He will be found at fault once the investigations are over, yes. Just got a copy of the police report yesterday evening. He did not have a CDL and he ran a red light (those were the two citations he was given).

If they refuse to total it and instead do repair it, I am going to fight for a large diminished value check, and then strongly think about trading it in for a different unit (with full disclosure to the dealership that it was in an accident and repaired, as I am not one of those dishonest guys that would try to hide it).

 

Got a call from my body shop. They got it up and looked at it, and said its not just the front part of the frame. The entire frame is twisted, as I had feared. Going to need the entire frame replaced. Minimum of $20k, he's thinking closer to $25k with aftermarket parts. He said they can't do that level of work, and the only place in our area with the capability is the dealership. So I'm thinking with all OEM parts and dealership labor rates, we're talking even higher cost.

We'll see what State Farm says, as he says he sent them a copy of his report.

 

You're better off letting a dealer repair it, let them jack up the cost, and do it correctly.
Hope the process doesn't take too long for you.

 

X2.

Had a lady at my previous job whose husband bought a Dodge Charger their first year (2006) which was involved in an accident inside of 8 months. I'm talking really fucquered up to the tune of some $18K in damage. I was shocked that the insurance company insisted it be repaired instead of totaled. The repair work was well done, so don't discount having the truck repaired.

 

Thank you all for your continuing input.

Here are a few reasons why, even though I was falling in love with that truck, that I want it totaled out.
A. I don't want a truck with a $25,000+ repair on its record.
B. The chance that some things, or many, won't be quite right and always be "funky", "off", or never "quite straight" is high, even with a quality repair.
C. I was not at fault in the accident.

If the accident had been my fault, I'm sure I would be complaining a little, but overall just grateful I was getting a $25,000+ repair done at only $100 cost to me (deductible). However, it was not my fault, and I don't believe that handing me back a mostly-fixed truck with a huge black mark on its record is anywhere near back to where I was before. The best and fastest way to get me back to where I was before, due to the amount of damage, would be to hand me a check for an agreed upon value and call it a day.

If they instead want to fix it, and hand me a large diminished value check, I think it will cost them more, and I'd be waiting weeks (or however long) for the vehicle to get fixed.

 

The official on-paper estimate of repair is just under $32,000. I am being handed off to the "total loss department" and should get a call from them within 24-48 hours. Hopefully they don't fight me too much on value. I know what its worth, since I just purchased it two months earlier.

Thanks again everyone for all your support and comments!

 

Wow.....I would be curious to see how much of that $32,000 is labor and how much is actual parts....

 

They took the estimate offline now, but it was approximately just over $21000 in parts, almost $9000 in labor, about $1500 labeled "other", and just under $500 in towing/storage costs.

 

Finally reached a "settlement" with State Farm today. Losing about $1400 out of the deal compared to what I paid for the first truck. The trucks I am looking at have come down in price now by about $1000-$1500 (or maybe mine was just overpriced three months ago and I didn't negotiate enough), so it all sort of balances out.

Now I just have to wait for the check before going truck shopping, and see what I need to do to go after American Family (his insurance) for the few days that I missed work, and maybe some "pain and suffering" money they mentioned they may offer me the last time I chatted with them. I am not greedy, but if it will at least make up for the difference in what I got from State Farm, that would be nice.

Finished cleaning her out today with the settlement and all. Managed to grab the catch can out of it, and she still turns on enough that I was able to unmarry my Diablo tuner from her. The only downer is that I was hoping the headlights had stayed intact, or at least mostly, so I could see if the Enlight HID kits still worked. The driver's headlight, not so much... no pieces bigger than an apple, completely shredded apart. The HID kit stayed together, but I won't trust it. Passenger side headlamp was also cracked open, although not in pieces, but probably can't trust that one either. Oh well.

 

Well, even though I "lost" $1400 in the deal, the replacement truck I found was at a nice dealership (yes, they do exist). I managed to get them to drop down the price quite a bit, and got it for $1000 less than my original 2013 cost me. So in the end, $400 isn't so bad.

And its a 2014 Longhorn with 3.92 gears. Pictures will have to wait until tomorrow or this weekend, we just got back, and its time for bed.