my ranger got customized by a dinosaur

[alphabuck]

so im driving along sunday morning about 9am.  in my town of 4k people that means there was about 8 cars on the road in the entire town.  unfortunately for me one of them happened to be about a 200 year old geritol swigging dinosaur.  i saw her up ahead waiting patiently to make a left turn across my path.  she waited till i got about 15 yards away from her before she pulled out and put a juke move on me that guaranteed i was about to get in my first auto accident in over 25 years of driving.  BAM! i caught her dead center with the ol ranger.  im gonna be needing a new fender and bumper and turnsignal etc and the brontosaurus is gonna be needing a new front clip. 

has anyone ever had any experience with this?  i only have liability insurance on the ranger since its a 1991 but presumably i can file a claim with her insurer? do i have to take her to small claims court?  she was clearly at fault and recieved a citation for failure to yield right of way and stated in the accident report she didnt even see me coming.

[Rare_T_A]

If she has insurance you should just have to take the truck in and get it repaired. But because of the year of the truck you can expect for the ins. company is going to used used parts.

[jeryst]

If the damages come to more than 80% of the value of your vehicle, they have the right to just total your vehicle, and give you a check. Really sucks when you have a vehicle that you have taken care of. Also doesn't matter how much money you have put into your vehicle, either.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

This all should be done by her insurance company. In an ideal world, you should just have to sit back and relax and it will be fixed up like new again... But we are talking about insurance companies here.   


   Mike

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Thats alright, the ol ranger held up well. i run an 05 

[GoodysGotaCuda]

If the damages come to more than 80% of the value of your vehicle, they have the right to just total your vehicle, and give you a check. Really sucks when you have a vehicle that you have taken care of. Also doesn't matter how much money you have put into your vehicle, either.

ABSOLUTELY it depends. Now maybe not for his ranger, but i had about $15k worth of reciepts for my car, well including the car when it got hit. Allstate tried to get out of it by totalling it, showed reciepts. They then gave the shop another $7,000 to work with if they needed it....

[wally426ci]

all i can see in the picture is a grille of some sort, Oh wait a minute! thats a white truck in the snow. How dare you toy with the weak species in our culture!  Now wonder she didnt see you. On a serious note, i think you can just send an estimate to her insurance.... 

[HemiOrange70]

Maybe you could, you know, have her make you an offer you couldn't refuse...Hey, at least she was honest in the police report and didn't leave you on the hook

[moparmaniac59]

If she was given a ticket and not you, then her insurance company is pretty much on the hook. Don't let them talk you into going to "THEIR" repair facility.  By law they have to pay the repair facility of your choice. If you do the repairs yourself, I'd get the most complete & thorough estimate from a premium shop and submit it for a claim. Good luck and glad you were not hurt!!



                                                                     Matt B.

[72hemi]

Also make sure the qoute is to have the truck fixed to pre accident condition. This is a must that way you won't get stiffed with cheap aftermarket parts. They will probably throw a fit, but it was their customer that screwed up and they have to pay.

[jeryst]

And make sure you get something in writing about "Hidden damages". Most of the time their adjuster will just do a damage estimate, and that is all they'll pay. It really depends on the company and the adjuster. Some are pricks, some are very lenient. Anyway, your repair facility may find something that was damaged that was not included in the estimate, and it needs to be covered as well. At least ask about it.

[Bullitt-]

Guy I work with in a similar situation with his '87 D50, in excellent cond., with less damage than you do. The insurance companies adjuster came up with $2,000. est. to repair which exceeds the value by several hundred, he took a check for $1300. & is repairing himself...not including repaint he has spent less than $300 in used parts.