We have an 85 Toyota Coaster, The day we purchased it I found the largest Kangaroo I could find and run over him lol. This created a problem I never thought of. Because this vehicle was old and had some rust in it that I didn't know of but showed itself when I collided with the Kangaroo. Not one Panel Beater would repair this Coaster, Why because they have to guarantee the job for life in some cases.
Now I don't blame them but it left us up the creek without a paddle. Insurance company would not write it off even though eventually it cost them over 18k on a 21k insured vehicle. In the end this worked out ok for us and I'm not complaining but if I hadn't found this gent then it would have been a different story.
Fast forward to now I have had it fixed by a backyard panel beater, He is a panel beater but works in the mines now. I fixed the engine so it is going fine now.
Monday night massive hail storm in our town, Some were tennis ball size, In our place they were over golf ball and sounded like house bricks hitting the Colourbond roof. Cars in neighbours yard have been written off by Insurance.
Our Coaster was out in the open and it has suffered about 1k of damage if I use the same gent to fix it but I have comprehensive insurance and $200 excess. But no Panel shop will fix it as it has paint damage on roof plus the air con cover is shattered and the wind up vent is also shattered. I would estimate that via a panel beater shop bill could be over 4 to 5k.
So my gripe is that no it isn't a rust bucket but it is 1985 and I'm warning people that with older motor homes you can run into this problem, The Insurance said they will pay like before but no one will fix it. Last time different insurance company they paid out on quote even though the company said they would not touch it.. So far this time I haven't pushed it but I will try different panel shops but so far no one is interested.
Be interested what Insurance company says. I have no doubt if it was written off they would pay but this sort of thing makes it very hard.
30 years old, no wonder no one will go near it! A lot of panel beaters weren't born in 1985. No doubt it's ''a oldie but a goodie'' but it might be time to upgrade.
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Cheers Desert Dweller.
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You have'nt named the insurance company if they are acting on behalf of say( aami just an example ) i would try to go direct read the policy if it is then you may find help good luck maybe you should trade up all the best
You have'nt named the insurance company if they are acting on behalf of say( aami just an example ) i would try to go direct read the policy if it is then you may find help good luck maybe you should trade up all the best
Well that's an interesting tale. I too have had some previous problems with insurance on older, and/or not your usual vehicles. It seems like they only want the dollars rolling in on "normal" vehicles and really do not like anything else. Even yesterday we had a call from NRMA to ask why we had given up on having policies with them. I told them that they would not insure my last car which is a Jap import ! No answer to that !
I would not take the line, well it's time to upgrade, like others have ! It's your call to do what you like, but if the pain is greater than the reward the choice is yours to make
Previous company was APIA, Will not name current for now but having a good look at it in sunlight it has a lot of hail damage to roof, I'm getting a quote tomorrow from same company that quoted after Kangaroo mishap. Remember they will not fix it, But they said quote is free so all good there. It all worked out ok with APIA except if it wasn't for the backyard gent we would have been up the creek without a paddle.
Now the fun will start when they say they will not fix it to the Insurance Company. This is what happened last time and we were paid out. Only just fitted a new Fiamma awning and it only has one dent so it survived ok.
People who say update, that is not the issue to conform to society and scrap it or sell it off as it is setup well and suits us. This problem only arises when you have a problem and we have had 2 problems both we could do nothing about. Also we are not in a financial position to update to later as better half has a lot of medical problems at the moment we have to contend with.
I rang another 3 panel shops today and none will work on it even if it had zero rust. You live and learn. You could own one for 20 or 30 years and if you never had any panel damage you wouldn't have a clue.
Wonder what would happen if in say WA and bent some panels??? That would be a long way from home.
What probably hurts most, you have been paying insurance premiums most of your life and never claimed before these bad luck incidences, not your fault at all.
I suspect the panel beaters make more money turning their jobs over quickly, the big jobs just get scrapped. The unusual jobs, your job, would only be on an hourly rate.
May I suggest you search out Toyota Clubs and put an ask on the forums, you never know, some young lad with a passion for your vehicle may come to the rescue.
We are on our third Coaster 94 LWB model & have been lucky to only have one major "incident" in a trip through the Pilbara in our 83 SWB model when we had an unplanned meeting with a stray cow. The bull bar folded back into the front end causing considerable damage to the front end, but fortunately not rendering it un-drivable, couldn't open the drivers door but the side door sufficed.
We ended up at a truck panel beaters north of Perth that took on the job & CIL paid the bill with no issues, but sourcing parts did take them quite some time putting it off the road for 3 months. We flew home to the NT & waited until it was ready to go. I paid a little extra ($4000) to get them to respray the complete bus as the paint work was looking a little shabby anyway & the repairs would have stood out like a sore thumb. We were advised to seek out a "vehicle restorer" panel shop as the last resort as they would take on something out of the ordinary.
We wont "upgrade" as I wont have a vehicle I cant repair on the side of the road myself with the tools I carry, no common rail injection or complicated electronics even though im a qualified mechanic & have an engineering degree, we have stuck with older Coasters as we spend a considerable amount of time "off the beaten track" where help is just not available.
Our current "toad" is a 1978 Daihatsu Wildcat & we had the same issue insuring that. At 37 years old most insurance company's don't want to know about it, we had no issues when we had the Hilux or the Suzuki Vitara.
We went to an insurance broker in the end as all the call centre staff you talk to are working off a "pro forma" sheet & if they cant see your make, model, year in a drop box your out of luck.
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It's your call to do what you like, but if the pain is greater than the reward the choice is yours to make 
