Dealership Wrecked [Slightly??] my Trailhunter

If it were my truck I would tell them not to touch it, go to a reputable body shop and have the truck looked at as well as checking for tire scuffs what with all those "harsh cornering". They obviously want to keep this quiet, in house, spend as little as possible making it "look" fixed and keeping as few records of the incident as possible and I'll bet the documentation of the incident will strangely get lost. I wouldn't trust them at all. If issues come up at a later date you know what they will say, "it wasn't from our accident" or "what accident, don't know what you're talking about" and all the players will have moved on to another dealership by then anyway. They never stick around long. You also may want to notify your insurance agent. If you want it fixed at another shop, your insurance will make sure that happens and the dealership pays.

 

Sounds like they are being very unprofessional! I’d call their auto group corporate office, and request their insurance information. I know you don’t want a claim on your carfax, but for your own benefit it’s not up to them to say. They at least should give you a rental at this point. They were totally joyriding your sweet truck and then crashed it…

I don’t know about now but all the past year you couldn’t order the ARB steel bumper it wasn’t available?

 

Lifetime oil changes from this dealer??? No thanks!

 

Yep, this was a HUGE red flag for me regarding this dealer. They are scoundrels!!

 

Where did this data come from??

 

Read #51

 

yeah, i looked at mine and it is clear to me that their definition of "harsh cornering" is overly conservative.

 

Those bumpers are pretty stout to damage it. I would ask for everything in writing from them to include potential extended warranty. A good body technician can work miracles. The damage doesn't look bad, but again would have it all in writing.

 

Here’s my data.

 

Those bumpers are not very stout. You can grab it with your hand and bend it back and forth.

Its just not as thick of steel as your typical offroad bumper.

Any other ARB bumper wouldve bounced off of a telephone pole and maybe just scuffed the powdercoat

 

I can't understand why you are not turning over or reporting this entire fiasco to your own insurance company. You weren't at fault. They damaged your truck and are now playing "Let's Make a Deal" with you to get it fixed. Looks like they're pushing a great deal for themselves, but for you: Not so much/NADA.

Report it. They (your own insurance company) will send their own adjuster over for a visit, they will inspect it and in about 30 seconds they will know exactly what has happened and how much it will cost to fix it at the shop of your choice. They will pay the shop of your choice to fix it and then bill whomever was ultimately at fault. Since you were not even driving it when it was damaged, it won't be you.
I would not let them touch the truck again, no matter what was wrong with it.

Go find the general manager of the place and bring them up to date as well. Bring your dash-cam report report with you and make a backup copy of it. Open a case with Toyota Corporate while you're at it. Good luck.

 

What @Williston said is 100% spot on.

 

My definition of harsh cornering would 55 thru a turn sliding because all four tires lost their lateral grip.

 

right!!!!

 

This is how you test for a leaking transmission.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVa2waghbUE

 

I've worked in auto insurance claims since 1995, 20+ years of that on the appraisal/collision repair segment. This is the best response in this thread.

 

LOL, I was just thinking last night, too bad that Toyota driving app doesn't record how much air time the truck got. Maybe an altimeter recorder would be helpful when dealing with service departments.

 

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...^^^... I have had many Toyotas and didn't know this existed ... thanks for this info.

 

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...^^^... I agree with this and would add something. Make sure YOU ARE THERE with the insurance adjuster when he looks at it to point out the items he may miss.

I love USAA ... but ... had a hail damage claim (my only claim ever with them) and USAA hired a sub-contractor adjuster from a CA Company and he came and looked at it for 3 minutes and would not get in the truck bed (BIG heavyset guy) to look at the badly dented roof.

IIRC, when I got the report back he faked the mileage at about 40,000 miles and the truck had less than 10,000 because I rarely drove it. I took a pic of the speedo with the newspaper beside the speedo to show the date and correct mileage and also got another outside estimate which was double and sent it to USAA for payment.

Thinking back now ... If I would have done what the adjuster did ... perhaps I could have been charged with "Insurance Fraud" for giving fake and misleading info to an insurance claim.

Be VERY careful and make sure you are there and shoot a video with your phone.

PS ... I would keep the dealer that did the damage far, far away from the truck.

 

If they offered to fix it for free, you likely have zero legal recourse. I wouldn’t accept it back until you’re satisfied it’s properly repaired, but they are offering to make it right. If dash video shows blatant abuse, by all means report it, but if the technician is just running it through its paces, you run the risk of getting an hourly employee in trouble over your hurt pride.