Frame Damage? 2018 Tacoma Off-Road Double Cab

Update: After a whole month of going back and forth with the collision shop and my insurance adjuster, I was told a frame replacement was needed. ETA for the frame is 30-60 days, this is for the frame itself, DOES NOT include the repair time. All said and done, my insurance adjuster still would not total out the truck. On top of that, my insurance over covers up to 30 days of rental, that coverage is coming up soon. The adjuster told me to go through the other party's insurance since they "should" cover more than 30 days. I'm caught on the fence of filing a lawsuit. 4-6 months to repair my truck?

Any advice is greatly appreciated as I do not have much experience with this.



I just got word back from the collision center for the damage on the truck. I was told that it would need a completely new frame, but the car still wouldn't be totaled. $17k in repairs and still not totaled?


Hey guys, I talked with my insurance agency and was wondering what the best course of action I should take.

1.) Go through my insurance and have them handle it with the other parties involved (Ford + GMC).
2.) Go directly to Ford's insurance (One who rear-ended the GMC who hit my car).

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Update: Went to the tow company to take more pictures. I was nearing an intersection with heavy traffic. I was stopped. The GMC was either coming to a stop or was already stopped. Ford driver was speeding/not paying attention but claims he was "nudged" from a car behind.

Got my 2018 Tacoma back in June. Just hit 5k miles on it today. Was coming back from a concert and got rear-ended. 3 car accident Ford, GMC, my truck. Ford rear-ended the GMC. I was in the front and was hit by the GMC. I thought the truck was not as bad, but looking at it closer I worry that the frame is damaged. The lower portion of the truck bed is almost touching the sides of the cab. Tow-hitch is bent downwards. Would that be an indication of frame problems?

 

Wow Shtty. Luckily you’re truck is so new you’ll get full value from insurance hopefully

 

The bed not matching up would have me worried about a bent frame. The frame maybe bowed at the cab and bed space causing the bed to be closer at the bottom then the top. Or it could be just a bed misalignment. Have a different body shop look at it.

 

That sucks. Frame is bent.

 

Ouch. That’s an expensive accident for the Fords insurance company.

 

My first 2017 Limited looked almost exactly like that after being hit at a red light...~10,200 miles and just a little over 1 year old...Totaled...

 

I don't believe this is necessarily true, just based on physics. Enough speed and that GMC would be pushed anywhere. Also if both the GMC and Toyota were stopped, I'd think the Ford caused everything.




That being said, if you look underneath you'll probably see the frame bent past the rear axle if nothing else since the receiver hitch is basically bolted to the frame and is now pointing down. Frames can be straightened.

 

Any time you see the receiver bent down on a tacoma there is frame damage. It bends the rear of the frame after the leaf hangers, almost always.

 

need daytime pics?, more than likely you will need the bed replaced and if the hitch is bent down you could have frame damage, my concern since I used to do full frame collisions is that a rear end hit could push the frame bolts out of whack and you could end up with serious issues down the road if they are not caught...

 

I hope the Ford has good insurance. One of the shitty things about Fla is that the liability coverage is only per accident not per vehicle. That GMC damage is extensive and your damage is no joke. If the guy has state minimum, you might be fighting over scraps.

 

Are you OK?

That was a hell of a hit!


I’m sorry but your truck looks like it has frame damage for sure.
In 2nd Gens this typically = totaled, however the price of these trucks is getting so high it may mean they are harder to total out. A $30k+ truck probably won’t total over frame damage alone. But you also have substantial body damage.
Just your body damage alone I bet is over $5,000

 

This is a great point.

All states have different laws, but typically you are responsible for stopping with enough room between you and the vehicle in front of you so that if you are rear ended you don’t go into the person in front of you.
However some collisions are so high impact it forces the driver to pull off their brakes and regardless the vehicle would lunge far enough forward anyways.

Fault can be decided in my ways. But that GMC looks like he was fuckin nailed at speed. Not sure a car lengths empty space in front of him would made much difference.

But A good point just so people are aware because most people don’t know if they are pushed into someone they could be considered a liable party. STOP with a good amount of space between you and the next vehicle.

OP if that GMC was on your ass. Make sure you state that to the insurance. You don’t know how much coverage the Ford has and if it will cover both vehicles so you wanna be able grab coverage from the GMC.
As vicous as that sounds lol

 

If it does get repaired....you will take the hit on trade-in value. been there, done that twice.

 

The Ford caused the accident but comes out with the least amount of damage... LOL

Pretty sure Ford has good insurance bc that’s like a 70k truck

 

I was heavily rear ended in my Silverado 1500 by a guy going about 35 in his truck. Could see him coming but nothing I could do. Stopped at a light with cars in front of me. Hit me so hard my seat headrest gave me a concussion and I went for an ambulanced ride. First thing the cop said after he checked me out was good thing you left enough room in front of you or I would have to write you up as well. Probably could have won in court, but in Colorado it is a ticket at first in most cases. Truck did have frame damage, in fact the back of the cab had an outline of the bed punched into it the chassis flexed so much. They fixed it and I drove it for another 100k before getting my current Taco. Strange thing though was even though insurance fixed it at a popular named body shop, when I went to sell it came up with a clean car fax. No record in Car Fax of the damage.

 

That's a terrifying thing to know haha

 

Damn! That Ford effed that GMC up!! Lol

 

I have been in the middle of a 3 car accident. Front car's insurance went after me in the middle so my insurance went after the car behind for payments to the front car and me. I stopped for slow traffic quickly without skidding which I told the CHP. No ticket for me.

 

Frame is definitely bent so probably totaled.

 

If the Ford pushed the gmc into the Tacoma, it is all on the Ford.