Moisture in Headlamps after rear ended accident/insurance wont fix

I was recently rear ended in my Gen3 and before I took the truck into the shop I noticed the head lights fogging up. They never did that before. I asked them to be looked at or replace since the accident required a completely new frame for the truck, one would figure the impact was strong enough to break a seal or crack the assembly.

Insurance ( I have USAA) claims that there is no way that a rear impact could have caused this damage and that since I have an aftermarket bumper the fit of the front assembly would have been "less robust" than stock. I call complete BS on this; anyone ever encounter a similar issue?

 

Did they replace your headlight assembly? It sounds like they didn't due to insurance not willing to cover it.

But when I got into an accident with my previous truck, in some ways the body shop annoyed me was that they listed every possible thing to replace even if it didn't appear to be damaged. So maybe even though you had rear end collision, your shop ended up replacing the headlight assembly?

I had a lot of hazing in my headlights too, which I thought was due to my truck getting old. It wasn't until a while later when I was changing the headlight bulbs that I realized that the bulb wouldn't seal or seat as tightly on the side where I had the collision compared to the other side. And moisture was probably getting in through there.

I figure that the auto shop must have replaced the headlights with a non OEM or some other replacement that didn't hold the bulb as well and that might've been the cause of the hazing I was getting.

I can't say for sure that was the issue because both sides of my headlights would get hazy. But maybe one side was worse than the other.

Anyways double check to see if the seal around your headlight bulb is tight and if there are any other seams or cracks that may be letting moisture into your headlight.

 

I mean, it's very difficult to prove that front end damage happened when you were hit in the rear. It's not BS, the insurance is doing what they can. But unless the rear impact bumped you into something like a wall or another vehicle, they won't cover the front, no insurance will. I can't really help you in this instance, but maybe you never noticed before because you never looked for issues. But now that you truck was damaged, you may be seeing things differently and noticing all the little things you didn't notice prior to the collision.

 

What goes into replacing a frame?

Without knowing the details I could see OP's concern that maybe the headlight unit got damaged in the process of replacing the frame. But again I'm not familiar with the process that goes with it.

Kind of sucks that they didn't total it. I thought it used to be that if there was frame damage than they'd total the vehicle because it wasn't worse the hassle behind it to get it fixed and the potential issues later on. Although when I talked to an insurance adjuster later on they did say this isn't always the case anymore.

 

To clarify, they haven't replaced any of the headlights, I noticed this issue prior to repairs being started but after the accident. I kind of wish they had totaled it, damn tacomas holding their value and all that nonsense.

 

I would ask the insurer to provide in writing what evidence or facts they have to back up their claim. I would notify them in writing of your fee schedule to remove and inspect the headlights by a third party. If any damage is found you send them the bill. The vehicle absorbed the shock that includes the headlights as they are hard mounted to the body and the insurer can’t prove otherwise. It’s their obligation to make you whole again but you need documentation to back up your claim. It’s a civil matter you only need to tilt the scale by 1% finding damage to a headlight will do that.