It's been a while. The site got kind of clunky from my computer and I guess I just slowed my visits to FTE. Anyway, bad news. My 2004 F350 4x4 V10 was stolen this morning. Along with a trailer and quite a bit of equipment. The loss of the other stuff sucks, but the loss of the truck, that I ordered new and bought with the FTE purchase program has left me heartbroken and steamed at the same time

It was just paid off a couple of months ago and it's been pretty trouble-free in the 63 months I had it. I really hate to think that it won't turn up, but if it doesn't I will have to get something quickly. Are there 09 V10's still out there? Were they any more common than they were in years past? I haven't kept up with them at all. I'm sure locating anything similar to what I had will be difficult without ordering a 2010. I'm not very happy about the thought of truck payments, but me and used vehicles have never seemed to get along too well.

 

Oh my god, that's absolutely terrible! I feel so sorry for you man. I couldn't imagine what would happen if somebody stole my Big Girl, besides the fact that I would be absolutely heart broken. I hope it all works out for you man, and that the thief gets castrated and stabbed in the thigh.

BTW, whereabouts do you live? I'd like to keep an eye out for it if you are close to me.

 

I'm in central Florida, northwest of Orlando about 30 miles.

 

Wow, long time no post

Order a 2010 if you have to. The V10's are going away.

 

Crap, I'm up on in Ohio by Cleveland. I'll still keep an eye out for it though.

 

Fricken thieves!!!

Keep an eye out for used. Up here there have been a few '06 and newer V10 rigs around with under 40k miles. Don't come up often but I just saw an ad for one again the other day.

 

I am buying a 09 or 10 F350 RC with a v10. They are still out there for 09's but are very hard to find. I test drove a 09 5.4 and oh my.........lets just leave it at that.

Bummer of the truck.

Hope it turns up in one piece.

 

I do to. I'm not really looking forward to dealing with the insurance company on value.

 

Sorry about the truck. I feel for you, I really do. I used to be an insurance adjuster for State Farm and if I may, I can offer a few tips. Though I can't speak for every company, we were always encouraged to give a fair price and were never told or even hinted at to cheat anybody. Hopefully your experience will be a good one.

Here some tips to help you in negotiating with them:

1. Come to the table with all your ducks in a row. Prepare as if you are selling the truck to your insurer, which you are.

2. Ask to meet in person. It is much easier to come your way on the price when they have to look you in the eye if they don't agree.

3. You DO NOT have to accept the insurer's first offer immediately unless it is fair from the get-go. Tell them you want time to research it just as the adjuster did.

4. Use Blue Book, Edmund's, etc. Also call the dealers in your region and ask them their opinion on the insurer's offer for your truck. Tell them there might be a truck sale in their future if they help you out. Cars.com is a good tool too. You can narrow a search to very similar vehicles and see what the prices are.

5. Keep your temper if the offer is too low for you. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. It is not a personal matter to the adjuster unless you make it that way. If you go on the attack, the adjuster will just dig his heels in and you will get nowhere--I know whereof I speak.

6. Be fair-minded. If you have a lot of goodies on your truck and didn't report it to your insurer and pay the extra premium, you kinda have to eat that. It's hard but true.

7. Be honest with yourself on the condition of your truck. Your adjuster has probably never seen it. Give him recent pipctures. As much we would all like to believe, our trucks are rarely in showroom condition.

8. If after you research and renegotiate you still aren't getting a fair offer, call your agent. Your agent has EVERY incentive to keep you happy so you don't buy your insurance somewhere else when you renew. He can make phone calls to important people. This is a last resort. At this point you have gone over the adjuster's head and his offer might be better than what you get with his superiors.

9. Remember to keep it business and not personal. Notice I said that twice.

Good luck and sorry you have to go through this.

Stewart

 

It is with State Farm. I had a bad experience with them when my 1995 F150 got wrecked in 2002. The person that pulled out in front of me was also insured with State Farm. The person they sent out was an estimator rather than an adjuster.

Long story short, I was willing to settle for $5000 and put it toward a new Super Duty, but he could not come up with enough damage to total it. His estimate was low and repair shop ended up running over his estimate. And with three weeks of rental truck it far exceeded the $5000 I had wanted to get out of it. I was never happy with the repair, and I don't think they got the frame back quite right. Overall, it really left a sour taste.

 

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. That is pretty standard for them to send an estimator to assess the damages and report it back to the adjuster who actually makes the money decisions.

Typically if the damages exceed 60% of a vehicle's value they will total it. In your case, they were likely already so deep into the repairs that SF couldn't turn back without losing a lot of money. Hopefully it will go better this time since it is essentially a total loss.

Good luck and stick to your guns for a fair settlement!

I'm rootin' for ya.

 

I just remembered. Back in the day, State Farm didn't use KBB or Edmund's or NADA. They used a third-party service that analyzed prices at every dealer for every conceivable vehicle in a given locale or metro area. They probably still use something similar. Since you are in the Orlando area, you will arrive at the most accurate settlement amount by shopping prices in Orlando.

Later,
Stewart

 

Kieth, man thats terrible. My brother-in-law had his cherokee ort stolen last year, cops found it torched. He only had liability insurance on it so he didnt get a dime. Hopefully yours will turn out better! Our trucks were very similar too, F350 XL 4x4 CC V10 I've got the handshaker and the long bed though. There were very few V10's around when I looked, but the main reason I ordered mine was the V10/stick shift combo and the fact that most all the CC were short beds and all the XL's were white

 

I love your truck bronco. If I had to do it again, I'd likely go long bed. My 04 was the first vehicle I had ever owned with an automatic. I like rowing gears, but I decided to go that route on the F350. Not sure what I would do on a new one though. It may not even be in the question. I may end up having to go with something much cheaper this time. It makes my stomach turn just to think I might have to end up with a base stripped RC 4x2 F150.

 

Thanks. Hopefully they will find your truck. If not, can you look at something just lightly used like 30k miles or so? Maybe that way you wouldnt have to go with the base model. I really didnt want to go new I just couldnt find a used one setup like I wanted, mainly being a V10/ 6spd CC 4x4. Looked for a few months on autotrader and the only thing that fit the bill was one that was loaded and had the 6.0 and I didnt need the diesel or want the potential hedeache.