Damn dude! I just read all 6 pages, this really sux. I wish you the best of luck with Optima, and esurance.


I AM NOT BEING A VULTURE...
Keep me in mind on the wheels/tires then. I'm not sure if our agreement is still good, since you won't be buying new wheels/tires now for this truck...PM me for my number if you need anything...

 

take the wheels and tires off and set it on block so no one else takes it.

so the insurance will most likely cut you a check to replace it and you buy it back for a few G's and strip it? is that how it works?

 

dang travis this sucks big time!

sorry to hear.

i made it to page 3 but im on dial up i want to read it all too.

hope everyhting gets straitened out. i was gonna get an optima, not anymore.

wow, is all i can say

 

The damage done is a lil under the "total loss" mark. They are considering it a total loss b/c of liabilities. They don't wanna fix the truck and then a year later have to invest another couple grand b/c something was still fried or not hooked up right. When they told me that, I was look cool. There's a chance of me keeping it and getting a check. It'd have to have a salvage title of course and could never be road legal again. That's fine with me. I have no intention of restoring/rebuilding it. I was thinking a V8 or diesel swap but that's too much time to go without a vehicle.

If they decide they're going to "total" it and not give me the other option, I'd have to pay off the 8k I still owe on the the loan to get them the title. Then I'd be left with 10-11g's. F*ck that!!

I'm really looking at that yellow custom edge. Come on....AWD, V8, lifted, 35's, tube doors, racing seats, sun roof....*drool*. I'd definitely have to modify it to make it my own. Throw my bumpers on there for sure and sell those wussy lookin suckers. It's too showy for me, gotta throw some beefy parts on there. But it's a very good place to start, especially since it's 18g's. 2g's less than my current value. I have a tech buddy that works at ford and showed it to him. He said the speedo/odo/temp/oil gauge is fixable. Same with the emissions problem, he said it needed reflashed or something to the 4.6 program since it's just a Ford crate motor. I found a nice lil LII with 19k miles on it I'm looking at as well. Decisions, decisions.

You know, after all these headaches and phone tag matches I should make out pretty good since I got my lawyer involved. The way I figure, I should have a couple g's from selling parts to put towards my loan(as long as I get to keep the truck!)

Don't worry chuck, haven't forgot about you lol. I was in the process of ordering new wheels that day. Had to cancel the order. Just got my aluminum lighted plate cover from summit today for my new rear bumper. *sigh* That was pretty depressing...

 

You forgetting me, is the least of your worries. Take care of business, and we'll talk when it's appropriate...

 

a salvage title can still be road worthy if it passes a state police inspection..........at least in indiana.....i dont know how your state laws work but a salvage title isn't bad if you fixed it and know how it was fixed

 

soooo, if you buy it back, id be interested in the damaged driver side door and pasenger side door

 

If it gets totalled I may not be able to buy it back. Im trying to avoid that at all costs. I want to just keep the truck get the title switched to salvage and take the damage check. Like I said if it's totalled, I gotta pay off the $8k I owe on the loan to get the ins ppl the title. Then they're going to want $9-$10g's to buy it back. Then I'm left with nothing. Whereas I keep the truck, get a check for $11k, I keep paying my monthly $400 loan, part out the truck until I have another $4 or $5g's then get a new truck. Strip everything off that's salvageable then ship the burnt motor on the frame to the junkyard lol.

In pa when you get a salvage title the only way to make it road legal is having the title "recontructed", meaning getting a "reconstructed" title. After the state inspects it and deems it safe. It can be done but this baby wouldn't be road legal for a looonnnngggggggg time.

Trust me guys, all goes to plan and every part that I'm not re-using will be up for dibs on a first come(with cash =]), first serve basis.

 

first off, this sucks ***** big time!

second...4 words State Farm Insurance Company. They did me right for my 93 ranger that was totalled. I got over the KBB and NADA quoted value of my truck, plus an injury claim.

third, State Farm Bank! I purchased my 04 L2 for $16000, took out a 9k loan. Ford Financing wanted 8.9% on the 9k loan. State Farm Bank got me the 9k loan for 5.4%. I pay exactly $173.22 every month for my truck payment. I'm sure you can locate a decent 03 FX4 for $16K.

After my riasco with my wreck feb 05 the BEST thing I can tell you is put the truckless thoughts out of your head for now. Look into a rental or see if you parents can spare letting you borrow one of their vehicles. In my case my insurance company (State Farm if you didn't already know) footed the rental bill. Granted I was stuck driving a chevy cavalier (driving one makes a manly truck driving guy question his own heterosexuality even when dating a girl at the time, DO NOT get a cavalier as a rental!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That and I thought my *** was going to scrape the ground with every bump I went over) for 2 months, but that's how long it took for me to get my settlement/claims checks. As you draw near to an end in sight, start searching for what you want. Settle for nothing less (you already have an idea). I settled for less do to ignorance, I didn't know 03 was the last year for the manual t-case. But did I really settle for less, I love mt 04 and this past Monday and Tuesday reaffirmed that even more. But I can't say this enough, try to not think about truckless. Think about it just enough to answer what your insurance company and Optima ask. Don't let it eat you alive. Shoot, put your gf to work. Offer her sexual favors or something, whatever you 2 do for one another, for her being your taxi etc. hehehe

All seriousness aside, who gets insurance from a cartoon anyhow?

Don't sweat it too much. Things happen for a reason and things typically work out in the end! For now just keep that pressure on the insurance company and optima.

 

also, out of curiosity, is you center console black? My armrest plate is cracked when it joined the console. I haven't noticed anyone calling dibs on the console after reading all these pages, so if it's black and not cracked I'd be interested in either the whole console or just the armrest section.

 

Hey they gave me the cheapest premium, that's all I was concerned with at the time. I use to have state farm the local rep is friends of the family,*sigh*.

24 hours later, I'm a bit cooler headed and amazingly calm about the whole situation. I'm calling tomorrow about a rental.

If it ends up getting totalled, I may still buy it back. I'll have to get another co-signer for a loan. But the money will come in slowly but surely from parts to pay off a new loan. As of now it's all up in the air, I have to get some papers notarized and faxed to them before we can take the next step. It's not leaving my driveway this time until the insurance company works out all the details. My lawyer made that very clear =]

When the parts go up I have a couple dibs but it's mostly gonna be first one with cash gets it.

 

isn't the point of insurance to get you back to where you were before the accident? that's 10-11G's you put as a down payment and still owe 8 on a new one.... insurance isn't supposed to give you more than it's worth or a brand new paid off vehicle.


I dont know how much buyback would be or if thats an option after getting the check, but I really only see you breaking even on pulling that truck apart.


I like the look of that custom yellow one it would be cool to have it on the forums to see how it performs. and then you have money left over to make it custom to you

 

Yeah but I'd make out alot better if they decide to let me keep it and write a damage check instead of totalling it. You put hundreds of hours of custom time into your truck and insurance laughs in your face. Then tell me how you feel about the situation. There's no way to break even. I have thousands invested into this truck, maintenance aside. On top of the $20k value of the truck. It's the little things that **** me off....Snorkel--->$50 in materials---->over 50 hours of labor, creativity, customization, trial and error. They're not going to re-imburse me for that. That is one of a hundred things on my truck not salvageable, not worth removing, not going to be re-imbursed for.

If they wanna get me back to where I was before, they're gonna have to spray my rockers, line my bed, build a snorkel, wire up led interior lights, hook up all my stereo equipment, my cb, my antenna, my clinometer in the glove box, my switches, all my lil mods, my silverstars, my tint, my decals, God this list is endless. Then maybe they got me halfway back to the way it was. I can't even remember half the **** I've done to that truck.

 

Dang dude....I've read every post and I cant even imagine how much this sucks. I would prolly cry if that happened to my truck. Hang in there, things will work out. It jsut takes time. Peace

 

I've got some pretty nasty pics of the efan controller. Something is telling me that might have been the source, triggering the battery to melt/emit gas and spread the fire. There's nothing left of it but a white piece of something barely recognizable as the controller, it looks just as bad as the battery and was only a foot away from the optima as well.

I may have to find out who makes jusnes efan controllers. Those pics of the controller aren't on the photobucket page due to the adjuster having the link to that site.

I can't wait til they conduct the investigation. I want to know what caused this 100%. Until then, all I/we can do is speculate.

 

holy f*uck!!! i would b BEYOND PISSED.. not ready to flip out.. i would b flipping out!


i just got done drooling over pics of your truck on RPS.. now to hear this. im really sorry man, it was a niceeee truck

get a new ranger and make it better!
let me know if ur gonna sell some stuff, i like the front and rear bumper

 

Unless for some slight chance in hell I dont get another FX4, the front and rear bumpers are not for sale =] Sorry guys.

 

I just remembered weren't you the one having all the problems with the e-fan controller?

 

i was considering an optima for my next battery. sure as hell not now!
ill stick w/ paying like 1/3-1/2 half the price..

as for the FD and PD getting there and leaving in under 45 mins, im a little dumbfounded of that too, my dads a volunteer.. and i have seen stuff first hand, they dont generally leave that fast do they? and im suprised they didnt call u.. this is all seeming really weird

 

Yup, I was the one having controller problems. It turned on and stayed on @ key on and wouldn't turn off til key off. I tryed replacing the relay without success.*sigh* It completely disreguarded temperature. It kept the truck at a safe temp though, a lil below normal.

You're telling me! I almost feel set-up, like I got sabatoged.

I'm a volunteer firefighter and have been on scene @ fender benders putting kitty litter on the road for anitfreeze spills then standing around for a few hours. It is crazy how fast they must have been in and out.

 

holy ***** dude...it took me a while, but i read every post. that REALLY REALLY SUCKS. but i had a similar thing happen, it was with an optima, but the battery wasnt the problem. i had a monster cable circuit breaker for my 4ga (at the time) going to my amps. the breaker came disconnected from its mount, and the front side grounded itself out on my abs block next to my battery. it couldnt trip the breaker because it was on the frontside. i was driving the truck, so it shut off while i was on an onramp to a highway. i pulled it over, opened the hood, and flames were shooting from behind the motor, up the hood......i ran while dialing 911...the fire put itself out in less than 2 minutes, and the fire department showed up....it was even drivable....drove it straigt to ford, checked out fine after replacing a groundstrap in the back of the engine bay

 

I just finished installing my efan (note, it's 1:18AM here, and I have to get up at 6) and because of what just happened, my controller is all the way over by my CAI, and it's ziptied in place for that matter. I didn't even hook the fan up to the battery, it's wired to the distribution box.

 

Remember, I can be at your house in under 20 minutes. Keep that in mind when you start selling stuff :)

 

I had mine zip-tied in place as well. Come to think about it!!!!*has epiphany* My PIAA lights were wired to my distribution box. So only two things were connected to the battery. The efan and my amp wire. Both connections were in perfect shape though. =\

Chuck, maybe I'll get your phone number when I found out if I'm keeping it and let you get first dibs....=]

 

Like i said in the PMs i'm very sorry. I kick myself now for not being able to see the thing in person when we were going to trade the tails to show the cops you fixed the problem. I'm interested in some things and i will have the money for them. I'm debating on selling my truck though. But i'd really like to get some stuff if you get it back. I really do feel bad and don't want to sound like a vulture for your stuff. I have gone through the same thing and i know how you feel. I hope everything works out just fine for you. Plus we were talking about that yellow ranger last night. hehe that thing would be sick.