Tailgate repair/replacement questions

Over the weekend I rented a dump trailer from Home Depot. Somehow the trailer came off the tow ball and the tongue bashed right into the tailgate. HD is going to cover the repairs, but I have a few questions about the process and my options.

1. Do the tailgates come painted? If not, am I going to get an accurate match?
2. Should I go to a reputable shop or have Toyota do the work?
3. I looked at part numbers and it looks like their are outer panels that are separate. Will they replace the panel or the whole tailgate?
4. Anything I should look out for or ask for? (if they replace the whole tailgate, I was going to ask to keep the damaged one. Also wondering if there are any other areas that may have been damaged that I can't notice)

TIA.

 

They will just replace the tailgate shell and transfer all hardware. As far as color match, should not be a problem. I think dealerships send their body and paint work out.

 

I just got my Truck back from the body shop last friday. I got rear ended at a red light. The bodyshop replaced the rear bumper and had to fix a small dent and repaint the tailgate. You wouldn't know that I had to go to the bodyshop. They did a perfect job repairing the Truck. The paint has not faded yet so matching the paint isn't much of a concern.

 

Did you use the collar lock?

 

or it was high hitched. also may have had negative tongue weight if it shot that high up unless the tailgate was down when it happened.

But OP, if HD is footing the bill I would go to who ever is most reputable in your area, if your dealership has a body shop look into them, they are most often run by a 3rd party and not the dealership themselves but tend to do good work since the deal would use them.

 

Don't know. All I know is that it was connected, we raised the bed, tongue popped off ball and into my truck. I didn't touch it at all, hence why HD is fixing it and not me.

 

Good to know. I have a good body shop that has done several jobs for me in the past. I'd like to get the whole tailgate replaced rather than just the shell. I'd like to have a spare tailgate for weekends like this when I'm doing work.

 

I doubt that will happen... no need to replace all of it. Wish ya luck..

 

They will only replace the shell unless some hardware or handle is broken, other than that the shell is what cost the most and is considered the tailgate. $.02