Adult question

[Trunks Only]

Maybe having kids and a wife has finally taken my reckless brain over, but have any of you w/ LT (or at least w/ trucks that you've sunk some $$$$ into) had your truck reappraised so that when you do finally wreck/roll/smash it you get back a decent chunk of the money to build another one? Just curious........

[banThis]

1) for the record i dont have long travel, but i do have a swapped truck.
2) its not a house you put a couple extra shitters and a swimming pool in.
3) you can however find someone to insure all the extra value of parts, and possibly labor to install said parts, like everything else, for a price.

[YoTRacer158]

I have progressive and with the claim I filed they covered aftermarket stuff t hat was damage...it was only a $650 bumper, but still. I'm not sure how much they will cover as far as aftermarket parts go...but stock shit is more expensive than aftermarket anyways. I bet a set of stock UCA's, LCA's and shocks from toyota would cost more than an LT kit.

[Tweeter]

Nope I haven't had my truck reappraised but I was in an accident and had my rear custom bumper fubar'd. As long as you can provide receipts and prove that you paid what you did for it they should reimburse you what you spent on the aftermarket stuff, depending on who your insurance company is.

[banThis]

well at least ask, but i bet they'll tell you thatif you total your truck you get fair market value for the year/miles/zipcode. period.

[stu]

Here's the most info that I can give you:

Many prefered companies (I think State Farm does this) will automatically give you up to $1,000 in extra parts. I have to be with high risk companies like Mendota and Bristol West because I've still got a few tickets within the last few years. Companies like that will NOT cover ANY aftermarket parts unless you declare them, have some documentation, appraisal, ect.

When I flipped my truck I was with Mendota. The truck had a 3" Fabtech lift up front and an Add-a-leaf in the rear, after market allow wheels, and 33" tires. The only things that Mendota didn't cover was the bug shield and the sub woofer and amp. [i]But Stu, you just got done saying that Mendota was a high risk company and they won't cover after market parts unless you have a specific endorsement that declares them on your policy, why did they cover your aftermarket parts?" Well, I'll tell you.

Anything that is BOLTED to the vehicle and REPLACES a factory part, should be covered. For example, if you get your truck broken into and someone steals your head unit, subs, amp, and all your cds, the only thing they will replace is your head unit. That's because the car came with one, you just replaced it. If your truck didnt come with subs and an amp, they won't cover it. CD will be covered on a home owners and most renters policies.

So, my lift replaced the factory suspension that came with the truck. The truck also came with alloy wheels, so those were covered. My tires obviously replaced the factory tires.

Now you may be asking yourself why they'd pay for tires that costed more than factory since they were significantly bigger. This is where I lucked out. The adjuster told me that since I had the TRD model, it came with beefier suspension, alloy wheels, and beefier tires than the standard model Tacomas, so even though my suspension was bigger than the TRD, and my tires were larger than the TRD, they weren't so much different that they wouldn't cover them. They told me that they'd just pay for "alloy wheels" and not look up the specific brand of wheels I had to price them seperately.

So what should you do? Talk to your agent. Don't ever be afraid to talk with your agent. Once you are written, there isn't anything they can do about it, and they don't care either way because they just want their cut of your premium. In fact, agents pull some shady shit to get people written with a company that wouldn't otherwise write someone, so like I said, they don't care. The only thing an agent even does is sell you the policy, that can't change your rates, and can't pay out on your claims, they are safe to ask questions.

Call your agent and ask them what they require you to do for them to add an endorsement onto your policy for extra parts. Some places will just ask you "How much?" Then add that amount onto your coverage for "extra parts." Some might require receipts, pictures, or even an official appraisal of the parts themselves.

I have one last example.

I was with AIG when I first got my truck and added it to my policy with my 1991 Honda Accord. I was paying $305 a month for both cars with an extra $4,000 in "extra parts" on the truck. After about two months I switched to Mendota and got rid of the $4,000 extra parts and my monthly bill went down to $195. I saved over $100 a month from switching. I don't know how much of that difference was from companies, and how much was from getting rid of the extra coverage, but it's just something to think about.

Good luck.

[banThis]

Now you may be asking yourself why they'd pay for tires that costed more than factory since they were significantly bigger.

ive actually never wondered about why stuff costed more :p

[swank501]

I have worked with ins co's for years on this and this is how it generally works.

If you are not at fault in an accident and the at fault person's ins co is paying for the repairs, they have to restore your vehicle to pre-accident condition. This means any aftermarket parts and any extra labor to install them is covered.

The problem is if you have $30K in upgrades on a $5K truck, and $5k in damage, they don't have to pay any more because they can just claim it totalled.

You should have your vehicle appraised if your upgrades start to really add up. You will pay slightly more in premiums, but it will save you some headche down the road if something were to happen

[stu]

I've had my car totaled and it wasn't my fault and they only paid for 50% of the value of my aftermarket parts. That's not a bad number however, considering the fact that the parts have depreciated since they were used. 50% of what I paid for is a good deal.

I've you've got a car that is lowered with a body kit and someone smashes into you and does damage to the body and suspension, the other company is just going to put normal suspension and standard body panels on the car. The best way to protect yourself is to insure yourself.

For instance, let's say that you buy an OEM endorsement that guarantees that you will get OEM parts put onto your vehicle and someone hits you. The company that is paying for your repairs won't put OEM parts on your car because they don't owe it to you. They owe you the standard of like, kind, and quality of what you have. After all, you're not paying the other company for that endorsement, so they don't care. The only way to get those OEM parts on your car is go through your own company (which means that you'll have to pay your deductible, but you can ask the adverse carrier to front you that money). Even when your company subrogates the cost of your repairs to the other carrier, they will still only pay for like, kind, and quality (LKQ) parts. You're company will just have to foot the bill for the difference.

[ShowStop]

Read this thread:
http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48041

[honca2k]

I have worked with ins co's for years on this and this is how it generally works.

If you are not at fault in an accident and the at fault person's ins co is paying for the repairs, they have to restore your vehicle to pre-accident condition. This means any aftermarket parts and any extra labor to install them is covered.

The problem is if you have $30K in upgrades on a $5K truck, and $5k in damage, they don't have to pay any more because they can just claim it totalled.

You should have your vehicle appraised if your upgrades start to really add up. You will pay slightly more in premiums, but it will save you some headche down the road if something were to happen

Thats what happend to me,i got in a car accident. I was sitting in traffic waiting to go to Football pracitce,and out of nowhwere i hear tires screaching and BOOm i got hit. Funnyy thing is it was a Jeep Cheroke that was lifted and such. It was clearly his fault,but then he tried to say my tailight was out! the cop looked at my bulbs and they were good. State Farm was very friendy and i just took my truck in and we went over all the damage. In the in i got a 6400 dollar check. They really get on you about the specifics of the parts, like they guy at state farm wanted me to get the original toyota rear bumper. And the original toyota plastic bedliner,and the original chrom trim that goes around the wheel well. Luckily i got my bodywork done somewhere else and had some left over cash.

[stu]

Funnyy thing is it was a Jeep Cheroke that was lifted and such. It was clearly his fault,but then he tried to say my tailight was out!

What an idiot. If you are stopped, he just hit a stationary object and it wouldn't have mattered if you didn't even have tail lights.

[Kaistie]

My agent told me the same thing from All State. He basically said that there would be no additional cost for the mods, but that I would have to have receipts for all the mods and labor. He didn't say anaything about depriciation though. I imagine if I were to total my rig I would present them with 15k in additional parts and labor on top of what the truck is worth. So, I assume they would give me a reduced amount. I keep all my documents from ace, home depot, 4x4 shops, radio shack, online purchases...I will declare all this stuff. I bet I have spent over $500 in grade 8 hardware at Ace alone in the last 2 years. I still does concern me though, after all they are insurance companies.

[Trunks Only]

For the record, USAA claims they will restore your vehicle to pre-accident/theft condition at no additional cost. As long as you can prove that all of your parts aren't stolen, they'll cover it at retail.....hell yeah....

[YoTRacer158]

I paid $250 for my bumper from BentUp because it was a reject that the original customer didnt like...when I got hit it got a tiny scratch on it, and progressive gave me the $650 a new bumper would cost even though I didnt have a receipt for it.

[stu]

Nice! I don't see how people could hate insurance so much. It's like the fucking auto lotto.

[honca2k]

What an idiot. If you are stopped, he just hit a stationary object and it wouldn't have mattered if you didn't even have tail lights.

I know,honestly i felt like kicking the guys ass. But im a nice guy and thats mean. I think he was on the cell phone because his friends came like a few minutes after. Yeh i like insurance,it is kinda like the Auto Lotto

[stu]

The REAL auto lotto is with bodily injury claims when you live in Montana, but we don't need to stray too far off topic. ;)

[SantaCruzRC]

I bet I have spent over $500 in grade 8 hardware at Ace alone in the last 2 years.

Please, PLEASE go to http://www.mcmaster.com/ for your hardware needs. People shop around for the best deals, group buys, online deals, ect. and then go to Home Depot or ACE, for their hardware. Go to where the manufacturers go, these guys supply fastners, machine tools, and a host of other fabrication supplies to all the big shops.

You can get your fasteners for a fraction of the price, and in pretty much every possible type, and grade. I wouldn't be surprised if a few of your OEM tacoma parts were supplied by these guys.

[Valkyrie]

For the record, USAA claims they will restore your vehicle to pre-accident/theft condition at no additional cost. As long as you can prove that all of your parts aren't stolen, they'll cover it at retail.....hell yeah....
10-4 on USAA...

[prerunnerguy]

I need to get down to my insurance comp. and see what they say about my truck i have a ton of cash tied up in mine and would hate to only get blue book value if it gets wrecked.i am glad someone brought this up.

[KyleT]

well at least ask, but i bet they'll tell you thatif you total your truck you get fair market value for the year/miles/zipcode. period.
when my car was totalled, they said that, plus 50% of the value of the add ons, or i could take them off. they didnt care if it had tires on it, as long as it could get onto a flat bed wrecker.

[Kamr0n]

For the record, USAA claims they will restore your vehicle to pre-accident/theft condition at no additional cost. As long as you can prove that all of your parts aren't stolen, they'll cover it at retail.....hell yeah....

usaa rocks my world. when i totaled my '04 (fell asleep behind the wheel, hit a light pole) they gave me 25,500$ + the dollar amount for any recpts i had, including maintaince done in the last 3 months, e.g. oil chages. and tires.

fyi... i paid 23500$ when i drove it off the lot, new. so i made a few bucks off it

[CajunTaco]

I was hit by someone in the car I used to have and the lady had geico. They wouldn't put aftermarket parts back on my car so my insurance company paid to fix my car and then sued Geico for the sum.

[ryguy]

I have mercury.. Had a couple of LT trucks and they dont cover my extra parts. They only cover stock items. Funny thing is the stock items msrp is actually more than the cost of my "extra" items. For instance.. Someone crashed into my so called bumper. Well my custom bumper which was a whole skid plate etc.. cost me $900 or so on my 04 taco. The actual bumper was $1200 for parts and $400 for painting and installing. The repair shop just gave me the money and said go get another bumper. Works out sometimes. The msrp on the new 05 tacoma shocks are $239ea.. for the rears and $950ea for the fronts.. So it might work out in your favor. Not saying anything but what I have experienced in the past :)