Posted on 03/06/2020 6:53:08 AM PST by RummyChick
“That’s probably not an unreasonable estimate.”
—
I didn’t believe it was - it’s a good amount of money, but not compared to the cost of the car.
I’m thinking more how the value of the dollar has taken a severe beating over the years. For what a new car costs now, you could have bought a house at one time. (Well, still can, if you’re not real picky - find something low-level or fixer up place for 35 grand.)
It looks like the truck has one of those Tonneau covers on it. That is what the mail carrier jumped onto. A new one would not cost that much: Painted Tonneau Cover
Still, it seems to be a pretty delicate girly-man truck if it incurred that much damage. The truck owner seems to be a tattooed loser.
Apparently they don’t make the paint anymore, so it’s not a new truck.
I think this man has made the mistake of going after the USPS because he feels as though they have the money. He probably doesn’t want to go after the neighbor because the neighbor is close, might be a friend, or at any rate is the sort of person who thinks nothing of keeping violent dogs that are a danger to the neighborhood, as demonstrated by this incident.
USPS is quasi-governmental, but still and all it is hard to sue government and win any kind of money.
“Dog owners should be the ones paying.”
The logic is that the dog owners haven’t a pot to piss in , but the government is rich.
They also showed the opposite side of the truck. Why didn’t they show the “damaged” side.
Possible scam.
If a person jumping into a Dodge ram pickup bed causes 4500 in damage what would happen with a load of gravel? Moral here is to stay away from ram pickups. I had a Nissan frontier. Picked it up after dark from the dealer new. Next day in light noticed the tailgate was crooked. Had a tonneu cover on it. Took it to the dealer and the service writer told me the tonneu cover had damaged the tailgate! It was factory installed! She would t budge so I started talking really loud about how weak the truck bed must be and I better never even step or sit on the tailgate. Service manager heard me as did every other patron in the place. Tailgate got fixed in minutes and I was on my way.
Yep.
I recall driving thru Cairo 45+ years ago, and thinking, I would not want to get a flat tire in this place.
Price the Pearl-Coat base color paint at $200 a pint for a starting point. The newer vehicles have comparable repair bills to go with the window stickers.
Repaint scuffed fender, replace led turn signal, replace bumper and bumper crumple mount—above $1500. Expensive for the guy who couldn’t drive his truck without hitting the unoccupied parked Jeep. His insurance likely went up.
I don't think the carrier was weighing his options at the time. His only thought was probably "Feets, don't fail me now".....LOL!
In February a neighbor backed into my 2016 Honda Accord Sport car scratching the left corner of the bumper. Minor paint but the whole bumper has to be painted so it all matches. Estimate is $600
Youtube videos show how the paint won’t match or blend in repairs, that is why the whole bumper has to be painted.
USPS should not pay.
I suggest that mailman get a different uniform as dogs seem to like attacking anyone wearing it : )
There is a tendency to overlook the fact that while the insurance company has an interest in writing as low an estimate as possible, the shop has an interest in writing as high an estimate as possible.
“Seems like the owner of the dogs is at fault.”
That is how I see it.
A dude backed into the driver’s door of my sister’s ‘95 Sebring. The estimates ranged from $1500 to $3500. Her insurance company wanted to write the car off even though it was rust free and had only 45k on it. This was in 2011. Once the insurance company’s adjuster actually looked at the car, they fixed it.
I had an insurance company try to write off my ‘89 Crown Vic for a windshield! Other than the rock in the windshield, the car was in immaculate condition.
Insurance companies are extremely happy to take your premiums, but they try every trick in the book to avoid any sort of payout on policies, ever. Then they wonder why “insurance company” is often used as a pejorative.
“A dude backed into the driver’s door of my sister’s ‘95 Sebring. The estimates ranged from $1500 to $3500. Her insurance company wanted to write the car off even though it was rust free and had only 45k on it. This was in 2011. Once the insurance company’s adjuster actually looked at the car, they fixed it.”
Some variables that can affect the estimate amount are use of OEM new parts vs. OEM used or aftermarket parts, decisions to repair or replace parts (it can be a legitimate judgement call), and differences of opinion on the cost to repair parts. And it’s not just the dollar amount of damage that determines whether to repair or total a vehicle - other things insurance companies factor into the equation are the value of the salvage (which partially offsets their loss if it’s totaled) and the cost of rental (which increases their loss if it’s repaired and rental coverage is applicable). In addition, there are certain components that, if the damage to those components are severe enough, render the vehicle unrepairable even if the dollar amount of damages don’t (i.e., it can’t be restored to its pre-loss condition).
You can potentially get a house for $1 but it might require $75,000 to get it up to code.
An interesting attempt at justifying the lies and borderline fraud perpetrated by the insurance industry AS A GROUP.
I currently drive a very good condition ‘97 Lincoln that I paid a whopping $900 for 10 years ago. I have not made an insurance claim in over 20 years, and my last ticket was around 6 years ago.
My insurance rate for pleasure use only / under 7000 miles/year has never dropped below $800/year. Oh, and that is absolute barest minimum coverage. No collision, no comprehensive, just pl and pd.
A guy backed into me in a parking lot, and the insurance company decided we were both half at fault, even though I was parked. (Same insurance company btw).
The only thing worse than insurance companies is not having insurance.
There was no attempt to justify anything. I worked on both sides of the industry (shop and insurance company) for about 40 years and have no particular affinity for either side (although I have more friends on the shop side). Those are simply the factors that go into the decision making process (and of course the insurance company will generally take the path that has the net lowest cost to them).
Insurance premiums are not a savings plan - you’re buying a disposable (albeit intangible) commodity that gets used up every day until the policy expires, and you start over again. Rates are determined by not only your loss history but the loss history of whatever group the insurance company groups you in (city, state, etc.) as well your age, number of vehicles insured (e.g., house), miles driven, etc. Increases in repair costs in your area can also impact rates. They’re not angels by any means, but they - like every business, including the repair side of the industry - are in business to make a profit.
In my experience, fraud is no more common in the insurance business that it is in the repair business. There’s the good, the bad, and the ugly in both...and both are complex businesses that have many factors not that well understood by the average vehicle owner.
BTW, it’s usually not a good bet to pay more (or even close) in annual premium than a vehicle’s actual cash value.
Correction: I re-read your comment and see that you only have PL & PD coverage...in which case, the kind of vehicle you drive and its value would by and large have little (if any) affect on those premiums.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.