Hello all -

Here is the situation. Day after christmas two kids wrecked into our garage. after taking out the door and support frame, they hit our baby (4runner) high bumper and up on the back left side. I drove it out and onto the tow truck. but sadly the ins. company is calling it a total.

My understanding is the radiator and a/c compressor were dmg in the front, along with a light, but otherwise in good shape. Most of the damage was high on the back left. They did say there is a slight bend in the frame in the back by the bumper, but nothing major.

Due to the year and the insurance companies "total" threshold of 70% or so, they are calling it a total. The estimates to fix to new are coming in between $7,100 and $9,300. Here is my problem. I am being offered $1,500 for salvage by a local body shop guy we are friends with.

Here are the cars stats:
*1999 4runner SR5 4wd (millienum silver, with grey/blue interior) with moon roof, torneau cover, 10 disc cd changer etc...
* 88,000 miles (all required maintenance performed), garage kept, never smoked in, with alot to most of the miles being highway (it was our only car and we commute to work on a bus). Truly in terrific condition.
* New tires (less than 1,000 miles) and hood and sunroof protective visors. etc...

It just seems that the price is low. I saw on ebay motors with less than 100k miles going for $1,350!?!

Any suggestions/advice. It just seems the truck would be worth more. Anyone interested? We are in NJ and would need to be tow close or pickup only.

On a good note, I plan to immediately replace with an 08, anyone have the sports addition or any other pro con to the 08?

Does it have a rear locker? $1500 is a pretty good price. You could probably make that back with relative ease. 3.4L with only 88k will bring in a good price, and if you've got the rear locker, you're well over the $1500. Then you've got the wheels (if they're the 5-spoke version) and the interior (although SR5's not really high in demand). It just depends on if you are willing to dedicate time into pulling out (and maybe shipping) the parts. Plus, you'd have a pile of junk to look at in your driveway/yard every day.

I totalled my old 98 and just took the check. I did not want to go through all the hassle. That's me, though.

The 08 should be a great vehicle. Good luck with it.

Thanks for the input!

In regards to the locker, do you mean for the wheels in 4 wheel? Not sure if we had it, wife's father bought her while we were still dating. It shifted in 4 wheel, but never manually got out and locked the hubs or anything.

I agree with your point about getting into stripping and shipping. Dont really have the time. Was just concerned when I saw the price of the engine and knew the wheels were new (Rims are the 5 spoke i believe, 17").

So maybe $1,500 isnt bad for your average Joe, although Im sure the body shop will do well at that price.

what is the dollar amount your insurance company is willing to pony up?

x2.

2 large ? if that's the case I would file an appeal/get squeaky.

Are you saying the insurance coverage is 2 times salvage? Should be blue book of truck. Something is not right. What is the blue book of the truck? (www.kbb.com)

What a vehicle is worth as salvage is totally different than a retail sale.

Should have mentioned up front. The insurance company was fair...They are offering $11k. They want $1,500 if I take it for salvage, and I have been offered $1,500 for salvage by a local body shop.

So the issue was whether I should be looking for more out of salvage than just $1,500.

If i had the time and ability I would buy another and put it back to together, but to much body work for me.

$11 K sounds right. buy a new one!!

I gave my 97 to my daughter. the new vehicle is a whole new world....=)

Here is how I would view it. In short haggle haggle haggle.

The insurance company hands you $11K-would you be able to buy another 99 4Runner with only 88K miles for that price?

I can't here in Denver-I don't know your market but my take on it is haggle some more with the insurance company-you just put new tires on it? show them the receipt-you may get a slight bump up. You put on the vent visors-the sunroof visor or any other exterior "gee-gaws"? Show them the receipt and push for a bump up.

You just had the oil changed or some other major service-maybe the timing belt? Again, produce the receipts and push for some more dough.

I went through this once and produced receipts for my new battery the new door handle and so on and was amazed how much room the insurance company had to work with.

Glad no one was hurt and sorry to hear a coveted '99 is no longer, that sounds like an ideal build up rig for someone. The salvage yard will make their money back on just the engine with that low of mileage.

as a reference KBB on the vehicle is $8,500.00 for trade in value.

can u get pictures? man what bad drivers... how it your house, anything else inside dammaged?

I don't know what the laws are up there, but my mom had a similiar accident in her 2000 Accord. Had 100K on it but was in near mint condition willl all maint performed at the dealership. The other guys insurance company paid her 9K for the car, and declared the salvage value of the car at $2k.

What this means is she can turn the car over to the insurance company and they write her a check for 9K, or she can keep the wrecked car and they only give her 7K. The estimate at the local dealership was $5500 to fix it.

Mom kept it and she practically gave me the car. Her bottom line wasn't too different regardless of whether she had allowed the insurance company to simply write her a check and take the car, or whether she had kept the car and taken the payment minus the salvage value from the insurance company. This sounds like your situation. If you take the check and the insurance company takes the car, you have 11K, and if you sell the car to your buddy for 1.5K and take the 9.5K payment from the insurance company you have 11k, so either way you end up with the same $$$.

What I did (something you might consider depending on your local state laws regarding salvage title vehicles) is take that accord to my smalltown bodyman, and he fixed it for a little over $1K, so I ended up with a well maintained 2000 Accord for VERY little money. Granted it's a salvage title but it, like your 4runner, had slight frame damage BEHIND THE REAR WHEEL, which in no way affects the road manners of the car. It looks like new thanks to my bodyman, and I intend to drive it until it is dead. If you would be trading/ selling this 4runner at some point in the future I would not take this route, but if you were to consider keeping it long term and a salvage title doesn't bother you (knowing exactl what and where the damage was, and knowing that it wouldn't affect the road manners of the car) you could buy that thing for $1500, use, say 1/2 of the remaining $9K, and you've got another $4.5K to put in the bank and that 4runner with 88K on it should last you a long time.

Again, I look at this as a car that you know all of the history since new, and you know the damage and that it shouldn't affect the way the car runs/ drives etc.

Just something to think about. That 2000 Accord is going strong with no problems, mom got her money, and I got a good road car (I travel for work a lot so lots of miles) CHEAP. I would never consider buying a salvage titled vehicle unless I knew ALL of the specific history of it and could verify that it was well maintained and not horribly mangled. I had that in the Honda and you've got that in your 4runner.

Take the 11K and be done with it. You might net more than $1500 if you parted it out but that's a hassle. Could you sell whole for more than that? Maybe, maybe not. Again, it's a headache.