Tacoma was hit after first 6th month oil change.

UPDATE Frame came in Pictures at the end of this post:

My wife took my Tacoma in for it's first 6th month/5k oil change. On the way home my wife had a green light and got hit by a lady in a RV. The lady in the RV ran the light and clocked my Tacoma at about4 45mph in the drivers front wheel. I was sick to my stomach with worry when she called(about her) and I raced over on my motorcycle. She is ok just some seatbelt lash on her neck/chest. the Tacoma did an outstanding job keeping her safe. Had se been in her fusion the outcome could have been much worse! She is now thinking about a 4 runner for her.

And for the pictures once it was at the tow yard.



And it turns out the RV that hit her was at one of the body shops that I stopped to talk to.




I can tell I need a new door, both fenders, bumper grill, hood, tss edition wheel, tire, radiator, lower and upper a arm, strut, and tie rod. That is what I can tell from 5 min of walking around it.

Since it's an 11 with 4500 miles on it I doubt it's totaled. I'm worried that the frame is tweaked since it twisted the radiator and broke it. The body lines on the cab seem to be straight.

Does any one have any experience with the dealer collision shops? Better than a standalone shop? Will they use all oem parts versus reproduction parts? Would there cost to repair be higher to get it totaled so they sell a new truck?

Does Toyota have any warranty on their collision repair? Is there any benefit to using a dealer? Any disadvantage? Any advantage to going to a standalone shop?


Thanks for your help!


UPDATE

My new frame finally came in. I thought you guys might want some pictures:














Two more weeks and I should have my truck back!

 

Damn that sucks..glad your wife is okay.

 

Bummer dude - glad the wife is ok!

As far as whether dealership collision/body shops are better or worse than standalone shops, I think that will vary.

I would just go around and talk to as many as you can - your insurance should allow you to use all new, OEM parts. That would be my first concern.

Then start deciding on a shop. I'm not sure that Toyota will be the one to warranty the body work, as their dealerships are just owned by larger companies with multiple lots (Penske is a big one).

When you're talking to the shops, just ask them all of these questions and see who sounds the most legit.

I'm assuming you are going to be using your insurance to cover all of this right? If so, it will be their call whether they total the truck, not a shop or dealership.

Let us know what you end up doing!

Fink

 

Glad you're OK. Don't let the insurance co tell you where to get the vehicle repaired. You can get it repaired at any facility you designate.

 

Glad to hear your wife is OK. I have the TSS Edition also. Mine is a 2008 I bought new in 2008. I love it. Where did you get the compass from. I've been wanting to do this mod for a while.

 

Hopefully.... they will total it if the frame is bent. But a lot of shops will convince the insurance co. that they can fix it.........but do you really want a vehicle thats been in a accident with frame damage? I wouldn't. I'd rather get $$$ and move on to different vehicle. No one will ever want it if you try to re-sell it. Carfax will show frame damage even if they fix it. You will loose value.

 

buy a new one that taco will never be the same

 

I got the compass from a totaled 2009, easy swap. I have USAA and they have been a stand up company so far. I went to a few shops today and the USAA recommended one didn't have very good work. A lot of orange peal and their panels were still wavy. I could tell what they had fixed which is unacceptable. I've done paint and body as a hobby so I am familiar with what is right and wrong and how to spot rushed work.

 

Do I really have a choice in the matter if it's totaled or not? It is really up to the estiments and the loss value right? Is that something I can push?

 

glad to hear ur wife is okay man. im pretty sure its all up to the adjuster. as said, if the frame is bent, it might be totaled

 

Yes you can push them to total it if the frame damage is more than a couple of hours of repair in the estimate. What they do is determine repair costs vs value of the vehicle. But sometimes its not worth fixing even if they can do it for less than the value of the car.... if there is severe frame damage. After they write your estimate, look to see if there is frame damage, if so, how many hours of repair does the frame need? if it is more than 1-2 hrs, call your insurance, tell them you are not happy with the estimate and would like them to send out another adjuster to look at your vehicle. Usually they will find that there is more damage to frame than it is worth fixing and total it, if not, try to persuade them in that direction as much as you can. The body shops want work, so they will try to write estimates that get them work. Even if it means fiing your bent frame. But you really dont want to keep a vehicle with a bent frame...ever!

 

By the means of it, it doesn't look totaled to me..unless frame is severely twisted. That right there is easily $5k in OEM parts. Plus the labor..

If the company was smart, they would total it.

 

With USAA there isn't any adjusters that come out and look at the vehicle. They just go by the quote that the body shop submits.

That is why I was thinking the dealer might be better. I figure the would rather give a quote that "totaled" the truck and sell me a new one vs fixing the current truck.

I figured sales numbers would motivate the dealer to "be on myside" so they can get another sale. Thus boosting their sales numbers!

 

good ol tacoma keeping wifes safe everywhere , goodluck with the repairs, i hope they can just give you a break and call it totaled, you deserve a new truck

 

Happy everyone was OK. Toyota builds a pretty tough truck.

Find a shop whose work you like and have them do the estimate on the damage. Insist on OEM parts in the estimate.

I bet it's a lot closer to 10K in damage. My relatively minor incident last year was 10K and not nearly as much damage. I only had to have one fender and door skin replaced and no suspension/mechanical/frame work at all.

Ins companies have a percentage limit on how much of the value they will pay to have fixed vs eating the entire cost of the vehicle. Some will go as high as 90%.

The body shop industry is pretty well controlled by the insurance companies now. Ins companies are a lot smarter about the cost of repairs and the estimating software is all pretty much standardized so labor times per job are mostly fixed just like mechanical work is now. A hood takes x hours to replace/repaint. A fender takes another x hours, etc. There is very little wiggle room like there was even 15 years ago.

I have seen quality shops do some miraculous work on vehicles I thought could never be repaired and they come out as good or better than they left the factory.

I deal with body shop issues on a daily basis as part of my job. I used to work for an Ins co but don't anymore.

 

You might be OK then, having the dealer do the estimate, they are always the most expensive..lol

goodluck, keep us posted. hope to see you in a new ride soon or at least your old one looking good as new !

 

Dang, I'm sick for you...only 4500 miles, but thank goodness she was in your truck instead of the car and she is ok. Trucks can be replaced. I just went through a repair job due to a deer and learned a little about the process. I have state farm and as with any insurance co. can take it anywhere, but if I used a preferred collision center there would be no adjuster to come out and the work would be guaranteed to my satisfaction by state farm. I later learned that to be a preferred collision center the shop has to use a certain percentage of oem parts, a certain percentage of aftermarket parts and a certain percentage of used parts. When i went to pick up the truck the fender flare and fender did not match so I had them repaint it. I dont think toyota would warranty the repair, I believe that would be up to each toyota dealer and I am sure some do. And as for USAA, you carry the #1 rated auto insurance there is so I dont think you are going to have any problems...you are in great hands. I went to my toyota dealers repair center because I felt they work on a lot of tacomas so they should have more experience on them than most and they did a good job in the end. Be sure you pick it up in daylight and look it over good before you drive it off their lot because once you take it home its harder to bring it back if you find something that doesnt look good.

 

My bet is the frame is not bent and it will not be totalled.

 

I'm gonna guess $8900

 

If it is close to totalled but just a little under the amount they will approve you can also make them pay you for the depreciation caused by it now having been in a wreck. That might push it over, still a nice check to get either way. I got rear ended hard in my lexus it was about 13k in damage the car had 200 miles on it so it still wasn't enough to total it but I told his insurance company I didn't think the car would be worth as much after having all that damage done they gave me a check for 6k for depreciation. And that was with no frame damage.