Hello friends, I'm hoping y'all can help me get a rough estimate of the damages. I have full coverage but after reading some other posts I'm scared there's a chance they might total it. What's bothering me the most is that the insurance get's to determine the value of my truck? How do they go about doing this? KBB is valuing it around ~$2,000 which I know is BS so I hope they don't go off that. Mine is a 2.7L 5 speed with 2wd which isn't very common around here so I don't have anything to compare to. Before this damage it was in showroom condition, mint everything. And I hope to return it to that condition. This truck is from SoCal so there's not a speck of rust on the body or frame unlike all the other trucks in this region, and I fully treated the underbody with fluid film before winter started to keep it that way. I'm not sure if this is something the insurance considers when determining value.

I've already called some shops but they're all booked out for the next few weeks. Some wouldn't even let me make an appointment unless I talked to my insurance first even though I just want a quote. What I'm scared will happen is that I report this to my insurance, get a quote they think is too high and they total the car. So what I'm trying to do is get a quote before notifying my insurance to get an idea of what I'm looking at. As much as I hate my truck not being perfect I'd much rather wait a few months and fix it on my own rather than have a totaled truck. In the case I do report to insurance and it comes back totaled, is it possible to withdraw the claim and fix it on my own? Or is it too late then?

I'd appreciate any advice on how to proceed with this. I've never dealt with any insurance claims before so this process is new to me. I'm insured through Geico if that helps.

Just realized the photos didn't get posted

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I don’t really have much experience in this department either, but just from looking at the damage I find it hard to imagine they would total it. The damage looks pretty superficial in these images. I can’t tell if any of the sheet metal is bent, but as for the bumper damage, that shouldn’t cost more than a couple hundred dollars to fix.

Looks like it just needs a bumper and some body work/paint under the tail light on that corner. It shouldn't total it and if it does it will be cheap to buy back. Unless you have a fixed/set value insurance policy for an agreed upon amount then the insurance company is going to use kbb, nada, black book to determine the value. Some people have had success submitting comparable vehicles that have sold in your region, but its going to be hard to find 5 speed/4cyl/2wd for comparisons. They may be rare, but they aren't really desirable. If it were me I wouldn't even bother reporting it to insurance. I would just replace the bumper.

Looks like most damage is to left end cap and sheetmetal just above, bumper appears OKish. Not very costly.

I'd call insurance and just ask general questions without announcing who you are or beginning the process. Years ago I was involved in similar situation, was in college and really could not afford another vehicle, they estimate to repair against value was at 80%. I told insurer I really needed to stay with vehicle and they said OK we'll fix it for you, one easy question and I got what I wanted. Never hurts to ask.

Totaling = 75% of value. Value is usually affected by any receipts you have that added safety value or life to driveline.

Not sure how it works in your state yet in texas if totaled insurance Must allow you to buy your vehicle back for 15% of value.

Luck!

I have had good experiences with Geico's claim team, although that was almost a decade ago. I highly doubt they will total the vehicle. Since you didn't mention the other driver's insurance I'm going to assume there was no other driver or you were at fault (it happens). Since you have full coverage, look up what your deductible is for repairs, it should all be spelled out in your policy documents. If you don't have those documents, log into your account online and get a copy of them. It will be clearly spelled out what is expected of you to pay.

If they do end up saying due to cost of parts for a 20+ year old vehicle, rising labor costs, blah blah blah that they'd rather total it you'll have the option to get the cash payout and then buy the vehicle back from them. This may result in a salvage title though but that doesn't matter if you keep the vehicle long term. Don't accept their first offer if they do total as it's worth in the $5000-$7,000 range depending on mileage (it's a 5-speed) with that damage. Also do not let them pay out the repair costs before you have an actual quote from a shop in hand.

Since you can drive it, there's no harm in waiting for the process to play out to make sure you get the coverage you're already paying for. I'm also assuming your rear hatch is unaffected and opens and closes fine. If it doesn't that means the frame was tweaked and is a totally different matter.

And yes, Kelly Blue Book not a good reference anymore. It was a joke in 2019 for 4Runner prices but now it's completely detached from reality.

When you report it the insurance might not even pay for it ,if the damage is less then the deductible. How much is your deductible. If it is high out of pocket like a 1000 or so, it might be better just to fix it out of pocket.

The corners can be a challenge to repair on our Runners because of inner reinforcements limit access to straighten
with hammer and dollies so it a puller type repair.
Body gap has been affected between hatch and metal below taillight, runs down the side also.
Bumpers are cheap, the brackets that hold bumper to body will be needing straightened more than likely.
Since you want it back as it was let things play out with Insurance and estimates go from there.

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Looks like the bumper corner went down, body went in slightly. The money is correcting that closing gap on the rear hatch. The bumper corner and mounting brackets are cheap/easy. You might also scope out if the weld nuts within the body (which the bumper brackets mount to) are OK. They can break loose in a situation like this. Not a big deal as they can easily be replaced with flange nuts, as there are access holes for them. But it's something a body shop might blow out of proportion, not helping your "totaled" situation.

As for vehicle value, look for comps. There's a 3RZ/5spd/2WD on SF bay area CL right now, 150K for $8500, a bit high, but who knows with the current used car market. I'd say $5-8K depending on overall condition/mileage, I picked one up 2 years ago for $3K, one owner, 165K miles, all dealer serviced, really clean. No way I could buy it for that price now...