This is one of the best and I mean very best shops around in the San Antonio area. The have a full computer frame machine and he told me if it won't align or just to damaged they buy a new frame.

They have repaired my previous F 350 when a friends cattle gate when haywire and closed on my truck as I drove thru. It had the Tuxedo Black paint which is a metal flake black and is hard to paint and match. They really did a great job on that and the body work.

The Ford dealership will R&R the transmission.

Thank you and all for your support and interest.

 

In an area like San Antonio, I'm sure there is no shortage of talent available to do you a really fine job. Hopefully, it is restored to like new condition fairly quickly. I'm still curious about it popping out of park.

 

I just sent this e mail to in Ins Co a few min ago:

"Note, my truck is under full bumper to bumper warranty so the issue of it jumping out of park should be covered by FORD, or at least that is my thinking????? In fact since the root of the event is based upon it coming out of Park on its own I am sure that you need to get FOMOCO involved in settling this claim. The truck was driver LESS!"

 

Not only does that give insurance something to come back on for recovering their money, it is also a HUGE safety concern and liability. Hopefully, that email gets someone thinking.

 

I wonder what a new frame costs vs. straightening out the old one. I've gotten so wildly high estimates to straighten frames out to the point it wasn't worth it.

I hope you get what you want out of it, whether it is totaled out or fixed.

 

Don, I don't envy your position. Frame pulled or replaced, either way you owe it to yourself to go after the insurance for diminished resale value also. You'll have an uphill battle to sell or trade it with major frame damage or replacement on a Carfax.


If it was mine, I think I'd get a 2017 on order now, and dump this one as soon as it came in.

 

With the MSRP of the 2017's going up nearly 7k for some trim levels I wouldn't be so quick to go that route.

 

Yes I am pondering on this now. I brought up to the Ins company the reduced value due to CARFAX report and they said there is nothing they can do. So it comes down to only 2 choices:

1) keep and drive the wheels off

2) Unload it now and grab a '17.

If I pick door number 2 the big question is how much does that hurt? Do I go for a trade in or sell on open market?

Lots to think about. Especially since I bought the truck with longterm in mind and I bought an ESP also.


Maybe some money savings on a '17. I just bought a small (27 ft) 5th wheel that is very light (8200 lbs) so my need for the dually is no where as strong when I had a slide in truck camper that tilted the scales at 5500 + lbs and sat in the bed of the truck. The new 5th wheel is/was designed for the F150, so my think is no dually and go with a F 250 or F 350 SRW. I really don't difference between the 250 vs 350???


???

 

Price out a srw 350 vs. A 250. On the prior years there is not much difference in price or parts.

Uphill battle on diminished value but it's the law in most states. If course they don't want to pay it, but they have to. Hopefully they total it out and your answer is easier. Just my .02... because of the damage ford will blame every future failure on the accident so your esp is going to be a pain too. Assuming it's a major repair. Ask me how I know...

 

I'm not made of money and I'm sure most on here aren't. I've had repaired vehicles in the past. It's always something else. It took my dealer 3 tries to install the rear wheels correctly on my dually. No way I'd trust them to replace the frame. I cringe everytime I drive past a Toyota dealer and see a truckload of Tundra frames being unloaded. No way. Buy it back.



Don, You may want to try to press the insurance on the diminished resale. We have a very good family friend that was in an accident with about a 2 year old Ranger. Initial report was no frame damage, then frame damage was found. They still fixed the truck, but did cut her a check for diminished resale. I don't know how much they had to fight, but it can happen.


To get rid of it I would go trade. Don't offer any info they don't ask for. Selling out outright in full disclosure is going to lose you money. ESP is refundable on a pro rated basis, so you can recoup some of that money if you trade it.


You could easily go to a SRW truck. SRW doesn't necessarily save you money over the dually though. I priced mine both ways, and the SRW with the nice machined aluminum 20" wheels was 1k more than the dually. All other options identical. The 250/ 350 isn't much different. The 350 gets overload springs, that you can get on a 250 if you get the camper package. The only other difference is the GVWR sticker on the door, 250 will be around 10k and 350 will be around 11,500.


I did forget to add, and DAK beat me to it. The best option here in my eyes is that it just gets totaled. But that's a tough one on a 65k truck.

 

In Texas the regs do not require an ins company to pay for Diminished Value.

I met with the shop and its not going to be a total because most damage is underneath on the steering components, bed will be replaced he thinks and the 2 fenders maybe or they can be fixed as they are plastic, but not sure.

I may be able to trade at my dealer since they have serviced the truck and that is where I had it towed, so they had it for 2 weeks and its going back to them to look at the trans.

I may have to keep it as the older it gets the less frame damage impacts its value...

 

You will get some, the un-used portion, of the ESP back. I would talk to the dealer about a trade on a 17. Then you can see if the 17 comes in before or after your beast is fixed.

Bruce