Toyota says I have lots of damages.

Okay I dropped off the truck for 5k service and noted there was a squeak or oscillation in the front right wheel probably due to rock in brakes. Started when I was wheeling.

their response was supper vague and they said I needed to file insurance claim. So I did and currently in rental. Swung by after work today and took pictures, will be going tomorrow at 1030 with insurance to finally actually get a rundown since they, as said, have been very vague.

they’ve said:

• Unsafe to drive
• Approx 4500 in damages to repair to get it to like new condition
• Bent lower control arm and that was rubbing my wheel which is what was causing the oscillating sound when driving.
  
• Bent cross member up and into the transmission
• Dented my skid plate

So. From what I can see. The skid plate is meant to take some hits. The cross member did take a hit and is dented on the bottom but that damage is contained and did not translate upward. I also could be an idiot but I don’t see any damages to the front drive components. my rocker panel did take a hit and that might be factored into the 4500 ballpark in damages but I don’t give a rip about that. Pictures below. If they included body work and rocker panel fix then 4500 isn’t outside the realm of reality from the dealership, some posts around here hinted that could be a 1500 ish fix alone. Let alone dealership rates and labor charges for everything else.

was hoping y’all could take a peek and see if there’s some obviously broken shit that I just don’t see. but as of now I’m inclined to cancel my claim, pay for my two days of rental car out of pocket and just go home with it.


now. I do want to add. Don’t be like me. Use me as an example of what not to do. Know your limits and your trucks limits. Skid plates are expensive but they’re a hell of a lot less expensive than significant damages caused by going too hard without them. Skid plates. Rock sliders. Don’t be an idiot like me, they’re relatively cheap compared to what damages you can do to your truck without them.


------------------------------------
Information added May 8:

Went in with the insurance rep and the tech on the shop floor. I will say, if anyone knows where I got my truck/had it serviced, everyone was nice at least, no shenanigans and no attitude, so that was nice.

Anyway, so the pictures here show first the "good" side of the engine cradle cross member on the frame. The second one shows the drive side that took a hit. This is what was bent when they were talking about LCAs.






With insurance, they would have to fix all damages in order to maintain warranty and they're going to "do the repair right", makes sense. In order to repair this (plus the jack point) on the cradle, they would have to replace the whole frame

Outcome: Took my truck home today, will be canceling the insurance claim. If I went through with it, they would either do a frame replacement which brings in a bunch of other problems with it, OR they would total the truck, either way my premiums wouldn't be friendly afterward, and the damages aren't worth it from what I've seen.

But, the brake noise stopped.

I posted this in a comment to follow up, but I'll add it here too:
I can't say this enough, DON'T BE LIKE ME. If you're going to take your truck off road, know your limits and abilities. Don't be an idiot. And if you want to do things beyond your limits, get your truck up to those limits - sliders, skids, tires (although...so far no major complaints about my tires...) Use me and this thread next time someone posts a question "How good is the truck off road?", because they're likely to want to do the same s$%& I did.

 

Damn and I thought I beat my shit up LOLOLOL! Maybe try a different dealership some are BS.

 

Surprised that insurance is going to cover obvious abuse.

 

They cover damages from driving in dirt roads. Was a legal dirt road.

 

Damn dude. I thought I was hard on my truck. That's a lot of abuse. Especially for a new truck. did you get it for free or something?

 

nope. Bought a truck to truck with and got over zealous. But that’s the problem is other than the cross member i don’t see abuse.

 

I saw you did something in the wheeling thread, convinced me to push to get skids for my truck. Just trying to figure out how to express them now.

 

File an act of god claim, there was something in the road that was out of my control and I couldn't swerve out of the way and had to run over it. Ask your agent about Act of god claim. They covered this 100%.

 

yeah don’t use me as a role model. Use me as a negative example

 

So lemme guess: you were "just driving along"...

How the hell do you bend your crossmember?! I'd also like to know how a lower control arm can bend so far that it would touch the wheel. Your LCA's couldn't possibly be bent that much in the pics. Either they're taking you for a ride (typical of insurance jobs), or something got lost in the translation.


So we're clear though, that's not a skid plate. I believe it's called a "deflector" or some BS. It's barely thicker material than your body panels. It's not meant to take any hits. If you drive like this normally, get yourself some (minimum) 3/16" steel skid plates. Any maybe stop driving it like you stole it, lol...

Bring it back to "like new" condition is pointless. As long as the transmission/suspension are in proper alignment, you don't need to worry about getting a new dent-free crossmember.

 

Yeha... seriously though, looks like you drove it like you stole it but nothing looks insurance bad from your pics.. I wouldnt have done it but its not my truck.Unless somethings not safe, Id recommend you take your brakes apart, clean the rock and cancel the insurance claim...

 

Did they put it on an alignment rack? I find a bent LCA hard to believe, a spindle sure, but not an LCA. There's no evidence of rubbing from the pictures you posted.

 

they will cover it. It was on a dirt road. I might have to eat an at fault collision. But that’s if there’s even damages that aren’t cosmetic.

 

Must have hit a very muddy deer.

 

Yeah I couldn’t tell anything was bent on the LCA from the pictures.

 

yeah I’m not worried about cross member. I definitely hammered it off road I’m not hiding that fact. As said don’t use me as a role model. Use me as an example of not being stupid. I own that.

skid plates and rock sliders bare minimum. And don’t thrash it on the trails like I did. But, technically where I was is a legal dirt road (insurance covers it if it’s on a map) so. As said I may have to eat an at fault collision for them to do repairs.

I’m not concerned about cosmetics though. Didn’t buy a truck to baby it.

Glad I’m not insane for thinking it looks fine as far as suspension is concerned.

don’t think they did.

it was a muddy rock that was hidden under mud. To be fair could have been other stuff too but I know i took a decent hit with that one.

 

The more I look at your photos the less actual damage I see. Aside from the skid plate everything looks like surface damage not dents...

 

My undercarriage is WAY more beat up than that and zero issues. I think that dealership is trying to take you for a ride on your insurance company's dime. More than likely the squeak you are hearing is from the front body bushing. Let me see if I can find some photos of the part of my cross-member that I just bent back together with a ball joint press......

 

Oh the cross member took a damn hit for sure. But thanks for the input that was what I was seeing but I didn’t want to be an idiot.

 

Here are some pics...it’s actually both front crossmembers. Truck aligns fine and drives fine.