This is what $18K worth of damage looks like.

Not very impressive.

Quick story. Sitting at a red light. Dude in a Nissan Lego car comes flying up and hits me without even touching the brakes, probably going about 30mph. He wedges under my bumper and pushes me through the light because hes still on the gas. Finally he stops and I managed not to hit anyone else. Hes.... not sober, shall we say. Goes to the ER and then to jail. Truck was drivable but the bumper bent up under neither along with the tow bar. The bed is warped and the rear panels bowed out just a little.

Takes his insurance company 3 weeks to decide they would except responsibility. The first shop says they dont have the capability to fix it. Second shop says, "Sure, no problem, but you need a new frame". They write an estimate for $18,000! I figure at that point the insurance would total it but since my truck is only about 6 months old they decide to repair it. So now it will take about 30 days just to get the frame and then 2+ weeks of labor to do the swap. And, the body shop just got the OK to order parts today, a week after I brought it in. So all told this will take 3 months or so to resolve. F*** You State Farm!

At least Im ok. I do get to drive a pretty kick ass Kia in the mean time....

 

Damn! I would push for total loss.

 

+1. If one place said a new frame would be best that truck will never be the same. No matter what they do to it you'll always tell a difference.

 

Dude, that really SUCKS. If it was me I might have been tempted to make the guys face look like the front of his car and blame it on him hitting his head when he crashed.

At least you're ok.

 

Yeah, looks like the exact same thing. Good to know, Ill keep working on them.

 

Excellent advise!

 

I hope my story may inspire you to fight for what you're due OP...

Several years ago my truck was hit head on by a semi truck (traveling at slow speed maybe 15 MPH) and it messed the truck up pretty bad. About $20K in repairs and took 35 days in the shop.

I required the SYSCO foods insurer to rent me a pickup during that time, I argued that I need a pickup truck in my work and would sue them for lost wages, etc. They rented me a nice 4x4 Nissan quad cab.

Anyway, I also hired an expert in vehicle devaluation (cost $400) and submitted his report to the SYSCO foods insurer. We ended up settling for $7k in lost value. This paid for all my sweet upgrades.

SO the truck is all fixed and has tons of great aftermarket goodies. Sure the front fenders are at different heights (no kidding, they could never get them exactly even again). And the repaint is definitely not as tough as the OEM paint job (I have lots of rock chips)). And a few other complaints, but all-in-all I'm glad I kept the truck and definitely made them pay for the loss.

BTW, vehicle devaluation laws are different state by state so check your states laws. I was luckily hit in Oregon, a pro-consumer state that allows for high vehicle devaluation claims. I see the OP lives in Colorado...

Hyden v. Farmers Ins. Exchange, 20 P.3d 1222 (Colo. App. 2000), the Colorado Court of Appeals held: “When an automobile insurer promises to provide an insured with a vehicle ‘of like kind and quality,’ the insurer must provide the insured, through repair, replacement, and/or compensation, the means of acquiring a vehicle substantially similar in function and value to that which the insured had prior to his or her accident.” See, Heritage Village Owners Ass’n, Inc. v. Golden Heritage Investors, Ltd., 89 P.3d 513 (Colo. App. 2004), where the Court allowed for recovery of diminution in value for damage to real property. Click here for source article.

Cheers!

 

Man so many tacos in accidents lately. Best of luck, i am dealing with an accident too and insurance is draggin ass too.

Hope mine gets totaled too

 

We were involved in a hit and run a few years ago. They caught the guy, thanks to his vanity plates lol. We didn't even contact his insurance. We went through our insurance (State Farm) got her car fixed in about a 1.5 weeks. State Farm dealt with his insurance. We got the deductible back about a month later.

 

I went thru the same thing with my wife's car, over $14,000 in damage.
It took over two months to repair, Ins. company was a PITA to deal with.

 

I may be speaking out of my butt on this one, but from my impression of what I have read from others on this forum who have gone through similar experiences with heavily damaged Tacoma's, others have fought the insurance company's with the valid argument that "It will never be whole again" or "the resale value had been greatly affected due to the research able history of the vehicle". They both hold validity but from my understanding, it's going to be a long prolonged argument, but they have been won before.

It may require the intervention of an attorney which in itself is a PITA but, it's your rights that you are fighting for, your hard earned investment, and your future possible saftey. I would have to really KNOW the shop that would be doing your frame change to have much confidence in the entire repair. Being that in my case, I don't know any shops that well or nearly that well, I'd fight for a replacement being that your truck is so new. My truck being 6.5 years old at this point wouldn't hold water in your argument but yours is a different story.

Good luck with the proceedings. I hope it goes the way you want it to.

Adam

 

Is that a Cube?
I hate those things....
Sorry to hear about all of this OP.

 

^Probably need to be drunk to choose a car styled like that...

There have been many 1st gen owners who elected to replace their rusted frames in lieu of 150% KBB buyback. It would depend on the extent of the damage to the cab, which is harder to repair. Keep in mind there have been new trucks out of the factory with the bed shifted over from the centerline by 1/4" or so.

 

Hope it all works out for you and that you get your truck back in excellent condition.

I'm not sure if you're serious about the Kia or not. My mind was recently changed about Kia's because my 2nd cousin was raving about their Kia SUV and the bells and whistles. My cousin is very well off (has 2 homes, father invested well, insane amounts of money) so it's kind of surprising that he'd be in a Kia. Said something about his wife getting them a deal or something because of a connection to the dealership.

 

Haha, no, the Kia sucks. But, I've driven it for a week on $10 of gas. Its going to be an up hill battle for sure. I tried to get it totaled the minute I heard they wanted to do a frame swap but they didn't go for it. I then tried to argue that it taking 2 months was not acceptable and his their answer was, "Well, if you had just gone through your own insurance this would have been started already". So there is no love loss here. Im going to get a diminished loss estimate and maybe talk to a lawyer. Thanks for the info fellas!

 

I had the same thing happen to me replaced the frame 30 day repair my truck was 6 months old got it fixed traded it in on a new 2014 not worth keeping problems one after another.

 

If I drove a Cube I'd probably get drunk and crash it too. But I'd aim for a Prius, since I'm not a dick.

Good luck, OP. Dealing with insurance companies is always such a pain.

 

Were you able to trade yours in? I was told by the dealer that sold me mine that they couldn't resell it due to the frame damage so they wouldn't really offer me anything in trade.

Im fighting now to have it totaled but they aren't budging. They maintain it will be fixed to factory standards and wont listen to the argument that it has no resale value even if its been fixed. Im talking to my insurance company today and then to a lawyer. This is such a PIITA!

Anyone know any lawyers in Denver that deal with this kind of thing?

 

The question is after the new frame install who THEN do you go to when there's problems with anything or everything else. They jack up some wiring, line, etc or something similar to that situation that crosses or is close to the frame (you get the point) and then go back and they respond ..."where not mechanics, just a body shop talk to so and so on your end.."..fight for it! stay strong, eye of the tiger. lol

 

It sure seems to be a lot of accidents, and stolen Tacomas as of late around here..

Best of luck OP...