well likely I'm told.The trailer was hit by a hail storm a month ago. The front is dinged pretty good, awning side to a lessor degree. Also need a new porch light and awning fabric. We have already replaced the vent lids and the insurance wrote a check for the rest.Stopped at the dealership to schedule the repair and the first thing he asked about the damage was how many walls got damaged? I said two and he shook his head and said they will probably total it. That just to get the walls fixed was twice what they gave me.He said if they do total it that they have been selling them back pretty cheap. Get the front wall, awning and light fixed and it should last us for years. The other option is we have put off the idea of upgrading because this trailer has been trouble free, will be paid off soon and is easy on the truck. This could be a chance to get something more suited to our needs. I'll know more after the holiday.

Jim -Sorry to hear all of that...Will you be able to get TAGS, INSURANCE, and all that other good stuff on a totaled trailer?Seems like I have have heard some horror stories...Roy Ken

Salvage title. You can get the insurance company give you the amount less the totaled value. It never leaves your possession. I did this with a pickup once.

Hail==Had the same experience to truck and trailer in Texas:( $15K to fix both but was totally paid by insurance:) Lesson learned----stay out of Texas!

I know that Progressive said they would stop covering it at the end of our policy if they totaled it. I can get tags without insurance, I'll have to check the rest.Never leave my possession. While it's very functional as a camper, we really would like more comfort down the road. Good point. Also, it has never leaked but it has never been opened up like a canned ham either.Bad weather is just a fact of life, that's why we get the insurance. It's cheaper than paying for in door storage.

Jim, I would think the replacement siding and buyback is far less than the insurance check. If it's something you could or want to do yourself, I'd suggest you do it. You'll have something that you know has the bugs out and will make out fairly good, financially. It might give you an opportunity to improve mechanicals and insulation in the process.FWIW, I did the buyback with a used car we owned and it worked out well. The used car value was around $6K. I bought the $43K (new) Saab from a dishonest seller that didn't disclose a leaking coolant problem. I'm sure it had been diagnosed. The immaculate 9.5 suffered from a loosening headbolt issue that took me all of an hour to fix. I also remediated other small issues. Then came the accident, rear end damage. I did the buyback and repaired the damage. Three weeks later it was rear ended again and I received another check. This time, I let it go.Lessons learned: trust no one selling cars, don't buy a green painted car, Saab has a fairly good structure for impact, and some times buyback works out well.

They are gonna total my baby, :( | Good Sam Community

22 Replies

dadmomh
Explorer
Aug 23, 2014
Sounds like a wise decision to me.....Happy Camping!
JiminDenver
Explorer II
Aug 22, 2014
We may replace the front panels but not the side. It just isn't bad enough to worry about. The awning is more essential than the siding. I also get to pick out a nice bright porch light instead of the original.

We are just waiting for the shop to all back. The service manager we have dealt with is no longer there it seems.
B_O__Plenty
Explorer II
Aug 22, 2014
In order to do a paintless dent repair they need to get behind the panel. I guess that would be out...As far as the dry ice myth, if that really worked then why would there be paintless dent repair people all over the place ??? The only way to repair this will be to replace the panels and decals. Very easy to do. Remove all the moldings on the corners and along the top, remove the windows and doors. Start at the bottom and pry out the staples holding the panels on. Just keep working your way up. Put the new panels on from the top down. Not very difficult. I've done it before..

B.O.
JiminDenver
Explorer II
Aug 22, 2014
Roy

My panels were safely tucked away. I have been waiting for this to be over so I could move ahead with the installation. Many of our neighbors have solar on the houses and none of the panels I can see were damaged.

It is over by the way. Progressive called this morning to see if we had decided. Luckily we went through various options last night and there isn't much better than getting ours free and clear plus a check that will cover the awning fabric replacement. No search, no taxes, no worries, just bring it home, pack it up and get back to camping.
Doug33
Explorer
Aug 22, 2014
A couple years ago our neighborhood got hit with a hail storm. Afterward a siding company went door to door promising they could get owners new siding for their house through their homeowner insurance policies. Most got 100% reimbursement or close to it. I would say over the following 6 months this company resided about half of the houses in the neighborhood.

I did not see any damage to my siding, so I did not file a claim. Honestly I did not see damage to other's houses either and thought this was a scam and a way to get free siding. The contractor insisted it was legit and supposedly handled all the insurance paperwork.

About a year later I heard the contractor was brought up on fraud charges and is now in jail. Fortunately none of my neighbors were implicated, since the contractor did all the claim paperwork. But I wonder if it affected their homeowner insurance premiums at all?

Lesson learned - if it seems too good to be true, it usually is.

Unfortunately this past year we decided to finally get new siding for the house and had to pay several thousand for it. But I feel a lot better knowing I didn't buy into this scam.
RoyB
Explorer II
Aug 22, 2014
Jim - How did your solar panels turn out with hail damage...

This happens all the time in North Texas and those guys are experts for fixing up damaged automobiles... Most car dealers now have carports up on their lots protecting all of their cars... Every three days some kind of storm comes up it seems...

I was in Texas of late when a bad storm was brewing and my co-worker and I was staying at the hotel there. I always drive to my work sites and alot of times pull my POPUP. This trip I was just in my Jeep. He saw me head out in my JEEP just before the storm hit. Later on he asked where the heck I was going during the bad boy storm - I told I was heading for the Interstate overpass so my Jeep wouldn't damaged by the hail storm. Worked too... The whole parking lot where we was staying got hit big time with large hail. The work rental car also got damaged...

Hail storms are bad boy stuff...

Roy Ken
jimw606
Explorer
Aug 22, 2014
The replacement metal is not really expensive, but shipping and installation is.
I damaged the back corner of one I had, and was looking at replacing it myself.
Damage estimate was $6,000, but replacement cost was about $2300.00, plus labor for me.
I ended up trading for a 5th wheel, and the dealer sold it as is, 3 days later.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Aug 22, 2014
JiminDenver wrote:
The awning side is not really bad. The front would take a lot of dry ice. Lol.

In the beginning we were not going to turn it in. So living with it won't be so bad. I was just hoping for a better payoff price.

I don't know how that works but, I don't think you need to cover the whole thing with dry ice. Just a little bit of it on each dent. I don't know though I've just heard of it.
JiminDenver
Explorer II
Aug 21, 2014
The awning side is not really bad. The front would take a lot of dry ice. Lol.

In the beginning we were not going to turn it in. So living with it won't be so bad. I was just hoping for a better payoff price.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Aug 21, 2014
I read something one time about a person being able to remove hail damage in a car using Dry Ice? I wonder if that would work on aluminum siding?