Parked 72 Bronco Hit by Drunk Driver. NOW WHAT?

[FlBronco123]

Bronco Community -

Sad day for my 72 daily driver. See pictures below.

Does anyone have any experience dealing with insurance / hit-n-run? I had it towed to a shop in Nola that deals with classic cars, website below. (Disclaimer: I do not have experience with them.)

http://www.thebombfactorynola.com/

They said insurance company (Geico) may total it, then offer to let me buy it back for ~20% of totaled value. I will not know until the adjuster looks at it. I could not tell if the frame was bent, but she hit it HARD.

For those wondering, the driver ditched her car, but the police have located her. She has insurance also.

As with all of you guys - this truck means a lot to me. I am ready to lawyer-up, etc to fix it correctly.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Duncan
904-813-9240

 

[broncodriver99]

That sucks man. Sorry to see. All you can do is pull really good comps and fight them tooth and nail for every penny. If you can get the value high enough they may not total it. That was a nice looking Bronco. Unless the frame is bent it looks like it may be fixable.

 

[Mountain Ram]

Man thats a good looking rig... sucks that it got hit. I dont have any advice for ya, but I would make sure it gets fixed right. My insurance company valued mine at NADA which was like $14k cuz KBB didnt carry back that far. I dont think thats $14k worth of damage!

 

[bigpitbull]

I hate parking anything in New Orleans. I hate that happened.

 

[americanhorses]

That' sucks...bet her car didn't fair to well.

 

[dave67fd]

Sorry to hear.

If I took a guess I would say the frame is ok also. Rear axle looks hit and may have bent an axle.
Fender, tailight bucket, bumper, fuel filler and tailpipe look trashed and maybe wheel/tire. Tailgate looks ok with maybe some minor body work.

Make sure they inspect the drivetrain well as it looked like the axle may have pushed or been jolted forward.

Hope they nail her ass to the wall. Lucky she didn't hurt or kill anyone.

 

[sprdv1]

Dang Duncan.. That really sux. sorry to see that.

Make sure there's a police report, Get a copy of it. Turn in a claim on the lady's insurance ASAP.. If for some reason you can't do it through her's as quick as you'd like

You can always turn it in under yours, and let them fight the battle with the other Ins company getting the $$ out of them

GOOD LUCK

 

[01Dudley]

That stinks! What insurance do you have? The problem will lie with what her insurance company says your Bronco is worth. Get quotes from other hot rod shops(not a typical body shop) and have your vehicle appraised by one them as well. Don't back off her insurance company. That is a nice rig and with the market on them the way they are right now you don't want to have them telling you it's worth $5000 so they can total it.

 

[Bronco Junkie]

As what Dudley said you will most likely need to do your homework to prove to these idiots that the truck is worth WAY more than what they think. Be your own advocate.

 

[WheelHorse]

I would guess your truck is 25K real world sell price.

 

[Ohio Bronco 21]

Ouch, Sorry man. It can be fixed. Improve it.

 

[CopperRanger]

Man, that's terrible, hopefully you can get it fixed fast and correct and be back on the road soon. Its pain full to even look at the pictures.

 

[motoman]

That just makes me sick to my stomach! I can only imagine how you feel. Good luck with the red tape and nailing that b@tch who ran!

 

[68BroncoNC]

Judge

I hope for her sake, that the judge is not an eb owner...;D

 

[frenchy]

Sorry to see that. And yes that is painfull to look at. I would say that is fixable. If you have to talk to a good insurance lawyer.

frenchy

 

[djhudson05]

That really sucks. Glad you found her and she had insurance. Good Looking Bronco.

 

[Past_Miner]

Sorry for your loss. That's a nice rig. I would think you could successfully argue classic status with the insurance companies. You will probably need a lawyer but you can do it if you are persistent enough. The reality is the decision to repair is based on the perceived value of the vehicle. You just have to convince them that these old Broncos are now high value classics.

I'm personally a little disappointed in the recent price escalation of average condition Broncos, which I personally attribute to them showing up at auctions like Barret Jackson with a new paint job and going for insanely high prices. However, that very dynamic should work in your favor.

Worst case is that you can skip an insurance claim and repair it yourself to avoid a salvage title. Not economically awesome but it could preserve your value. Salvage titles are a problem.

 

[BluebroncoNC]

They can be fixed, my truck is living proof, having lived through 2 front enders. Sorry it happened to you, but better the truck than you. Definitely buy it back and fix her up.

 

[sprdv1]

I hope for her sake, that the judge is not an eb owner...;D

lol, now that would be Pure Justice..

 

[bsquared]

Duncan,
SO sorry to see that! I'm the guy you parked next to at the Breaux Mart a couple of months ago. Hope you get it squared away and rolling soon! Bill