When Life Gives You Lemons...

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...well...hopefully you like lemons.

Last week. Monday, a holiday, pup got snake-bit by the pygmy rattler. The upside? Well, for the vet, anyway, he doesn't have to worry so much about putting that next kid thru college. Of course, the pup seems to have made a full recovery, too, and that's great news. But it was a REALLY expensive recovery.

Friday. Wife is in TX visiting kids for her 2nd oldest son's birthday. She took our truck loaded with all sorts of camping crap because they're gonna stay at Brownwood Lake for the weekend. She's on the highway, waiting to turn left and...BAM! She's hit from behind by some young girl at about 55 mph. Luckily the girl pulled her head out just in time to swerve and hit our truck on the right side 1/3 of the back of the truck. Totally demolished the bed, pushed it into the cab, ripped the right rear tire and wheel off, pulled the right side of the axle off the frame, etc. Her daughter was in the truck with her. No apparent serious injury to anyone, thank goodness.

When the Trooper gave the young girl a ticket she freaked out and was screaming, "But I didn't do anything!".

I'm thinking it's like 50/50 on whether the truck can be repaired (2015 GMC with 130K+ miles). I'm praying it's totaled for the simple fact I can't afford to be without a truck for that long and I don't really want a nearly 10 year old truck repaired like that. But, who knows? State Farm (girl's insurance) was pretty helpful. They said they'll hook my wife up with a rental pickup, pay any medical bills, etc. And luckily I had the truck towed to a body shop that's a State Farm preferred facility so they can do the preliminary estimate without a State Farm adjuster going out there.

And then there's the whole having to find a newsed truck that we can afford...because we won't likely get nearly enough to replace our old truck. Looking around, even used truck prices are just stupid. But we have to have a truck. I actually saw some new trucks with stickers well over $100k. Used trucks in an affordable range all seem to have between 150 and 200 thousand miles on them.

Wife and step-daughter going to the doc to get checked over tomorrow. They both are sore and achy and wife's had a headache since the night of the accident. Until she gets the rental she has no way of getting home with all the stuff she took.

Mostly just venting after spending nearly the entire day on the phone with 2 different insurance companies. But, everyone's OK and that's what's important.
 

SoonerP226

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A friend’s daughter-in-law’s car got creamed on the interstate a couple of years ago, and the insurance company actually paid more than the value of the car to get it fixed. IIRC, he said it was worth something like $16K and they ended up paying $18K to fix it. I think the used car market is a lot looser now than it was then, so I wouldn’t expect that result this time.

Truck prices have been stupid high for over a decade. I actually bought mine new in 2013 because the price difference between it and a truck a few years older with 150,000-200,000 miles on the clock was only a few grand.

I’m told that you can get much better deals in Texas, but I haven’t actually been shopping for vehicles lately.
 

turkeyrun

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See what they offer. Have a list / pics of comparable trucks you find for sale, higher cost, not ones you would take.
You don't have to take their first offer. They WILL lowball you.

If they aren't reasonable and working with you, mention possible neck / back injuries, and getting a lawyer.

Be aware, getting lawyer could have them cancel any rental. You can rent and add cost to suit, but it's not guaranteed.

Lawyer is sometimes necessary, but not a definite. Wif got plowed by a State Farm customer. They were very helpful, got her a rental, everything fine; then ....
Car was 3 weeks old (1995). We had paid $17,500. They wanted to total and offered $7000.
I said "**&&^^%%$$#@! No!" Got a lawyer. They canceled rental car. Turned it in on my insurance. Took car to dealership.
When settled, Car fixed (drove it 315k, problem free), rental paid, lawyer paid, Dr paid, State Farm check for $6500 for injuries and pain.

Glad nobody was hurt. Sell your truck to them as the best 2013 on the road and replacement will be comparable. Good luck. Don't settle.
 
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Lawyer up.
Exactly. Buddy and I were involved in a rear end collision several years ago with pics posted on OSA.
We felt beat up and sore, but a couple days later it became worse. We went to the ER the same day and was told nothing bone wise but check back if something else comes up.
Both of us kept getting worse with neck and back pain. It took a couple months of chiropractic care and physical therapy before getting back to normal.
Glad to hear Ok Corgi Ranchers family is not seriously injured but beware of down the road injuries.
 

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