Damn dude sorry to hear about the dak ..im glad your ok ..hope all goes well insurace co.

 

Thanks everybody. Other than losing a friend or relative, this has got to be the worst **** I've had to deal with in my life. I loved my freakin' truck (susp, trans troubles and all). Insurance companies are total BS.

The adjuster is supposed to be out before the end of the week so I should have word soon if they plan to fix or total it. I personally don't see how they can justify fixing a truck worth under 20 grand that probably has $10,000 in damage. I'm not exaggerating either. Those pics give NO indication to the extent of the damage.

So anyway, if I find out that they're going to total it, I'm going to tear all the stuff off it that I can and, depending what I get as a replacement, I'll start posting my stuff for sale on the parts board. Just as a 'teaser' I have an AirRaid CAI that is on the truck now (less than a year old), a Taurus e-fan that never got installed (brand new in the box), NightRunner headlights (brand new never installed), MBRP aluminized side exit duals with stainless tips (never installed brand new in the box), a Dodge brand smoked bug deflector (brand new uninstalled, just showed up 2 days before the wreck), either a black painted or chrome grille shell and billet inserts (used but in great shape) and probably some other goodies. I also still have my stock 16" argent rims that I just took off 2 months ago when I installed my new rims and tires. They've been on the parts board for a while.

I'll keep you guys updated.

 

Geez, that sucks, dude. Glad to hear you're ok. Here in Canada, if the total damage exceeds 75% of the replacement value, they write it off. Hopefully they do write it off, cause I don't think you would want to keep it if they fix it. No matter how good they fix it, there always seems to be probs with the truck, especially if your frame is screwed. I've had a vehicle where it was a broderline write off and it never drove the same again. It seemed like it had the "dog walk" all the time and the tires were always wearing unevenly no matter how many wheel alignments and tire balances I had. Good luck.

 

Man, sorry to hear about your truck. Been there, had that done to me. I know what you mean about a member of the family. We get attached to ours too. You do have to be on your guard with the insurance people. (I use to work in underwriting at one of the big companies writing car and truck polices.) If you are lucky they will total it. Judging from your pics, that Dak will never be the same, I don't care what the insurance man says. If they decide to "save" it. Insist the same parts go on, that came off. In other words, no off-brand crap. I believe you can also get loss of value since you would never be able to get full value on it now that it has been wrecked. They didn't have "loss of Value" when I was in insurance so I am not sure exactly how it works. Check into it if the adjustor won't total it.

If they total it...sign NOTHING until you get a fair price for your truck. It's a sad fact of life that the company will "take" you if they can. Check NADA value and car lot prices...that will give you an idea what to aim for.Take ALL your aftermarket stuff OFF the truck. They will not be paying you for that and if they do, it will be pennies on the dollar for what you paid for it. Claims directly affect profit/loss lines for any insurance companies. It is in Their Best Interests to settle claims as cheaply as they can. It might not be a bad idea to get the stuff before the adjuster sees the truck. Even if you don't get another Dakota, you could probably make more money off the stuff selling it yourself than letting the adjuster have it. Be firm with the adjustor but not "ugly". This person controls just how easy or difficult the settlement will be.

Glad you weren't hurt. As much as we love our cars and trucks, they are much easier to fix or replace than we are! Take care!

 

If I'm being a pain just say the word, but these should be the last pics. I finally got out there with my digital.

Legacy, thanks. Unfortunately though, NJ is a "no fault" state (which is total bs...how can someone NOT be at fault?) so your hands are pretty much tied in NJ as far as what options you have to go after the at fault driver or insurance if they decide to screw you.

Trust me though, if they decide to total it, I'm holding out for as much as I can get since I've only had it a little over 2 years and there's still a loan on the truck, so I still owe around what it's worth. If this costs me any money out of pocket because some incompetant driver ran me over, I'm going to lose my mind.

The more time goes by and the more I get to think about it and see the damage, the more I hope they total it. The spring hangers are tweaked, the whole rear suspension is basically shot, etc. I got it towed to my body shop this morning and my guy told me the insurance company is going to try to cheap out as much as they can. They're going to try to get away with things like used replacement doors, a used rear and so on. Screw that. I'd love nothing more than to have my truck back and have it 100% again. Since that seems virtually impossible to happen, just total it already. He's going to help me out any way he can when the adjuster comes out.



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The only corner of the truck untouched is the right front. It's just the rim and tire on that corner.

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Eric, her left front corner is what got into me. So, from what I could tell at the accident site, her damage was to the left front fender, bumper cover, headlight assembly, possibly the left front rim and tire (I doubt it though, it looked pretty good to me), and maybe the corner of the hood and some of the inner subframe behind the headlight. Generally her car was in really good shape. You could have covered the whole damage area with an average sized bath towel.

She was barely moving when she veered into my lane, so it was almost like me hitting a 5000+LB stationary object. It looked like I got hit by a train and her car looked like she hit a deer. For real. [&:]

 

man that sucks man where in NJ u located where it happen i regularly drive the garden state since i do service work where it happen

 

dont forget if they dont total it go after them for depriciatory value. In other words, make them pay you what you woulnt be able to get in a sale since its been wrecked. My friend hit a car that pulled out in front of him a few weeks ago, the car he was driving's NADA was $3500 and the other persons insurance ended up paying $2500 due to both airbags going off but they fixed it. airbags alone where $1750