Rear Ended at a Red Light.

Got hit by a car the other day while waiting at a red light. The car hit the hitch (no ball) and is obviously bent where it's supposed to bend under the frame but it looks far from repairable (will post pics later tonight).

I've been reading up that it's a common occurrence but have also seen that the differing gaps between the bed and the cab is a sign of more extensive damage. What kind of damage?

I haven't even looked inside the bed to see if anything crumpled up inside. Any where else I should look for damage?

The other car's insurance hasn't accepted responsibility yet.

UPDATE- they accepted 100% responsibility - DUH! Will be taking it to the Toyota body shop. I Love my taco but I'm hoping for it to be totaled. I wont be able to be happy knowing what happened to it.

 

Yikes. Good luck. Thing looks like it was recently cleaned :/

 

That sucks, sorry op. It looks like a pretty clear case of the other driver at fault, I'm surprised there's even a question?

 

The hitch is connected to the frame. Check the frame and stress fractures in the bed.
Mine was totaled. I would crawl under there and take pics in good light.
My frame and bed - my rear bumper looked just like yours....


Good luck.
Az

 

Damn that sucks. Cali drivers man..

 

X2 It's pretty obvious what happened here... lol

Well you see sir, I didn't rear end the truck, it jumped over me and landed on my hood!!!

 

No brainer on whos fault it was. Glad no one was hurt at least. There might be a lot more damage then there appears. Time for a 2016 3rd Gen!!

 

I had a lady rear end me then get out and blame me for backing into her at the stop light.....

 

Good luck OP, hopefully their insurance doesn't yank you around because like DeeKay said its a no brainer what happened there.

 

I witnessed a wreck that happened right outside our firehouse on the street and watched the entire thing and same thing....the person at total fault got out and was complaining to the innocent driver of the other vehicle. I was like seriously mam....I saw the whole thing and she didnt say 2 words after that.

 

Damn, I believe there is frame damage... And if there is, it's gonna be totalled... Good luck OP!

 

Me too, back in the 80s. The dude claimed I backed into him. So I go to the closest gas station to call the cops (no cell phones back in the day) and he took off. I had already written down his plate. His insurance was familiar with his Shenanigans......

 

could be frame, could just be the bed mounts....
take lots of pics and work with a shop you trust.
Your insurance may force you to get an estimate from one of their companies, but you can get an second opinion and have the work done anywhere you want.

 

Here is my bumper.
She was an Arizona gem. No insurance driving on a suspended license.
She's lucky I didn't sue the F*%# out of her. It took me 2 years to get my deductible back through the insurance company. Get everything in writing.

I hope you are ok that's the main thing. The point I'm making what doesn't look too bad can be really deceiving.
Best of luck.
Az

 

This is where a dash cam could have helped convince the insurance company who was at fault.

 

I would not settle until my truck was inspected by the best body shop I could find.

No question the other driver was at fault. Even If you were to slam on the brakes here the other driver will be cited for following too closely. Logic being that the following driver did not have their vehicle under control.

Hope it works out well.

 

Hopefully the LEO was called, reports were made, and tickets were given.

That will settle any insurance nonsense.

And others are correct. Don't 'settle' for anything until the vehicle is fully inspected. Which may require partial disassembly. Often the adjuster will write up what they see, and when the shop starts pulling things apart, they call the adjuster back to verify the newer findings.

 

That sucks. Sorry you're dealing with this. Hard to see your baby get bent up.

Insurance companies are not required to accept police reports as sole decision in fault - even if a ticket is issued. But, in a case like this one it's merely a matter of technicality for the insurance company to formally accept the fault on behalf of their driver. Just like the police they want to get all sides of the story before they can make a statement.

My 2005 Camry (sold when I bought my Taco) was backed into by another driver. I had a witness and the other driver admitted fault. But, she dodged her insurance company when they called to interview her, never replied to their letters, etc. So it took over a MONTH to get her insurance company to accept fault. Purely because they won't make a decision until they've at least spoken to their insured party first. Thankfully my car was driveable and basically only had body damage.

 

Well I'm sorry to see that your truck got hit and damaged...

...but I'm glad to see the car that hit you got majorly F#cked up!

 

That sucks man. Looks like the frame was buckling.

If they total it you should at least strip everything good off of it. Nerf bars, upgraded tires, whatever you can get I guess.