******UPDATE******

well as u know i was in an accident a week back

i know i have some witnesses that said the other driver ran a red light...i have also found an article in the newspaper about my accident where a quote from the police says " The southbound truck was turning left and had the right of way when the northbound minivan ran a red light, police said"

im guess thats helpful in my case as well =)

if u guys want to see the article and a pic of the accident scene...let me know and i'll email it....cant upload the scaned image for some reason


i took another look at the truck today...heartbreaking really....the appraiser (Tom) said he would get back to me tommorow night and see what he can do.....if it isnt a write off...the truck will need a whole new frame plus a new front end.....but even before that...they will strip the truck down and see if there is more damage



had a meeting with the police officer in charge.....he gave me a ticket for making an unsafe left turn.....he said that he has conflicting witness statments...some say she ran a red light...some say ran a green light...which is BS since one lane of traffic had come to a complete stop...he also retrcted the police statment made in the paper.


also had a meeting with my adjuster this afternoon (the one in Fort McMurray....the one in Calgary is useless)...he was pissed that i was given a ticket and said i should fight it...he also said he will fight this claim with the other insurance company to the bitter end...he said it was pretty clear she ran the red light since other traffic had stopped, her speed was way over since the impact spun my full size truck around even though her driver side grazed my front end


not too sure how things will turn out....i just want my baby back...and will find out tonight im hoping if it will be repaired or written off...as i type the truck is being stripped down at the body shop to see how much damage there is

btw...heres the newspaper article..sorry about the size...for some reason i couldnt make it smaller












orginal post below

i was in a car accident yesterday around 8pm......a minivan traveling northbound tried to beat a red light and ended up running it and hitting me as i turned off the highway......the van swiped its entire driver sider along my front side which ****ed my truck and caused it to spin around 180 degrees and into a lightpole while the van continued going straight, and eventually ending up on the right side curb about 100m down the highway having its sliding door ripped off and and windows shattered....paramedics used those hydrolic jaws of life to get the 4 occupants out...all of who ended up in hospital


i on the other hand suffered a sprained wrist and a small cut on a finger and my passenger she got a bruised knee....but no marks and shes back to 100% already

anyways...heres some pics of my truck....she is a write off...the frame seems to be warped since there are stress cracks in the cab of the truck and the box is 5 inchs off the frame on one siide....this was my baby.....just over a year old ....thankfully this truck also probably saved my life and the end result could be very different

now how would insurance work on this? will i be getting another daytona from them or another dodge ram 1500....or just a cheque which will leave me pissed since ive pampered the truck and put nearly ten grand of of extras in it (which btw im told i cant remove)...any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated....also if u thinks its fixable do let me know...the insurance adjuster will be looling at it tommorow =(







the towing guy and my buddy amit






the HEMI sign survived the onslaught




and last but not least....a final picture of the good ol days =)

 

thats the beauty of Mopar, they are strong and keep you safe. Unfortunatley I hate to tell you that you wont get much for it. Dodge Rams have been depreciating like all hell because of the rebates they keep offering. What mods did you put into it? I would still get another Dodge because they are VERY strong. Good luck man and I'm glad that you guys were okay. Keep us posted and I'm sorry for your loss.

 

better get that tool box before the tow yard guys do!!

 

Dude what color is that? I absolutely love that color. Sorry to hear about the accident but glad to hear your ok.

 

Yeah, get everything off you can. Some can be reused on the new truck.

Anything you put on it extra is your stuff. You can take if off.

 

That was a beauty of a truck but I doubt that they would total from the pics you posted. From what I can see from the pictures it only looks like body damage on the front end, everything else looks like it should be semi ok and just needs some tweaking and little body work. The big thing that the apraiser will look at when deciding if its fixable or not will be your air bags though, they cost alot of money so if they went off you may not be able to get it fixed based on how much its going to cost to repair it. If they do total it you wont be getting a new truck with every mod you had on it from the insurance agency, if anything you might only get a small check from them. My sister had her carola totaled after owning it for only 2 months and when the insurance company totaled it they gave her about half of what it was worth and didnt completely pay it off so SHE still ended up having to pay the other $6,000 of the loan off from what the other guys insurance didn't cover. She ended up taking the guy who it her to coert and then he had to pay the rest off and pay for her broken nose and her friends broken arm and knee. Insurance sucks!!!! Now on the other hand if you had checked the little box on either your forms from the dealership or the loan forms saying that you want GAP insurance then if your truck gets totaled your insurance will automatically pay off your entire loan that you still have left on it and any money you get from the other guys insurance will be yours insted of the banks or something along those lines (I think thats how it works). But as I said before I dont think that they'll total it cause from the pics you posted it doesnt look that bad to be honest.

 

You need to see what you can do as far as a real appraiser goes. The vehicle is of course a one of a kind serial numbered vehicle not just another Dodge Ram. Since it was not your fault, you do have a serious leg up on this one. It will take some time, but push hard and don't let up until YOU are competely satisfied. Even if the vehicle isn't total'd, you have lost serious eventual collector value in the vehicle by it being damaged.

 

thanks guys...really appreciate all the input

the color is gomango (burnt orange)

im hoping the frame can be straightened...since it does seem to be off...the gap between the cab and the box is less then the width of my thumb on the driver side...while on the passenger side the gap is nearly as wide as my fist

the air bags did not go off...i hope thats a good thing in terms of getting the truck fixed


here in canada i bought it with taxes and extended warrenty....$50,000 CDN on the dot in April 2005...ive thrown into the truck another 8-10 grand.....my insurance company so far have been ********..extreamly rude and very weak on information

as long as my baby can be fixed...i'll be happy..at least thats how i feel at this moment...if thats not possible...im hoping i can pay out my loan...i still owe $30G...i was saving money for a downpayment on a home...hence i never went out of my way to pay the truck off...5 years...0% interest

appraisel guy will be coming to Fort McMurray, Alberta from Edmonton on Firday...i guess they were busy as they did not come up yesterday.......is there anything else i can say to the guy such as it is a limited edition truck....and it was somthing i was hoping to keep for life as it was my first real car....

 

That's a real bummer ! I know there is no real truth to this, but somehow all of the accidents I've been around personaly somehow involve a minivan wrecking something far better (i.e. your truck, a buddies tricked out bike, etc.).

I'm not sure how things work in Canada but perhaps consulting an Attorney wouldn't be a bad idea. You should expect that if they total it they should at least give enough to pay it off, if not then do it the hard way (go to court)....if you can avoid court it will be less stressfull however....

Good luck!

 

Well first off the way it is here from what you described it should be the othe guys insurance company who is gonna be paying for the damages. Just tell him this on top of all your other inquaries, IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT and WHY SHOULD YOU BE PUNISHED FOR SOMEONE ELSE'S STUPIDITY, also add in that it is a collectors addition truck that just lost a huge amount of resale value because of this, and if they have to total it then let them know they at least have to pay what you owe on it plus more for the loss of your only means of transportation and you want enough to put down as a down payment on a new truck. AND make sure you get everything you bought for the truck off it too..... This is no time for kiddy gloves anymore be serious about it and really make it known right up front what you want to happen and if it doesnt then you'll see them in court. Most of the time if you flat out say that this is what I need off it otherwise you'll see them in court it normally gets them working in your way a little bit faster........ This is also why I would strongly reccomend GAP insurance on everyones new vehicle just for this purpose, if they dont give you what you need to pay it off if they total and you end up still having to pay for the cost of the truck then the gap insurance would pay the rest of your loan off. It is a good thing to have just in case something like this happens......