xxxxROOSTERxxxx

Hello All,
Long time lurker, been reading this site for awhile. Earlier this week my Jeep was stolen outside of Comerica Park in Detroit. Good news is the DPD found it Friday, bad news is the a$$holes went to town on it. They cut out the catalytic converter, jimmied the hood open with a crowbar to steal the battery (rather than just using the hood release latch), busted out the driver and passenger windows, cut open my glove box (it was locked, the contents inside are, of course, missing), they busted up the center console, the cut the cup holder out of the console (rather than just taking the change out of the cup holder, they took the whole cup holder), steering column is of course busted, and the driver seat is completely broke off of the rails. Looks like they busted (or cut?) the tie rods and smashed the grill. This is all that I was able to see when viewing it at the salvage yard... my insurance company is picking it up Monday to take to a shop for an estimate of repairs. My concern, though, is that the insurance company will likely determine its cheaper for them to just cut me a check for the cash value rather than repair it and give it back. It's a 2001 Limited with about 160k miles; the only upgrades to speak of are some offroad wheels and tires. Prior to the theft, this truck was immaculate... kept in a garage, no rust, no dents, mechanically solid. Just replaced the radiator two years ago and put new ball joints on about 2 months ago... aside from this, all else was just fine. Regular oil changes every 3k miles... fluid changes... everything. My question for everyone is based on the damage I've described, what do you think a ballpark estimate of repairs would be? I'm hoping that if the insurance company wants to declare it a total loss that I can just buy it back from them and use what little bit of money they give me to repair it myself. As long as it drives again, I don't care much about the hood and grill, or the busted console. Any help or advice is appreciated guys.

hardcorexj

man that sucks if this was me and thay didnt fix it and give me a check i would fix all the things it needs and put a nice new lift on it with rims and tires

xxxxROOSTERxxxx

Thats my plan but I honestly don't kno yet what insurance company is going to do yet. I'm hopin someone here with a bit more knowledge on the subject may feel total repairs "may" run so that if and when insurance company puts their interests before my own I can make a better counter offer. If they offer me cash in lieu of repair (total loss) that I can maybe buy truck back and repair myself. But if cost of repair is greater than cash offer, in better off letting insurance company keep it and I'll just see if I can buy another. I really want MY jeep back tho. I dont even care about the busted grill or tore up hood.... Long as shes running again and back in my driveway, I'm happy with that.

paul keehl

x 10 so many parting out jeeps on here and on Gl

xxxxROOSTERxxxx

Well homeowners insurance company is sending me a check for about $2400 for the items INSIDE my Jeep (this is after $1k deductible). Still no word from auto insurance on the Jeep herself. I'm gonna be one upset boy if homeowners pays me more for what was inside my Jeep than I get for the Jeep herself.

Edited to Add: Beware your auto insurance carriers, folks. I don't think many people realize that auto insurance does NOT cover your personal items inside the vehicle. I thought I could get by with just one deductible on the auto insurance and not have to mess with the homeowners... I was wrong. For all you renters out there, get renters insurance so that the contents inside your vehicle are covered. I had no idea the stuff inside my vehicle was worth so much money until I actually sat down with the insurance company on the phone and listed everything. I didn't even lie either. Coulda said my golf clubs and some tools were in the back... I just stated the truth and before you know it, it added up to $3400. Gun alone (and the gear to go with it) makes about $1500 of this though. First thing I'm doing if/when I get her back: Bolting a bullet proof lockbox to the back. Anything even remotely valuable will be stored in there. Done. Course some jerk will probably just cut the sheet metal around it and take it. Stupid crooks.

HondaTech

Well in good condition on kelly blue book, its worth 3650.... excellent its worth just over 4k..... if u could get 3650..... plus the 2400.... thats 6k ish you could put into it.... im sure it would cost what... 500 to 1000 to buy back, and another 1k?-1500 in repairs? depends on exact damage... plus the loss of personal items in car.... im sure you would come out ahead to buy it back and do the work yourself. i mean a bone yard console is gonna cost almost nothing, and neither will a glove box. depends on damage to hood... but a good bone yard hood would be $50? and u could get it sprayed at maaco to match.. seems like the obvious choice would be to keep it and do work yourself. only problem is now it would have a salvage title.

odgreen

My motto... You drive the jeep not the title. So do you really care if it's dirty?

My iPhone can post where it wants, when it wants!

xxxxROOSTERxxxx

Thanks for the info. Auto shop called yesterday and said $4200 in damage. Based on this and the info in this thread it's almost a sure bet that insurance company is going to total it.

xxxxROOSTERxxxx

Just an update for anyone interested: got jeep back. Insurance company totaled her out and allowed me to buy back at the salvage price of $812. Took a buddy about 8 hours (total, including time at the junk yard picking parts) to get her back to original condition. All door locks replaced (one was punched out, which is how the thief got in), steering column replaced, broken driver seat replaced, broken tie rid replaced, new battery, and a straight pipe installed in place of the stolen cat. Total cost of parts: $220. Total cost of labor: $280. Total out of pocket: $1312. Still needs an alignment for another $40 or so, but considering the insurance company paid me out $5800 in value for a "total loss", think everything turned out alright. Except they will only cover me for liability auto on this vehicle now... So if she gets stolen again I'm SOL.

xxxxROOSTERxxxx

By the way, the windows weren't busted out nor was the center console broken apart (like the garage said). The windows were just ROLLED DOWN and the center console just needed some screws tightened. It amazes me how much some garages try to screw insurance companies. When I told them the insurance company totalled it but offered to sell back to me, thee quote suddenly dropped from 4200 for the insurance company to 2200 for me using "after market and used parts vs new". Funny how after market and used parts only cost me 220 and took a buddy less than 8 hours to complete everything. We towed her home in the morning before I went to work. By the time I was home from work she was done. He even washed her and cleaned her out. Score one for good friends. Minus one for expensive garages and foolish insurance companies.

white99xjclassic

Congrats on the good fortune with the friend. Glad to see a happy ending to 1 of these stories.

xxxxROOSTERxxxx

Thanks man