My Rover versus a Ford Focus

brianhoberg

brianhoberg

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Apr 16, 2007
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San Antonio, TX
www.brianhoberg.com
Well, I've learned first hand what my '03 DII does against a Ford Focus....
This evening on the way home, a cop in front of me was pulling over a black Durango on Toepperwein Road.
As everyone who knows me is aware, my DII is my pride and joy and I've upgraded it from stock with my RTE Front Bumper with skid, RTE sliders, 2" RTE lift, 265/75R16 tires, and numerous other knick knacks that I've added to it over the last year.
Today was a prime example of what happens when people pay attention to what a cop is doing and who is getting pulled over, versus watching what they are doing. As the cop was pulling over the guy, a Ford Focus attempted to cut in front of the Durango and my truck, and did'nt quite win that gamble.
The driver front of the Focus hit my passenger front and I slammed on the brakes. Needless to say, his front end was demolished, engine was somewhere near his passenger floorboard and his car was totalled beyond belief. My truck's RTE was shoved into the hood, my Warn winch ended up lodged in my radiator. The hood can't be opened, so I have no clue what damage happened under the hood.
Good news is, my three month old son who was in his carseat in the passenger back seat was unharmed and is doing well. Poor guy has had quite a day.
My passenger door wont open due to about 3/4" of the front quarter panel lodged into it. I had to literally pull the door open enough to get my son out. The truck is more than likely totalled, but the RTE saved a ton of damage and did what it was designed to do.
I am hoping...and praying...that the truck is fixable. Both of us had insurance, the other guy didn't walk away unscratched, but he did "walk" away. I've got quite a case of whiplash and am going to the doc tomorrow. I've slipped a disc in my upper back before and it unfortunately doesn't feel too great at the moment.
So, I'll keep you all posted.

Special thank you to Steve at RTE, for all his hard work in designing a product that withstands a beating and saves lives.

Thank you,
Brian Hoberg, San Antonio, TX.
 
R

rovertruck

Well-known member
Jan 1, 2005
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Brentwood, TN
Sorry to hear about your accident-

Glad to hear your son was unharmed and hope you are just feeling a case of whiplash. I had a similar experience when I was in school @ Auburn. I had a 4Runner at the time with a TJM on the front. A VW Jetta coming in the opposite direction hesitated while taking a left and I ran head on into him. Luckily the driver was unhurt but his Jetta had seen better days. I had a passenger up front and one in the back who both walked away unscathed. I had some minor fender damage, a flat tire and somme cracked plastics.

Keep us updated on the condition of the Disco and you yourself!
 
brianhoberg

brianhoberg

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Apr 16, 2007
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RBBailey said:
I can guess the first thing you looked at when the noise and vehicles stopped moving.

We need some pictures, now that we know you guys are OK.
Click to expand...

I'll have some pics tommorow. I went to the towing company's storage yard about two hours after the accident to get my tools and personals from the truck. I took some pics, but they are pretty big at the moment. I'll scale them down and post tommorow. Thanks for the kind words guys. Honestly, you can't place a value on your own child's life, but that $1,200 for the RTE is the best investment I have EVER made in my life.
 
slangel

slangel

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Oct 5, 2006
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VA
Glad to hear you and the little one are okay. I agree you couldn't pay me any amount of money for my RTE, and it should be standard on any rover that offroads and/or hauls any children around daily. I lived in S.A. for four years loved it, but some seriously crazy drivers!
 
EJB90

EJB90

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Feb 26, 2007
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That sucks man, I'm glad to see no one got hurt. Hopefully your Rover is not totaled.

Otherwise you can be like me on a 4.5 month search for a replacement rover. Quitting Land Rover cold turkey is pretty tough.
 
brianhoberg

brianhoberg

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EJB90 said:
That sucks man, I'm glad to see no one got hurt. Hopefully your Rover is not totaled.

Otherwise you can be like me on a 4.5 month search for a replacement rover. Quitting Land Rover cold turkey is pretty tough.
Click to expand...
How are you dealing in the meanwhile? Did you have an alternate car or are you sharing a car at the moment?
 
brianhoberg

brianhoberg

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Apr 16, 2007
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So, a quick update from the disco II saga:
The guy who hit me was a 21 year old computer technician who was driving a company vehicle. He was covered under his company's insurance policy through Hartford Insurance. Hartford came out and did an "estimate" where they say that the truck is worth $14,375 and they estimate there is $14,187 worth of damages to it. Of that damage estimate, they claim that it needs a brand new frame valued at $5464.70 and 36.5 hours worth of frame work at $1,460.00. They want to total the vehicle citing that 48% of the damage is frame damage.

I said BS, so I called the body shop and asked the guy what he thought. He said his manager met with the guy from CCC Estimates and they found that on the frame itself, there are two bends of which they say are 90 degree bends. They say that Land Rover does not make it possible for frame horns to be replaced due to a "solid frame structure and the internal welds", so this is why they totalled it.

Being no idiot to the insurance industry (I work for a financial services company), I also had my insurance (USAA) to open a claim and send their own inspector. She calls me Friday asking me if I can authorize a tear-down of the front end to assess the damage because due to the RTE grill guard pinning down the front of the hood they can't open the hood to see damage to the engine. Basically, Hartford did not tear down the vehicle to assess damage, did not move it from the spot that the tow truck dropped it off, and I believe they just want to write it off and close this out. Additionally, I provided receipts for all my RTE and EE purchases and their response was:

I did receive all of the invoices for aftermarket parts to your vehicle. I called up CCC Valuscope and requested that these be submitted for consideration in the final value. The only thing that CCC was able to add value for was the Winch-which added $300 to the previous value. The reason why CCC could only add value to this item was because the other items were not as common and they did not have proper estimating tools and resources to determine value. I then went to my supervisors to find out if they were able to add value to the vehicle. They expressed to me that items such as these would normally not add any value due to the fact that these are all "personal preference" items and that most consumers and automobile drivers would not choose for these types of items to be on their vehicle. They did, however, add $500 to the total value just because of the substantial cost of adding these aftermarket parts. So in all, $800 will be added to the final value of the vehicle. If you have any questions please let me know. Otherwise, please let me know what you plan on doing with your vehicle so that if you plan on having The Hartford obtain the vehicle, we can pick it up and bring it to CoPart. Thanks.

So, I'm waiting on USAA to do their tear down estimate and send me the report.

So, a couple of questions:
A - If they aren't reimbursing me for the parts I put on the truck, what can I legally take off? Can I remove the RTE springs, shocks, sliders, gas skid? Can I remove the BFG AT K/O tires I have on there with less than 6k miles? Can I remove the rear differential cover?

B - I feel like I'm getting screwed here. My family has a personal injury lawyer I have contacted, but is it worth pursuing? They want to give me $14,3K for my truck and I have a loan owing $18,2K on it not including the add ons. Is it worth fighting?

C - What are my options? They are "willing" to sell it back to me for ~$11K yet claim it's $2K in salvage. Should I wait to see what USAA says or what?

Need some help as I'm feeling all sort of emotion here: pissed, agitated, not sure where to go from here. Not to sound like a selfish ass, but I didn't ask for this 21 year old punk to plow into me. the police report shows he ran the stop sign and was "inattentive". furthermore he lied to the cop saying I flew around the cop when he was turning which was crap because I was in the left lane the entire time. Luckily for me, the police report shows this lie on the police report and the officer saw right through it. I didn't ask this guy to put me or my 3 month old son's lives in jeopardy. so now, I am without a car and without the thing that made me happy as of 2/10/08. I need a GPS that makes decisions, lol.

So, any help would help.

Cheers,
Brian.
 
Last edited:
ptschram

ptschram

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Sep 27, 2004
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In the shop doing the Lord's work one broken Rover
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You cannot remove anything from the vehicle until you either buy it back or decline to continue with the claim. The insurance companies will claim that the truck belongs to them until the claim is settled.

If the NADA valuation of the vehicle is only $14K and you owe more, you're likely gonna get screwed-this is what gap coverage is for.

You might have some success arguing that the parts you put on have greater value based on your receipts, but the insurance company will discount for weathering, etc.
 
az_max

az_max

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Apr 22, 2005
7,463
2
ptschram said:
The insurance companies will claim that the truck belongs to them until the claim is settled.
Click to expand...

How can they claim that when the title is still in your name and you haven;t agreed to sell them anything yet? If anything, it belongs to the bank, not the ins co.


I'd play hardball with the ins co and at minimum get full payout of the outstanding loan. Point out that it was their insured that caused you to be in this position.
 
brianhoberg

brianhoberg

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Apr 16, 2007
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San Antonio, TX
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az_max said:
How can they claim that when the title is still in your name and you haven;t agreed to sell them anything yet? If anything, it belongs to the bank, not the ins co.


I'd play hardball with the ins co and at minimum get full payout of the outstanding loan. Point out that it was their insured that caused you to be in this position.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's the route I was talking with greygoose with this evening. I want the amount for the loan. I am not sure if i want to try and pull the RTE off and get it straightened, Im sure it would be cheaper than buying a new one. Skid plate,....could try that too. My two issues right now are, I want to keep my brand new BFG's so I need ot find a really cheap set of tires/wheels or just tires if I have to. For the rear RTE gas skid, I need to get one of those from the factory gas straps that hold the gas tank up in the back.
 
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