Junkyard Find: 1976 Chevrolet G20 Chevy Van

The third-generation GM G-Series van was introduced as a 1971 model, and it stayed in production in essentially the same form through 1996. Early examples of this long-lived design are tough to find these days, so I was happy to find this '76 in a North Carolina self-service yard a couple of months back.

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  • MrIcky Having worked several catastrophes for insurance, the following "The bottom line is that if the insurance agency can find ways not to cover the car, they probably won’t." just isn't the way it works. The insurance company will have some drop off areas where cars will be brought. The adjuster will check for water height and draw a line at the high water point with a posca marker. If that line is generally over the electronics- bam, it's totaled, if you have comprehensive they look up your car on KBB and/or NADA by mileage and write a check. Most comprehensive vehicle policies look almost exactly the same-at least for "standard" carriers. If the water line isn't over the electronics, then it generally goes to a shop to get tested. You aren't going to get gamed for a car in a cat loss scenario because there just isn't time to f'with it. After a Houston flooding event I worked 16 hour days for 2 weeks under a big tent like you'd set up for a wedding and went over nearly 100 cars/day taking pictures and sorting them into total or check with mechanic "piles". Most people who had totaled vehicles had a check within 20 minutes of me looking at their car. Buildings on the other hand have all sorts of different terms (commercial or consumer) with regard to how the wind or water entered your building and whether coverage applies.
  • Theflyersfan Well, Milton just went from a tropical storm to 175mph in less than a day so this guy means business. Even if it weakens a little bit, it'll expand and pretty much all of Florida south of Jacksonville is going to feel something. Everyone who saw that disaster in the NC/VA/TN mountains before Helene's landfall is either from the future or a liar (and that includes the insurance companies) because heavy rain started well before the storm arrived and then the crazy thing just sat in that general area. My part of Kentucky - it didn't stop raining for almost five days. And now this nuclear bomb of a hurricane. I understand Florida has a high percentage of homeowners without insurance because they can no longer afford it. My parents have a home near Naples and they carry extra flood and wind coverage and that costs well over five digits per year. Home renovations about 8-9 years ago gave them the chance to make hurricane-proof changes like lashing the roof and hurricane windows. It survived the direct hit from Irma and the heavy punch from Ian so they worked. After this storm, I don't know how Florida will totally recover. Much like California and the earthquakes and firestorms, there might have to be a "Come to Jesus" talk with the perils of living in Florida. I'm already making plans to head down there post-storm if the roads or airport is open in the days following landfall to help cleanup and rebuild any part of the home that might need it. In the short term, if it hasn't happened already, gas prices are probably going to rocket upwards as the oil rigs in the Gulf shut down and prepare. And if this storm directly hits Tampa/St Pete, it's going to be game over in those cities for a while. And imagine if the storm at this power was aiming towards New Orleans or Miami.
  • Jalop1991 "...leaving Doherty and his passenger to be pulled from the wreck by passersby." Or not. I would get a HUGE laugh out of seeing a video of passersby with their phones whipped out, recording it and doing nothing else.
  • Jalop1991 Hey, as soon as the water drains Stellantis will have lots of empty dealer lots to stash their cars on.
  • Mike Beranek Usually, those of us from Salt country will travel down south to find a used car that hasn't been exposed and "won't" rust. At least not right away, like a used car from up here.Now maybe the tables have turned. Will we be seeing lots of rusty cars from states that begin with a vowel running around down south?