Another one bites the dust….

[Midnight Rider]

Update:
After much discussion I’ve started a claim with my insurance & they are going to fight it out with his. The shop is backed up, no formal estimate yet but the lead estimator did call me late Wednesday. He’s driven Jeeps exclusively for 20 years, knows them well & he’s on the fence on whether it can be repaired or not. He said the frame is bent & if it’s not totaled he would recommend a new frame. He said 3 years ago he would have said yes it’s totaled but by the same token he just got done with an ’09 Pontiac G8 that insurance wanted fixed. Probably a week and a half before I know for sure. The waiting is killing me. Got a Colorado crew cab for a rental so a least I have something to drive.

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[Elff]

I can imagine how much that sucks.

Even our little bumper repair is scheduled out to January.

 

[Midnight Rider]

Update: The insurance company ended up totaling my Gladiator. I’m ok with it. The estimator at the body shop said that after a thorough going over if it was his he wouldn’t want it back. In the end we got $100.00 less than we paid for it in June 2021.
A lot has changed in our lives since then. As I’ve said we now have 2 grandsons ages 4 & 10 months living with us which means car seats. After much discussion we made the decision to go back to a full size truck.

I found this 2019 Sierra with 34000 miles on it, an absolute cream puff.
This is an amazing community & I’m glad to have been a part of it. Not sure if I qualified as a “real“ Jeep owner as I never experienced death wobble, never broke a windshield & never had ess/battery issues. I’ll continue to be around & maybe even chime in now & then.
Thanks everybody.

 

[PlayfulBird]

Update: The insurance company ended up totaling my Gladiator. I’m ok with it. The estimator at the body shop said that after a thorough going over if it was his he wouldn’t want it back. In the end we got $100.00 less than we paid for it in June 2021.
A lot has changed in our lives since then. As I’ve said we now have 2 grandsons ages 4 & 10 months living with us which means car seats. After much discussion we made the decision to go back to a full size truck.

I found this 2019 Sierra with 34000 miles on it, an absolute cream puff.
This is an amazing community & I’m glad to have been a part of it. Not sure if I qualified as a “real“ Jeep owner as I never experienced death wobble, never broke a windshield & never had ess/battery issues. I’ll continue to be around & maybe even chime in now & then.
Thanks everybody.

Congrats.
All the best and awesome you are sticking around?

 

[Elff]

Glad you were compensated properly and were able to get something that fits your current situation.

 

[onewhippedpuppy]

I’m really happy it worked out well for you in the end, insurance companies suck!

My wife’s sister and her baby stayed with us last week, and I got to experience the joy of a car seat in my JT. Thank God my kids are older, because the JT backseat isn’t great for child seats.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I’m really happy it worked out well for you in the end, insurance companies suck!

My wife’s sister and her baby stayed with us last week, and I got to experience the joy of a car seat in my JT. Thank God my kids are older, because the JT backseat isn’t great for child seats.

It must depend on the car seat and kid - when my son and his family visited my son was happy with the way the seat when into my JT. Both commented on how much easier/better it was than my Silverado and how much more leg room there was in the JT compared to my Chevy.
I think back to when my boys were young and the car seats we had to deal with back then. No way I'd want to deal with what we had then in the JT now.

But then - do we buy the JT as a "Family car"? Unlikely ............ ?

When I totaled our WJ years ago (and it was a loaded Jeep with accessories to the hilt) the insurance adjuster shocked me.
I'd spent hours doing research on what I thought that Jeep would be worth - I was ready for a battle.
He called, we met, and he had the paperwork and a check ready. I thought to myself - that's pretty sure of your figures having everything all ready and handing it for me to sign off on.
I looked and was shocked - he exceeded my best numbers by thousands. I thanked him for his work and signed the papers. (he had obviously been all through that Jeep as he knew every little thing about it, including all outside and inside mods and accessories)


OTOH, the company that covered my father's Ranger - I fought hard with those jerks. They used a 3rd party to determine values and such and they had it down as no tow package, long wheel based, etc. and only allowed 4K.
BS. It was a short wheelbase (those were worth a ton more) and had factory tow package and so on. They also said it had 135,000 miles when it had 35,000 miles. They claimed they went by the VIN - I sent them the original window sticker and a list of the options and pics of the factory tow package. This went back and forth for weeks. I was hot. The 2010 Ranger odometer used a decimal point and showed the tenths - they had misread the miles. I showed them the last service Dad had done with the miles on it only 2 months prior - I asked how an 85 year old man would drive a vehicle over 100,000 miles in 2 months! They pretty much ignored me.
I can't recall what I said after that, but the next response from them was actually a grand more than I was insisting on.

 

[onewhippedpuppy]

This car seat was worst case, big rear facing for a baby. We had to scoot the passenger seat forward and it was a PITA to navigate the big ass seat through the relatively small door opening of the JT. When we had little kids our primary family car was a 2012 F150 and/or a minivan, the back seats were way better for child seats. But that was a LOT bigger truck.

 

[Blade1668]

Update: The insurance company ended up totaling my Gladiator. I’m ok with it. The estimator at the body shop said that after a thorough going over if it was his he wouldn’t want it back. In the end we got $100.00 less than we paid for it in June 2021.
A lot has changed in our lives since then. As I’ve said we now have 2 grandsons ages 4 & 10 months living with us which means car seats. After much discussion we made the decision to go back to a full size
This is an amazing community & I’m glad to have been a part of it. Not sure if I qualified as a “real“ Jeep owner as I never experienced death wobble, never broke a windshield & never had ess/battery issues. I’ll continue to be around & maybe even chime in now & then.
Thanks everybody.

Don't be a stranger your still a welcome friend to the Jeep family... just in between Jeeps. glad it's turning out good.

 

[Gladiator Brad 704]

Glad you are ok. Those factory bumpers are junk. I have a Rustys Off Road front and rear bumper. Best upgrade I have ever made. Super heavy duty. I would have cut through that truck like the Batmobile. The first modification anyone makes should be to ditch the plastic bumpers.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The first modification anyone makes should be to ditch the plastic bumpers.

Already done on the front, over a year later still looking for a rear Rubicon take-off as those are steel. (with sensor holes)
My wife said if I can find a good used one - go for it.
On the other hand, my son's car from years ago was a very solid aluminum bumper and it totally destroyed the front of the car that hit him from behind, and the aluminum front bumper on my car (the same make/model) obliterated a deer but no damage to the bumper.
Just want to get away from plastic with the very thin gauge steel that's behind it.

 

[Gladiator Brad 704]

The Rusty's bumper is available with sensor holes.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The Rusty's bumper is available with sensor holes.

Prefer stock look that is proud of the back of the truck - without the hook protrusions ......... and to be able to use the backup lights I have. They also lack the legally required reflectors without using tape.
That's 2 to 3 times my budget as well.

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