horsehaulin

Hi, I am writing this in hope of some guidance and help from serious Chevy enthusiasts! I was recently involved in a car accident. I am alive, and I owe it ALL to my Chevy truck. It was 11pm when I pulled up to a dark four way stop just down the street from my house. I stopped at the stop sign, looked around and did not see anyone or anything. As I started to drive through the intersection going roughly 3-5mph a lady in a tesla going 50mph slammed straight into me. You would have thought from the looks of my vehicle is was hardly damaged, hers was destroyed. Luckily, there was an eye witness as well as her tesla recorded the whole incident. Needless to say she was found at fault in the police report and our insurance company is working on the claim. Here is my dilemma which I am hoping someone can help me with... My truck was a 2024 chevy Silverado 2500 high country. Not my first Chevy but, my absolute favorite one. We purchased it back in 2023 and at the time of the accident it had 20,000 miles on it. I use this truck to haul my horses, cart my kids around, do ranch work and everything in between. So yes, this beauty works hard! We were fortunate enough that it had almost all the packages and upgrades possible on it. One being the max trailering package. One thing this package includes is a 3500 body trim to my understanding this makes the truck body larger, heavier and able to tow more. Well my insurance company got back to me and the truck is totaled. There was a lot of damage to the frame and the insurance company doesn't want to pay to fix it. Needless to say I am gutted. Not only because I absolutely loved that truck but, worse is the amount of money they are going to pay us for the vehicle. Which isn't enough to pay for a "comparable vehicle". I'm also having a heck of a time finding anything that comes close. Any advice here? How can I show the insurance company that the "comparable" vehicles they are using to justify the amount to pay for my vehicle isn't comparable at all? I need hard facts that show what my truck was does not compare to the ones they compared it to. This truck had the max trailering package, the gooseneck/ fifth wheel package, technology package, multiflex tailgate, and the Z71 off road package, I cant accept that I will have to pay out of pocket for another truck that is just as nice as ours was for an accident that was not my fault!!! Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

jfmorris

So sorry to hear this, and glad you are ok. I sympathize with the loss of your truck.

I would use the VIN or the RPO codes in the glovebox, along with an RPO decoder, to print out a list of all the equipment it had from the factory. If you bought it new, I would think you might have kept the window sticker as well, listing all the equipment it had on it when you got it.

That said, if it was a 2500, with max trailering package, I am not sure how "3500 body trim" helps tow more weight. I would go back to the glovebox RPO codes and window sticker and VIN to see how it was equipped.

My friend had a 1994 C1500 Cheyenne burn up (engine fire) recently, and got $11,700 for it from their insurance company, after their deductible. And that was on a 30 year old Chevrolet pickup truck! It had been repainted and reupholstered in recent years, so looked nice, but she and I were both shocked! I would push hard on them to give you replacement cost for a comparable truck.

Good luck!