2020 Tundra Front End Collision

Glad all are okay, mostly.
Glad that douche-canoe was arrested.
Glad you didn't owe anything on your truck.

Its fortunate that those construction workers were there to help before 1st responders arrived.

I have one question though. What the hell is a 4X2 off road package?

 

Tacoma’s and tundras both sell a 4x2 with an off-road package. I think they have a locking rear diff.

 

Nasty hit, glad you guys are ok relatively speaking.

 

First of all glad you’re ok. Secondly, hire a lawyer NOW. I was hit by a guy texting who blew through a red light last June in my 4runner - 3 days after I paid it off. Hit me going 55mph.
I refused to leave the scene in an ambulance thinking I was “too tough” to do that. The guy was a complete asshole at the scene claiming his light was yellow - 3 witnesses stopped and gave statements to the contrary. All airbags deployed in the 4Runner and I got paid an extremely fair valuation (Over75% of original purchase price on a 5 year old runner with 100k miles) for the 4Runner from MY insurance company who then fought with the at faults company to reimburse them the entire amount, which we eventually got.
I knew I was more injured that I thought the next day and went to the hospital (two previous back surgeries). That’s when his insurance company called me on my cell phone and offered me a “settlement” of $900. I wasn’t sure what was happening. Why were they calling me? What’s the settlement for?...... Not knowing what to do, on my way home from the mri facility learning that I had Herniated a disc as a result, I called a lawyer who was recommended to me. Best decision I ever made.
The Herniated disk in my back needed PT and the bills mounted. If I didn’t have a lawyer I would have been stuck paying all that on my own. Their $900 offer wouldn’t have covered my ER bill, let alone the MRI, physician visits, rental car, PT, and epidural injections.....I retained the layer and paid NOTHING out of pocket - they just took a percentage of the Final settlement check. It was well worth the time and allowed me to have peace of mind to just focus on getting better.
With those injuries, The inconvenience, that amount of damage and the diminished value of a truck with less than a thousand miles, you deserve wayyyyy more than $18k man. Lawyer up and don’t try to be a tough guy. If he was on a suspended license he probably doesn’t have insurance......
Glad to see you guys escaped without more serious injuries.

 

My heart goes out to you pal. Sorry to hear that you had this horrible experience and I hope your family is okay.

Man, I would be livid at the dude that caused this. The colour and wheel combo you picked was really nice and perfect.

Your truck should be a write off 100 percent. I guarantee you the structural integrity is compromised, it has a bent chassis probably and not to mention most if not all the airbags are deployed. I came across thousands of these crashes, no way they would fix that where I am. Too much liability for the insurer.

Where I am you can opt into an insurance called “Vehicle Replacement”. Check if you have that. It covers you for five years regardless of mileage, as long as you bought it new and your are first owner. If anything happens to the truck where it’s a write off, they give you the value of the truck new in a cheque as long as it is within five years and they don’t care about mileage. This is not an advertised premium the insurer usually mentions but you can buy into it. It’s not expensive either. Something like a hundred bucks or so a year. It’s five years for car/truck and two years on a motorcycle.

I’m not not here to tell anyone what to do, but this premium along with increasing ones liability to 2 million from 1 million is a must. I seen too many folks loose their shirt for not having that insurance. Look into it if you’re interested. It could save you a lot of grief if god forbid you get caught up in a jam.

Keep us updated please.

 

X2 what was said previously.

Just wondering how the truck responded before the impact. I'm not so up to date on the 2018+ but I thought they have some automatic braking systems, etc.

 

Yes they do, the TSS can apply the brakes as well as the radar cruise control.

 

So, so sorry to read this, Tundra brother.
Very thankful you and the Frau are safe.
Lived in Mandeville in the late 90's and remember I-10 vividly.
We wish you a speedy recovery.
- Haggis from Michigan

 

Drivers with little experience driving high speed freeways discover too late that the inside shoulder, except for being dead-stop stalled in the traffic lanes, is the absolute worst place to be stalled. In a high traffic period, you can't even escape the vehicle. You realize your choices are limited: (1) wait for help from a large, heavy-duty tow truck with fearless driver, or (2) wait for the traffic to subside, which in some locales, never happens. That realization can create a lot of fear and stress in any driver.

Since human beings can behave capriciously and exercise really bad judgement under stress, it should be standard practice to observe the situation early and change one freeway lane to the right away from the stalled vehicle. If a lane change is impossible, stay hyper-vigilant with your hand on the horn button and your foot ready to brake. At the first sign of ANY movement, honk, brake, and assess for an emergency evasion. When your "training" kicks-in, it all happens in literally a second.

I don't change a lane away because it's the "nice" thing to do: I do it because I expect a driver in that situation to make a really bad decision without looking, and it gives me a split second longer to react and improvise an evasion maneuver. A instantaneous lane change into the side of your vehicle on a freeway is almost impossible to avoid, and I doubt that any anti-collision system will react quickly enough.

I am really glad that you and your family are uninjured, and regret that your Tundra is trashed. The Tundra can be fixed one way or the other. The outcome is better than it could have been.

 

So glad you guys are okay... and glad you were in a big heavy truck. That may have saved you from more serious injuries. As others have said, don’t make any decisions right now. Just heal. Then explore options, as a part of that, I think I’d honestly be calling a lawyer in a situation like this. There’s a lot of money on the table for the truck, diminished value, potential injuries that might not become apparent for some time after the accident, etc.

FWIW... loss of consciousness, knowing this from my son’s football concussion protocol from the school physician, all but assures both of you suffered concussions. Stay well. Be careful. Seek medical care. The school protocol (I’m looking at it here because we just signed it) requires any player who loses consciousness to be evaluated in person by a neurologist, receive an imaging study at the discretion of the neurologist and to sit out a minimum of two full weeks before a conference with us (parents) about when he might be allowed to return to play. Prior to a return to play, we would be required to obtain a letter from our own pediatrician (or the school physician) specifically clearing him to return to play and “a statement that the player has been symptom free for a minimum of 10 days.” The school also does IMPACT testing prior to the season and during the game if any player shows signs of a concussion or takes a hit to the head. I guess that the long way of saying, take that loss of consciousness very seriously.

Also agree that the truck is totaled. The crumple zones and energy absorbing structures have been used from the front bumper to the rear bumper. If you have the time, and can stomach it, watch the full frontal crash testing on the Tundra on NHTSA website. You can literally see the energy traveling through the entire structure of the truck... your truck did it’s job. It kept you guys alive. It deserves a hug and then it should be sent off to the scrap yard... and USAA ought to be cutting you a check for a brand new replacement.

Stay well!

 

double post. Apologies.

 

You may want to challenge the repair. We had a BMW covered with USAA and they did the same thing said that it could be repaired for 10k about 3 months later after repairs the actual cost was just under 14k. Same kinda damage front end car was never the same had more issues and was paying more just to keep it going. In the end finally just got rid of it the car, the value after repairs was 2k.

Good luck hope guys do well now and in the future.

 

We recently filed an insurance claim on our sequoia our adjuster estimated body work totaling 3200 the final bill was 9600 including taxes. I know the adjuster was wishing I took the check

 

Interesting update to accident. I instructed USAA to transport the wrecked Tundra from LA to TX to take to Toyota’s Sterling McCall Dealership that has a “Gold Collision Center”, and they actually complied. Said the TX-LA border has a 3-hr delay to screen all drivers for COVID symptoms, but might take two days. Will be interesting to hear what Toyota Dealership Collision shop estimate is, and whether or not they will even recommend repairing it at all. Stay tuned.

 

Glad to hear you and your wife are ok!

 

I’m interested to see how the engine held up.

 

Wow my geico policy didn’t even want to pay for OEM parts, good thing my body shop ate the bill for the difference. I recommend everyone to double check what their insurance coverage is because I assumed my insurance would pay for OEM replacement parts, but you get what you pay for I guess.

 

Take the money fix it though friends bodyshop

 

Nooooo! What happens when friends body shop says it’s gonna be an extra 4K for power steering rack & pump & cv axles & upper control arm ????

 

I was hoping there was and extra $7k for a super charger

 

My bet is after they get it and put it on a lift they’ll see frame damage, suspension damage, etc... and say it’s totaled. Initial first pass from adjuster was $18k to repair it and I know he missed a lot. All I want is all OEM parts, do it right, and fix everything, or cut me a check for a totaled 3-week old vehicle with 600 miles on it. Either/or. Don’t want cheap repair, unsafe repair, or 3rd party spot repair. Should know within the week. Stay tuned for next update.

 

As @shawn474 said: call a Lawyer ASAP. Even just for piece of mind and a consultation. I’ve learned the hard way in life good legal advice is invaluable. Especially when some asshat does a stupid thing in your case.

Glad there were no serious injuries. Sorry about the truck...

 

That'll be a write off. Airbags alone are very expensive aren't they? Little deer hit my friends new Tacoma and mainly broke plastic pieces and that was a $5,000 repair...

 

I assure you that it will be written off 1000 percent.

It's not only an issue of the cost of property damage vs value persay, even though the cost of repair will be significant. They factor in the "formula" that if by chance the vehicle is not up to spec after repair, they can be liable and negligent because they had a role in the repair.

In the legal world, damages are calculated in percentages, not in absolutes. If they fix the truck and god forbid someone got hurt or killed after the fact, they are liable for X percent of the damages. That could be a lot of money. Keep in mind that the vast majority of settlements in the insurance world are as a result of injury or death, not the actual vehicles or asset.

Furthermore, it is in the best interest of the insurer to label the vehicle as "branded" and not fix it due to frame damage, air bag deployment etc. This way when someone buys it in an auction, the new owner assumes liability and have a rebuilt title and releases the insurance of all liability.

Thats free legal advice my brother No need to find a lawyer. Just stay put and wait and see.

By the way, the hardest issue moving forward will be patience. Given Covid and logistical issues such us manpower, bodyshops hours or even banking issues would cause a long delay. And delays equals dollars. All this makes it more sensible to write off this truck. Plus it's a tax exemption for them and a no brainer.

It would be very foolish of them to fix. I almost guarantee you the adjuster gave that figure based on pictures only.

Where I am, if a vehicle has airbags deployed, rolls over, water or fire damage; and it's not deemed a criminal matter. Then it's a write off after 30 days. End of story

Sorry for the novel.

 

I would NOT wait to contact a lawyer. It costs you NOTHING and it is good for peace of mind. It also helps the fact that you reached out earlier in the process than waiting 3 months to do so......you should take all precautions regarding your health. And this includes physical and financial health. It’s all well and good to think it’s going to be written off but if it’s not, with a lawyer you have some recourse to battle sheisty insurance companies. I had the same Wait and see feeling initially after my accident; but am very thankful that I had the lawyer to fight on my behalf to get my medical costs paid for.

 

^This x 1000%. sheisty insurance companies want a quick, no frills settlement. Don't agree to anything without consulting a laywer first - especially with the possibility of latent injuries.

 

Glad to hear your wife and you are ok.
Typically if all airbags are deployed and seeing that damage,
It’s a total loss. I’d push for that.
Make sure you document everything and anything you do about this accident, lawyer up ASAP, police report, doctors visits, or tella-conference your doc.
That’s what I’d do ASAP. good luck

 

Latest Tundra update...
Original damage estimate: $18k
New damage found: $6k
Still assessing damage: Pending
Salvage value: Pending
Driver that caused accident with suspended license and careless operation citation that tried to leave scene of accident had wife insured with Allstate. Allstate attempting to suggest he was not listed as driver on policy, may have borrowed car without permission, may not actually be the driver, still investigating, etc...
So far my insurance (USAA) letting body shop finish damage estimate to determine whether total loss (still pending). Still having chest pain 15 days after accident, and wife is still nursing two fractured/displaced ribs from impact/airbags. Should have some conclusions by end of this week.

 

Not to be too paranoid but other than posting whether or not they deem the truck a total loss, I wouldn’t put anything about your injuries or your wife’s injuries. Good luck!

 

Sorry about the nagging injuries...and don’t forget to call a lawyer. Sorry to keep repeating it, but you’re seeing the insurance company trying to play games already. With your injuries and the negligence on the part of the other driver you really should at least get a legal consultation.

If they try to argue he’s not insurable, then your insurance would pick up the tab.