My latest accident - computer controls and all a little... bit too much

The more you 'baby' your truck the more bothersome it is when a young kid scrapes off your rear right bumper-taillight-fender bed area corner at 1/2 MPH speed. And that's what happened. The 'at-fault' insurance company "Selective Insurance" like all of them, is a pain in the 'you know what', and of course, they are only repairing the necessary. But Karl Malone Toyota and Body Shop is a BACKSTAB. They are trying to pin some of it on me, like when the computer started acting up after the accident having damaged the blind spot monitoring system and the rear cross traffic alert sensors.

The defrost stopped working, the dual-zone climate control is totally off, and the car computer is sending a bunch of alerts my way... and the dealership says "We doubt the insurance company will pay for it". I wish they would give me a new bed but they are going to mend the metal. You know, when you have bought 7 Toyota cars in a 9 year period, you expect some loyalty from Toyota as well. I have constantly a Loyalty-Buyer Rebate Offer from Corporate at a minimum of $750 back to me after any purchase - that's how Toyota respects my loyalty. But their dealers and authorized body shops, they are more loyal to themselves than to their customers.

It is obvious, since my Tacoma was perfectly functioning and since the damage to the computer controls via BSM and Rear Cross blah blah blah, the additional malfunctioning inside the computer controls is directly related to it. But for some hateful agonizing reasons, the authorized Toyota Dealer-Body Shop and Repair center in Draper Utah "Karl Malone", suggests it's my fault or the car's computer just gave out right after this damage.... coincidentally. The Tacoma - not a single scratch anyway outside. 46,000 miles (2/23/2021 purchase date), leather seats, Leer bed shell.

Although the damage is "ONLY" $7,000 (that's a lot for what you can see on the pictures), it surely is a heart breaking agony, a hassle not worth going through. Who wants my damn truck? I want out! I wish I could somehow retaliate Karl Malone's behavior.

 

Where is your insurance in this matter?

 

1. so sorry, this hurt me too. Ugh
2. Take what you hear from the repair shop with a grain of salt. It's the insurance company that has final say.
3. That's the problem with all the tech theses days. more to fix...
4. I am optimistic all will work out!

 

Selective Insurance does what they do, follow Body-Shop instructions. You know, the reality is, you have a truck never seen a damage, is it so unreasonable to expect a truck back to me in "PRE-Accident" condition? A mended quarter panel... I told them I want a new bed... of that is unreasonable, you ask about the insurance company... they actually said, they will authorize it if the Body Shop says it is needed. The problem is Karl Malone is not working with me on that, for some weird reason. I know relatively speaking the damage to the quarter panel is miniscule - very little. But fixing it is not giving me back the truck in the condition it was before the accident. And I am a stickler on it because of Karl Malone already having tried to prep me about "the insurance won't pay for your computer repair".... That was even before any tech hooked up the diagnostic equipment... Toyota loyalty of their customers ends at the dealership. That's the point really I want to make.

 

You typically aren’t going to get new body panels through insurance unless they can’t be repaired. Most of the time they will do PDR and shape it back to how it’s supposed to be unless it’s too far gone. Looks like a pretty minor ding to me that can be repaired fairly easily.

the electronics though should be repaired but I guess I’m not really surprised they would play the blame game. Usually though after some complaining they’ll take care of it

if you don’t like it, you can always trade it off after you get it back. I wouldn’t be worried about the body damage, that’s an easy repair for any decent shot. I’d want to make sure the electronics are 100%, that’d be my big concern

 

I know it sucks to have things repaired, but Toyota, nor their insurance is going to replace the whole bed, or even the whole quarter panel for that dent.
To @Koolbreeze7 point is a good one. If the other insurance isn't helping you fix properly, your insurance may be able to help.
As far as the electrical gremlins- the body shop should be contacting insurance to get more funds, IF they were damaged in the accident. What might have happened is, the body shop forked something up, and the insurance company called em on it,,, as they are only to pay for what their client damaged.

 

Damage looks minor; easily repairable.

 

A new bed for that type of accident seems like a huge waste of resources, time and money

 

Demanding unreasonable things that you are not owed can backfire spectacularly.Demanding a new bed for a repairable area of damage to the bedside may have something to do with being told to kick rocks on the other item.

That said, take the truck somewhere else. You are allowed to choose the shop. You do not have to go where any insurance company or dealer tells you to take it. Also, there's a common misconception that "the dealer" is the place to go for collision repair, when in fact that's usually far from the truth. There's a reason a lot of dealers don't have a body shop at all. Body shop/collision repair is a pain in the ass, and it makes a lot less money than the parts department and service department do. For dealerships that do have a body shop, it's the redheaded stepchild among the various areas of the dealership, and it gets a corresponding amount of attention. In my career (started in 1995 as an appraiser, and I'm also an ASE Certified Master Collision Tech), the quality of the vast majority of dealer body shops I encountered was between a B- and a D+. Find a shop you're comfortable with and take it there. And stop demanding stuff you aren't entitled to. Your bed is fixable.

File a claim with your insurance company, let them handle it, and they will subrogate Selective to collect back your deductible and what they (your insurance company) pay out.

 

And that's exactly my 'game' now, pushing them on the 'stupid' bed body to make a point... pushing the body shop, it's because they are the ones that could make the recommendation to the insurance company to switch for a new one and the insurance said 'they would accept it'... if they body shop recommends it. So, it gets me really why the body shop is trying to set me up cautioning me the insurance might not want to pay for the computer repair / fix, when it's really up to them to work my claim with the insurance company? Something is off there. I am not worried about the body... miniscule.. But it is a principal matter.. I will end up with a Tacoma and a CARFAX report of a minor accident. Life is unfair, right? The body shop, a Toyota Dealer - factory authorized body shop, should side with a 7 times over loyal brand customer.

 

The right way to handle this (if allowed in your jurisdiction) is to:

1. Recover the cost to repair your vehicle.
2. File a diminished value claim for the difference in resale of the vehicle due to being in an accident.

You'd get your car fixed and receive a check for the value difference you could use anyway you'd like.

 

PDR is involved in a very small portion of insurance-paid collision repairs, almost a negligible amount. Now hail, different story completely.

 

Thank you for your comment. I was hoping to be able to find someone like yourself to talk with unbiasedly. We did. Thanks. The car is taken apart, Karl Malone has it and I am just pushing for the unreasonable now, basically because I want them to come to the table and talk to me, change their attitude. It's the appraiser really that has a 'fear' attitude from insurance companies and I have now cornered him, caught him in his own game. Backfire or not, frankly, I don't care anymore at this point. I can see the difficulty and challenges they have as a dealer - body shop business. But it works to my warranty advantage. That is why I went to the Toyota authorized body shop and not to Cascade Collision, another body shop that was on the table for me. The insurance company didn't make any recommendations at all. They were too slow. By the time they suggested 'days later' that they would send their appraiser out, I had already submitted 2 bids within a day of the accident.

Thanks again.
Thomas

 

I understand the frustration, but remember, the shop and the insurance appraiser are used to this shit. You are not. The minute someone starts trying to prove a point/act on principle, they'll dig their heels in because they deal with that shit every day. How far is it taken apart? Just what's shown in your picture?

 

The body shop came up with their uninformed opinion before I even told them who the insurance company is going to be. I got the damage repair quote a working day after the accident while waiting for the insurance company to acknowledge the claim and commit to cover it. What was unsettling is that the estimator their felt he had to give his uninformed opinion about something he knew nothing about, setting himself, the body shop, me and the attitude behind it already up for a computer repair that may or may not be part of the accident. And he wouldn't allow my explanation.. he said that's impossible that the computer gets damaged with that minor accident... All I know was that it worked before and after the accident it didn't... and he already 'cautioned' me that I will have to pay for the computer myself.... You know, I hate people like that... And yet the insurance company said they will listen to the dealer and body shop... a guy with such an opinion before any diagnostic was done... Total Moron.

 

yes. And yes, I thought about moving the truck, but I think it is too late for that.

 

It may not be, even if they've done disassembly. Have they done any actual repairs? Thrown anything away?

I handled plenty of situations in which we moved a car from shop A to shop B after disassembly.

 

Interesting. No, the components are not complete, some of them were left at the accident scene - i was upset, I didn't bother picking up the pieces. The dealership / body shop ordered all the parts already. I am arguing of course with the insurance over towing... The truck drives, but because of the computer issue I stopped driving it since you really don't know what might malfunction next. I drove the truck after the accident because it seemed all fine, until I saw I couldn't heat the truck cab or defrost the windshield and the warning lights, and messages.... Plus the shop took off my Leer Shell. I am going to wait it out. The shop manager wants to talk with me on Monday.

 

As far as the tow goes, the truck was not legally drivable with the broken tail lamp. They owe you for the tow, period. Just remind them that you can't legally drive with a broken lamp, and would've been at risk of being pulled over and cited. If they argue, go up the chain. Be polite, but firm. I never once hassled any customer over a tow when a lamp was broken. "Able to be driven" and "legally drivable" are 2 different things.

The broken pieces that are missing are not an issue. I meant, did the shop throw anything away that was on the truck when you brought it there?

Parts ordered is no big deal. They can return them.

One thing I would like to point out, and this is not directed at you at all, just a general statement...the shop gets paid to fix stuff. The more stuff they fix, the more money they make. While they are not in the business (well some are, but I digress) of fixing things that are bogus or otherwise not related, most shops will push to fix anything that is either clearly related, or potentially related. The fact that the dealership has taken this position, and did so even prior to insurance involvement, is very strange unless they are certain it is not related. The should be able to tell you exactly what they found when they diagnosed the issue.

 

What is "PDR"... ? I can't think of it LOL.