Lost a good one today

First time caller, long time listener....

On my way traveling from an appointment to a meeting, I found a slick spot on highway and did what I had never thought would happen. All of a sudden went into a fishtail turning left. Over corrected to the right, over steered, so over corrected to the left. Went head on into a jersey barrier. Both the driver and passenger airbags deployed and couldnt see out of the windows. I bounced off and was still going, ended up crossing traffic to the right. I had no power to the brakes or steering, and was heading for a ravine. Thankfully the guard rail stopped me.

I want to clarify both hands were on the steering wheel, I was driving 60 in a 55, and had decent tread on all tires.

I've been following along for over a year, in my quest to find and secure a 1GT. I had a 2020 F150 before, and although there's something about the zippiness of those engines, I think with all things said and done, I'm gonna stick to Tundras. It took me months to find this baby, and I've only had it since January. It had very minimal rust, lower miles, and even had a DVD player. I never felt so proud of a vehicle I've owned and it really sucks that this happened today..

That being said, any word on what people are seeing for their Tundras from insurance? I'm not exactly sold on how much we'll get out of it, despite spending $13,000 within the last year.

 

Shoot. Glad you're okay, but man does that suck.

I've had a handful of scares myself on the beltline. I'd think that it would be pretty good being a highway with a lot of traffic, but I guess not. All have been between the Airport Rd and Old Sauk exits too. I spend most of my summers and usually the entirety of my winter break in Madison/Middleton.

Hopefully you can work out a deal with your insurance.

 

Firstly, glad you're ok. Secondly, visually it doesn't look too bad. If you love it that much, it may be worth buying it and fixing it. Something you'll have to decide.

 

I don't disagree that it doesn't look visually too bad- but the frame just rear the wheels is toast and bent. There was some rotation and the right side is more fudged than not. I don't quite have the time or money to try to salvage it.

 

Man that sucks and glad you’re ok. 60 in a 55 in below freezing weather with all that precip around is a recipe for disaster. Insurance will lowball you. You’ll have to find comps for yours in like condition with like miles and fight them on the value to get what it’s worth.

 

And don’t worry, your secret is safe with us #therealunitedhealthassassin

 

Sorry to hear. Good looking truck. Glad you're well, though. That's more important.

 

Worth a shot, right?

 

Glad you are okay.

 

The purpose of insurance is to "make you whole". Granted, insurance can make it a painful process to get "whole" again, i.e. able to replace the vehicle to the condition it was in, sometimes with an additional check for the difference in diminished value now it's got an accident on record (i.e. Diminished Value claim, which many states support, and you should file any time you have an accident).

That said, your best bet is probably to be armed, and not sign anything until you're satisfied. Get comps. Go to BAT's website, and search for results on 2004 Tundra: https://bringatrailer.com/search/?s=2004+toyota+tundra

You'll see comps there you can link to your truck. Given yours is V8, 4WD, and the Limited package, and nicely optioned, the only difference is slightly higher miles but everyone knows these trucks easily for 400k-600k miles without needing anything other than routine/regular maintenance. Left-hand column has two quite close to yours. @Sirfive already linked one... You may also search for 2005, and 2006 given the options weren't absurdly different, but the insurance may reject based on year difference (and slight engine differences, 05-06 adds SAI system)

I'd also ask about buyback prices. If there's frame damage, on a 20 year old truck, despite the popularity, they're going to value it for probably half what you paid for it. I'd tag @Dakillacore here, maybe he has some input...

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Whatcha want for your seatbelt latches?

 

That leather-wrapped minty nice steering wheel WITH audio controls, and probably good clockspring

All that woodgrain dash and door control bits.

Someone on here was literally just looking for visors.

Front leather heated seats with all the wiring and controls, there's another $400 easy, or $650 for front and rear.

Full center console, another $150-200...

So many parts, so many parts...

 

They might fix it????

 

Like.

 

I lol’d. OP sorry about your ride, glad you’re alright. Agreed with using BaT, check all the other sites too to get comps. Search google for ‘how to negotiate an auto claim with [your insurance carrier’s name]’ and see if Reddit or quora or Facebook or whatever can help.

 

Glad you are OK.

Not sure of your history with the truck, but if you've spent money on it, be sure to show the receipts to the insurance company. I got several thousand more dollars for an old Toyota car I had years ago that they wanted to total

 

Had the exact same truck, loved it. Sorry for your loss. But at least you are ok.

 

Seriously doubt it, look at pic, front end us pushed up, front frame horns are probably bent, albeit not much but they are going to total it from that alone. Look at the bed in relation to the cab, the bed is angled upward, like the frame is pinched at the back of the cab brace. I would suspect the frame braces are likely pooched and the frame bent there too. The tail end of the bed is pointing higher in the air than its supposed to be in relation to the rest of the truck. Its 20 years old, they dont fix anything that old anymore they junk it and give you a few bucks and send you on your way.

Father-in-law coming back from deer camp fell asleep and ran off the road about 2 months ago in his 2002 AC 4x4, didnt hurt anything just clipped a tree limb that broke the pass side mirror off and peeled the rear fender flare off. This was the only damage cosmetically on the exterior, underneath his skid plate was bent from when he got towed out backwards the skid plate caught some dirt or something and peeled the drivers corner backward. It was a wide shoulder grass right-of-way and he had practically nothing wrong other than some previous scratches and small dents and dings. He didnt care about the dents and dings since its his knock around truck. I looked it over the next day, nothing needed to be painted, literally mirror, fender flare, clips, skid plate. I told him to tell insurance he just wanted those items fixed and the rest was already there and there was no reason to paint it cause its scratched from years of riding in the woods anyway. I told him it was an $800-$1200 fix at body shop at maximum.

The insurance adjuster came out, told him it was $3500-$4500 and they were likely going to total it cause they valued the truck at like $6250
He took it to a body shop and they quoted him like $5200 and insurance totaled it. I asked him WTF did they look at to get the prices so high, there was no reason to paint the whole fookin truck. He ended up buying it back from insurance, somehow he ended up with a few grand and put it in the shop and fixed the mirror, front wheel bearings (were already going out) and got a front end alignment and is driving it today. The rear fender flare is sitting in the bed but i doubt he ever gets another one to put on. Moral of the story, insurance isnt going to fix a 20 year old truck they would rather scrap it.

 

Don't have Tundra. Two whole paragraphs as to why they won't. It really is not that important.

That Sh:; will buff out!!! TRUST ME!
He'll be back in that truck in two weeks.

 

336 hours to go amirite?
just two moar weeks...
Can it be fixed yes....
Will insurance allow it to be fixed, i say no.

 

There it is. The vultures swoop in quick!

 

Yes, it can be fixed. There are shops that possess the knowledge and the equipment to straighten frames. Insurance probably is going to say no. It's really a basic economic question for them, which I get. If that is the case, and OP has the wherewithal to do it, he can recoup his $ by parting it out. Not an easy or quick task, but doable and he could come out on the net- positive financially, done correctly.

 

There definitely are frame whisperers out there, usually you can find one within an hour or two of any major city. I know, I've definitely used them to fix at least one of my vehicles in the past, and with others, Dad and I had great success in my earlier/formative years with a come along and some trees.

But I stand by my earlier statement which it looks like @badass03taco concurs, "If there's frame damage, on a 20 year old truck, despite the popularity, they're going to value it for probably half what you paid for it." IOW, they'll total it. I'll be shocked if they fix a truck that old if there's even a hint of frame damage.

There are so many valuable parts in that truck though, if you're willing to deal with the hassle of part-out, I'm certain you can probably double your money on whatever the buyback is.

 

A friend of mine had a minor accident where he rear ended a car in town with his first gen 2wd AC Tundra, minor frame damage, and they totaled that truck out in a heart beat. His was why I ended up getting one.

 

Probably not helpful to the OP, but I know for a fact that frames can be straightened. If you live in TX, these guys are worth reaching out to for collision repair no matter how bad it is:

http://advantageautoworks.com/

 

Yup. He just needs to find this "shop."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnaFNDxbGS0

 

My dad use to straighten frames on a regular basis as an autobody man when he was working regularly before he retired. He’s got the old school chains and hookups for it. Never really liked doing the work since he wouldn’t see a paycheck for 2 or 3 weeks while straightening the frame, repairing body panels and prepping for paint.

 

Yes, the ability exists, but the economics of insurance companies has tilted the field. Craftsman absolutely do exist.

 

My high school auto shop didn’t have a frame rack but we had a dozer and some rams. We straightened several frames on Toyota trucks. The trick is to carefully measure and work methodically.