2017 Taco got hit what to do??

I bought my first Tacoma on August 24 2017 a new TRD sport 4x4 manual trans 6 cyl. I drove to work about month ago and it was hit by a tree and sustained quite a bit of damage. The body shop came and got it a week ago and said they thought it may be totaled which is exactly what I was hoping for. However, when the insurance adjuster called me he said it was not a total loss as the damage was about 14k and will take about 6 weeks to fix. I was disappointed cause I know this truck will not be worth near as much if I try to trade it in for another or sell it privately. I called the body shop and asked if there could be more damage to raise the cost up like frame damage and they said no frame damage but maybe pillar damage so I asked them if they would do the tear down and he said he would have the shop owner call me.

The next day he called and said he is disappointed my truck wasn’t totaled and he said they would probably find more damage but not enough to total it. He said Progressive said salvage value for my truck is 4K which I know not to be true. The shop owner offered to sell truck for me which he thought he could get 12-14k for it and I could take the insurance money and get another truck but I would be short about 10k but it may not be a bad option.

I can file diminished value against Progressive as Washington state is one of the few states that allows filing against your own carrier. Has anyone ever claimed diminished value? I am totally perplexed over this not sure which way to go..I don’t really want my truck back it sucks.

 

Are they going to have to pay for your rental car for 6 weeks? Have them take that into account. Keep racking it up!

 

Yeah 14k will not even come close to what it would take to total out a brand new 35ish k vehicle. Just went through the same with mine and had two body shops do an estimate both came out to 14k for me too. Allstate was not even willing to talk about a total.

 

Trade it as is. I have done this once before. The cost of repair + the actual value of the truck as it sits will equal the value of the truck after repair. Let's say an identical truck to yours undamaged is now worth $32K. You have $14K in damage. That means the truck, as it sits, is worth $18K. Talk to a dealer, tell them what's up and see if they will trade like it is. Good luck.

 

I'm going to the dealer today and see what they will offer. Hopefully it will work out as this will be the best route for me.

 

They said 30 days only. They will probably take it away if they find out I'm not fixing it.

 

Get it repaired, sell it, then you have established your diminished value. File the claim for DV, then buy a new vehicle.

 

When my 2000 Tacoma was wrecked it spent 48 days on the Frame Machine and Body Shop, rental coverage was only 30 days and I was on the hook the rest of the time.

 

Sounds about right.

Both times I had vehicles totaled I came right up against the 30 day window. Both times I could only get the rental coverage through 30 days, even though they didn't make the decision to total out the vehicle until nearly Day 26-27 which gave me almost no time to find a replacement vehicle. Luckily it was the summer and I had the weekend toy to drive in the time being.

 

My insurance company totaled my truck out with 19k in damages. The reason for that was becuase it was gonna take more the 3 months to fix it.

 

Make sure they are using Toyota branded OEM parts if it does get repaired.

 

Did you crash into a tree or did one fall on your truck?

 

It's why we buy insurance. To fix stuff that's broken. The key is having the right shop doing the repairs.

If it's a high end shop you'll never know it was damaged. If it's not a high end shop, with lifetime warranty on their work, find one.

As @ElBlancoTaco says, you can then trade or sell and have grounds for diminished value (or not, depending on what the buyer allows/pays)

If you keep the truck 150-200k there will be no diminished value. It will just be another old high mileage truck that is fully depreciated.

Our throw away society whines to much. Go look at the cars in Havana, then come back and talk 'I don't want it back'.

 

It fell on my truck.

 

Ahh such a bummer! While that really stinks, the repairs shouldn’t affect the drivability of your truck. If I were you I’d get it fixed and go for a diminished value check.

 

no pics? I cut a lot of firewood -- would love to see what a tree does to a Taco!

 

Fell on your truck while you were driving? Wow, that's some bad luck. Or did it fall on your truck while you had your truck parked some place?

 

Here it is..

 

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...^^^... Good luck ...Progressive Ins. can be difficult to deal with.
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You'd have to have proof of the value beforehand.