xjnewbie

Well, while I was sitting in my jeep at taco bell tuesday eating a taco a truck with a metal rear bumper and tow hitch decided to back into me. He backed straight out of his spot and kept going and slammed into me. He hit me hard enough to damage the bumper, grill, lights, left fender and deploy my airbag. It was fun!

The insurance rep came today and said that it is a total loss claim mainly because the airbag deployed. The jeep is a 1996 Country 4x4 with 132,000. It was a great runner, no problems and was in decent condition as far as looks. The interior is a little messed up but that's all.

Depending on what they want to give me for the total loss claim (which is going to be a hassle in itself) and what they would allow me to buy it back for do you think it is worth it to buy it back and repair. I understand that it would be a salvage title and would not get anything out of it if I tried to sell it later, but I am in love with this jeep. I have always had newer cars and trucks and this has been the best one. It's sitting in my driveway and it's is making me mad that I can't drive it.

I don't think the engine has any damage as I drove it home (the cop let me, kinda funny since it's illegal but whatever) and the frame and crunch plates at the wheel wells look fine. The damage is the front bumper, grill, fenders, lights and all the parts that would make the front end finished. Then I would have to figure out the airbag thing.

I just hate to think this great jeep is going to go to waste if I don't buy it back. Any thoughts??

Thanks!

mr baer

You could always use it as a strictly off road truck

tuxfan212

I am so sorry for you. It probably made a big mess when the bag deployed slamming any food you had into your face. Although its a shame they are junking it, that image seems to make me laugh a little. Again sorry for your loss. I dont know what I would do if mine got totaled. Pluss I only have liability so that would be really bad.

xjnewbie

I really have no need for an only off road jeep as I live in St. Louis. I had a 2004 Dodge Dakota and a 2006 Pontiac G6 when I purchased this jeep and have since sold the others because I found myself driving only this.

I think it will be a little funny to me in a year or so. There was a bunch of high school kids inside and they all came out and laughed. I had just finished the tacos so no mess on the inside.

zwhiz

i say keep it. when mine was totalled i bought it back for 90 bucks...but it was pretty messed up. sounds like you could get the money for it, keep it, and just drive it with a salvage title as long as it still works.

FUnkman1025

Fix it.... It'll make you feel better about the whole thing.

jmm0122

Thats the problem with kids these days. Mommy and daddy buy them a big truck and they have no respect for it or other peoples stuff bc it isnt theres. If it gets messed up mommy and daddy will just go out and pay for another one. Its sad. Im really sorry to hear about the jeep though man. And i agree with driving it with a salvage title. Who cares about resale value. I have driven all my jeeps till they blew up or got wrecked to a point where i couldnt fix it.

keith two tone cherokee

alfreado121

x2!!!!

but still i say buy it back and use the total claim money to lift it throw on some body armor some aggresive tires and run it till it cant be ran anymore who cares about salvage title and resale value that only matters if you decide to sell it and i mean why would you sell such an awesome vehicle??

JeepingDan

Pics!! of everything. Then we can say if its worth it to fix. Hey nothings impossible.

ken72

I say take the insurance money... dont let them short you at all... fight for every dime... then buy it back... dont offer the buy back until you have an agreed dollard amount to settle on. Then fix it up and drive it into the ground. Have fun!

DUDE454

Id fix it, mine used to look like this before i got it all fixed up


You can look at my pics on my profile to see how it turned out. I dont have a problem with salvage titles.

superj

i have bought many salvage vehicles and sold them for the same price as ones with non-salvage titles. just put it back together right and drive it like normal.

i've sold two bmws with salvage titles and almost 300k miles with no issues because i drove them daily for a year or two prior to selling. they both were damaged like your cherokee prior to me getting them. got htem for less then 1k and resold for roughly 2100 and they were great cars. i put over 100k on one in a bit over a year.

nickl

JY will have all the parts you need & should be pretty cheap.

I had a car ran into in the middle of the night while parked...I aggressively complained to whoever would listen when they wanted to write it off as it was totally not my fault (same as you).

Eventually they told me to find a body shop that would do private (non-insurance) claims & gave me the cash to go do it (I dealt directly with the body shop). Worked out well & no salvage title. They used JY parts on my car. 8 years later still using it...

Start writing letters to the bosses explaining your situation/position. This was NOT your fault so don't take it laying down.

xjnewbie

Well the insurance company says they will give me $4,500 for the jeep and if I want to keep it they will sell it to me for $200. This is a good deal even if I didn't want to repair because of parts alone so I am taking it especially since I purchased it for $2,500 and haven't put a dime into it except for general maintenance for the eight months that I have had it.

Second, here are some pics of it. I was going to do video, but forgot and now it's dark. It still sounds great and nothing seems to be leaking or running differently then before the accident.

I am going to take it to a body shop on Monday to have them get the hood open and check for damage and have them put it on a lift and see if the frame is okay. If so then I am going to repair it, if not you will soon see some parts up here.

I am thinking the parts for the front end without paint will be no more then $700-800 and then I have to figure out something for the airbag.

What do you guys think, is my thinking on the cost about right, any ideas for the airbag. I think after I get it fixed, then I can fix up the interior a little, repaint (fixing the lite rust spots along the way), new tires, maybe a lift (unsure since its mostly a dd and I don't want to lose anymore in gas untill I move to St. Louis and don't drive as far) and then just driving it. Any other ideas (nothing to extreme).. Also I have noticed a lot of rust on the rockers and undercarriage in the little while I have owned it that wasn't there when I bought it, what are some good ways to get rid of that.

Thanks for all the input!!