Opinions on totaled trailer

[StarEcho]

My less than a year old 18 ft trailer was damaged by hail and the insurance company is totaling it because the aluminum siding will need to be totally replaced to make it like new.  

The hail also broke through the skylight in the bathroom and the AC vent cover and damaged the awning.  Total for fixing those will be around 2,000 including the labor.  They will charge us about $2000 after our deductible and paying off the loan, if we want to keep the trailer.

The good news for me is that the solar panels were undamaged!

So if we keep the trailer, we will need to come up with $4000 and then have a pitted, sad looking, but paid for trailer.  Or start all over again with a new loan and new trailer.  

DH and I are pretty sure the best thing to do is trade the $12,000 loan for a smaller one, or use the insurance money for our paid off totaled jeep (it was a BAD hail storm!) to fix up the trailer and pay the salvage fee to the ins. company.  The jeep is also still usable, just pitted now all over, but it's paid off and just needs a new windshield so who cares?


So, anyway, what I'm asking:  Is there any reason that it would be better to just turn in the trailer and get a new one?  The ins. company has said they will still insure it, just not for the siding anymore.  The jeep will just be able to be insured for liability and collision.  So if anything happens to it (that we are responsible for) it's just gone or we have to fix it on our own.

Thoughts?

 

[BradKW]

Pictures would sure help judge how bad the cosmetic damage is and how hard it would be to DIY repair in future.

The math got a little fuzzy for me, but seems like you might have some negotiating room if you want to keep it?

 

[highdesertranger]

bummer sorry about that. the thing I would be worried about is the integrity on the roof. is it going to leak, if not now when? if they total the trailer and pay you off what is the buy back price? highdesertranger

 

[cyndi]

No useful opinion here. I am just so sorry you're dealing with this. What a pain!

 

[StarEcho]

[img=800x450]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/f...h69bVdoWa63MYJfmztok3CKdY=w1211-h681-no[/img]

[img=800x450]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/l...ZrasPTbCmIKmWuV2i-AYtapUo=w1211-h681-no[/img]

Here are some pics of the pitting.  I'm not happy about how it looks.  On the other hand, I've put a lot of work into getting it just the way I want it with the solar and inside stuff, so I wouldn't look forward to taking the solar off this one and doing it all over again on another.  

I'll handle the looks of it, as long as it is functional in other ways.  My husband said that the insurance adjuster said that there was no damage to the roof.  I'd want to look at that myself, but I'm out of state helping family in Phoenix right now and can't return for a few weeks.  And of course they want an answer fairly soon.  I'll talk to my husband about the roof again though.  Maybe we can get someone else to look at it and verify that it's still sound.  So thanks for that heads up.  

My husband said that the buy back price was around $4000 but that the insured total was about $2000 more than we owe... or something like that.  He said that bottom line was we'd have to pay around $2000 to the insurance company to keep the trailer.

Thanks for the replies, it really helps!

 

[Txjaybird]

Thanks for the pics.  Really I was expecting softball size craters.  Of course only you guys can determine what's best for you.  For me I'd go with pits and dings on both rigs and be happy that both would be paid for. Especially if everything else was fixed/functional.  Just think of the gas you can buy instead making a loan payment.    

 I think it adds "character", as I'm not without dents and dings my ownself it's ok for my rig to have a little "character" too, that way we're a matched set!

                         I am sorry to here about the hail, my Viking has been thru the same thing    

Jewellann

 

[jimindenver]

Well I'll be. Ours is a Ameri-lite Ultra lite, the next series up of yours.

It's up to you if the rest is funtional. Amer-lites are well built for being the lower end of the brands. We drag ours to the middle of no where and no one sees it. I bet you will rarely see that being on the front and curb side.

 

[highdesertranger]

that doesn't look that bad to me, but it might be hard to tell in the pics. so the insurance company says it's totaled but say to buy it back is 2k. something doesn't sound right there 2k seems like way to much for a totaled trailer. anybody else here have more insight on this. highdesertranger

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I've worked on homeowner's insurance claims for 8 years and although I don't have any experience with auto type claims, I am almost certain you could negotiate a lower buy back. Insurance companies leave a lot of negotiating room on the table with any offers they throw out there. I do Public Adjusting where homeowner's hire me to help them fight the insurance company and on a homeowners claim it's very common for me to be able to triple and quadruple an original offer.

 

[wagoneer]

Just tell people it's a LES or limited Edition Series. I would certainly try to negotiate a buy back. Check the roof when you get back.

 

[ArtW]

Sorry you're going through this
I think if the car insurace money will pay the buyback, and you can keep both and be debt free, I'd do that, but then I dunno how harsh paying for the necessary repairs (AC bover, skylight) will be

 

[jimindenver]

When I tried to get the buy back down on our trailer, the guy said not a chance. Outside of the dings on the front the trailer looked new and there was a list forming under it's pictures on the totaled board already. They get first dibs on totaled rigs and at three years old and $3600 with that little damage, it will be bought up before I can hang up the phone. Replacing it would have easily cost 10 grand or more so we took it back knowing that every one of those dimples were now ours paid in full.

What surprised me was how well Ameri-lites hold their value for being a budget rig. At three years old they valued it at a grand under what we paid and used prices were close to it.

 

[StarEcho]

When I tried to get the buy back down on our trailer, the guy said not a chance. Outside of the dings on the front the trailer looked new and there was a list forming under it's pictures on the totaled board already. They get first dibs on totaled rigs and at three years old and $3600 with that little damage, it will be bought up before I can hang up the phone. Replacing it would have easily cost 10 grand or more so we took it back knowing that every one of those dimples were now ours paid in full.

Yep, that's pretty much what my husband said today when I asked him about negotiating a lower buy back price.  He said the guy was very firm on the price, so it is what it is.  He also said the guy spent quite a while going over every inch of the roof looking for any damage and couldn't find any.

In any case, it will all work out.  When I talked to the dealer in Denver where I bought the trailer, I told her there was no point in fixing the siding just to have to do it all over next year or next hail storm.  So we're just going to fix the stuff that needs to be fixed to function and leave the pitting alone.  Thanks again for everyone's thoughts!

 

[jimindenver]

Kettleson was the Ameri-lite dealer when we bought ours. Trailer world on east Colfax became the dealer after that. We went there for the new vent lids after we were hit. They should be able to handle the skylight if you don't want to.

 

[Spirituallifetime]

My experience with totaled vehicle's is with a motorcycle that was totaled in Nevada. The tail of the motorcycle was borken and tail light, the insurance gave me $200 less if I kept it. However getting registration at the DMV was a challenge all the damage had to be repaired and inspected. I never did get it registered again because the DMV always claimed the shops that did the inspections had expired permits to do business so would not register it, I went to at least 5 shops!

 

[BobOso]

I would not keep the Jeep either. Once the title is branded "total" it will have no value when you are ready to sell.
Dealers will check the carfax before making you an offer, most likel will not take a totaled vehicle. Trying to sell it on crageslist, you might as well give it away.

 

[highdesertranger]

some insurance companies will not insure a salvage title. highdesertranger

 

[ZoNiE]

I had a mini truck back in the 80s that got in the front end collision insurance company totaled because they said the radiator was too expensive if it failed at a later date. I took $900 less than salvage value, got the vehicle fixed it myself about for 1000 bucks and had a paid off truck had no trouble ensuring it. Arizona


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Wanderer]

Well, after seeing the pics, I actually shrugged and thought "Is this all?"

I have seen many trailers look a LOT sadder than what you're showing....

I'd go with repairing it and keeping it....

 

[StarEcho]

Just an update.  Thanks for all the replies.  We ended up keeping both the jeep and the trailer.  It appears Colorado doesn't do salvage titles?  The title to our Jeep isn't salvage anyway.  We are only able to insure the Jeep for liability though, but I guess that's better than nothing.  My daughter calls these types of damaged cars golf ball cars  It's only fair though that the insurance company won't insure it for comprehensive since they already paid us for the value of the vehicle.  And since there is only cosmetic damage to the car anymore (we replaced the windshield) it will be perfectly insurable to a new owner.  Especially as a trade in at a dealership.

We paid the insurance company the salvage fee for the trailer and they agreed to insure the contents and the rest of the trailer, just not the siding.  I replaced the skylight myself (pats my own back smugly) as well as the AC vent/shroud.  Taped the pinholes in the awning and duct taped the backup/turn signal fixture back onto the trailer until I can replace it.  Duct taped the propane bottle cover where needed.  Still works as desired and the damage to it is mostly not visible so I have no plans to replace it any time soon.

All in all, it is still perfectly usable and looks a bit weathered if you are close to it.  From a distance you'd never know.  And really I don't care anymore.  I'm happy to have this $13,000 trailer all put paid off in less than a year.  Nothing I'd plan on, but turns out there is a silver lining to that particular cloud.

Thanks again for everyone's comments.