Lady backed up into me. I have questions.

Long story short a lady that did not have license , or a valid registration, (insurance is good for now) , backed up into me . Cracked by grille and the bezel.

Insurance is quoting replacing front bumper valance and grille assembly. The lady was not going very fast. My questions are ,

1. Should i be concerned with other damage behind bumper?
2. Does estimate provided by the insurance company seem sufficient?
3. Am I entitled to a diminished value claim?
3. Am I entitled to request that they use OEM parts instead of aftemarket and still get diminished value claim?
4. How hard is this work to do by ones self if i decide i want to upgrade to color matched bezel and pro grille?

 

Damage looks minor from what I can tell. If you go color matched surround with a Pro grille, save the emblem that you have currently. That thing is over $300.

 

Wow 300 dollars! If I go pro will i have to get a differnt mount for sensor?

 

The grille and bezel come in one piece and is very easy to DIY. I just chrome deleted mine and was surprised how simple the removal and install was. I'll be doing the valance and bumper caps next. All the videos I've seen make this process look pretty simple for DIY as well.

 

Yes you will have to relocate the sensor. @2020Platinum made a video when he did his. I believe others have used the same process for the Pro grille.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDTXe9eNAFg

 

Did you ever install your XB's? I just did a new head unit and 3rd brake light conversion on mine.

 

Was there a police report written? If not carfuck and autofuk will never know accident occurred and unless you tell the buyer nobody will ever know. If a police report was written, wait about 2 weeks. Get on carvanna and enter your vin for an offer, then find an identicle tundra and enter its vin number (use auto trader) the difference in price is your diminished value. It can be huge well in excess of the repair. with fuck fox on the news every night most wont even look at a used vehicle if it shows accident.

 

So your saying i could be in for a nice diminished value check?

 

and yes police report filed.

 

Thanks for sharing George!

@kyle112006 process is very easy, and I’ve had a ton of viewers relocate after I made that video…works with just about any grille out there…if ya need any help just shoot me a message!

 

FWIW - diminished value is typically negotiated between your claimed about and the insurance company and usually requires an independent appraisal that will cost some money (out of your pocket). When dealing with a few hundred dollars of cosmetic parts, there's little chance you're going to get much...

Whatever you used to upload your pictures, they are impossible to blow up, so we can't see the estimate.

As for damage - subsurface damage can be hard to identify without pulling things apart and actually checking it with gages and jigs. When I hit a deer this summer (going ~45mph), I could physically see my grill and grill surround were cracked, my lower front bumper valance was fubar, and my bumper corners were also fubar. What I couldn't readily see until I started looking deeper was my drivers headlight housing had broken tabs, and some of my AC hard lines were bent. What was impossible to see until they pulled the front end apart was that the hood latch support mechanism needed replaced, the AC condenser needed replaced, and several other "subframe" pieces between the grill and frame needed replaced. The insurance estimate was for a grill and center bumper section for $1300. Out the door final cost was right at $6000. Don't forget the potential for having to have the radar unit aligned/recalibrated after an impact.

As for demanding FACTORY (you said OEM, but I imagine you meant Factory - there is a difference) parts - that might depend on the laws of your state, and the places you have do the work (if you go that route). Most insurance companies have "contract" rates they will pay and most body shops that actually go with factory parts will work directly with the insurance to get that all pushed through.

Finally, related to swapping for a Pro grill with color matching - you can usually work with a body shop and get that sort of thing worked into the deal by paying for the difference. In your case, you'll be looking at the cost of labor/materials to paint the grill surround, and it there is a difference in the costs of the grills and parts for relocating the radar unit. It is also possible to do a TRD Sport grill (which would do a color-matched surround but not require relocation of the radar unit).

 

That's what is behind the plastic bumper cover.

To get to that level of disassembly is about 10 minutes about a dozen bolts half a dozen body clips a few screws and the sensor plug. Super easy.

 

How much effort do you want to put into diminished value? Autoloss can run the analysis and supply appraisal. Bottom line is vehicle is tagged as wrecked. It will never be worth as much as one not in an accident, period, not as marketable For starters do what I suggest and run comps on Carvanna. I know of vehicle where a boat trailer was suspected of being hit, zero damage to trailer, incident may have occurred in parking lot. Police report was filed including tow vehicle, at height of covid difference in carvanna numbers between identical vehicles was $9,000!!!!!!!!!!! Carfax has programmed society that accident is damage with or without damage. That was a very nice settlement.

Insurance companies (ALL OF THEM) are cowards. Pay the $300? to Autoloss, submit appraisal insurance they will deny. File small claims case and I am 99.999999% they will settle days before court date. I had a vehicle in an accident insurance offered $1000, than $1500. I filed suite against the individual that hit me (that who is liable) they turn over to the insurance company (since the insurance company is under contract to cover their liability) and they will request jury trial and 5 days before court phone will ring, "we are going to settle this today ($8700) and they pay especially your little $5-10K joke of a claim.

I speak from experience and doing it. Don't wast time with customer service, agent this or that, what all your friends say. Get the appraisal, substantiate with Carvanna values, file the small claims case. (usually 1 page form and $65).

Again if your are not going to fight for diminished value the police report is your worst enemy. The car is tagged as wrecked, poof goes 20%. over 60% of people will not look at a wrecked car. (that will be in the Autoloss report). on a side note if you don't have to file a police report DONT.

 

I'm not going aftermarket....The PRO has a location built in does it not so it is not really relocating. ?

 

Pics of the gal that backed that thang up into you.

 

That's great info Casey, I always thought OEM and factory were the same. Do you know how they differ?

 

My Wife has backed into me several times over the years; can't really complain though!

 

Trust me you dont want the pictures lol

 

OEM simply means “Original Equipment Manufacturer” but not necessarily means that the part is factory branded - simply that it supposedly meets the original factory specs. The older a model of vehicle, the less readily available actual factory parts are and the more often you must go with aftermarket items that are “OEM” in fit and function. They may be made by the actual manufacturer of the original part or they may not, but they are considered OEM.

Take, for example, the fact many elements in the Tundra are made by Denso. Often, the factory Toyota parts will have Denso markings on the part, as well as Toyota markings. But if you go buy a Denso OEM replacement part, it will only have the Denso markings. It also potentially means that while it was built by the same factory, it may not have been subjected to the same level of QC scrutiny required for it to actually achieve Toyota branding.

In many cases, the parts are identical in fit and function. But in some cases they may not be…really depends on the specific part and what it does.

The best analogy I could offer is in welded pipe. Every pipe welder has to be qualified to make welds with a specific procedure and material. And every weld has to be visually inspected before the work is accepted and the piping system can be pressure tested and then turned on. But some systems or clients require random x-ray examination of the welds, which produces a higher level of scrutiny and requires more care to ensure the weld does not have any compromises that would cause it to be rejected. The same welder can make xray and non-xray welds, and both welds will functionally perform the same under most conditions, but when making a weld on a system subject to xray he will take longer (and cost more) to do the work because the finished product is subject to higher scrutiny.

I’ve used a mix of OEM and factory parts over the years. If something is critical to the function of the vehicle or a true pain in the ass to replace, I stick with factory (or highly reputable aftermarket upgrades) at a higher price. If it’s not a critical part or easily replaced if it fails, then OEM.

 

Even a broken down relic like me can learn something, thank you Sir!

 

I learn something every day.
The day I stop learning is the day I die.

 

problem is most people learn the pennies and not the dollars....... Fight with insurance for factory oem parts then leave $8-10K on table for diminished value because it takes effort and everyone says I wont get anything and I am busy blah blah blah