Just got rear ended

So I would assume a replacement frame is better than a pulled frame?

If they don't total it, how upset should I be about a new frame?

 

So further conversations with the body shop and insurance. Full frame replacement, plus all if the other stuff is over 17k. It will take almost 2 months for the frame to be ordered before any work can even begin

They are submitting it to my insurance to determine totaled vs not.

I have decided I do not want a truck that has had that much work, I bought a new Toyota from Toyota and don't want a rebuilt one

Let the fight begin!!!

 

Diminished value laws differ by state. Not all states require insurance companies to award diminished value claims (not sure where on East Coast OP is from).

 

Ordered frame as in new from Toyota? I sure would not want a frame from a salvage yard. Hope they total it for you OP.

 

Frame would be new/oem. No salvage stuff

My truck is a 2012 with only 22k miles. All parts would be new

 

I know in Texas they only have to put new if its the current year. Once its a year old its up to the insurance company. Some one backed into my wife's Nitro and they wanted to put a aftermarket bumper and I fought with them about it and they said if I wanted it I would have to pay for it. I got OEM and just price matched it. Stupid state farm.

 

It was not my policy. It was the other persons.

 

Yeah they wanted to repair it. I spent hours on the phone getting them to finally agree to replace it. But they wanted to use capa certified.

 

What is capa certified?

 

I believe they meet oem specs but basically aftermarket junk.

 

Several conversations later my final estimate is just over 16k. The threshold to total the truck is somewhere in the 20k range. Per the insurance company it's not close enough to even consider totaling.

I am filing some official paperwork to fight it, but it doesent look good.

Thankfully pennsylvania does have diminished value so I will get a check for the difference as determined by the insurance company

 

Good to know

 

Have you actually done this, have any company reccomendations?

 

X3 on this. We call them Jobber parts and they always look like crap and they fit poorly. Always get a policy that will give you OEM parts. It might cost a bit more but it 100% worth it

 

The frame on my truck is back ordered through Toyota for at least 6 weeks and they are estimating my truck will take almost 3 months before it's done

I informed them I will need a rental for the entire time, plus I will be filing a diminished value claim. Suddenly they are sending another adjuster out and will have to re evaluate the claim on the truck.

This is getting old really fast

 

This is humorous. Most of these trucks are built by machines and assembled by everyday Joe's. I'm sure people picture them being built to the affect of the BMW M model assembly line with techs wearing white gloves and clean suites.

There is some good info in this thread, but still people today view a "bent frame" or "rust" as sever as cancer. I've worked at a collision center for ten years, half as a AutoBody tech. I've worked on every make and model as well. Frames are typically straighten via cold pull. Meaning brute force is used to pull the frame back into specs without heat. Cold straightening is the best way to bring it back into spec and you will retain almost ALL of your structural integrity. I've pulled frames on pretty much every make out there. The easiest by far is GM. Toyota, sucks. You have to typically pull the frame 10-12mm past 0 before it will be at 0 from the spring back. These truck frames transfer a lot of energy as they were designed to.

Then you have heat straightening. Many manufactures have guidelines to fallow with this method such as 1200o for 30 seconds two times. Anything more than that, you ruin the carbon molecules and waste the metal.

I personally also would rather have a repaired truck vs a truck with a new frame. The repaired truck would have a shorter down time and be back in your hands faster than replacing the entire frame. Both with be just as strong as the other. Replaced or repaired it's all going on the car fax. Replaced also will give you a salvage or rebuilt title in most cases and the VIN will never match again so remember that. When they see frame damage you can give proof that it was repaired correctly. When they see salvage/rebuilt, nothing you can do with that.

 

If my frame is replaced I will have a salvage title??

I thought that was only if the truck was declared a total and then rebuilt after?

 

I am really not ok with a salvage title

 

You will only get a salvage title if the cost of the repair is equal to a set amount which is close to the cost of replacing the vehicle. I think in most states its 75%. It has nothing to do with a frame replacement. Usually the insurance company will take the vehicle repair it and resell it. Or sell it to a shop that will do the same. You should not have to worry about a salvage title.

 

Unfortunately if the VIN number on the frame and the truck does not match, you will no longer have a clean title. It will either be declared salvage or rebuilt.

Also Beavis, Sorry to hear about your dad's tundra. Yes there are good shops and bad shops and HORRIBLE shops. You have the right as a customer to refuse acceptance of your vehicle til you deep it satisfactory. Ask the insurance to come out and look at it with you before accepting.

Saying them rather than me, you're still missing my first post. Who do you think build's these trucks, people like me. Mechanically inclined people with a piece of paper that says they sat through class and know better than to just wing it. They're trained to use torque specs, bolt grades and gap tolerances.