2001 F150 Lariat crew cab 4x4 I bought with 135k miles now at 211k.

Last night a lady decided to cut a corner at an intersection and make her bmw kiss the front of my truck. The front tow hook was bent at a 45 degree angle, bumper pushed up 2 inches and grill cracked, but damage is actually very minimal. HOWEVER, both the airbags deployed. Insurance is telling me the truck will be totaled due to airbag deployment, however i'm kicking around buying it back from them and repairing.

Reasons to repair:
i've tracked every tank of fuel on it and done all the repairs myself with motorcraft parts. truck is driven daily as a road warrior and in great shape. I HIGHLY doubt i'll be able to find a replacement in as good of shape/so many new parts for what they give me for it. KBB is showing 4-7.5k.

upper intake manifold
control arms, ball joints, tie rods
new brakes all 4 corners
fuel pump
rear window seal
water pump
alternator
front hubs
etc.
just bought a new set of ac parts for a leaking connection

The body shop is telling me they don't repair airbags due to liability, they shop it out to the dealerships. Called a smaller local dealer and they can't find airbags new. I can however, find them all over LKQ online for $50-57 each. The local ford dealer said they would install whatever i brought in. With passenger and driver's side going off + seatbelt, i know i need those 3. I don't know where the control module is for those though. Waiting to hear back on insurance if they will insure a salvage title.

Thoughts?

Since you know the history on this rig that would be a good enough reason to keep it.  If you can find airbags and get them installed, the rest of the stuff would be fairly easy for you to deal with without spending a fortune.
A no-brainer - I'd say keep it.

Let it go.

Keep it if you can get it back for a good price and get it insured again.

I vote let it go

'01 TX truck? Fix it. No rust it's very repairable.

It could be driven with out airbags. We didn't have bags before that. In fact I refuse to drive a truck with them.

Replacing airbags is very simple. Do it yourself instead of paying, unless you can't.

Hard to find a used vehicle without a salvage title on FB. Lots of them on the road, for better or worse.

Eh most vehicles on fb aren't salvage. I can repair them easily myself. The problem comes from insurance. They won't insure a vehicle that hasn't had the airbags repaired by a airbag certified tech. I was told dealers are the only ones able to do that around here. Texas salvage title has some sort of inspection i am trying to figure out how to get done. Maybe i keep it as an offroad toy at the farm.

What area of Texas are you in? I’ve rebuilt 100s of airbag systems for body shops and insurance companies and never been asked for a certification. I still program/install airbag control modules a few times a week. I will say that we don’t install used parts due to liability

In Texas it's just a matter of time until you get hit again, get it back and fix it

I’m wouldn’t even mess with the air bags.  Throw on a new steering wheel of choice and duct tape the dash part that pops the airbag and throw a dash mat over it.  Piece of black electrical tape to fix the light and of course however much body work you feel you need to fix.

Sounds like non frame damage up front and airbags.  I’d buy it back, as long as you can get title to it and fix the airbags.  If you or someone will install used airbags, go for it.

The deciding factor is that you know the history and a replacement would be $60-100k new.

Savvy!

Sent you a pm

'Would OP be able to get insurance on a vehicle without functioning airbags though..?

I wouldn't be surprised if insurers would insist all factory safety equipment was present and in order.

Decided to keep it. will see how hard it is to get it rebuilt title status. With the state, it looks really easy. with insurance willing to cover it for liability - that will be the tricky part. Salvage value came back at 1095$, i have more than that in new parts in it i installed over the last 6-9 months. Worst case i'll part it off or make it a ranch truck if i can't figure out the process. thanks for the responses.

Rebuild. donor trucks with terminal rust are abundant in the rust belt. That's the 1997-2003 + 2004 (heritage) generation. Even if the airbag cover color of the donor vehicle doesn't match, it's easy to get respray with vinyl paint. You can get it from late model restoration and the like for cheap. The cab corners, quarter panels and leaf spring perches go but the front ends are fine.

here's a quick example