Advice on new 2nd gen vehicle vs vehicle owned in an accident

Hey folks. I am looking for some advice. I got into an accident over a year ago passenger side front damage and got it fixed since i purchased a brand new 2012 tacoma. Although I like the customer service of my repair center, their quality is lacking and have since had to bring the vehicle back 4 times so far to get things fixed and now the lower piece below the headlight came off because they tried to use some automotive glue to keep it in place since it was rubbing paint off the bumper. Tried to fix another problem with a shotty job.

Im gonna raise hell to get this done correctly since it still looks somewhat misaligned. I have 50k miles on the truck and counting. I was thinking once fixed to purchase a 2014 tacoma since I have alot equity in my truck and pry for a couple thousand on a new loan could get a new truck and wont be putting the miles on it like I did.

Like many of you I purchased the truck and planned on keeping it forever and adding mods to it for my liking. Well the modding is ramping up but Im hesitant to mod this truck that isnt "perfect" I know this will hit my wallet a bit but im not concerned too much if I can get peace of mind. Am I being to anal about this situation?

 

Not at all. Once your truck is in an accident (with major damage) it will never be the same. Then when you have problems in another 20k miles, you are stuck with the damage.

 

How "major" are these repair issues and how much was the cost for the initial repair?

If I were in your situation I would keep the current taco, especially if the major systems are fine (drivetrain, electrical etc).

 

It was 5k in repairs, mostly the right bumper/headlight/grill/quarter panel. The right window does make a whistling sound but the winds have to be above 60mph to hear it. I'm gonna mention that to them when I take it back in.

 

Do you have pics of the damage before it was fixed? $5k doesn't sound like all that much...might be okay to keep it...

 

I cant find any pics as this was over a year ago. It wasn't that bad, just the shop didn't do a great job. Mostly it is only alignment issues. Yes the shop guarantees their work so I can basically take it in the rest of the time I own the truck if something goes wrong like peeling paint etc. Just this last time though they cut corners with this automotive glue shit. the lower piece below the headlight was too tight so it was rubbing against the bumper and so to remedy that they used glue instead of actually using the pin joint thing. I only found this out because it flew off while I was driving in hot weather!

I think Ill try my ins company but I think they would just tell me to take it back to the shop. It was a recommended shop. Their customer service is great but their quality is sub par. Oh and its weird the windshield washer fluid light goes on when Im at high altitude like above 5k ft since I live at sea level it doesnt happen but once I travel to places above 5k its on all the time. Weird, anyone have this happen to them?

 

Thanks, just shot an email to my adjuster. I asked for another shop to evaluate. Will see what they say. Thanks for the advice.

 

Update, insurance is asking me to try the place again since it is under new management. At least I will get a free rental this time.