I was heading to the Outer Banks for a wedding last Wednesday night, and we stopped at a Wawa for some food. I was pulling my camper and I parked in the large vacant lot for tractor trailers. Well, when i came out, i said to my girlfriend, who the hell is parked so close to my jeep?
A tractor trailer cut it a bit too close when trying to park next to me. Did the police report and all of that, so insurance will be covering everything.
So I'm taking it in for an estimate tomorrow, and I'm wondering what they will give me for an estimate. I'm posting this to see what everyone thinks I should do, and can do with whatever money i get. I don't know if there is enough damage for them to justify a whole new hood, but if there is, then I'd like to get the AEV hood so I can put the snorkel on. if not, they better plan on painting the whole hood. As far as the bumper goes, I'm hoping i can get an aftermarket stubby to replace the stock one for about the same price, and get some new fog lights that mount inside it, rather than on top like the ones I had, that got destroyed. Anyway, take a look at the pictures and tell me if you have any suggestions. Thanks in advance.

 

If you are in the mood to bicker with his insurance company for some extra money to cover mods, get 3 estimates from the best bodyshops you can find. Get them to write you a check if you can do the work yourself. Be careful with this though, because if a shop misses something and catches it while doing the repairs, they can get another check from the insurance company, you may not be so lucky.

 

Not only is the outer panel of the hood damaged, the inner structure is out of shape as shown by the hood gap being uneven around the left headlamp. This makes the question of hood replacement a toss-up. Make your wishes known when discussing the estimate with the DAMAGE APPRAISER. The claims handler is the person who discusses your claim with you on the phone. Your LF fender flare will need to be replaced also. The front bumper cover is toast, no question about it. The front bumper rebar (with the compression cans) is also probably damaged, have it looked at CLOSELY. Have the LF fender looked at closely also, make sure the pressure that damaged the flare didn't pull the fender out of shape. Make sure the grill edge at the hood damage area wasn't scratched or chipped when the hood was scraped. Is the left hood latch damaged? Look it over also. Remember to ask for a color blend on the upper cowl panel( below the wipers) and on both front fenders. Makes sure time is allowed on the estimate for removing and re-installing the flares, wipers, and hood latches and sprayer for full clearcoat coverage. That way you won't have clear peeling around the edges of your panels down the road....Just a few thoughts...

 

great comments, thanks guys. Good thoughts on the crush cans look ok, but can't really tell until the bumper comes off. I didn't want to do anything to it yet for fear that they might not like that. The latch is damaged, scrapped up.
I'm hoping I can work with the repair shop and just pay the difference between the stock prices and whatever I chose to upgrade to... I'll keep you posted as to what they say tomorrow.

 

dammit time for a nice bumper

 

DON'T DON'T DON'T take their first offer no matter what... Give a little effort in the fact that you won't take that offer and you want another appraiser. You should get more just by asking and standing firm on that.

It's worth a few phone calls and not rolling right over.

 

Good luck on that, hope you get what you want. Me, personally, would fix it myself. But that would be after I took a sledgehammer to the big rig that cut it to close. And yeah, I know the repercussions. Down south may be a bit different than what yall are used too.

 

Well, it looks like I'm going to get a check from the truck company that hit me, then I'm going to take that to get the work done that I need. Estimate was around 2500 bucks, about 1800 of which was to fix the fender and hood. I'm going to have the guy cut a hole in the hood while he is at it for the AEV snorkel, and then have him paint it. He said he was going to charge about 100 bucks. Then that leaves me with the rest for whatever bumper I decide to get and install myself. Any suggestions on good stubbys? I like the pure jeep

 

I found a bumper on craigslist for 200 bucks. The Mopar bumper. In really good shape. Im looking at the rear mopar bumper from another guy, that is about an hour away, also on craigslist. It has the tire carrier, but missing a bunch of bolts, and the relocation for the tailgate light. He wants 550 for it. A bit much since I only want the bumper, not the tire mount, but should I get it anyway?
I'm getting a check for about $3000 for the fix, but should only be about half that to fix the hood.
Thinking about Above Um All's exhaust kit for only $225, and AEV snorkel, and maybe the rubicon sliders (Anyone have sliders for sale, 4 door)

 

Yeah, down south, the rig driver might take a big sledge hammer to you...

I think I saw hoods for 300$?