Turning Total Loss into a gain

Insurance Companies have set guidelines for declaring your vehicle a Total Loss. Just in case you are not familiar with the term, the vehicle is declared a Total Loss after an accident if the cost of repairs exceeds usually about 75 percent of the value of an automobile. It is pretty straight forward. For example, if your 2008 Chevy Camaro is worth $10,000 before it hit a fire hydrant on Glenoaks Boulevard and the repair cost after is $ 9,000 it is declared a Total Loss. In such cases your Insurance Company usually will take your vehicle to a junk yard and pay you a fair value to replace it. However when you add a human element to the equation things could get a bit complicated.

A huge tree fell on Brian Hogue’s Ford truck during last year’s storm that temporarily left half of the City of Angels without electricity. “Thank God it wasn’t my house,” said Hogue who came by the body shop to talk about his truck. Insurance Company has declared Brian’s vehicle a Total Loss, but he wasn’t quite ready to send his prized possession to the salvage yard. Aside from sentimental and practical value, Brian just could not visualize having a car note on a new vehicle.

“What would it take to repair it?” inquired Mr. Hogue

“Time and a lot of work,” replied Jorge Mondragon, Burbank Body Shop’s production manager.

“Some jobs are more lucrative than others,” noted Mondragon who began his career over forty years ago sanding cars at his father’s body shop:” But what makes it all worthwhile is when you can make a customer happy.”

Replacing a cab on a Ford truck is not as simple as replacing a fender, but Mondragon has the experience and a know how to do both equally perfect. To replace a fender one needs to simply unbolt it and then bolt it back on. To replace a cab one needs to remove and reinstall the chassis, drive train, complete wiring etc…

Few months later and some blood sweat and tears Brian’s truck was ready to get back on the road. “Yesterday he felt like a kid the day before Christmas,” said Brian’s wife Stacie when they came to pick up the truck.” It looks like brand new,” they exclaimed in unison.