Tacoma Involved in a Hit and Run

This is the truth. Insurance companies are wise to the "I'll take it to the Defense Department contractor to get a massive estimate for a big payday" routine.

Be reasonable. Firm, but reasonable.

OP, any update?

 

I am not in disagreement with you.

I offer a contrasting point of view however.

The process is the same regardless of using the adjusters estimate, the recommended 3rd party or your chosen repair shops estimate.

Step 1. An initial estimate is given. Parts, labor, storage etc.

Step 2. Authorization and full teardown.

Step 3. Review of any supplemental damages, submitted for approval. Sometimes the $5k is accurate, other times their are surprises. It happens, both sides expect it to happen, $5k can turn to $8k regardless of who wrote the initial estimate.

Now I am amazed at how many people think that the insurance company is out to get them, and the repair center is their friend. The repair center is not UNICEF.

In most cases a repair shop is given preferred status not because they help the insurance companies screw the insured, but because they have an agreement in place on labor hours, labor rate, storage fees, parts etc. I have never had my insurance company fight me on OEM versus aftermarket parts.

It would be unreasonable to ask the insurance company to pay the rate of a Ferrari paint shop & Ferrari mechanic, for a Tacoma. Let's not be ridiculous

The insurance company has to balance your claim, with the many many shitball shops that will try to pull a fast one on both you and them.

Now I ask you...do you think it's a bad idea when an insurance company says, "this is our recommended dealer, they are our top choice because they finish the job on time, are good at step 1 and step 3, and guarantee their work so if the insured complains to the insurance company about shoddy work, the company can leverage our agreement to make things right."

I'm not so naive as to suggest the insurance company is my best friend, but believing that the so-called independent repair shop is on your side and not on the side to make money for themselves is not a sound strategy.

 

There are some insurance companies that wont pay for oem parts and that's either in your policy or not. I no insurance company isnt your best friend nor do I believe they are out to screw you on purpose. It's like your deductible, if you find a body repair shop that tells you dont worry about your deductible they will take care of it and I no some people would be ok with that due to them not paying deductible but that should be a red flag cause if they willing to do that me personally would say how many corners are they going to cut and how much are they going to pay there claim to make up for the deductible. I always have the dealership do insurance claim work cause they dont really bondo they like to replace parts or your body panel they will take off the skin and fix it so I've been happy with the dealership doing repairs on claims

 

I wasn't aware that the policy could specify what kind of parts.

I have always asked how they were going to repair before they did, and they have always provided satisfactory answers.

Some shops take pride, and will point out tiny errors I never would have seen while giving me the option of taking the car today with an offer to remediate the minor issues at a follow up appointment.

 

All insurance companies are not created equal. It's all in your policy fine print.and how many of us read there 6 month policy renewal when you get it in the mail. That's what I thought

 

I had a hit and run several years ago, thing was I heard the crash, looked out the window saw the vehicle and the drivers face, by the time I ran outside they were gone.
I know how you feel, File a police report, choose your body shop (go with toyota collision), let insurance take care of the rest.
*the initial repair estimate almost always change + or -, once the body shop starts disassembly the can find other damage or find things that don't need to be repaired.

the damage to the bed looks worse than it actually is, that should be a straight forward repair, its essentially a composite tub with fenders attached lol. chances are you'll get a new inner bed insert with new bedsides etc. Hopefully there's no frame damage, the front damage is pretty nasty, probably need a new radiator support, bumper and cover, fender etc.

 

As far as frame damage you won't no until they put it on a frame rack and check the numbers. I would find it hard to believe there is not any. With hit on side like that I think there will be some and have internal damage to the rear axle. Not sure what your truck was worth before accident

 

This is why i got a dash camera with a backup battery. As you never know when you park on the streets of socal. While my blackvue won't cover people very well it does catch vehicles pretty well, but mainly on the front camera.