Got into quite the wreck tonight driving my boyfriend's truck that he left to me while at boot camp for the Marines. Any idea of how fixable it is, and a cost idea?

 

Welcome to FTE.

Fixable but will cost more than the truck is worth.

What's the insurance situation?

Looks like the front end is tweeked pretty good--or is that just the angle? Can you drive it? Or is that oil and water under the front?

 

What are you thinking? From what I know, they have liability insurance. Yeah, its tweaked pretty good, the battery was messed up and it constantly turns off, they didnt let me try fixing it and turning it on to see if I could drive it. There was a little oil, coming from the breaks mostly. It stopped leaking really fast. His dad has a lot of experience and was thinking about teaming up with a former mechanic to fix it.

 

Based on age and mileage, insurance will probably total it.


But, going from just the pic, I don't see anything that isn't easily found at a salvage yard.

 

Might be repairable, but in hard collisions like that these trucks tend to end up with tweaked or damaged frames. In most cases a frame replacement is the only logical repair. On top of that from what I can see I can say it will need a core support, header panel, headlight bezel, headlight, corner light, turn signal light, grill, bumper, hood, at least the driver side fender, possibly the passenger on too, radiator, A/C condenser, and whatever is causing the other fluid leaks. Here is the real question. Do you have the funds and the time to repair it?

As for insurance, doesn't matter if it's liability or full coverage at this point cause either way its totaled to them. These trucks just aren't worth much anymore and front end damage like that is costly to repair.

If I was going to go about repairing that truck, step one would be to determine if the frame was damaged or bent. Have a frame shop or body shop look at it. If it is bad I would find a donor truck of the same cab and bed configuration as that one and use all of the front clip from it as well as the frame.

 

Forget insurance companies, any of them will tell you that truck is totaled.

What's the truck worth to your boyfriend? Does it hold a special place in his heart or is it just another tool in the shed? If it means a lot to him, like maybe it used to belong to a family member that's no longer around, then yeah I think it could be fixed. Otherwise if I was him I'd just park it somewhere to part it out.

I love my truck but she doesn't hold any memories that are precious enough that I can't let go of it. If it was involved in a wreck today, I'd call it in to my insurance knowing they'd total it and then I'd buy it back to pull parts from because I'm 90+ percent sure I'd be buying another OBS F-150 or F-250. Then I'd sell whatever parts I didn't want and use my new OBS to haul what's left of the old one to the scrap yard... oops I mean "metal recycler". Lol.

Glad you're okay.

 

If it is diesel I Guarantee it is totaled since they can't get a radiator support. More pics and truck info would be great

 

not a diesel Brad, it is a 96 F-150

 

Well then it is defiantly totaled since book value is probably 2000-4000 and you have at least 2k worth of damage

 

I like dixie's idea if insurance does take care of it. Buy it back for cheap, buy a new project, and let your boyfriend start fresh.

On a side note, from one jarhead to another, write him a letter and say "the fastest way out of there is to just finish it" Although, you may want him to stay a little longer so you have some more time to work on the truck.

Where did he go to boot camp?

 

To me it would all depend on if the frame is bent, hard to tell from the pic. If it's bent then is it too bent to fix, if so it's worth it's parts, given how clean it looks I'm betting it's got some nice parts. If it's straight then it's totally worth saving, just needs front sheet metal and plastic, all bolts no hammers, I've fixed worse. Even easier that it's white, easiest color to find so maybe you can avoid having to paint.

The one thing I'd never let happen is to let it go to scrap. Like the others said even if the frame is wrecked then argue for the most you can get from the insurance company and then buy it back. If the bed is as nice as the hood then the bed alone is worth more then the cost to buy it back.

But, if YOU decide it's fixable then DO NOT let them total it. Tell them you or your friend will fix it and get a check for repairs equal to the total value. If they total it then you now have a totaled title even if you fix it and it's just fine. You have the right to have anyone of your choosing fix it, even if that someone is you or his dads buddy.

I recently went through something similar, had a car wrecked that they wanted to total. I wouldn't let them, we got them to put up enough to fix it with a shop that cut a few corners that I was comfortable cutting and none that I wasn't, worked out well.

 

agreed.
i have fixed much worse than that. all you really need is a good frame machine and know how to use it.
unfortunately most people go for the easy way out and either replace the rail, or just say it can't be fixed and junk it because "it is too old and not worth fixing"

 

If all they had on it is liability ins. on is then it will be on the owner to fix it out-of-pocket.

 

Whose fault was it? Yours, start searching for parts or a replacement. The other party's take the money from totaling, buy it back and repair or find another. We have had two OBS trucks that the dealership straightened the frame on, they will tell you if it's fixable or not. Junkyard parts are your friend.