Why did the insurance company total the trailer? It means that they queried the TM factory for the repair cost, and the factory told them that replacing the panel would cost more than the trailer was worth. Or at least more than the insurance coverage held by the owner. At that time the NADA estimate of worth was about $6000, so my guess (and it is COMPLETELY a guess) is that the insurance sent them a check for about $4000, and sold them the salvage rights for $2000. And that is only if they had a ZERO deductible, which isn't likely. So if I am anywhere near accurate here, they have about $2K in it.
Just FYI, you need to realize that panels are rather difficult to replace. There is a lot of labor involved, both in building the new panel (the sandwich construction) and putting it in place. Remember that quite a bit of electrical wiring is snaked through the walls. Removing and replacing the windows is tedious. And since the shell is not self-supporting when open, you can't just unbolt the panel, drop it off, stick another in its place, and tighten up the bolts. A support structure of some kind is needed.
Finally, if the damage occurred 2-3 years ago, the insurance query might have hit the factory at a time when building a wall panel would have been considered a "special build", meaning very expensive. I don't know this to be true, but the timing would suggest it.
But the bottom line is that the NADA low value today is about $5000. If you subtract the $2K estimate that they have into it, you might expect to pay about $3K.
Sound reasonable?
Bill
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