PDR & Body Shop recommendations (Front Range)

Was referred by original firm to Bayas Law Firm. Have a consultation with them on Monday.

https://www.thebayasfirm.com/about

 

$851 later and truck is back home, no repairs. They did pry the rear door open and there is damage to the rocker panel behind it. But now the door won't close completely lol

 

Bumer on the door being more messed up now and the rocker damaged.

Our smashed RAV4 Prime had no damage to the doors at the accident scene. When we went to where it was towed to get some more things out of it (only a day or two later), the first insurance adjuster seem to have wrenched on the doors so hard that he folded in both front edges. Then when it was towed to Toyota for them to scan the ECU to see if the Hybrid system was damaged (chance of fire or anything), they accidentally smashed the windshield from opening the hood with bent back hinges from the accident… By the time it got to Nylunds, it probably had an additional $2k in damages from people touching it.

 

I wouldn't say it's more messed up now. Just in a different way lol. They had to get that door open somehow to check for the damage that was obviously going to be there anyways, for the estimate. Hopefully things start moving quicker next week after the consultation.

 

Spoke with Law Firm. They estimated, based off an hourly rate, that it would cost $3500 just to engage with State Farm. And likely upwards of $5,000 total. So I need to decide if it's worth it to pursue with them at this point, or just wait until September when current shop can see me.

I find out tomorrow if I'm getting laid off in September or if we're being extended into next year. So I need to wait and see on that first.

Other option is to start calling shops outside of the Denver Metro, which I have been, but now I need to extend to shops over an hour away or further.

 

How much is a “bad faith” settlement payout? That could quickly offset the legal costs.

 

They weren't able to say on that. I did email the adjuster again, asking them to send the assignment over to Prime Time AutoBody, and to escalate this case to a manager or I'll have to bring in a lawyer. So will see what they say in reply.

 

Submitted complaint with CO Dept of Insurance against State Farm and my agent

 

Forgive me, I'm trying to keep up, is State Farm your insurance or the at fault party insurance?

 

My insurance. It was a hit and run while my truck was parked outside of my house. So I had to file under my own. Finding out how horrible they are to their own customers...

 

Damn, sorry to hear brother.

 

Copying over from my build thread

Truck update

I got a call Friday from a new State Farm rep. Calling me back about the complaint I sent to the CO DOI. I was out of town so didn't get to speak with them. I'll call them back on Tuesday. Basically be airing my grievances all over again. But at least it got kicked up past that first claims specialist finally.

Here's a recap:

Truck Hit And Run while parked outside my house. Have video evidence. Driver never found.

I file under my own insurance. Takes multiple weeks of me asking them to send out an adjuster because the truck isn't drivable, and no shop would accept an undrivable vehicle. Roughly 3 weeks after file date they send an adjuster out. $10k estimate. I call around and still not finding shops taking my vehicle. Finally Caliber Collision, a State Farm preferred shop, would see me to do an supplemental quote. State Farm sends the assignment over to them. Quote goes up to $15k. Two parts on "national backorder with no ETA". OEM parts number simply says unavailable. Not even order able. Caliber asks me to pay for parts up front. Store truck and parts at my house until they all shop up. Not happening. And turns out even though State Farm sent the assignment over to CC, CC never sent the new $15k quote back over to State Farm.

I take truck to new shop, Nylunds Collision. A Toyota certified repair facility. None of the State Farm preferred shops were Toyota certified. As soon as I tell SF my truck is over there, same phone call I immediately get a claims specialist assigned, who says "they are in a list". And that SF will not cover any OEM parts. This is news to me at this point. They would not even pay for the storage fees nor new estimate that Nylunds performed. $860 I had to pay to get truck released. Because the new estimate from Nylunds came in at $28k. They wrote up on the quote, showed and explained to the SF inspector that came how the bed was twisted and needed a new bed. SF only approved replacing the side bed panel, even though the whole bed needs replacing. SF only approved $14k. So again no go. I get truck back over to my house to look for new shop.

On the new quote SF approved frame measurements. I call damn near every shop on State Farms preferred list. 99% turn me down because A) they are not accepting jobs of this size and are unable to perform the repairs. B) They do not have a frame rack large enough for the crewmax Tundra. I find ONE shop that can do both. And it's one of the shops I already had an appointment with that was made when the original claim was submitted in March. They cannot see me until September 26th, which I have an appointment date for.

So now I have to wait till then. And circle back to the same issue of the cab corner part IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR SALE. And it's a crumbled mess. Which to me says the truck is not repairable. And then again to the bed being twisted, which they were already told and denied. And then obviously, there's no way the frame is straight within the 5mm spec.

I think that's it, summary of what happened. Wrote this for me as much as anyone else not caught up on this mess. Jog my memory so I know I cover everything with them. Probably just read this post verbatim lol. Will edit post if I remember anything else that needs to be added in

 

Also turns out there is a class action lawsuit a Porsche owner started against SF for basically doing this same thing to them. Except they started over only a $2k difference. Because it was new like mine, still under all factory warranties. And Porsche has a strict repair policy that must be followed. But SF would not adhere to it and approve the payout for the damages.

Nylunds did a segment over it on their YT channel last week. And offered to connect anyone over to that person to possibly get in on the class action.

 

Can you charge your insurance company storage since you are storing the vehicle for them?

 

Not sure but I'll bring it up. Especially since I have to store it in the street. Not putting a good vehicle in the street to park a wrecked one off street. And in Aurora .. there's gotta be some ordinance against parking long term, a non drivable vehicle street side. There's an elementary school at the end of my block and my house is at the end of that road. I get a lot of scrutiny over tiny things even not being in an HOA

 

Ok finally got off the phone with her. She said she called Prime Time auto to see if they can get me in much sooner than Sept 26. More like 5 weeks from now. But Im supposed to call Prime Time to confirm. Said they'd be putting in some notice with Caliber collision because they asked me to be their warehouse for parts until they all arrived. And they never sent their estimate over to SF. And she's gonna look at reimbursement for the $850 Nylunds charges me. Still a waiting game. But I let her know how frustrating this whole process has been

 

What a mess. I'm so sorry you're having to go through this.

 

Shop visit will be next week with any luck, week after at the latest. Then who knows how long to fix or total it. Prime Time Auto Body

Also got a lead on a new job, that would require me driving around a lot more. I should get some super efficient vehicle, but that's no fun. Did a search for AWD high mpg sports cars, and Corolla GR ticks that box perfectly! Seems to be a few in Denver area. It's the front runner for a daily driver replacement when I get rid of the Tundra.

 

If I didn’t get a used EV, I would consider the Corolla GR.

 

Think I'd even consider selling my E46 M3 along with the Tundra to own the GR outright.