Totaled Explorer

It's not about how damaged it is, it's about how much it will cost to fix vs how much it's worth.

A 97 XLT probably brings what...?? 5,000 - 6,000 ?? It's not hard to rack up that much at a body shop these days!

That said, Last year one of my 96's was hit PRETTY hard ... the front, and then spun around and punched out the rear side window and rear driver's side door! it cost over $7,000 to fix it plus they spend $2,800 on a rental car for me for 58 days !!

If they would have offered me a check for $8,000 to wash their hands of it, I would have RAN away with it! - BUT - they fixed it ..... Still can't figure out why (after talking with the adjuster, neither could she ).

Anyway... One thing you may consider is to let them give you a check for it (reject the first offer... it WILL be low ) and then see what they want to buy it back from them... You may be able to get it for $200-300 . Then you could either part it out, or fix it up yourself as you find the parts!.

good luck with it. Glad YOU are okay !

Why can't they just bend it back?..... what price do you put on your safety, the safety of your passengers and the safety of those around you. Steel isn't the indestructable media that people seem to believe. Personally, I don't keep vehicles involved in anything more than "cosmetic" accidents and I've been doing this for quite a while. I get the feeling that there is more to the story - but I don't care to hear. If there is something wrong with your car, it can kill you in a heartbeat and it wont feel bad about doing it.

The engine runs.... big deal. The taillights are great..... no biggie. The important things are those we can't see..... those things that can kill us in a heartbeat. I can't recall how many cars I have seen that were drop dead gorgeous but I bailed out after 50 feet of driving because they were plain dangerous.

Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

The engine runs.... big deal. The taillights are great..... no biggie. The important things are those we can't see..... those things that can kill us in a heartbeat. I can't recall how many cars I have seen that were drop dead gorgeous but I bailed out after 50 feet of driving because they were plain dangerous.

Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

You could also make this argument for a brand new car...

As others said, the decision to total or not is purely one of money - if it will cost more to fix than it's worth, it's totalled.

You can tryt o buy the wreck, but I wouldn't try to fix it. If the pros can't do it, chances are, you can't do an economical fix yourself, even with friends to help. You can, however, part it out (which is what those who buy the wrecks do). We did that on a 77 Civic CVCC years ago. The front end was wrecked by a van. We bought it back, and parted it out for much more than the salvage value. The engine alone brought in more than we paid for the wreck. Of course, you need to do the work yourself to make this pay.

Bill Funk -

I tried sending you an email but your email server appears to be down.

Thank you for your post about my totaled Explorer. I was wondering how you approached buying back the totaled car from the insurance company. Did you first receive your payment and then offer to buy the totaled car back? Can you explain this process for me? Thank you greatly for your time and help.

You're welcome. We just asked the insurance company what the cost would be to buy it back, then offered them that much. I don't remember the exact timing. Real simple. We're with USAA, and they are a great company.

Bill Funk,

Would you be able to provide me with your email? If I have any questions I would be able to contact you. I think I may offer money to buy the car back and try and sell out the parts. I have State Farm insurance. Did you sell out most of the parts online on like ebay or something? You can just email me your email address. Thank you greatly, I appreciate it.