[gtyruzzel]

What should I expect? I rolled my Jeep Rubicon this afternoon avoiding a dirt bike. It was fast, violent and the roll was mostly in the air (hillside gave way and I dropped two stories and had to winch myself back up. Moto dude kept going.) but the insurance co will most likely total the vehicle since the suspension is torn apart, aside from body damage. The Jeep is a 03 but only has 30K on the clock, is built and I'd like to turn it into a rock crawler. I'm OK but a bit sore.

[Goseciwx]

my advice is to make sure the frame is still straight and no stress cracks or fractures any where. do this professionally, not in your driveway. if the frame is still good and you haven't bent the axles, suspensions are easy enough to replace. Rubicons are built to take the rough stuff and come out the other side looking good. i would rebuild it for sure. but first check, double check, then triple check that frame and the axles. everything else is minor, imho.

got pics??

[Bromikka]

having no experience in ins buybacks, I'll have to leave that to others to comment. Sure am glad you are ok. If you're sore today, wait about 3 days for the sore to peak. Be good to yourself over the holidays. Sorry you had such a rough start on your holiday weekend. Glad you didn't kill the dirt bike rider.


beefsteak

[Intockatt]

Pics in the morning since I only have a dumb phone with no flash. I'm good to go and I'm packing the the (other) truck right now for a mountain bike vacation in southern Utah and Arizona. Funny thing is that my dog jumped out of the rig at the moment I was going over, but was at my side when the Jeep righted.

[appletango]

Get your total check and buy it back. You have a complete drivetrain and "is built" you want your stuff back. Get a junker and transplant it, start over. I had to it once and it was like $500 for mine, but mine was much older. If you can build get your parts back.

[dmitrynts]

i have. i just told the adjustor as much, and she gave me number to call. lady on the phone lined it up. they picked it up, took it to a salvage place about an hour away that redid the title as "salvage" and flagged it in the state's system, and that was it. bought back a truck + camper that way.

[Qesomud]

First off, Im glad your ok. Thats what important.

About 10 yrs ago or so i was T-boned in my 93' Mustang. After haggling with the insurance company, i got paid for the car. Since i had so much done to the car, i simply asked them to buy it back. They told me they would for $500. I had the car towed to my house after the wreck, so the insurance company really never had to handle the car. For them it was better to collect another $500, than have to deal with scrapping a car.

I then went out and found an 89' Mustang, and transplanted everything into the new car. I mean EVERYTHING. I had ended up with an 89' Mustang that had 93' interior, newer wiring which had airbags/cruise control, power windows, etc.

If you are mechanically inclined and you like the Rubicons, figure out what 'generations' are similar and start looking for a donor jeep. If you have the ability to set the 2 jeeps right next to each other, it really isnt hard to swap everything over. If you have no mechanical experience, this might be a job for somebody who is experienced.

......My .02.

[career-builder]

Glad you're ok.

In about '88 some moronic drunk clipped the front end of my '78 Dodge p/u as he was driving across an easement in a shopping center parking lot where I clearly had the right of way (there had been a very light rain, all the dirt in the parking lot had drained into the area where this easement was, it was very slightly downhill - all of which contributed to me not being able to stop and my truck went into a skid when I tried to stop to avoid hitting this idiot). It was a VERY light hit and all that it did to my truck was put a dent in the fender, slightly push the front clip over (not so much as to affect the operation of either door). The only really noticeable damage was the small dent and what it took to open the hood (hood needed a rap with your fist before it would open). Since it would apparently take an entire front clip to bring it back to pre-accident condition (at least according to my insurance company) the insurance company I had covering my truck at the time completely totaled the truck under the uninsured motorist portion of my policy. I was shocked - there was nothing wrong with this truck other than this small bit of damage and it was a low mileage truck. There was no way I could replace this truck for what they 'valued' it out. So a friend recommended I claim salvage rights after they 'paid off the total value' of the truck. I took the 'totaled' amount the insurance company paid (~$1,100 as I recall) and kept using that truck for another 8 years (I had bought this truck at a state auction paying $875 for it a couple of years prior and then it become a 'free' truck lol). There was no 'buying back' the truck from my insurance company in this particular case. If one has to 'buy back' an automobile which your an insurance company has totaled in order to exercise salvage rights, things must have changed since then.

Since you have 'added value' to your Jeep I would think you have salvage rights. I suggest you give that a shot (claiming salvage rights) BEFORE offering your insurance company any money.

[ttiokjbnhjjillp]

Thanks for the advice. Here she is. Most of the roll was in the air and most of the damage is broken shocks and suspension mounts torn off. Both pans are gashed also. I'm hittin' the road and I'll deal with this next week.

[Sdzqerty]

They will prefer to just pay you off and have you keep the car, but that's not what most people want to do.

My sister rear ended a guy when she was in college. It bent her hood and smashed a headlight. The insurance company wanted to total it for $2700 minus the $500 deductible. When we asked what buyback would be, they offered $300. So, they ended up writing her a check for $1900. She bought a headlight assembly off ebay for $60, which I installed with electric fence wire and some old blocks of wood for spacers (the mounting plate was bent.) I took the hood off and straightened it with the loader bucket until it would latch.

She drove that car for a couple more years until someone ran a stop sign and t-boned her. Their insurance offered $3200 and she took it since this time it was smashed beyond repair.

She only paid $2900 for that car and ended up collecting over $5000 in insurance payouts. Not bad.

[abossakon]

Glad to hear you are OK, milehi! Sounds scary.

When my dad totaled my car, I thought I would like to keep the car and sell it for parts. The insurance company said I would need to have a salvage license in order to do that. (I get the feeling that the rules are state-specific. Not sure, though.) I was on the road at the time and could not/would not get the salvage license in FL. I think it was about $1000 difference if I were to keep the car, though. That car was probably worth $6-7K

Best of luck!

[MannyLopez]

Funny thing is that my dog jumped out of the rig at the moment I was going over, but was at my side when the Jeep righted.

That's a good dog you got there.

[PeterPatrickJohn]

That's a good dog you got there.

Yeah, he's a keeper.

[elossenen]

good news you are ok. A car I once own which was totalled was towed to my house. The insurance co came out and assessed it. They wrote it off and told me that if they paid me out they would take ownership to the car. Once I had received the payout, I called a scrap metal dealer who came and took the car. Paid me something like $750 on top of the payout. When insurance co came to pick the car up no one knew where it was. Oh well.

Seems the key question to ask is, who has possession of the vehicle?

[neotheMit]

Thank god your alright Milehi ! I bought back a truck that the ins. totaled, they were going to give me 10,000 and keep the truck, or 7000 and I keep the truck, I kept it and had it fixed for 3000, pocketed 4000 , it carries salvage tags but I don't care, its still on the highway.

[markkaliko]

Yeah, he's a keeper.

Originally Posted by PeterPatrickJohn

The thing is, at least as astrology is concencer, that you should be never buying a car during mercury retrograde (even during the shadow period).