Sideswiped a tree... thoughts on damage?

My buddy did similar damage to his truck when it was just a few years old. Instead of having it fixed he was all "whatever, it's a truck" and continued to beat it to hell over the years. If it was in nice shape he could sell it for $13k, as is it might be worth $1200.

 

Looks like a truck that gets used as a truck, big time. I say go with it.

 

Thanks brother! Me? Drinking thread? Nah! I was there strictly for the haikus!

Thanks for the compassion. Not sure this makes financial sense though after more thought. I have a $500 deductible. Even if payments go up $50 per month - which seems highly unlikely - that’s 90 months (7.5 years) of increased payments to equate to paying out of pocket for $5k in damage if I don’t claim. I’m confident I could get those rates back down after 3-4 years of clean driving. Shit, I’ll probably just switch to bare minimum liability once the truck is paid off in 2 years anyway. I’m leaning towards filing the claim.

Refer to OP where I mentioned I’m a dumbass! I’m usually a pretty good off-road driver. Apparently, this day was not my day. Distractions galore. Overconfidence. The JBL volume was kicking out some 1980s Red Hot Chili Peppers at Volume 50. And the trails were pretty sketch.
Needless to say, as someone mentioned above, I’ll be much more careful from now on. Lesson learned.

 

Haha! I like it! It may come down to this.
I wish one could find out how much premium would increase so one could just do a simple math calculation to figure the best financial decision. But there’s no way to know until you file the claim I guess...

 

If you find a good detail guy he can take most of the scruff out but the gouges will be left behind obvously. It will look alot better anyways. I lent my Momma the Taco over Xmas one year while she was in town and she ran the driver side of the truck from the bumper to gas tank against a yellow parking pole and had similiar damage.

Might be able to live with it even until you come across some 3rd gen parts be parted with. Sounds like you wheel alot anyways

 

Haha! On the bright side, maybe this will inspire some beautiful haiku!

 

Time for a Rockbox Toybox...

 

Holy shit. I need this in my life.

 

Don’t google rockbox At work

 

Yeah it doesn't look that bad.

 

Id claim it, what is your deductible? If you deductible is say 1k even if your insurance goes up 500 bucks your still saving money. If you deductible is 500 bucks even better. Then just up your deductible and don't make the mistake of hitting a tree again .

I think it depends on your insurance company if your rates go up along with age. My first accident ever my rates went up over 1k a year but I was 26 maybe. My sisters first accident her rates didn't go up at 32.

Looks like at least 5k in damage.

Edit: Saw your deductible is 500. Anyways it should only stay 3-5 years so unless you have another incident your rates will get lower every subsequent year.

 

Someone bumped my truck while parallel parking, and put about a 6" scratch on the lower rear quarter, just in front of the bumper. The scratch buffed out okay, but there's a light crease in the metal. The guy told me to get a quote, and let him know how much it's going to be so he can decide if he wants to file a claim with his insurance or just pay me cash.

I took it to a Toyota dealership's body shop last weekend, and they quoted me just over $2k. They said to do it right, they'd need to re-clear the entire side of the bed, which means pulling off the fender and bed plastic, and also removing the bed to spray. They said when they remove the plastics, the little clips almost always break, so the quote included around $600 for new plastics.

So I'd say the $5-6k some people have guessed sounds about right. And that's assuming you don't also need a rental car while it's being repaired.

 

This thread made my decision for sliders a lot easier. Sorry for the bad news OP, I would file the claim. My grandpa skinned his truck against a tree twice. Two different trucks. He was very bitter about it.

 

Replace the tail light and call it good.

 

Just drive it as is. Now it’s “broken in” you can go nutty next time!

 

I suggest not doing that.

 

6700$

 

Just some beauty scars that further cement the fact that you ain't no pavement queen like some people on here...

like myself