RIPP vs. Magnuson...SuperCharger Shootout!

[Timmy]

Friends,

The Magnuson install has been put on hold following a severe wreck yesterday. I was hit nearly head on from a older driver who ran a Red Light at the bottom of Provo Canyon. The police estimate they were travelling between 40-50 mph. The paramedic indicated that it was his opinion that my front bumper most likely saved my life.. The irony is that the bumper was just installed last Wednesday... Much thanks to Poison Spider for an excellent, safe product...
I guess that the S/C will wait for a new jeep to be purchased... My biggest worry at this point is whether Farmer's Insurance will cover my add-ons that my Jeep had. My Agent at State Farm indicated that we will pressure them to cover my accessories. Does anyone have any insurance experience where it wasn't your fault and things were covered??

Sore and bruised, yet grateful to be alive!

FF

I have experience. Dealt with two accidents now, and both my father and father-in-law are in the insurance industry. My dad is actually a 35 year State Farm Agent.

So here's the deal, and one that most people don't get and get mad at your insurance company as they don't understand. Separate from the rider as mentioned earlier, the insurance company will pay you what your car is "worth" today, if you bought it today. So, don't get pissed with them when they try to establish what it was worth, instead, help them. The claims adjuster, ALL he cares about is having enough documentation to come to an agreeable figure and cut you a check. He doesn't care about you, he doesn't care about State Farm, all he cares is that he has documentation to cover his ass, so help provide him that documentation.

What you need to do is start grabbing all your invoices of add-ons. Then, research up on what the resale value is of your vehicle today, find the high, medium and low. KNOW THESE PRICES... Get them from all sorts of places, autotrader, local dealership etc. Claims adjuster will probably be dead on with this figure, but if you don't know prior, you can't disagree if you feel he is low. LET THEM give you their pay-out price first. If you like it, run with it, if not, just say "I think I have some documentation that will show you it is actually valued more at today's pricing" and offer up the documentation.

By being nice, and showing documentation of the EXACT SAME TRUCK on-line as what my wife had just totaled, I walked away with $6k MORE than what I paid for our truck. I actually made money with State Farm on the accident. I had an accident in a brand new VW Passat (months old.) I called up my dealership and said "hey, I'm sending State Farm your way to establish pricing... You give them a real high price of what that thing is worth only being months old, and I bet I'll be buying another one from you." Dealership faxed over an official document saying the vehicle would have only depreciated $0.18 per mile from new. Claims adjust took my mileage and multiplied by this (because... he had documentation from a legit dealership) and then said "Okay, they say MSRP was $$$, minus the $0.18 deprec, so how about $$$$.$$?) Answer YES - because they offered me more than what I bought it for, and dealership got another sale.

Oh, one other thing, they will want to evaluate cost to total vs cost to repair. Make sure you bring donuts to the repair shop that does the estimate ;-) Tell them you'll do future business with them if they make sure on their estimate they don't miss a single nut, bolt, screw, washer, special paint, special grease, whatever. You want the garage estimate to be as high as humanly possible. And then ask them to push it just a hair more (that's where the donuts come in.) If the accident came in to the engine block, then you have a chance. If you're new fangled bumper stopped it from hitting the engine, then there is probably no way in hell they will total it. Make sure garage evaluates if the engine needs to be replaced VERY CLOSELY. If they are in question, tell them to go hard towards replacement, tell them you don't want to have worry down the line.

[JeepLab]

I have experience. Dealt with two accidents now, and both my father and father-in-law are in the insurance industry. My dad is actually a 35 year State Farm Agent.

So here's the deal, and one that most people don't get and get mad at your insurance company as they don't understand. Separate from the rider as mentioned earlier, the insurance company will pay you what your car is "worth" today, if you bought it today. So, don't get pissed with them when they try to establish what it was worth, instead, help them. The claims adjuster, ALL he cares about is having enough documentation to come to an agreeable figure and cut you a check. He doesn't care about you, he doesn't care about State Farm, all he cares is that he has documentation to cover his ass, so help provide him that documentation.

What you need to do is start grabbing all your invoices of add-ons. Then, research up on what the resale value is of your vehicle today, find the high, medium and low. KNOW THESE PRICES... Get them from all sorts of places, autotrader, local dealership etc. Claims adjuster will probably be dead on with this figure, but if you don't know prior, you can't disagree if you feel he is low. LET THEM give you their pay-out price first. If you like it, run with it, if not, just say "I think I have some documentation that will show you it is actually valued more at today's pricing" and offer up the documentation.

By being nice, and showing documentation of the EXACT SAME TRUCK on-line as what my wife had just totaled, I walked away with $6k MORE than what I paid for our truck. I actually made money with State Farm on the accident. I had an accident in a brand new VW Passat (months old.) I called up my dealership and said "hey, I'm sending State Farm your way to establish pricing... You give them a real high price of what that thing is worth only being months old, and I bet I'll be buying another one from you." Dealership faxed over an official document saying the vehicle would have only depreciated $0.18 per mile from new. Claims adjust took my mileage and multiplied by this (because... he had documentation from a legit dealership) and then said "Okay, they say MSRP was $$$, minus the $0.18 deprec, so how about $$$$.$$?) Answer YES - because they offered me more than what I bought it for, and dealership got another sale.

Oh, one other thing, they will want to evaluate cost to total vs cost to repair. Make sure you bring donuts to the repair shop that does the estimate ;-) Tell them you'll do future business with them if they make sure on their estimate they don't miss a single nut, bolt, screw, washer, special paint, special grease, whatever. You want the garage estimate to be as high as humanly possible. And then ask them to push it just a hair more (that's where the donuts come in.) If the accident came in to the engine block, then you have a chance. If you're new fangled bumper stopped it from hitting the engine, then there is probably no way in hell they will total it. Make sure garage evaluates if the engine needs to be replaced VERY CLOSELY. If they are in question, tell them to go hard towards replacement, tell them you don't want to have worry down the line.

Excellent post!

[ferrarifast]

Excellent post!

Timmy,

Thank you! Your experience and advice is appreciated and well received. I have started the process of gathering my receipts (I am glad I have saved them all). I just got off the phone with the Jeep Dealer and they are going to provide me with today's cost of an identically equipped Rubi to add to my binder of documentation.

I went to the collision center today and spoke to their estimator. He said the drivers side frame rail is complete toast, but that they could get me a brand new frame and pull my intact parts off old frame, along with replacement parts in 30-40 hours. I indicated to him, that I would like to see the jeep totaled and start anew. Your advice is exactly what he said I needed to do (minus the part about dealer pricing), so looks like tonight will be spent gathering invoices, trying to remember all mods seen and unseen and go into this with knowledge.
As far and one question posted on JL about removing parts, I was told the insurance company will not allow one to "Cherry Pick" undamaged parts, accessories, etc. I don't know if all insurance companies work this way. Perhaps someone can comment on this topic.

Thanks again,

FF

[Timmy]

I was told the insurance company will not allow one to "Cherry Pick" undamaged parts, accessories, etc. I don't know if all insurance companies work this way. Perhaps someone can comment on this topic.

FF

Nope, they won't let you cherry pick anything, in fact, it might even be illegal to attempt this in some states. That being said, I went back to my collision shop and pulled off the rear gas strut that lets the tail gate lower slowly, and some extend-a-bed's I purchased for the rear bed. Shop owner came out, asked me what I was doing. I just said "oh, the claims adjust didn't include these in the pay-out because they were only about $50. It'll save me having to locate them again on eBay" and he was cool with it, didn't say a thing to anyone.

[JeepLab]

Nope, they won't let you cherry pick anything, in fact, it might even be illegal to attempt this in some states. That being said, I went back to my collision shop and pulled off the rear gas strut that lets the tail gate lower slowly, and some extend-a-bed's I purchased for the rear bed. Shop owner came out, asked me what I was doing. I just said "oh, the claims adjust didn't include these in the pay-out because they were only about $50. It'll save me having to locate them again on eBay" and he was cool with it, didn't say a thing to anyone.

TIMMY!

I promoted your post to an article, I dont want it buried in a sea of other jeep info. PM me your address, Im going to send you a gift.