we had a storm within the last week, that blew up... it helped put out a lot of the forest fires burning... it also came with high winds... my wife's house has about 50 plus oak trees on the property...
The acorns are the size of small ping pong balls this year...and dinged the roof of our low mile 2008 Carmry..
The insurance company wants to total the car, if you can believe that...
totaled by acorns...that's a new one on me.. kinda like State Farm commercials..."we've seen a thing or two.. ( of weird schitt)..
Body and paint work has gotten damned expensive and replacing the roof of the car probably isn't worth what it would cost. We have a 2009 Honda Pilot with a lot of sun damage to the upper surfaces of hood and roof. We had the car in for a minor fender repair at a well regarded local body shop last year and I ask the estimator how much to paint the whole car; 5k-7k was the answer. Needless to say we declined.
Rear ender at stop light on my 2007 4x4 LTZ Avalanche cost the other dumbasses insurance close to 10k to fix. Caught the receiver hitch square and bent the ends of the frame where it attaches. Also body, exhaust and air ride damage. Luckily its a low mileage vehicle we have maintained or they would have tried to total it the body shop told me. I turned it into my insurance under subrogation and they went after the other company.
That is crazy. Will they total it, cut you a check, and then let you buy it back at a wholesale auction price?
Most Insurance will. BTDT. My daughter's fox body Mustang, the hail got it good. We bought it back with about 1/4 of the insurance check and switched it over to Liability only. She drove it for about six more years. Then she sold it with "parts only" written across the title and bill of sale.
I ask the estimator how much to paint the whole car; 5k-7k was the answer. Needless to say we declined.
That's CHEAP. If his work looks good that's real CHEAP. A quality paintjob with minimal bodywork aside from prepping the surface should run well over 10k.
The acorns are the size of small ping pong balls this year...and dinged the roof of our low mile 2008 Carnry..
The insurance company wants to total the car, if you can believe that...
It's just a formula to them, if the cost of repair is more than the car is worth then they'll total it. Dings are expensive to fix and each one adds up so they total something like that, I've seen brand new cars totaled due to hail dings because it costs more to fix than the car is worth.
Let them total it, take the check, then buy it back at the salvage value as said by others. It's just cosmetic and it's a Toyota so you should easily be able to drive it another 300,000 miles. If the dings bother you then find a paintless dent repair guy and haggle with him to pull them out.
I ask the estimator how much to paint the whole car; 5k-7k was the answer. Needless to say we declined.
That's CHEAP. If his work looks good that's real CHEAP. A quality paintjob with minimal bodywork aside from prepping the surface should run well over 10k.
Which is crazy when one thinks about it. A new compact or slightly bigger car can be had for +/- $ 25-30K. With a quality paint job already applied, that with decent care will last 15 years or so before the clear coat dies.
I'm not going to believe the car makers are spending anywhere near $10K for a paint job. Even given their production quantities, $4k is way over what they are spending.
I know what it will cost, as I have a friend in the body shop biz, and new paint and clear coat on my 20 year old Tacoma would be $4-7K he said. A few dings in it, but within the last couple of years the clear coat has gone bad and the windblown area at the top of the windshield is getting down through the actual paint.
Last truck we had, an '86 2wd Toyota, got the rattle can job once it's paint got really bad. Sometimes not a rattle can either, some spots got hit with a brush and whatever silver/gray paint was laying around the place. I'm guessing my relatively nice looking one is in for the same treatment soon.
Dry ice and a hair dryer, or heat gun! Heat each dimple and drop the dry ice on it, pop out will come the dent! Worked for hail dents, should work for nut dents! Ask the buy back price, if its cheap enough buy it back and go the heat, ice route! Then sell and make money on the deal!
I'm not going to believe the car makers are spending anywhere near $10K for a paint job. Even given their production quantities, $4k is way over what they are spending.
I know what it will cost, as I have a friend in the body shop biz, and new paint and clear coat on my 20 year old Tacoma would be $4-7K he said. A few dings in it, but within the last couple of years the clear coat has gone bad and the windblown area at the top of the windshield is getting down through the actual paint.
I doubt it costs the manufacturers more than a couple hundred to paint a vehicle but it's an apples to oranges comparison. They're painted by robots on the production line before anything else is installed. The body panels are brand new and straight from the stamping dies, there aren't any dings to repair. Most of the work for a body shop guy is involved in getting the vehicle back to the stage where the manufacturer started.
I'm not going to believe the car makers are spending anywhere near $10K for a paint job. Even given their production quantities, $4k is way over what they are spending.
I know what it will cost, as I have a friend in the body shop biz, and new paint and clear coat on my 20 year old Tacoma would be $4-7K he said. A few dings in it, but within the last couple of years the clear coat has gone bad and the windblown area at the top of the windshield is getting down through the actual paint.
I doubt it costs the manufacturers more than a couple hundred to paint a vehicle but it's an apples to oranges comparison. They're painted by robots on the production line before anything else is installed. The body panels are brand new and straight from the stamping dies, there aren't any dings to repair. Most of the work for a body shop guy is involved in getting the vehicle back to the stage where the manufacturer started.
Yes, I alluded to all that in my post.
It still doesn't make sense for a "non-custom" paint job to cost anywhere near $5,000. At $100 an hour shop time, average in our neighborhood, that's at least 40 hours labor and a $1000 for paint and materials.
Those paintless dent removal people can work magic if they're good at it. I've had them take 3 dings out of 2 different cars and you absolutely can't see where they were.
Of course, they don't work for nothing. But it's usually much less that conventional body work and a full paint job.
Sorry for your little car and big nuts. There’s a reason garages were invented.
Forgive my laffin’, never heard of totaled by nuts before.
That is why I posted this Dan....how stupid can ya get?
the car is a dark 'sage' color... you stand 10 feet from it, you can only see it if the light is just right...
Not real impressed with USAA once again.. despite all of this veteran Stuff they preach.. they're just another insurance company..as I told the ;"adjuster", who doesn't even have to leave his house now...' you guys are nothing special.. I can get short sheeted anywhere"
Dry ice and a hair dryer, or heat gun! Heat each dimple and drop the dry ice on it, pop out will come the dent! Worked for hail dents, should work for nut dents! Ask the buy back price, if its cheap enough buy it back and go the heat, ice route! Then sell and make money on the deal!
Good info, and a BiG THANKS for it....
the running gear only has about 80K on it...half its odometer mileage was it was towed behind a motor home since new... so this puppy has a LOT of life on it.. and from 10 ft away, you can't even really see the 'nut dents' on it..
Body and paint work has gotten damned expensive and replacing the roof of the car probably isn't worth what it would cost. We have a 2009 Honda Pilot with a lot of sun damage to the upper surfaces of hood and roof. We had the car in for a minor fender repair at a well regarded local body shop last year and I ask the estimator how much to paint the whole car; 5k-7k was the answer. Needless to say we declined.
Ask around, cause you can find guys who'll do a super job for $1500 and a nice job for $1000.
Body and paint work has gotten damned expensive and replacing the roof of the car probably isn't worth what it would cost. We have a 2009 Honda Pilot with a lot of sun damage to the upper surfaces of hood and roof. We had the car in for a minor fender repair at a well regarded local body shop last year and I ask the estimator how much to paint the whole car; 5k-7k was the answer. Needless to say we declined.
Yup, a high quality paint job is damn expensive anymore. A bud is just finishing up a 1940 hot rod pickup build and he's been quoted between 12 and 20.000 dollars.
Have some here, but they aren't native everywhere.
Regular acorns already have my aluminum foil Ford looking like a golf ball. I think that two or three of those in the same spot might make it all the way through the hood.
Well I’ll tell you that a whitetail will walk a mile out of his way to stop by a burr oak, and half that distance for a white oak when they have acorns on them.
Thanks for the link are those the trees that produce the ginormous acorns like in the picture?.
That's them.
My in laws had a bur oak in their yard. Beautiful, strong tree.
It would have a crop of those big acorns about every other year. I planted a few here at the ranch, because I liked the tree, but I've not seen where any came up.
Really though, what does your 12 year old car book at?
I could care less Ed... what it means to me, is a decent reliable car, that doesn't look like some meth head trailer trash or some ghetto pimp owns it...
But then again, you've give me an idea....
cash it out and received a damaged title.. then put some 22 to 24 inch rims with spinners on it.. drill some holes in the muffler to make it some "mean" to a Puerto Rican, and and put it on Craigslist down in CA and ask $15 K for it.... and change my plates to a vanity plate BLM 001.....
Ive been told that any Bur Oak ya come across in TN came here courtesy of a Native American some time ago.
As far as recierver hitches go, I got rear ended in my 2005 Tacoma. Adjuster tol me I was lucky, if I had a receiver hitch it would been totaled. Chinchy lil bumper it had was something like 1100 bucks . . . .
But I am sure you understand the business side of what insurance companies owe their investors, right?
sure and I also understand what they owe their customers who buy their insurance policies.. and neither one involves ripping their customer off.. I paid for a full cover policy with zero deductibles.. from a company who claims to be so great and for veterans and its just another insurance company like every one else,,pay out as little as possible.. the policy they sold you sure isn't as great when they have to pay out on it... they tell you "you need to understand.. " and start pulling out a magnifying glass and want to show you all sorts of fine print...
as I told them, I can get short sheeted anywhere, they're nothing special... how about a novel idea, work with a customer.. all they want to do is either total the vehicle or give it a salvage title, and then keep charging insurance rates like its pristine, yet it gets damaged again, they tell you your car is worth dirt, because they gave it a salvage title....
They are pissing on my feet and telling me its raining...and I spend over $6K a year with these people...yeah, call me unrealistic but I expect more than what I get from these clowns...for my money..
They are pissing on my feet and telling me its raining...and I spend over $6K a year with these people...yeah, call me unrealistic but I expect more than what I get from these clowns...for my money..
When they get like that, a simple letter from a lawyer usually frees up their checkbook pretty well.
Speaking of hail dents I have seen some incredible deals on hail s damaged vehicles at dealer lots. Imagine the claim when your whole inventory gets hail damaged.
ya know letter from a lawyer or even the State Insurance Commission, seems to get their attention..
I did the latter route back in the 80s in Minnesota.. you mention the State Insurance Commission and they got real cooperative real quick...just needed some time to mull this over a little and get a clearer head..
in the long run its more about principal than the money, I could go out and replace the car today, if I could find an equivalent..
I don't do car payments, and haven't done so, since before 1990... yet i don't do new cars either. those are the ones that tend to get broken into and/or stolen.. especially here on the west coast..either chopped or end up in MuchoMexcano...
Rural Doc... funny comment on " things get nuts in PNW".. love Australian sense of humor...
Since the damage seems to be slight and only cosmetic I would let them total it, buy it back, put liability only on it and keep on trucking.
Ruff, that's the logical route... I'm not scrapping a perfectly good car, that is reliable, has low mileage, gets great gas mileage, has plenty of zip to it.. to me its just the principal of I'm not getting what I am paying the Insurance company for..
Will try out the dry ice thing Heym suggested along with Bristoe's "Paintles Dent Repair" guys...
you really don't even notice the dents on it until your standing right next to the car, and then you have to really look for it, due to the color seems to hide then
I've just experienced that Bum's Rush to the door by insurance companies before, on claims... and I know they are not singling me out.. as they do it to everyone...even have had friends who were adjusters in their career and they admitted around the water cooler or the coffee room they have conversations around, how much they were able to jip a customer down in claim pay outs..
They get $6K of my money a year.. for autos, * (we have 5 insured), home owners, and my wife's jewelry etc..and we don't end up making a lot of claims with them.. that's $48K, I've paid them over 8 years as a customer.. and now they are trying to short Sheet me on fixing dents on the hood, roof and truck lid .. on a 12 year old car...
there is no customer service here at all...heck, I could get that level of service for less money out of Tijuana...
there are other body shop alternatives, that can do the same job, for less than the estimate they are basing this off of.., they know it, but they won't tell the customer....
they are out to aggressively protect their interests, then I'll be out to protect mine, instead of just going away mad and accept their offer.. plus there is no time limit that I have to accept their offer by...
Technically you do. Most states it's 2 years iirc. At some point they say hey we made you an offer either decline or take it. Would suck to have to make them pay via court. I am sure it would get spendy
Well I’ll tell you that a whitetail will walk a mile out of his way to stop by a burr oak, and half that distance for a white oak when they have acorns on them.
Gonna still hunt into Area 50 at daylight tommorow morning, see what trees are dropping acorns and the deer are hitting, then go sit on the big valley about 150 200 m NE of hill 665 for 2 or 3 hrs.
But I am sure you understand the business side of what insurance companies owe their investors, right?
sure and I also understand what they owe their customers who buy their insurance policies.. and neither one involves ripping their customer off.. I paid for a full cover policy with zero deductibles.. from a company who claims to be so great and for veterans and its just another insurance company like every one else,,pay out as little as possible.. the policy they sold you sure isn't as great when they have to pay out on it... they tell you "you need to understand.. " and start pulling out a magnifying glass and want to show you all sorts of fine print...
as I told them, I can get short sheeted anywhere, they're nothing special... how about a novel idea, work with a customer.. all they want to do is either total the vehicle or give it a salvage title, and then keep charging insurance rates like its pristine, yet it gets damaged again, they tell you your car is worth dirt, because they gave it a salvage title....
They are pissing on my feet and telling me its raining...and I spend over $6K a year with these people...yeah, call me unrealistic but I expect more than what I get from these clowns...for my money..
Since it's a low mileage for year model vehicle you might want to push that point to the claims adjuster for more money.
I got $1200 more than insurance was originally going to pay once for a totaled out low mileage for year model vehicle claim by doing that.
Gonna still hunt into Area 50 at daylight tommorow morning, see what trees are dropping acorns and the deer are hitting, then go sit on the big valley about 150 200 m NE of hill 665 for 2 or 3 hrs.
Can’t you just pay a guide?
Maybe get Rio7 to drive you around shoot one offa tit
I paid for a full cover policy with zero deductibles.. from a company who claims to be so great and for veterans and its just another insurance company like every one else,,pay out as little as possible.
USAA used to be really good until about 25 years ago. Originally they started with their only clientele being military officers, a pretty low risk group. Eventually they opened it up to all military and started expanding into things other than insurance. They got greedy and moved out of their core chartered business. Now they've expanded to where they're pretty much open to anyone that can spell military and they've gone downhill. They're just another insurance company now that tries to sell you on a bunch of sketchy financial products to pad their bottom line and shaft you on claims as you've seen.
I have them for my auto insurance but haven't had to fight them on a claim yet. I got rid of Farm Bureau about five years ago after they shafted me on a claim, and ten years before that I fired State Farm after they cheated my wife (then girlfriend) on a claim.
It seems to be the business plan of all insurance companies nowadays to try and screw their clientele. I guess they figure you don't have anywhere else to go since they all do it. The whole industry has gotten greedy and rich off of dealing in bad faith. State insurance regulators today seem to be in their pocket and don't look out for the public as they're tasked to do. I don't trust any of them.
Wouldn't you come out ahead letting them total it cashing their check and buying it back over having them pay to fix it?
IN the long run, yeah... .but I've had to cross this bridge years ago, several different times...
Learned by people who were friends and in the business.. NEVER take the first offer they give you...
There in MN, back in 1980, my wife totalled a VW Camper, that was 3 years old...Thye insurance company offered her $3500 for it..We turned it down... opened a claim with the state insurance commission, then checked all 5 VW dealerships in the metro Twin Cities, they were selling them for $7500 to $8,000.. showed the adjuster the quotes from all 5 VW dealers...and the open claim with the State Insurance Commission.. He wrote me a Check for $7750.00 and couldn't get out of our house fast enough..
I've got other sources to consult here.. several other body shops etc, and talk to the insurance commission.. its 100% driveable, so I'm not in any rush.. which they will be tho to close the file....find out what they are gong to offer, consult a body shop to get it done for that amount, work out something where it isn't given a Salvage title.. its just a dented hood, roof and trunk lid...
its a popular color, so I am sure I can get a hood and trunk lid out of the bone yard the same color, and then just have the roof repaired.. if they won't work with you, force them to....that or they submit me a better offer...
good luck with it, seems you've been through the run around before, as have I. Twice.
Got rear ended on the fwy in SoCal, even though I have pulled onto the shoulder when I saw the guy coming up, His vehicle body didn't hit my quarter panel, the flat be sticking out did. I had a Subaru wagon that was likely 10 years or so old, but had a motor in it I switched from another one with only 50K miles on it, a new clutch kit when the motor was swapped, new tires and brakes, etc. They wanted to give me a pittance and total it, I fought them and got another grand or so and took the car back. Had a friend repair it and drove it for a lot of years.
The second one was an '84 Subaru wagon, again with new stuff and low mileage. It was in 2000 or so. We lived at about 7k' in the mtns of AZ at the time. Some dude up for skiing pulled out of the gas station at the Safeway and drove right into my car as I was trying to put it back in gear and get away, having just parked and undone my seatbelt. They wanted to give me something like $1200 for it, and total the car. I had to tell them I had more than that in new parts in the last year or so, counting tires, brakes, etc. I had every receipt for it all, including documentation of the oil changes I did every 3K miles. I asked them to tell me where I could find a well maintained 4wd vehicle in the mtns of AZ for $1200, and told them if they thought they could do it, seeing as how it was their client that hit me, then find it for me and we'd make a swap. I got more money out of them eventually and kept the vehicle, drove it another 3 or 4 years hunting all over AZ with it.
I understand Ed's point, from a business standpoint but wish for folks like us that try to take care of their vehicles they had some sort of replacement clause. Every time I take my 2001 Tacoma out on a trip I worry some little "fender bender" will cause the insurance folks to total it for Blue Book value. Where am I going to find a hunting truck like that for what they'll give me?
Thanks Geno... yeah its the down side of guys like us who drive older vehicles...and live without car payments etc...
I understand Ed's position and its the position of the company... however I'm not in the company's shoes, I am in the consumers shoes.. if company's were honest and fair like they try to sell ya on, when you purchase a policy, then that is one thing.. however they have a track record of not being that way.. so I have the responsibility to take care of my interests, or just STFU as I have nothing to complain about when I don't make an effort.. no difference that those who complain about candidates running for office, but never get off the couch and get out and vote...
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