Tale as old as time. A man crying in the road as fluids of his beloved jalopy course along the asphalt. An baby boomer in a giant SUV confused about who had the right of way. She pulled right out in front of me as i cruised into the intersection. I had the green light, confirmed by witnesses. I couldn't stop in time. Now I have a car recycle project or my first major body work project with no parts car.
I inherited my 1984 4wd tercel only 4 months ago. my life a little more shiny and fun ever since. 130k original miles afaik. Just needed to replace the fuel pump and some leaking lines and she's been running like a champ every day, albeit with screwy idle speeds from whatever vacuum leak.
the lady swears she had a green light, despite me gesturing her attention to the light above us which was still green for me, mercifully turning yellow as we gazed at it. all this within seconds after the impact, showing my green light cycle was only now coming to an end.
ANYWAY my car is for sure totaled from the front end. doesn't drive. not yet sure the extent of the damage. as i said, i don't have a parts car. and i'm not sure i want the project. other than some rust spots and a vacuum leak the car was pristine, esp the interior.
I'm in north carolina. Asheville area.
edit: i don't know why it won't do this as a vertical image. y'all get the idea though.
Lady ran a red turn signal. What to do now
Lady ran a red turn signal. What to do now
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Last edited by smellis on Fri Dec 29, 2023 10:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Lady ran a red turn signal. What to do now
smellis,
So sorry for you, that really stinks. I hit a deer doing 70 and had similar damage, but less. Fortunately, I have a parts car and got it back together. Good luck. There are still a few around, you might have to find another one.
So sorry for you, that really stinks. I hit a deer doing 70 and had similar damage, but less. Fortunately, I have a parts car and got it back together. Good luck. There are still a few around, you might have to find another one.
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Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart"
In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
In remembrance of my friend ARCHINSTL:
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
- Mattel
- Highest Ranking Member
- Posts: 1789
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 12:11 am
- My tercel:: 1988 Corolla 4wd Wagon (AKA Corolla All-trac) 5speed, AC, Power Sunroof, Windows, Mirrors, Steering, Locking, Diff Lock, 14" Corolla SX Alloys with Silica Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, 210,000kms
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
Re: Lady ran a red turn signal. What to do now
Sorry for your loss of your Tercel and well written BTW.
Maybe try the Facebook page to see if someone has a parts car for sale or you can offload your wrecked car.
Maybe try the Facebook page to see if someone has a parts car for sale or you can offload your wrecked car.
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
Re: Lady ran a red turn signal. What to do now
That is unfortunate. Tell her insurance company you want the car replaced. Find similar examples for sale, or recently sold to justify the value. You don't have to accept their initial low ball offer. They might even try to get you to accept partial responsibility for the accident as a condition of settlement. If they play hard ball, tell them you plan to file a complaint with the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
Consider buying the car back for the salvage value. These are becoming more difficult to find in the junkyard.
Consider buying the car back for the salvage value. These are becoming more difficult to find in the junkyard.
Re: Lady ran a red turn signal. What to do now
Thanks all for the condolences. I'll keep an eye out for something with a decent front end in the next few months. I went through a similar situation with an old VW TDI not two years ago, so needless to say I'm already collecting screen grabs of comp sales within the last year. Fun times having cars you love as your daily driver! But always playing the numbers out on the road, how long we'll get to keep em good, well that's out of our control sometimes. grrrr
I'll report in with anything of interest. Be safe out there everyone!
I'll report in with anything of interest. Be safe out there everyone!
- Mattel
- Highest Ranking Member
- Posts: 1789
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 12:11 am
- My tercel:: 1988 Corolla 4wd Wagon (AKA Corolla All-trac) 5speed, AC, Power Sunroof, Windows, Mirrors, Steering, Locking, Diff Lock, 14" Corolla SX Alloys with Silica Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, 210,000kms
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
Re: Lady ran a red turn signal. What to do now
I think on the facebook page someone has put together an album of examples of ads and BAT auctions where these cars have sold for a lot of money for this sort of situation.
Previous: 83 Tercel SR5 4wd, 84 Tercel SR5 4wd
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
88 Corolla 4wd Wagon 5speed, All power options, Fact Sunroof, Diff Lock, 14" SX Alloys, Hankook Tyres, 4afe, King Springs, Upgraded Headlights, Full Synth oils, Tow Bar, 210,000kms
- Toyotise
- Advanced Member
- Posts: 79
- Joined: Thu Mar 04, 2021 9:16 pm
- My tercel:: 1983 4WD DLX. 1986 4WD SR5
- Location: Arizona
Re: Lady ran a red turn signal. What to do now
Yeah,
First: tell the insurance company where to take a piss when they offer you too little.
Two: Demand you keep YOUR vehicle (for parts!) and don’t let them discount you any more than it’s value in steel scrap weight on the settlement. JUST BECAUSE THEIR CLIENT DESTROYED IT DON’T IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM ENTAIL YOU MUST RELINQUISH OWNERSHIP OF IT.
Three: Get your settlement check for four thousand dollars (my appraisal based on the aggravating rust, and mitigating low mileage SR5 factors)
Four: Trawl the Facebook marketplace and Craigslist till you find a nice one.
Five: Enjoy working on and driving Tercel4WD ‘s for miles and more! Now you have a good known parts car.
Or buy a Honda CRV.
P.S. oh yeah and don’t make up nothing but make sure you get your back-spine checked out medically. Don’t use their doctor recommendation, go to who you trust. their insurance WILL pay. Stuff from accidents can manifest down the line and don’t want to release them from liability and realize you back tweaked ouching months later was correlated with the accident.
First: tell the insurance company where to take a piss when they offer you too little.
Two: Demand you keep YOUR vehicle (for parts!) and don’t let them discount you any more than it’s value in steel scrap weight on the settlement. JUST BECAUSE THEIR CLIENT DESTROYED IT DON’T IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM ENTAIL YOU MUST RELINQUISH OWNERSHIP OF IT.
Three: Get your settlement check for four thousand dollars (my appraisal based on the aggravating rust, and mitigating low mileage SR5 factors)
Four: Trawl the Facebook marketplace and Craigslist till you find a nice one.
Five: Enjoy working on and driving Tercel4WD ‘s for miles and more! Now you have a good known parts car.
Or buy a Honda CRV.
P.S. oh yeah and don’t make up nothing but make sure you get your back-spine checked out medically. Don’t use their doctor recommendation, go to who you trust. their insurance WILL pay. Stuff from accidents can manifest down the line and don’t want to release them from liability and realize you back tweaked ouching months later was correlated with the accident.
Keep it Stock; Live Long.
- Nordical25
- Top Notch Member
- Posts: 309
- Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:49 pm
- My tercel:: 1x86, 2x87
- Location: Finland
Re: Lady ran a red turn signal. What to do now
I am sorry to hear of your Tercel crash. It makes sense to keep your car as spares and get a compensation for it.
Here is a link of recently sold Tercel in bring a trailer:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1986-toyota-tercel/
You can find more available data there on latest Tercel sales. I think that insurance company needs to pay compensation in thousands of dollars since you had a low mileage example.
I recommend you to look for another one with that insurance money you will get. Most of these cars are lacking some parts so you may use your old car to complete new one in case it is missing any parts.
Here is a link of recently sold Tercel in bring a trailer:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1986-toyota-tercel/
You can find more available data there on latest Tercel sales. I think that insurance company needs to pay compensation in thousands of dollars since you had a low mileage example.
I recommend you to look for another one with that insurance money you will get. Most of these cars are lacking some parts so you may use your old car to complete new one in case it is missing any parts.
- dlb
- Highest Ranking Member
- Posts: 7331
- Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:03 pm
- My tercel:: '87 sr5, '83 dlx parts car
- Location: bc, canada
Re: Lady ran a red turn signal. What to do now
Sorry to hear about this, smellis. I agree with Toyotise's advice. It seems like there are still a good number of decent ones available throughout the US so I'm hopeful you can find another soon.
- MrWrench
- Top Notch Member
- Posts: 253
- Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2019 9:10 pm
- My tercel:: 1985 Tercel SR5. aka Spud
- Location: Michigan
- Contact:
Re: Lady ran a red turn signal. What to do now
Sorry to hear about your accident. It's painful to lose a car that brings you joy. Whatever happens going forward, Please do not scrap this car if you do not choose to repair it. I know if several people who will be willing to buy it and fix it up. I am in Michigan so I'm a little bit of ways away but I have hoods, cowls and fenders that are in presentable condition. I also have grills and headlight buckets
If you have full coverage, please PM me with the insurance buy back price or email me at tercelrescue@gmail.com.
If you have full coverage, please PM me with the insurance buy back price or email me at tercelrescue@gmail.com.
1984 SR5. Lifted offroader with a snorkel. Aka "Thunderbucket"
1985 SR5. Daily driver. Aka "Spud"
1986 SR5. Dakar Rally clone build.
1985 SR5. Daily driver. Aka "Spud"
1986 SR5. Dakar Rally clone build.