Opinions on collision damage

Bigfoot Danny · 07-15-2019, 03:37 PM

Hey all, I fear we may be saying goodbye to a member of our family (our trailer) after being rear ended by a drunk driver this past weekend. The guy hit the rear left corner and took out the main support beam and pushed the shower in.

Insurance says if the repair cost is over $6000 it will be a total loss. What do you guys think?

profdant139 · 07-15-2019, 07:24 PM

Ouch. I sure hope no one was hurt. Hang in there. If I were in your shoes, I would hope that they declare it a total loss -- otherwise, you will always worry about water leakage and unseen structural damage. Very sorry to hear about this.

On the other hand, maybe the trailer acted as a buffer, protecting the tow vehicle from a rear impact? The trailer took a bullet for the team!

Bigfoot Danny · 07-15-2019, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by profdant139

Ouch. I sure hope no one was hurt. Hang in there. If I were in your shoes, I would hope that they declare it a total loss -- otherwise, you will always worry about water leakage and unseen structural damage. Very sorry to hear about this.

On the other hand, maybe the trailer acted as a buffer, protecting the tow vehicle from a rear impact? The trailer took a bullet for the team!

Thank you, yes nobody was hurt. The trailer did act as a buffer. We barely felt the impact, just felt like I lost brake pressure for a split second.
The other driver tried to run, my father in law chased him down and ran him off the road into our family reunion at the local campground. He was very drunk and confrontational until he realized how many of us there were.

I agree that I hope it is a total loss, I'm not very confident that any local shop would do thorough job if insurance was paying.

Eagle · 07-15-2019, 08:36 PM

It's repairable by a competent rv repair facility at an unknown cost.

However, if it were mine, I'd take the insurance payment with a smile and let someone else tackle the repair or salvage.

**LJAZ** · 07-15-2019, 08:50 PM

Glad that no one was hurt, but sorry to say that I doubt it will be less than $6K to repair. Plus once they start tearing into it they will likely find more damage. Even though the damage looks confined to a small area, that splintered wood means they will have to remove a bunch of the exterior to replace the corner beam. Hopefully I'm wrong and it's only $5999.99.

Michigantraveler · 07-22-2019, 10:04 AM

Take the payment and run. What an amazing story. What did the police say? You did call them right? This guy needs to be taken off the roads.

Bigfoot Danny · 07-22-2019, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michigantraveler

Take the payment and run. What an amazing story. What did the police say? You did call them right? This guy needs to be taken off the roads.

Yes sir, they cuffed him as soon as they saw how drunk he was. Its was good for a Saturday out in the country the cops showed up in 25 minutes.

Appraisal on damages was done last Friday, total loss indeed. The guy stopped tallying up the totals when he hit $10k

**LJAZ** · 07-23-2019, 08:15 AM

Sorry to hear that it's totaled. Hopefully the insurance gives you good price.