Advice needed for not at fault accident

Hello everyone!

Was recently rear ended in some slow traffic.

I have experience with at fault accidents (wife is on her 3rd corolla lol) but zero with not at fault.

I'm wanting to keep my truck whether it's totaled or not.

I understand if it's totaled, I have to buy it back from the insurance as a salvage and such using the check they cut for me.

But if it's not totalled, how do I go about getting the damage and loss of value estimated? Since I am wanting to cash out and not have it repaired.

I've read about several shops declining to give estimates if you don't agree for repairs considering it might be impossible to reassemble some damaged components. And I don't want to be low balled by the adjuster from their insurance.

Truck is a 2012 Tundra TRD offroad 4x4 with 115,000
Bought it used in 2015 w/ 29k miles for $32k

Any advice is appreciated.

 

Damage looks minimal in that pic. New tailgate and bumper appears to be 95% of it. Perhaps there's more to see.

 

Agree. Can’t imagine it’s totaled, especially with today’s prices.

 

My concern is not the truck but the occupants of your Tundra. Make sure those go see a doctor so a record is made. I've had two family members feel fine after their accidents only to have some pain a few days later.

Terrible to have to say this but it also wakes up the insurance companies. Hope you don't have no fault insurance.

 

Definitely planning to see a doctor.

The reason I say it may be totalled is because the bumper was pushed into both rear quarter panels causing some damage. And I'm unsure if there is any frame damage

If it is limited to what is visible (bumber/tailgate/trailer plug), I'm curious how do I go about getting an estimate for the damage, if I'm just wanting them to cut a check and fix the stuff myself.

 

My experience has been that you will be given the chance to buy it with a salvage title attached. Check your State laws about getting tags after the title has been downgraded. Some make it difficult.

Hope you get a good report from the Dr.

 

@Dakillacore has experience with this.

 

If both the bedsides are also damaged then yes the cost goes way up. How do you get an estimate for the damage? Two people will do that for you. Body shop or insurance estimator.

 

Did the bed hit the backside of the cab?

 

Thanks for the tag, Mamba.

1) This doesn't look like a total loss, unless the car hit your hitch and the frame was bent as a result. BUT it doesn't look like it's sagging to me. You may be A-OK as the damage seems to be located high up and not lower. Insurance deems a vehicle a total loss once the repairs meet about 75-80% of the vehicles value. (including rental times and so forth).

2) The insurance will low-ball you. It's what they do to keep their numbers low and their supervisors happy. But this is ok because the initial estimate isn't worth anything anyways. It doesn't matter where you go for the estimate because the insurance approved estimate is the only one that matters. The reason is that you can't know the full cost of repairs until the damaged area has been disassembled and inspected FULLY. This means taking off the entire bed of the truck and inspecting your cab corners for damage. A lot of rear end hits will push the bed into the back of your cab, causing damage there as well.

3) Again, the first initial estimate has zero weight in the actual process of repairing your vehicle. Do not worry about getting multiple estimates and all that yadda yadda. The insurance and body shop will only be able to proceed off of the insurance estimate. They will cut you a check for the initial estimate and then you pick a body shop. The body shop will then disassemble the vehicle and submit a supplement for all of the additional items found (There will be an average of about 3-5 supplements). Your truck and all the related damages will be fixed so do not worry. Any body shop that is worth their salt will get this taken care of.

4) Insurance will factor used (LKQ) and aftermarket parts. Insurance guidelines authorize this for vehicles over 2 years old so expect this. You can fight it, but there are no laws against it. You will need to pay out of pocket for the difference to get OEM (Toyota) parts. If you take it to a certified Toyota collision repair facility then they have the power to "match prices", meaning they can match the price of the aftermarket/used parts (within a certain threshold) to give you OEM parts at no cost to you. But the repair facility is entirely up to you.

5) Repairs have been taking roughly 1 - 1 1/2 months on average due to back ordered parts, insurance supplement(s) approvals and so forth. The other parties insurance will have to supply you with a rental vehicle for the duration of repairs but the generally do not accommodate for a full sized truck. Any "upgrades" are an out of pocket expense.

6) Diminished value. This really depends on your area but after the repairs have been completed you will get a check for the value lost due to the accident (again, this a area dependent). Some states have no laws protecting this and some do. So do your research and don't ask for it until after the total cost of repairs have been assessed so that you get more money back.

This is just the starting point for you. I have worked at a Toyota collision facility for almost 10 years now and can provide any/all information that you need. Message me if you have any questions or just need guidance.

BE WARNED. Trust advice from body shop people only on this sub. We have the expertise and knowledge of the industry to help the most. We follow OEM guidelines for safety and durability when completing repairs. There are a lot of lot lizard repairers out there that think 3 inches of bondo on a panel is ok and that is far from the truth as safety goes. Just because you can repair something, doesn't mean that you should repair it.