Sad News, Help Needed w/Mexico RC

[GetAwayDriver]

OK, I confess I haven't done a of of posting here. Quite honestly I don't post much on the internet at all anymore... But I'm hoping I'll get some sympathy by the end of this post. Let me make up for some of that by posting what I've done in the past year:



Pulled out the whole interior and cleaned it. Looked/smelled like new when done.




Got vanity tags and made up a fake license plate frame/front plate.



Had the whole thing "oil-coated" for the winter.

Otherwise the plan was just to enjoy the thing as my stock driver/cruise night vehicle. Which is what I did...





Both my wife and I took quite a liking to this thing. For cheap entertainment we'd park within sight at a restaurant and watch people get out their cell phone cameras. I'm sure it's been posted on car websites and FB quite a few times.

Then tragedy struck...

[ProjectPW]

Awesome RC  You are in the right place 

[GetAwayDriver]

In early April, it was struck (while parked) by a senior woman texting-and-driving, (then panicing and using the accelerator as a brake pedal) after she bounced off another car. She left the road entirely and traveled a good 200' at full throttle before hitting it right between the axles. She was driving a 2014 Buick Enclave, a good-sized truck in its own right. She survived but is still in the hospital last I heard. She could have killed God only knows who as she drove over the sidewalk and over the grass.

Last summer, the Bing camera even captured it parked in the exact spot where it was hit at my wife's work. Ironically, in a spot where no one could park next to it and bang their doors on it. This picture gives you some idea how far the Buick SUV traveled before impacting.



Here are some aftermath photos...





The impact was so hard, it pushed the truck over the curb and about 20' through some soft earth.





This aint gonna buff out.



Shattered glass hit the driver's side interior so hard as to lodge shards into the vinyl door panels and even window tint film.

[ProjectPW]

Holy crap 

[GetAwayDriver]

(As you may have noticed, I have a lot of other Mopar stuff around the house)

So here's where the help part comes in... As you might imagine, I'm now dealing with HER insurance company.

Because it was struck while legally parked, the loss is covered by HER property damage coverage rather than being treated as a motor vehicle, as it would have been if on a roadway.

Their first response was to value it as a "Durango" since that's the closest vehicle, in terms of function, in their opinion. Which is a fairly BS response because a $1500 K-car does the same basic job as a $60,000 Chrysler 300, so if that's their basis for value they can blow it out their ____. However, I will say their valuation of $5k isn't completely insane. I'm not looking to get-rich, just recover what would be necessary to replace it with another MexiRC of similar condition (excellent after much suspension work and other repairs I performed).

What I feel I need to make my case are two things...

1) Show that these trucks while uncommon, ARE available in the US. I have a few Craigslist ads already, but if anyone could direct my to other sources, websites, etc. it would be appreciated. I'll take screen captures and use them to show that I CAN buy another 99-01 RC in the US, so no need to offer me a "Durango" as a comparable.

2) Of course anything that may give an indication of value. For example there is a '00 RC on Craigs California for $3900, but it's a piece of crap compared to mine, then add another $1500 to ship to Michigan. I think $8500 is a pretty fair valuation, and in fact I just saw one in Colorado at that price, (near identical to mine) but forgot to screen capture it before it sold.

So anything you guys could turn up in searches would be much appreciated. 

[SixGun]

Yee-ouch that bitch must have been flying.

Sorry for your loss. That really sucks!!

[rjtx667]

Man I am sorry to hear about this... its why I stopped driving mine so much just because I was worried about that.

I have tried to get a "set value" insurance policy on it, but I have not been able to thus far.


I attached a screen shot I have from a while back.

If it helps I  can say something about the one I own, but I can tell you with the engine and transmission work I put into it... its a bit higher valued in my eyes.

I also hate to bring this up, but just have to ask.. Is there any useable parts on the truck you might could sell? I need a few parts for the back area on mine. Mine was a base model and as such I have done a lot of hacking and tweaking to upgrade it.

Send me a PM if you need more help and we can chat on the phone or something.

[rjtx667]

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/5022436137.html

here is a 99 for sale right now... can't say I did the paint job, but that one is a slt+

that means 360, power windows, locks, air bags, rear A/C fog lights, etc etc.

[GetAwayDriver]

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/5022436137.html

here is a 99 for sale right now... can't say I did the paint job, but that one is a slt+

that means 360, power windows, locks, air bags, rear A/C fog lights, etc etc.

Thanks for your help.You'll have a PM soon. Your screen caps are now part of a damage claim, lol. I was also able to find a second (beater) example for sale. That helps because I'm looking to establish that these SUVs are rare, but there are examples available at any given time... And thus I will not accept the value of some sh__beater Durango.

Will keep you posted how it turns out. It is good if we all know our rights... I recall being a kid on a schoolbus circa 1988 and there was a decent, but not perfect-looking '72 Newport coupe parked in the neighborhood we ran through. One day it reappeared with brand new paint, tires and a vinyl top. Looked like new. Then about two weeks later, it was halfway up the lawn after being legally parked on the street. Some drunk scumbag blasted it... I can only hope he ate his own steering wheel. Then I remember that my wife could have been getting into/out of the RC when it happened and I get sick all over again.

When the legals are settled, I'll spill more details.

[crazzywolfie]

sorry for your loss. that sucks. hopefully the insurance company actually steps up and makes things right especially if she was texting and driving. up here using your phone while driving is a very expensive ticket and i bet she would have ended up with multiple tickets if something like that happened here. she could have killed some.

[GetAwayDriver]

Hey, sorry I haven't given an update and hopefully this will answer a couple of the PM's I received.

First of all, I'd like to get another Mexico RC so I'm not going to part it out until know what parts I might need. However, I'm sure I won't need everything; stuff like carpet, interior trim, etc. so I will let everyone here know and won't send anything useful to the shredder.

As for the insurance companies... I've been assembling my values, in part using the ads posted here and what I've been able to find on my own. The cherry on the cake was supposed to be an independent appraisal, at a cost of $175 . To say I was disappointed with his appraisal value would be an understatement. It was also very hard to find someone who would even appraise the truck, at least with any sort of credentials... There are tons of "hobby" guys who's appraisal values have no credibility. I don't know how you rate the vehicle as "Very good condition" and then give a value that wouldn't purchase a similar condition vehicle, or ship it..

So right now, I debate my strategy. I can go to the insurance company and tell them I have a 3rd-party value of XXXX and they'll offer XXX. Then I can go to small claims and collect the difference between XXX and XXXX. But that means my appraisal is now on the record.

Another approach is to burn the sh*tty appraisal with it's Wikipedia cut/paste, accept the XX offer and try to collect the difference of XX and XXXX in court.

So that's what I'm rolling over in my head.

[rjtx667]

Sorry to hear about your problems. and yes its very hard to get a value on these things as its a niche market.

Good luck with it all