Rear-ended this afternoon

Trapped, stuck sitting in traffic when an 18 year old kid, driving a '98 Honda Accord rear-ended my beautiful little silver Tacoma. Changed the oil 2 days ago, washed it...crunch.
I'm delighted to report that Tacoma's have good bumper engineering. My truck's damage was light, and the Honda's grill area was smashed, radiator damaged, & his hood was bent about a foot in the air.
I took it to an AAA recommended shop & they came up with an $841.93 estimate, $312.00 of which is for a new bumper (parts, not labor). There is a tiny left rear corner body panel dent, which I didn't notice because it was hidden under the bumper. The tailgate was unaffected.

Is there a difference in quality of OEM or aftermarket bumpers?
Should I be a dick & insist on parts from the local Toyota dealership? Heck, should I just take it there, instead?

 

Yes. Get a plate bumper and you won't have any damage the next time a honda rear ends you.

 

at least damage was minimal and that you are ok but.......

 

I just went through the same thing. If you want it back to original condition insist on genuine Toyota parts. The guy that hit me wiped out his front end and folded his hood up pretty good. My rear bumper had 2 very slight indentations...hard to even see it. Most of the force was on the trailer hitch. Ended up with a complete new OEM hitch and bumper!

 

The wife's out with the truck at the moment, but I'll post some pics tomorrow.
Basically, the bumper has been forced down about 3 inches, and the plastic step tread has been displaced. I see no damage whatever underneath the truck. Other than scrapes, I think it performed rather well.

 

There are some really nice aftermarket bumpers. Different types of looks (tube, plate) and plate bumpers provide the most protection normally (certainly more than OEM). Search rear bumpers on here and you will find some good info.

Here is one thread you can check out to get started.

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/165237-plate-tube-bumper.html

 

Well that sucks...looks like the perfect excuse to get an Elite Plate bumper...darn haha


But really, big bummer man. That sucks...but seriously get a plate bumper now then you'll just ask ppl to hit you to see what damage they do to themselves lol

 

Glad youre ok and the damage was minor!

 

Sorry to hear that. That happened to me in our 2500hd. Make sure you get everything fixed. There is no reason not to.

Hope your body is okay. You can suffer from some rather annoying aches and pains weeks and months after.

I am a nursing student and I had to be restricted from moving patients for 6 months. It sucked.

 

If it wasn't your fault and you're not paying out of pocket, go for OEM (or a plate bumper as suggested earlier). Some aftermarket bumpers can have the same quality as OEM but others are made with thinner metal, crappier steel/chrome or paint and may rust out on you quicker. And I wouldn't think of it as being a dick, he hit you, his insurance should put your truck back to the condition it was in before the crash.

 

This happened to me a couple of months ago while stopped in traffic. Saw the lady coming up real quick staring off into the sunset then BAM! $3K in damages and the front end of her new CRV was demolished. She also managed to push the bed into the corner. She "Had no idea what happened" and didn't seem to care if I was OK. At least I was able to drive mine home while she had to get a tow.

 

Thanks for all your good wishes & advice. Here are some pics. As you can see, other than being angled down, the bumper did its job & came out intact. Really amazing when you consider the damage done to the Accord.
A steel plate bumper sounds really interesting. I'm wondering though, if by using a stronger bumper, some of the crush factor would be removed & more energy would be directed to the frame, possibly increasing the chances of damaging that? Dunno, dunno.
The kid is 100% responsible & "appears" to be insured. We were just stopped with traffic, in the right lane, with 3 cars stopped in front of us, waiting for someone to turn right into a shopping center. I'll bet the darn kid was texting or gabbing to his friend in the car. He says he didn't notice all the cars stopped.
Anyway, today I'll visit our local Toyota dealer & see what he says.
Thanks again!

 

Based on the pics, I'd say take their money and an hr or 2 to straighten out your bumper mounts and ding on your body panel and keep your bumper and go more. I had a double tube rear bumper on my 82 prerunner that people hit 4 times or more. Each time, I took their money, straightened the mounts, put the bumper back on and rattle canned the scuffs. That bumper musta paid for itself tenfold in the course of having it, lol. One of those times I ruined a Honda like you were talking about.

 

Bump...literally.

Kid's insurance paid up in September. Bought a new OEM rear chrome step bumper from Toyota of San Bernardino. Wife & I put it on. Bitchin'.

So last night my wife was waiting to turn right out of our neighborhood, and the truck got rear ended again. That bumper didn't even make it a full 3 months.

The good news:
The 20 year old kid has no drivers license.
He has no insurance.
He has no job.
He has no money.
He lives across the street & we've known his family for 50 years.

This is REALLY wearing thin. I should've taken the earlier advice about a steel plate bumper, instead of buying an OEM chrome one.
I basically want something protective, in silver or black, that I can just take a rattle can to after an incident...because it's obvious that SoCal drivers aren't getting any better.
Any feedback on Westin or Fey? It doesn't have to be 1/2" thick steel plate. I'm going to email them later, because I don't see a 1st gen Tacoma-specific application.
Thanks in advance.

 

you need something stronger. I built this one but it would be simple to just use a piece of straight 3x5 box channel without the extra cuts that I did or the side tubes. You can even reuse your stock bumper frame brackets. Just cut them so they can be welded to the back of the new bumper. Add some gussets and you're good to go. Will hold up much better than stock in these kinds of accidents.

 

Keep in mind that while you have your OEM bumper the insurance will fix it everytime someone runs into you (hopefully this was the last time, but you never know). If you put an aftermarket bumper on, they might only pay you the value of an OEM bumper, or I have heard of some insurance adjusters who blame frame damage on aftermarket bumpers because the OEM was designed to absorb the shock while the plate bumpers might just transfer it to the frame and cause more damage.
Not all insurance companies are dicks like that, but I sure have heard those stories.

 

dude, if my insurance agent tried that shit on me, I would have to go ape shit on him/her.

Seriously? I pay over $1200 a year in insurance, never been in an accident, (never even been pulled over), and if I get in an accident I will get the shaft? Hell no.

But hopefully that never happens, cuz I may end up on the news

 

Cool! I'd never considered making my own. I have a small machine shop at home, but fabricating a bumper is a consideration I never really looked at. I really like the tubes you made on the sides. How thick wall tubing did you use? I wish I could think of a way to protect the tailgate too. He was driving an old 3/4 ton Chevy truck, with a higher bumper than mine, and a plastic strip near the top of his bumper put a nice crease in my tailgate. It'd be nice to have some protection, while still allowing the tailgate to be lowered.