but likely wouldn't replace if you did? Probably not. And the money you save on premiums will go a long way toward replacing it even if you do lose it (but not if you lose it in the first 12 hours, that just sucks)

 

Yes, that is exactly how classic car insurance works. (There is no such thing as a free lunch.) My truck is not used a daily driver, and I have to keep it in a locked garage when not in use. I am allowed 6K miles a year, but they have never checked up on my mileage, nor do they do know even know what my odometer reads. That is fine by me, because I have no problem staying within those conditions.


I understand that reasoning. Except you and your Dad forgot that it is illegal to drive a vehicle on public roads without insurance.

My garage is located in my backyard, and there are 40+ year old pine trees in my neighbor's yard that will completely demolish my garage if one where to fall on it. In fact, two of my own trees fell last Fall when Hurricane Mathew hit and missed my neighbor's house by about 6 inches.

If a tree falls on my garage and destroys my truck, I will get a check for $26K - much more than I put into my truck. (And I would *not* replace it.) But if I don't insure it, I will receive $0.