I took My 1974 F100 (24,000 original miles ) out for a drive on Monday and was rear ended.




The good news is that no one was injured. The bad news is the damage to the rear quarter bed, bumper and tailgate. ( His 2003 Dodge truck looks a lot worse )

It was clearly the other drivers fault and his insurance company is going to have an adjuster look at it.

I want to keep the truck original so what should I expect from the insurance company. Can I request the work be done at A Ford dealer with Original Equipment , ? The truck has a good undercoating , will they take care of that also ?

Never had an accident before so this is kind of new and the fact that the truck is in original condition makes it a little complicated.
Any suggestions would help.

Thanks Jim

 

Sorry to hear man! That makes me tear up. It is amazing how tough these trucks are compared to trucks made today.

You adjuster will have all the answers you want.

 

Jim,
The age or condition of your truck should make little difference....Hold your ground and demand that it be repaired to the same condition it was before the accident!!!!

 

jim: that sucks man i hate to hear these thinks, but as it was said before stand your ground. but going to the dealer might not be the best choice for repair work. i would find a shop that only works on older cars. they can still get that parts from the dealer. and the craftsmanship should be better then the dealer shop. good luck man

 

this is possibly going to get ugly. depends on if you have the truck insured for a certain value or if they can say its worth 700$. i would take it to an appraiser to have it appraised and only go to a very reputable body shop. if they say its worth a fair value you should be ok. if they try and lowball you your in trouble.

 

Yep, make sure they replace metal with metal, and do a great job on paint matching. Insist they fix or check anything that may be affected.

Also, I don't know much about insurance, but don't let them 'total' it. That repair at a very good body shop will cost a pant load.

 

thats too bad,always hate to see someones baby get a bruise.like the rest of the guys said,stand your ground with the adjuster.I would get it appraised,and then take it to the best shop in town and get a price on the repair before the adjuster even gets to you.I have been down this road before and if you hold your ground they will look after you most times.just make sure you have all your ducks in a row.

 

Jim, first of all, glad you are ok, and good luck with the situation.
However, the fact that it clearly was not your fault gives you a significant upper hand. If they try to give you a price you feel is not aceptable, make a counter offer that you feel is more fair and explain why. All you would have to do is say no, I am going to get a lawyer, and they will most likely give you what you want.
Remember they have to figure in costs of everything. Their lawyer fees, the price of the adjustment, so on and so forth. If what you are asking for is going to be lower than those fees they will %99 of the time give it to you.

It's all a business matter, and business is all about numbers to them.
But once again, stand your ground and good luck. Hope it turns out well and you get that beauty back on the road in as good of condition as it was.

 

Sorry to see your truck like that, It looks like a great one. Like everyone else said stand your ground and hope he has a good ins company. You said, "Ford dealer with Original Equipment" this may be not possible with the year of your truck. If they low ball you talk to your ins company. Get real estimates from quality body shops. You can always file with your states ins commission if not satisfied. Getting a lawyer involved can do more harm and a longer run around that you may think. Most big insurance companies have a legal department and staff lawyers with free time so cost to them is of little concern. They know how far they can push you and what they will win or lose if it went to trial.

 

That stinks man! I just went through this so I know what is going to happen. His adjuster will under value your truck and over price the repairs, and they might consider the truck a total loss. Don't let this happen if you can help it. They will low ball the value at say $1500 and the repairs at $3500. If you have a good insurance company they will fight for you to get a higher value. They won't use OEM parts, but you can get the parts yourself and have a shop install them. Find a bed off a junked truck.

 

If you allow others determine the value you will be low balled. The thing to do is get an appraiser to provide a value and document same. Provide the documents to your insurance co. I had my son, OJ do this with his '76. His insurance co said they had a value much lower than the $10k he gave them in the documents. His co jumped his cost less than $25 per year. It sure does help to do it BEFORE you have to use it. I know they call it insurance but you have tell them how much it is worth.

 

Cool user name, "Old Rusty Wrench"

 

Each state has laws the insurance company has to follow with regards to valuing your truck. From the looks of it it could be banged out and filled with some filler. That would be better than an aftermarket panel, IMO-that's assuming you goto a quality body shop that can do a lot of hand work. Most shops now just want to replace each panel no matter how small the damage.

 

Berry - I was curious what ended up happening with your truck after your neighbor ran into it.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

 

Not good. The low balled the trucks value at $1500, I fought them up to $2,000 and took a check for $2150. This is more than enough to get it fixed but that is with me doing most of the work, my neighbor who owns a body shop, etc. I basically needed a fender, bumper and grille surround.

In CA they are allowed to base the value on 3 things: 1) similar vehicles within a 90 mile radius 2) Similar vehicles sold in a 90 mile radius and 3) A licensed dealer 'estimate' of the value. I could not find any 78' 4x2 Lariats within a 1000 mile radius let alone 90 that were in similar shape. I found a few show quality trucks and a ton of beaters. They went with the dealer estimate which was one for $1500 and one for $2500. I am supposed to goto the DMV and license it as a salvage title, but I have not gotten any notices from them. It sucks. I don't mind the title deal as it's a family truck and won't ever be sold, but just dealing with the insurance companies who set out to screw you. They under value and over estate the repair costs so they can 'total' the truck. BTW, their estimate to repair my truck was $2700.

I got a bumper from LMC $200, Fender off of craigslists $80, and am debating on the grille suround. I have gotten two used ones, but they are not in the shape I like-pitted, dented. I hate spending $600 for a good one, but I may. My buddy will paint the fender for somewhere around $300-500.