There has been some good advice here. A few years back we bought my wife a 2003 Alero with a salvage title as a result of some minor deer impact damage. I knew salvage cars can cause insurance issues later on but the car was an unusual car with a special dealer installed interior that my wife loved.
Shortly after getting it my wife gets rear-ended at a stop light by a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Over $5000 in damage on a car we paid maybe $3500. The salvage title took $1000 off what the insurance company would give us so we didn't get enough to fix the car. My wife insisted we fix it rather than let the insurance company take it.
So, I headed to the junk yard and found a good bumper assembly, trunk lid, taillights, etc., all the same color. Brought it to a friend that worked at a body shop. They pulled the back end back out and installed all my parts for $500. In the end I had around $800 into it.
We live in Minnesota so this car had started to rust already in the trunk area. That meant that when they pulled the rear-end out some of the spot welds started to come apart and they stopped. We ended up with a slight wrinkle in one quarter panel but other than that it looks really good. From one side you can't even tell it was totaled (twice).
If you are in a dry area you probably would get an even better repair. I couldn't find the right color at the U-pull yard but if you could you would save even more.
If the truck still drives straight you may want to consider this option. Worse case you may get a bit of wind noise around the doors but get a few more years out of the truck.
Shortly after getting it my wife gets rear-ended at a stop light by a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Over $5000 in damage on a car we paid maybe $3500. The salvage title took $1000 off what the insurance company would give us so we didn't get enough to fix the car. My wife insisted we fix it rather than let the insurance company take it.
So, I headed to the junk yard and found a good bumper assembly, trunk lid, taillights, etc., all the same color. Brought it to a friend that worked at a body shop. They pulled the back end back out and installed all my parts for $500. In the end I had around $800 into it.
We live in Minnesota so this car had started to rust already in the trunk area. That meant that when they pulled the rear-end out some of the spot welds started to come apart and they stopped. We ended up with a slight wrinkle in one quarter panel but other than that it looks really good. From one side you can't even tell it was totaled (twice).
If you are in a dry area you probably would get an even better repair. I couldn't find the right color at the U-pull yard but if you could you would save even more.
If the truck still drives straight you may want to consider this option. Worse case you may get a bit of wind noise around the doors but get a few more years out of the truck.
