End of an era for me.

Yeah, in a head on collision they usually do work or I'd toss it all. Not a fan of getting bruised for no reason.

 

Why I never let anyone use my Tacoma, especially a yahoo boy.

Insurance appears not mentioned, so probably not fully insured to cover repairs.

 

this would be an awesome project truck. 5spd swap, SAS, 4WD conversion. In my area $3k easy. Maybe more.

Also sorry for your loss.

 

This is what I'm thinking. I don't care what state you're in, a Tacoma will be in demand. Especially considering OP seems to have taken good care of it and he's the original owner.

OP if you have the time I would look into parting it out on Ebay.

 

I am glad no injuries but to the truck

List it for sale here !

My luck these things never happen close enough here to buy a project vehicle .

If this was my driving I know what my wages and time would be going to till things were fixed .

 

If it’s got good stuff on it I would part it out.If you was closer I would buy the doors off of you.Always good to have extra doors laying around

 

So, I guess I'll ask the question I believe a lot of us want to ask but don't want to be the one to ask it. After you found out your son was OK, what kind of conversation did you have with him? I'm not a parent but I know my first question would be, "How the hell did this happen? You were in a parking lot where you should be driving slow and it's not like these parking lot light bollards are hard to see. So Son, tell me how this happened and just know I can hear bullshit a mile away so tell me the truth." I know without a doubt that my son would lose his driving rights of any family car and he would have to work to earn his own money to buy one because maybe this time he would treat it better since it's his own hard-earned money that's now on the line. He would also pay for his own insurance.

I know kids make mistakes. I just hope this kid is going to learn from his.

 

Timmah!, he’s 21, 6’3 about 240, I’m 56, 5’11 same weight. So physically whooping his ass was not an option. Lol. Besides not my style. I could care less about the truck, just so thankful he and no one else was hurt. Yeah I’m in a bind now and he knows he put me there. He feels bad and wants to help rectify the problem. Not sure he can with the piddling job he has.
I did lay into his ass verbally a little and reminded to him that my middle brother got killed by an idiot on his damn cell phone 3 years ago. Nothing is F’N important on a cell phone..EVER whilst driving, pull the “F” over and park it if you have too. My brother had a senseless death because of a cell phone. I can’t take another one. He may have been going fast than 15 or 20 as he sad and was looking at the cellphone way longer than he realizes. He got the message I believe.
He’s a good kid and is usually pretty smart about stuff. But being young and making stupid decisions is how we grow up and learn, I can’t protect him all the time. I can only pray and hope that his decisions do not kill him or others. I mean the stuff I did and got away is impressive and I am lucky to still be hear. This generation has no concept of what lengths we would go to to entertain ourselves back in the day. Especially in a small Texas town, <8k. The most distraction I had while driving around was having fun with a half-naked girl in my car, consensual of course. That may be just as bad as a cell phone, don’t know. But I did pull over eventually to focus on the task at hand.

Apologies for the length.

 

He is 21. Good time to learn about fixing a vehicle.

My guess is that he has or can find friends who will help him fix it if you can bring yourself to assign the task "to him" and accept that the results will be amateur / basic.

It doesn't need to be perfect - just drivable.

IMHO, a vehicle with 300K miles and a dent like that is worth < $500 so really nothing to loose at this point by using it as an education tool.

 

I would want my dad to get estimate at a reputable shop, then ask if they would take payments if I couldn't afford up front.

 

Buddy of mine came over, he’s rebuild a couple cars, and me told the damage is cosmetic mostly, frame is fine. So I may get my boy out there and start tearing it down. My son has helped his friend on a project car so he’s not without knowledge. The way it looked initially was it need some cutting welding. Parts that me and my friend looked at were all bolt on. But the darn air bags will be the killer, expensive.

 

You can do it. Edit: and you’re going to. This is gonna be good. I wonder if a 4 Runner front end would fit

 

Good to hear that frame is good. Let us know the updates including the photos from start to finish. Up to you.

The airbags, if they are too expensive, maybe you get it done one bag a time depends on the budget you have. Don't worry about the airbags until the truck is up and running... if so, you can get the airbag fixed. If the truck isn't able to run, just sell it as parts.

 

Get a leather steering wheel

 

The danger of phones
Phones greatly impact a person’s reaction time and concentration, both of which have to be quick and sufficient whilst driving to ensure the safety of everyone involved. When using a phone, a person´s concentration is consumed by the phone and thus it takes longer for the person to take in changes in their environment. This can be dangerous whilst driving, because drivers need to be able to detect changes in the traffic and in the motion of the vehicles around them to be able to identify possible hazards and react appropriately. Every year thousands of accidents that could have been prevented occur due to the use of phones whilst driving, some resulting in severe injuries or even death.

cut and pasted from somewhere out there, lost the link

 

I hit a tree when I was 15. Never hit another. Dad never said a word and didn't have to. My car, paid 50 for it.

 

I think they're far worse than drinking and driving unless the drinker is 2-3x legal limit.

 

the conundrum then is encroaching on people's freedom and liberty or enacting laws like they do in most of Europe with severe penalties if caught using while the engine is running

 

Give the truck to your son, it’s his first vehicle now and he his responsible for fixing and insuring it from this point forward. If he wants to get around he’ll figure it out.( Believe me I know that’s how I got my first one.)Or he can take the bus or walk. Glad he’s ok which is most important.

 

Airbags can be sourced through here from part outs if you ask around.