Let me start by saying that this isnt at all "Ram" oriented, but ya'll are my people, so please let this slide.....


We FINALLY got the durango back Friday. The wreck happened on V-day, so its been over a month. I will say, for the most part, the truck was put together pretty well. Only issues are the running board (needs to be brought up a little in the front) and a little shadowing on the rear door (clearcoat im suspecting).

But, I gotta feeling Im about to go to war. When we got there to pick'er up, they told us that we had to cut a check for $400 for 2 tires, because of the "tire betterment" bs. Now, talk about someones cheeks being chapped. Hell, we never heard anything about it. No call asking what tires we wanted, no call saying we had to cough up $400 bucks before they would release the truck.

Next issue: As the title says, the damages totaled $9120. The 'fair market value' in this area for this truck, all options being equal, is $9200!!!! How in the F%#!k did this truck not get totaled? I mean, damn. The WHOLE driver side was skinned, new rearend housing, and some framework was done, according to the paperwork.

I guess my whole point of this thread is to ask....... is it time to drag a lawyer in this? I think so. Someone is doing crooked business here. At first I was thinking it was the ins. co. But, now, I believe its the bodyshop. They didnt want to total it cause they wouldnt get the business, is my thinking.

I just want to get a little more edumacation before I shell out another $100 bones for a laywer consultation. If anything, thanks for reading....

If anyones interested (ie gives a flying rats ***), I could scan the work order, if it helps anything. Thanks again,...

 

Hey - its cow chick - looks like Im up to bat first in this...

Work order - I could say if you wante me to look at it and give ya some interest since I was a driver's side crash too, PM me with a link or image or something I will have a whack at it as well...

As for the lawyer - with the car I understand your torn between on doing it or not. Here is my question, how's your wife? What about med bills?

its an MVA accident, and if you have bills from the doctors for your wife, then it turns into a PI case - which there are attorneys that are there who do stuff like this. If this is the case and you have stuff mountin up (even lost wages for your wife as a result of the injury) I would say go find a PI attorney that will do all of it, they don't normally charge for a consultation. If you pay for a consultation in a PI case, your stupid IMO - they are paid usually by percentage of the settlement, not hourly or whatnot...

that's my $0.02 that I have so far without more about what is going on, hope it helps a little

--Cow-Chick--

 

I would flat out refuse to pay for the tires. i would tell them to put the tires that were on there originally. Chances are, they are long gone. Now if they had the problem getting the insurance company to cover the tires, that's their problem for installing the tires before approval.

As for the dmages and totalling out, i would call your insurance company and find out exactly what it is they know or for that matter, don't know. I'd save the Consultation fee until after all that has been accomplished.

 

I understand fully what your mean but TECHNICALLY for it to be totaled doesnt the damages have to exceed the total value of the truck? im no expert on this so correct me if im wrong. but i know what your saying, for an extra 100 bucks it could have been totaled, and yea the bodyshop did want the work, did they do the inspection to see if it was totaled or not? hows the girl btw?

 

+1 on all this - if there was a betterment issue they should have called you before doing this... the company that did my 2nd accident when I was taken out by that 4 Runner on the front drivers side - they HAVE to call you before they do that. The 4 Runners' in co (state farm) had a betterment thing - but they called me. I threw a fit and told them to shove it, and I called my ins company cause they didnt - I would talk to your ins company def.

Nice add Dirtydog

--Cow-Chick--

 

The ol' lady is doing better, it seems. As far as med bills, there arent too many. See, we have a $2500 deductible. So, as yall know, until thats met, all visits have to be paid outright and up front (well, upon leaving the doc). We just dont have it. Now, if there was really really really something wrong, sure, I could get hold to it. But to just run up the bills, cant do it. With the economy the way it is, my line of work is real slim (residencial tree cutter), so we're scraping by as it is.

As far as refusing to pay, believe me, we were ina pinch if I paid. They REFUSED to let us leave with the truck. It was 5min till 5, we had gotten dropped off by Enterprise, and both places were closing at 5. Hell, we had no ride home at that point. The guy at the bodyshop knew I was fuming, but like I said, I figured the ins co was to blame, so I didnt want to go slam the hell off on a not-guilty party.

Ms. cow lady (I feel horrible saying that, Im sure you're far too cute to be reffered to as that....) I have no real clue as to what those lawyer abbreviations mean. I have one laywer that does everything for me. He's handled anything from my DUI case (yes, I was once an idiot, in that retrospect), to my brothers lawsuit from his accident, to us suing our wedding photographer. He's pretty good, and might not even charge me for a phone chat.....

V scapes..... I believe you're correct. But, the wife works for Nationwide, and she talked to some folks in that department. They said that most ins co. will total a vehicle when damages reach 75% or more of the value of the vehicle. They also said that they would have called the police if it were them getting there vehicle 'held hostage'. I didnt really think about that, but I wouldnt've anyways. I no likey the fuzz too much

Ahhhhh can't have nothing nice, can't anything be easy.....

edit: figured one out, pi= personal injury? If Im right, I did it all my own. If not, its what the wife said it meant

 

What sometimes happens is that the insurance company estimates it to be a certain amount (say $5k), and the repairs are started, and they find hidden damage which increases the cost of the repairs. At that point, the insurance company has already sunk money into it, so they aren't going to fork over the $5k plus the $9200 to you, so instead they say to go ahead with the rest of the work. Sometimes it can actually total more than the fair market value.

I think you have a case on the tires unless you told them to put them on, which apparently you didn't.

 

ok - first - med bills and dr's. I have NO insurance at all... there are doctors that do MVA cases to take care of you first, billing and all that comes later so you can get taken care of medically. If she is hurting and all that - go look into that. This is why full coverage and all that comes in handy - pays medical bills as a result of an auto accident...

That is what I did... I hear ya on the money issue all too well, if Im out me and m kids are screwed, cause there is no other income coming into my house, not even child support that is ordered to be paid to me. I scrap by as best I can, and believe me - I know.

If you have an attorney that does it all, run it by him, since I am to assume you have a well standing relationship professionally speaking then I'm sure he wont charge ya, again providing he aint a d**k like 99.2% of the attorneys can be about that.

Far as me being called 'cow-chick' or 'cow-lady' it dont bother me - Hammer tagged me with it cause he can't spell cowgirl watch - Im gonna get it for saying that. I dont take offense to it - Ive been called A LOT worse... probably stuff that the minority of the 3rd Gen cant even fanthom... It's cool.

Sorry if all that just sounded like I was trying to dominate... Ive had an interesting night.

--Cow-Chick--

 

Im sorry, I dont know how to attach these files, just post'em like I do 'regular' pictures.

 

You my friend have hit the nail on the head, as far as my original thinking goes. They were 'in too deep', so to speak, so they said f'it. (no puns or dirty talk intended )