Ol John Lee is hurt

[Sharps40]

Update...the initial result is as expected. Ol John Lee transfered to the total loss division for further processing.

[Indian113]

are they talking a decent settle?

[1963c-10]

Ive got a 61 short bed frame if you dont mind converting to torsion bars.....just gotta come pic it up.....free if it'll help you out. Complete front end and rear end, rest of your parts on the truck should swap over with a little modification.

[Sharps40]

Thanks all. They are still workin the issue. No offers yet. They have to run the vin and talk to their 3rd party appraiser on Vin/mileage/year/make/model/condition prior to the accident. Don't know if that means more inspections or a photo tour. We'll see. Meantime, knots in the guts but, we'll see. Maybe a fix up with parts, maybe another truck to fix up, maybe an extra hot Vics Vapo Rub porkin...we'll see, sewing my ass shut right now just in case...back later.

[64fleetside]

I got $6500 out of mine, bought it back for $650, a guy in TX bought the engine, a guy in Illinois has the bed and trans, the seat/rear axle/steering column live on in my other 64. Fingers crossed for ya.

[Sharps40]

Bunghole is now officially sewed, glued, soldered an buttoned up! Hope it don't take too long, had beans for lunch! Gotta keep smileing! I doubt it'll be anywhere close to $6500 but stranger things have happened.

[64LBSS]

Good luck man! - I am new to this forum and am blown away by the support these guys have shown you. Glad to be a part of this group !!

[64fleetside]

I expected to get very little, and was amazed what went down. Mine was a 78k mile plain jane survivor, but the paint looked like hell-the original elderly owner spray bombed the outside. But I had receipts, etc of what I had spent on it, and to be honest my ins co was prolly worried I might have medical problems from the wreck.

[Sharps40]

Crossed fingers. But gonna call the mechanic right now for estimates. Forewarned and Informed is Better Armed.

[Sharps40]

Called the shop tonight while the insurance folks scratch their heads and make lil marks on the papers with stubby pencils. I know what it'll take to put it back on the road straight and safe on its original frame and about what a frame swap would save. Now, back to waitin till tomorrow when if I don't have a call by lunch time, I call them!

[gimmy 64]

you don't have to take there first offer. go to a library and get the gold book and look up what they price it at. and start negotiating from there.

[Sharps40]

I have prices in mind based in part on condition 4 at the lowest and condition 3 which the truck is not. Its somewhere between but certaintly a 4 + a bit. I also have other expenses and irritants and losses that need to be considered. So from there we negotiate and argue and fuss and see what happens.

Actually, the gold book has been replaced by NADA valuations.

[tincan1966]

Hey Sharps- if you go to NADA online, there is a section for evaluating the older vehicles. It lets you input mileage, your condition assesment, etc. When we were negotiating our settlement, I felt it was fairly accurate. You are realistic and honest enough to know what your truck is reasonably worth, and what it would take to replace it.
We ended up settling for a little less than we had hoped, because we did keep the truck, and we were litigating a personal injury claim, which we knew would have a cash damages provision, so we made up the difference there.

I hope for a good outcome for you and admire your level demeanor during this. I was not nearly as composed as you are during our 2 year battle(only took about 45 days to settle on the truck-the rest was a legal battle of fault and damages/medical bills) And for the record, when we won our case on November 2011(accident was in May 2009) we were awarded full medical coverage for her broken shoulder, and follow up treatment, her lost wages for the 8 months it took to heal and return to work, also awarded loss of business earnings, since truck belonged to business and was a form of advertisment, delivery, and transportation for the business. Plus she recieved a sizeable cash punitive damages award.

So keep up the faith, us good guys to win sometimes!!

[Sharps40]

I have no plans to be w/o a truck for 2 years. 2 weeks has been long enough. I did gather up 2000 in receipts. Salvage title and getting it back certified road worthy may not be worth the effort. Also put in a query to see if my insurance will even cover the truck on a salvage titil. Meantime I call and pester the other insurance company daily. Hopeing for the best.
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[tincan1966]

No, we settled on our truck in about 45 days, most of which as haggling back and forth and getting additional evaluations.
The 2 years was for the personal injury case we filed- had to wait until she was healed up to collect for final damages/pay bills

[Sharps40]

We were lucky that nobody was hurt. In the grand scheme of things, thats the top dollar item. After all I can fix or replace the truck...but not me or the other folks. Although I been thinkin of a large bumper sticker, in Spanish, that says maybe somethin like this but real damn big...

¿Sin seguro? Por favor, quédate el infierno de mi carro!

(No Insurance?? Please stay the Hell away from my truck!)

Or perhaps more or less offensive depending on yer bent (but not as offensive as three uninsured motorist strikes in my driving career!):

Por favor quedarse atrás a una distancia segura, no se trata de un camión de tacos.

(Please stay back a safe distance, this is not a taco truck.)

Or maybe.....

Antes de llegar de la manera, pregúntele a la Honda último que hizo.

(Before you get in the way, ask about the last Honda that did.)

[HugoV]

Hey Sharps... I'm not sure that being offensive in Spanish would solve the issue... the truth is that many people drive without insurance, not just Spanish speaking folks. Sad but true.

[Sharps40]

Like I said, not near as offensive as gettin hit multiple times by uninsured drivers. And its hard to have sympathy for what in my experience appears to be the larger portion of the offenders.

[64fleetside]

I hear you sharps, I'm up to three also. All w/o ins(I guess--- none stopped), one time I was a pedestrian at work and got hit by a van. Cops do little to help in this sitch.

[MikeN]

I got rear ended in my 69 Chevelle by "undocumented workers" aka mexicans. They were driving a cube van for a guy who did business buying and selling used office furniture. The illegal driver's license was bogus, and the insurance cards supplied by the office furniture dude were expired. Cops let them all go at the scene of course.

I drove to the office furniture dude's place of business when I found out his insurance was invalid. He said "get an estimate and I'll pay, no problem." I got an estimate, went back, and he was out of business/disappeared.

Long story short, State Farm ate the cost of my repairs and I ate the $500 deductible. So post all the "offensive" hispanic bumper stickers you want, they don't offend me in the slightest.

[Sharps40]

Thanks all. I ment it in a somwhat humorus way, very little somewhat evidently. But, The real news is I don't care if I offended. For the following reasons.....

I will not apologize for having proven a minimum level of knowledge, skill and ability via the required training and licensing process. i.e. I am not UNLICENSED.

I will not potentially compromize anyones freedom of expression (driving a classic in this case) by failiure to protect life and property from death, injury, damage due to accident or indiscipline. i.e. I am not UNINSURED.

I will not hide from consequences of accident or indiscipline behind the barrier of English as a Second Language, or any barrier. i.e. I take OWNERSHIP for my actions.

I will not be tolerant of Aggressive Driving on the part of the general population as this is a tool best left to highly trained personnel like emergency responders. i.e. I drive DEFENSIVELY.

Do I cow to sentiment that may dictate I feel sorry for and forgive (to my detriment) any person, regardless of nationality, that fails to make an honest attempt to conform to American standards of behavior and self discipline while living in the USA?

Three word answer...

Oh hell no.

[Sharps40]

Waiting is hard. Specially when there are no answers, makes it depressing. This was reliveing my days driving and wrenchin such cars as 37 Dodge sedan, 20 years with that one daily driving and ended by uninsured driver. A 48 Dodge sedan, 1 year and rolled by a red light jumper but a great car, also uninsured. 5 years with a 66 Valiant and 4 years with a 68 Valiant, both slant sixes and fine drivers. 3 years with a 62 Impala and home built 327/350. Can't get my insurance to respond on whether they will insure on a salvaged title for this truck. Its sure they won't add collision on a salvage/rebuilt title. Next truck or rebuilt John Lee has to have collision, too many numbnuts out there. Hearing horror stories on slavage title certifications for NC. Other insurance says get it out of the shop by monday, as they intend to stop paying storage then. I assume that means its getting close to first offer. Not sure if they will budge off of a total loss assessment w/o gutting any offer and its $5K to put it back straight and safe. Can't bring myself to research a salvage price to try to buy it back for all the good parts to swap on another. I'm hopeing for $3K or better. That either fixes the frame and gets a start on parts or gets me another 64 to 66 and maybe I can save the majority of John Lee, sort of Bionic Truck style. In any event, I ain't drivin my truck and it hurts like a good dog diein. Govt Furlough is comeing and thats a 20% cut in pay for the remaining 5 months of the fiscal year so not much extra for Ol John Lee or Bionic John Lee. Maudlin evening. Maybe a good trip to the range tomorrow to ring some steel with the 38s will help.

[Sharps40]

I got some good news. A friend is running two salvage title vehicles with full coverage here in NC. We even have the same insurance company. Sure wish these boogers at the head shed would answer the questions in a timely manner though. Nerves don't need any more twangin. I can't even pick out an 8 bar blues on the guitar tonight.!!!!

[Jeff La]

Don't be in any rush to pull your truck out of storage. Storage fees make the insurance company settle faster than when they don't have to pay them. I run a salvage title with full coverage, I have state farm, have never had any trouble with them.

[1restorick]

Sharps, one option that you may have is to agree to a repair under private contract. When my 1994 S10 was hit, the insurance company said it was a total loss. I did not want a salvage titls and was not willing to give tham my title period. We agreed to a $4ooo repair under private contract. What this meant was if additional damage was discovered, I was on my own. However 6 years later, I'm still driving the truck. From the insurance company's point of view, they don't want to pay any escalation of the repair. Just a thought, it worked for me.

Rick