got hit and run!

What a clean Tacoma it was.
And then in the morning, low and behold, I see a big dent in the bumper. No note.
I have already seen a number of buffoonery behavior in my parking lot; maybe it's not a surprise.

I remember one time, I watched my neighbor use as a guide to back out of a spot, the wall itself. By crashing into it. Rather than the mirrors, or turning the head. Anyway.

Not sure how deep the damage is. Or how the bumper mounts to the body/frame, and if that part got tweaked. Or if the bumper itself is just dented in. I think it's steel.

In certain cases, my insurance has offered for me to take pictures of the damage, or have an assessment report written up by a body shop. They then paid me the value, allowing me to then pick a shop after looking around (to see which ones seem quality and honest) then pay them.

However, I have heard sometimes people keep the money. Or do something else with it.
I don't know what the payout would be yet, or what a bumper is worth.
Though I do know that a door and fender is like a $3500-4500 bill, because that's what it was when someone drove into mine.

With that being said, I'm sure some of you have been through this. I have heard that statistically in America, with the incredible driver skill, your car will probably get hit once a year.
What would TacomaWorld do?

Is it wise to repair it? Or to accept repair payment and then seek to personally DIY it, such as looking for a used part on Craigslist? Painted (TRD Sport) is probably harder to find than chrome (Off-Road).
Or should it be left unfixed, and the money spent on other upgrades and mods?
Or a mix of both; would it be enough to cover the cost of an aftermarket steel off-road bumper, and then pocket the rest left over?

I wish I knew how to word this more simply

It looks kind of like this:



I haven't looked up the crime rate statistics in my neighborhood, but I hear it's not the best area.
How funny would it be, imagine repairing it. Then a month later it gets hit again. It probably would.
I know that is one appeal of cheap old used cars, around $6k or less. That they're already dinged up and who cares if another ding appears.
But this Taco was Clean.

 

If there's no damage to the bedside, I would just skip the insurance and buy an aftermarket plate bumper. Some people will say, get the insurance money and go buy a plate bumper. That's what you pay insurance for. It's your truck, your choice. They can say they won't raise your rates because it wasn't your fault, but what are you going to do if they do raise your rates? Complain? Lotta good that's gonna do.

 

“they” are usually wrong. not at fault accidents are a rating factor as well as comp claims. insurance fraud is what makes insurance prices high, not greedy insurance companies. do the right thing.

 

What do you mean

 

The real question is what do you plan to do with the truck? If it’s just a daily driver, skip the plate bumper and order a new one. Armor just adds weight if not used. I understand the frustration, but shit happens in life. Make the best of it and continue on.

 

I agree, you give them hundreds of dollars a year for accidents such as this. Make a claim. You dont pay them for nothing

 

Are you suggesting that I spend my own money to order a new bumper, to not use auto insurance that is for that with cheap rates
after it was hit and run due to no fault of my own

 

so let’s back way up.

first of all, this is an accident and you need to report it to your insurance company asap. this helps you in the long run. it gets very suspicious the longer someone waits to report incidents to their companies.

second, depending on your coverages, you may be covered in the event of a hit and run. if not, you’ll need to pay your collision deductible if you want your insurance company to pay for any damages.

do what the claims adjusters tells you to do and you’ll be fine. if they cut you a check, use it to fix your truck. anything else can be construed as insurance fraud.

 

Well, they are a for-profit business,
that probably takes in much more money in premiums than it pays out in claims,
and even in higher crash rate areas of the country, it's still easy to see a crash might happen once a day in an area,
rather than 50 of them because people don't usually drive like it's BumperCars

either way, the coverage options allow for certain selections that result in a premium cost change, such as having certain coverage
I'm not sure how it matters, the difference between $80 a month or $90

I already did
they said I am
they said the deductible is cheap

I don't see how it is insurance fraud
if I hired somebody to sprint into my truck with a shopping cart, to then claim the dent, that would be fraud
but that is not what happened, it was hit and run
which happens in life,
another facet of that is the possibility of young learners, 16 year olds with a driving permit destined to make at least 1 mistake within their first year of driving; whose ever car they hit is a matter of luck

I'm just saying. If they end up offering to pay me $1,200 and it's my truck,
why should I be forced to take it to BillyBob who's gonna fuck up the paint match, joyride the truck, and so on

when I can find a part on Craigslist

Exactly. Shit happens. I'm not worried.
I just imagined a fabricated part might be cheaper than OEM, yet still offer more accessories.
It's mostly a daily that sees some off-road use. Was hoping installing some Bilstein 4600's later on might help the ride quality in both conditions.

Was not sure how much the armor weighs. I figure this case my be an exception since both are steel (OEM vs armor) but maybe the armor is thicker and thus heavier

 

If you have a cheap deductible, then I would definitely file a claim. I would probably just take the money though and decide what I really wanted to do with it.

 

if they give you money to fix your truck, use it to fix your truck. that was my point.

but you did bring up a good point as well. why would it matter how you get it fixed? because it can effect your insurance premium, that’s why. it can also effect the actual cash value if it were ever totaled. your insurance company may ask for proof as to who repaired your truck. then you have explain that you bought craigslist parts. there’s goes your value.

 

You can always just remove the bumper and have them paint it. Yes, it’ll look strange riding around without a bumper, but you’d have the piece of mind knowing they wouldn’t joyride.

 

he’s already told his insurance company about it, so a claim has already been started. your second statement is why insurance costs so much. that type of attitude perpetuates fraud.

 

How is it fraud when damage has occurred that you are not responsible for? A body shop has to appraise the damage which is then sent to the insurance company. I don’t see how that is fraud if I chose to use the money for an “upgraded” bumper...

 

Seen people do this many times, seems common. Was thinking of doing it. I just hope the damage is contained to the bumper itself, and this repairable alone/separated from the truck

Yes,
and a body shop specializes in body repair from scratch,
so the price they will quote would be either,
1) them using a new bumper
2) them finding a used junkyard one to repair, or the existing one, but billing for a new one

and they will also bill for their 1)labor time and 2)materials cost such as paint,
all things I personally might not really care about
but they probably care about,
because they got into that business to make money, and are trying to make money
and are not a charity
and that is how they do it

but me, I just want to address a dented bumper
regardless of what paint buckets shops have, or the electric bill they pay to exist

But that IS why they exist, because with such things (quality paint, contained shop, assuming they have that), they make for better finished results than some guy outside using a spray can

 

body shops don’t always appraise damage. most of the time it’s the claims adjuster who does that. fraud is when you decide to spend the insurance money on something else that’s unrelated.

 

Interesting. I've never heard that before.
I'm sure there's cases where a car is fixable by replacing a $50 fender, but insurance companies don't bat an eye when a body shop gets excited to bill them $2k for them to "do it"
due to (if you're lucky with the damage) the average person not knowing how to unscrew and swap a used fender
problem is if you're unlucky and the damage penetrates farther than the fender; that takes more skill, knowledge, equipment, etc. than a simple part swap
and it probably takes a trained eye to tell the difference

either way, I've been told that appraisals are done by an approved body shop, and then the numbers are reviewed by an adjuster to tell if they're normal or not.
Such as to not overpay on a claim, if it's for a high-end shop where the owner finances his mansion by charging higher labor rates
I've seen a shop like that; it had a lot of high end car brands in the lot awaiting repairs, including Porsche. With their high labor rates, idk how they got the business.

 

That's not fraud lol. He's getting paid for the damage that happened to his truck. He pays into his insurance every month in case something like this happens. If your truck gets totalled and you keep the payout to put down on a house instead of buying a new car, is that fraud? No. He could take that money and buy 10000 hamburgers with it if he wanted to. Or he can buy a steel bumper.

Fraud is when you file a false claim, like you have a buddy hit your truck on purpose and then tell your insurance you got hit and run.

 

for damage like this, your adjuster may contact one of their preferred body shops and ask how much it would cost to fix. or they may ask that you get some estimates. it’s up to your insurance company. this really doesn’t look like bad damage though.

 

wrong. and total losses are completely different. we’re not talking about a total loss.