Is it repairable?

My Tundra got t-boned and I am concerned they are going to total it. What do you guys think? Will it buff right out. I do not have the truck yet all I have is photos, I should have the truck in a few days. The wreck happened out of state when a family member was driving. Any advise on dealing with insurance would be appreciated. A claim has been filed, a police report was also filed, there were injuries to the other parties involved. The Tundra is fully drivable, just need to silence that rear door chime.

 

The big question is if the frame is bent. The door, cab pieces and bed pieces are replaceable but involve considerable manhours so the insco may want to total it anyways.

 

Did any airbags deploy?

 

Airbags did not go off. Totalling it would be very undesirable as it will probably cost 40K to replace it.

 

At least intact airbags are in your favor. Just went through working with my Mother in law dealing with her insurance company when she got Tboned. They totaled her car without and discussion with her. They use a formula that's something like this: If repair exceeds 70% of the value they junk it. Problem is they set the value considerably lower than what replacement cost actually was.
Get on the web and start finding comparable trucks for sale and let them know early on your Tundra is worth a lot more than what they think it is. Remember the insurance companies love to take your money but fight you to pay out any more than they have to.
By spending a few hours finding examples I was able to get my MIL about $2,000 more than the insurance co. offered.

 

Thanks for that, I have been looking at comparables and will catalog what I find. I am pretty sure the ins co will use wholesale Black books numbers which are not anywhere near market value.

 

The party at fault insurance company is responsible for any diminished value.

 

Will depend on your insurance Co. The formula and if they will give fair value. We lost the wife's 2017 sequoia when a guy pulled in front of her, 32k in damage and all airbags went. We have State Farm and they gave us market value at the time and we basically drove the car for 1.5 years and got what we paid for it when they cut the check.

Best of luck, these situations can suck or turn out ok depending on a good insurance company and agent.

 

At least $10-14k in body work and paint alone. New bedside, rear complete door likely, and lots of rear cab corner work. When you get a little deeper, frame damage, body mount damage, more extensive bed damage, interior bits etc may drive the price up significantly. $30k in damage is likely the cutoff for totaling it as that’s 75% of the value. At that point for the insurance company it’s cheaper pay for your replacement and sell your wreck to offset the cost.

 

I'd start pulling your aftermarket parts off and putting your stock parts back on, that's taking a trip to the salvage yard, that's my thought, sorry man.

 

To me it doesn't look that bad? Good Luck!

 

I helped a buddy fix up an f150 with similar damage for his customer. It was an auction car with a clean title; the owner took the fix-it payout and sent it straight to auction. It looked like $18k in work but ended up around $23k because they weren’t able to pull the cab due to it being aluminum and had to replace it. That was pre-COVID. But if the frame is good, the rest is just sheet metal and plastic. Bummer to see it happen, though.

 

I'd hope for a total and buy it back at salvage value, probably only about $4k depending on the mileage. Fix it for $15k. You can also pick up a beater to drive during the repair time and sell it for whatever you pay for it if you buy it right.

 

Damn, hate to see that. I feel your pain. Had someone do a u-turn into the side of my 14', ended up with similar damage. It was repaired without issue. Still burns me to this day that someone went from turning into a McDonalds to circling into the side of my truck as I drove by, and insurance found me 50% responsible

 

I picked the truck up yesterday, drove it home 200 miles, it felt normal, except for the leaky door. I climbed under it and took a look the frame appears to be unbent. The rear door opens and closes normally. The truck is paid off, so I am not inclined to buy it back. I agree with the 10 - 20K damage estimates, but Im no expert. What bugs me is that a truck with a salvage title can be re-sold in Texas, where I am. So this totalling thing seems like a bit of a scam. For example, my truck has been serviced by Toyota since new, it was in great shape with no issues, then the place that does the estimate "an authorized repair shop" by the Ins co. is also a Toyota dealer. So if they total the truck, then buy it from the ins company, they get a truck at a fraction of the cost, if the labor to repair it gets covered by other customers cars, or by a training budget, then the dealer makes out. Maybe I've got it wrong.??

 

My experience is the insurance company adjuster makes the decision after his inspection. That prevents a shady shop from making a false estimate and getting the truck for a deflated price.

In the case of my MIL in PA, she was made the offer to purchase the wrecked car for what I thought was a reasonable price. Since she refused the wreck was then sold at auction. I have no idea if the auction price was higher or lower than the offer made to her.

Where I live in Ohio, a salvage titled vehicle can not get full coverage insurance and once rebuilt must be inspected prior to the title written to the owner. I believe it might be a state inspector does it but not sure.

 

I spoke with the Insurance guy today, he stated that because my daughter was not at fault, I may be better served by going through the other parties insurance because my rates are likely to go up if they have to handle the claim. I am not sure really, but based on their answer, they don't seem to be very customer focused. Fortunately the truck is drivable, now I just have to go to fancy restaurant and do the Beverly Hills Cop joke to the valet, "be careful with it all this happened last time I brought it here" Does Whataburger Valet?

 

Insurance is all a scam, their entire business model is to advertise and sell coverage and assistance, and then deny it or make it so inaccessible you may as well not have it. Unfriendliness and threats of rate hikes when you need their assistance, such as this situation, demonstrates it perfectly. I hate all of it.

I would expect hostility from the other party's insurance company, but hey, maybe they'll play ball, it's worth giving them a chance to outshine your own insurance company here. I'd call them up and see about what they'll be offering for a repair or estimate process, but don't let them dupe you into discussing the accident in any way, shape or form, or their lawyers will tapdance on your claim.

 

Man, I live in the wrong state for burger access, though I can't complain about my local sit-down options, Five Guys is as good as it gets here for fast-ish burgers.

 

A flood of them, you say?

 

Yes, more than likely your rates will go up (even though it’s not your fault) if you make a claim with your insurance company. So it would be better to make the claim with their insurance instead. No, it makes no sense, but that’s how it works.

 

I think that's a problem in many States. Carfax for the most part is a joke, and cant be relied on. I used to own a BMW M5, an expensive car to start with, the carfax said the car had been in a minor accident to the left rear 1/4 panel. I had my mechanic check it out, I checked it out as well, there was zero evidence of a wreck, Several years later I go to sell the car and run a new carfax for the potential buyers and the results say major accident with frame damage for the same event on the same day. I went round after round with Carfax and they would not change a thing.

 

I had similar damage plus a bent right rear axle. It was repaired, about $14K.

 

You definitely need to go through the at fault party’s insurance company. Be firm with them, offer them all the research you have - comps, aftermarket parts with receipts, etc. That said, your insurance company should definitely stil be involved representing you as a client with the at fault party’s insurance company. And that shouldn’t ding you at all.

 

Excellent advice.

 

Quick update: Ins Co estimator says $7200.00 to repair. Seems kinda low to me. We ran the plate for the person at fault and there is no registered vehicle for that plate, WTF"""" He basically said its mostly cosmetic damage.