Totaled my favorite truck ever

[biswamberpal]

An unlucky young lady failed to yield to stop sign at a t intersection a few weeks ago and I couldn't evade. Grateful for no critical injuries but bronco was a total loss

Insurance appraisal was fair and I expect to be funded in next few days

My frugal side says buy a Kia and keep the ADM I didn't have to pay last year when my reservation came in

But sentimental side says get another bronco

In stock options are slim locally, (overpriced), and at some point insurance will cut off the rental

Not looking for sympathy but what say ye; any tips?

glad to note that you are safe, just a thought, if there was a bull bar, or after market guard, will it have save the front at least.....?? any thoughts...

Sponsored

 

[AZ_Liberty]

If insurance gave you enough to buy a new one and you don’t replace it asap, then it wasn’t your “favorite truck ever”. If this happened to mine, I’d be on here posting pics of my new Bronco.

Cars.com shows five (5) Base 2-door Broncos available nationwide, under $40k, and another 10 if we take it up to $45k. Eight of those are listed with computer generated backgrounds, so they probably don't actually exist.

Really need to know what the insurance offer was. If they gave him $10k over MSRP, we can probably find him one. Otherwise. I've been waiting for my Base 2-Door for 19 months, so if he orders one he is in for another long wait.

 

[TheRealCobraBurnout]

Tough turn of events. Like others have said, it's good no serious injuries. If it were me, I'd have to try and find something used that could fill the gap until I could get another Bronco. Unless you can find a Bronco on a lot that isn't heavily marked up.

 

[QuiteTheMike]

I'd be willing to roadtrip to get my Bronco. Maybe widen the search to a 2 or 3 day trip out? Nothing like a road trip to get used to a new truck.

 

[TootieQuivers]

I was a total loss adjuster for one of the big 5 insurance companies for 15 years. Most people saying buy it back, probably don't have much experience. It's almost never financially smart to do that. The only way it would make sense is if you had a lift, access to parts at cost, technical knowledge, and frame machine at your disposal. That, or you had a relative or close friend that could complete the extremely complicated repairs for you. I have no doubt there are people on this forum that are very capable, but 90% are not. Not only that, it's going to be extremely time consuming. It'll take a long, long time to get it back to being roadworthy if you have any kind of social life.

The insurance company isn't going to just hand it back. Part of the reason a $50k+ vehicle is being considered a total loss is because the salvage value is somewhere around 30-50% of the ACV. The insurance company is entitled to that salvage value now.

I agree with others and say just run out and buy another one. Especially, if you are like me and the Bronco makes you happy. It stinks, but you only live once and don't waste time waiting on a big time price drop. I think the prices will come down some, but ultimately they are going to expensive. What isn't expensive anymore?

 

[Broncobadlands2023]

Just order another one when Ford allows it. They build them backwards anyways so you should be first in line.

 

[JohnnyBronco]

Not sure/didn't ask- do ins cos make such valuations before salvage?

It's at an auto auction until I do paperwork

You should have had the insurance that buys you an exact one year newer replacement with lower miles. Taking money and not a new(er) vehicle you might as well invest in an electric bicycle

 

[ChompSticks]

Used car market is starting to soften. Hold off a bit longer. Only issue is interest rates are higher now if you’re looking to finance

 

[10K_Vet]

Head voice: "Buy it back and sell the computer chips back to Ford. " Oh, did I say that out loud?

 

[rayhil67]

An unlucky young lady failed to yield to stop sign at a t intersection a few weeks ago and I couldn't evade. Grateful for no critical injuries but bronco was a total loss

My friend you hit the new "American Lottery" (unless she is uninsured) you need to call a good "ambulance chaser attorney" and settle for nothing less then a new Raptor!!

 

[JohnnyBronco]

Buy it back and fix it.
Dont make it perfect, just fix it so it's drivable and safe.
Dont worry about paint, as most of those parts are Al
Frankenstein it !

If he were only going to use it offroad then a bent frame is liveable. But to "just" replace the panels IF no attachment points are screwed up and wait until you price out the minor stuff. Like a $4,000 BMW X4 headlight that was scratched by the deer that committed suicide at our expense. Just the lower front and some grill pieces and. Whole insurance claim was over $9000.

And then the hidden things, did the engine survive the impact? My daughters Vibe did not but they only discovered that after $4000 of body dage was fixed. She drove it home and within 20 miles the motor went belly up. State Farm replaced the engine for another $3k+ but if they had known that up front they would have totalled it

 

[JohnnyBronco]

Head voice: "Buy it back and sell the computer chips back to Ford. " Oh, did I say that out loud?

Nah, just buy back the chips and ask Ford for one of the thousands they continue to build without chips.

That's another whole discussion but if critical parts that are required to actually sell the vehicles are unavailable why even build the things in the first place shut down the steel furnaces, shutter the plastics plants, leave the rubber in the trees, send the workers home. Or have them build stuff that can be sold like furniture, shirts and drywall.

I am in no way suggesting we only buy 100% American cause if you think inflation is bad now, think how much it would be if your device you are reading this on was built in Toledo instead of Taiwan. I am staring at a bathroom vanity that came from Vietnam not Vincennes, and wayfair could afford to ship an exact replacement due to the first one's cracked top.

 

[0ne]

People watching too much YouTube thinking this dude just gonna rebuild it no problem

 

[jaruss01]

This was my biggest fear, especially when I first got the bronco 12 months ago. The insurable value probably lagged the market value by 20k. I.e. purchased for 60k, insured for just inside of $60k, but could have sold it for $80k+. If I got totaled, that's $20k profit that just evaporated if I were to have hypothetically sold it. Although, I had no intention to sell, but still had that mindset that if anyone were to crash into me they would have cost me $20k and there would be nothing I could do about it.

With skip-the-liners spending much less over sticker for a flipped bronco today, maybe that's dwindled down to 5-10k, but still....

Sponsored