My wreck story

Got my first car in February, got rear ended pretty bad in early May. I had just put the tow hitch on the night before and I think it saved me a lot more damage. The other driver may have been texting but no way to be sure. You can see the bed cover was bent, and after a bit of hassle with insurance they replaced it. Ended up with a new bumper, upgraded tow hitch, tailgate, side panels, respray on the whole back end, and my favorite a new bed cover. They added steel plates to reinforce the frame, and attached the tow hitch correctly, as the previous one was mounted only to the bumper frame and not to the main frame (wasn't me) Took about a month and a half before everything was fixed. While it was in the shop for about half that time, I was driving a Fiat (not fun). Ended up getting rid of the old cover because it was still functional and I didnt have room for it.

278K miles and still going strong! It was driveable with the damage but the tailgate was sticking.

All's well that ends well

 

Oh, and the newer Rav4 that hit me was probably totaled