Ram tough !

Well, as it turns out, Pick up trucks aren't all that tough, at all. They LOOK tough, but don't seem to fair well in an accident, at all, and brand doesn't matter.

A friend in his(almost) new Ram Hemi Express recently had an encounter with a Cadillac (car, not sure of the model). The Caddy suffered nearly $6000.00 in damages, the Ram was totaled. The insurance simply bought the truck. The accident happened at a traffic light. The truck was stopped at the light in the Left turn lane. The Caddy entered the intersection from the truck's right, and was turning left in front of the truck. The caddy hit the ram from the right front, crossing the front of the ram, and down the driver's side of the cab.
The entire nose of the ram was torn off, and the front frame rails were bent and separated. The driver's side frame rail was moved nearly 4 inch away from the engine. Motor mount broke, the block and bell housing cracked. Left from wheel and suspension was completely separated from the truck. body work alone involved an entire front clip, both driver's side door, and the pick up bed on the driver's side.
The Caddy owner's insurance is covering everything. When the insurance investigator got to the body shop to estimate the damages on the Ram, the estimate was $18,800+. He paid $26,000.00 for the truck in August of 2011.

He still owed 21,404.00 on the truck, and they offered him $21,000 for the truck, after arguing they offered $23,000.00 which he thought was fair. It paid for the truck, and gave him about $1500.00 toward another truck. They also paid for a rental car for him to use while he was waiting for the settlement.

Remarkably, no one was injured in either vehicle.

A Similar accident happened to another friend in a Chevy 2500 crew cab. It was struck by a turning big rig. the truck suffered heavy damages, and my buddy was hurt pretty badly. This happened about a year ago, and he just had another surgery on his neck.

Finally, a acquaintance of mine who operates a local Steel business, was in his fairly new F150, and it was involved in a head-on collision with a Camery. Again, the car was repaired, but the truck was totaled out. The engine actually dropped out of the truck! He has pictures of the truck hanging on the wall in his office. I'd never seen anything like it.