Got T-Boned Pretty Bad. Any advice?

B

briancl

New member
Hi,

So yesterday was driving down the street and a lady runs into me as she's trying to merge in the lane.

Everyone is okay, but looks like my car has a lot of damage.

My car is a 2015 4Runner Limited with about 46k miles.

Is this a salavage? Seems my car is gonna take a hit if i I ever plan to sell.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!




 
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Jlpskydive said:
Doesn’t look like a total to me. Don’t settle with the insurance co. Unless they pay the depreciation also.
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It's my first time in an accident like this, so was wondering what I should do.

I'm going to bring it in for a preliminary repair estimate. There's a good Toyota Collision Repair Center around me, but seems even with a 100% good repair. My car is still gonna have this looming.

Any advice?
 
Regarding "diminished value" (the depreciation that has been mentioned)...

No insurance company will "guess" at the diminished value of a vehicle due to a collision. If the vehicle is not considered a total loss, you would have to have it repaired per the insurance company's approved estimate and then sell it, documenting comparable vehicles sold in the area that did not endure a collision showing the difference is sale price between those 4Runners and your 4Runner.

Do insurance companies pay "diminished value" claims? Yes. Is it easy to get them to do it? Not by a long-shot. Generally, it's more exotic/expensive luxury vehicles that they pay-out on. Many auto insurers are now writing into their policies exclusions for diminished value claims by insureds (mean only a "claimant" can try to recover the diminished value -- also meaning you'd have to try to go after the auto insurance company of the person who hit you, if if was determined to be the other driver's fault).

Depending on who you have your auto insurance coverage with, it may not be that negative of an experience. The big name auto insurance providers (American Family, Allstate, State Farm, etc.) are usually good to deal with following a collision. Others, not so much.
 
Woz1976-MT said:
Regarding "diminished value" (the depreciation that has been mentioned)...

No insurance company will "guess" at the diminished value of a vehicle due to a collision. If the vehicle is not considered a total loss, you would have to have it repaired per the insurance company's approved estimate and then sell it, documenting comparable vehicles sold in the area that did not endure a collision showing the difference is sale price between those 4Runners and your 4Runner.

Do insurance companies pay "diminished value" claims? Yes. Is it easy to get them to do it? Not by a long-shot. Generally, it's more exotic/expensive luxury vehicles that they pay-out on. Many auto insurers are now writing into their policies exclusions for diminished value claims by insureds (mean only a "claimant" can try to recover the diminished value -- also meaning you'd have to try to go after the auto insurance company of the person who hit you, if if was determined to be the other driver's fault).

Depending on who you have your auto insurance coverage with, it may not be that negative of an experience. The big name auto insurance providers (American Family, Allstate, State Farm, etc.) are usually good to deal with following a collision. Others, not so much.
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Thank you! Appreciate this! We are both under State Farm, so I will bring this up during the estimate process and see what they have to say.
 
Meh, that'll buff out (jk)

Oof, an accident like this is a good reason to own a body-on-frame vehicle, assuming your frame isn't tweaked (and by the looks of it, it shouldn't be).

I had a 3rd gen 4Runner that hit a concrete barrier after some black ice shenanigans and the insurance company decided to rebuild it, new frame and all. Drove that one for years after that with no ill effects.

Good luck
 
Frame damage: unlikely
Two new doors: not a huge deal for a collision center
Paint: driver’s side (whole side) color blend
‘B’ pillar: BIG question mark
Rear quarter panel: Big question mark

It’s not bad damage but it’s in a bad area. I could maybe stand the quarter panel being tweaked. I would insist that the ‘b’ pillar be closely looked at and brought back to spec if possible and I wouldn’t sign the work till I heard the doors close and they go through a car wash a minimum of half a dozen times to verify a factory seal.
 
I spent 10 years running body shops in Maryland and another 7 before that fixing cars. It’s not a total. Car is worth too much. The insurance company will write a lowball estimate ... as this is customary. Once it’s in the shop the bill will go up ... as that is customary as well. Probably not going to come close to total loss threshold. You’re probably looking at a possible front door, definite rear door, definite quarter panel and maybe an hour or two repair on the b pillar(if there were b pillar damage, the tops of the doors at the b pillar would be uneven and kicked out...they look fine from your pic)...but you won’t know that until the doors come off.

Either way you look at it....it sucks a big one. PLEASE make sure you pick a reliable and reputable shop! They are out there. Don’t let your insurance company steer you in the direction they want!
 
Woz1976-MT said:
Regarding "diminished value" (the depreciation that has been mentioned)...

No insurance company will "guess" at the diminished value of a vehicle due to a collision. If the vehicle is not considered a total loss, you would have to have it repaired per the insurance company's approved estimate and then sell it, documenting comparable vehicles sold in the area that did not endure a collision showing the difference is sale price between those 4Runners and your 4Runner.

Do insurance companies pay "diminished value" claims? Yes. Is it easy to get them to do it? Not by a long-shot. Generally, it's more exotic/expensive luxury vehicles that they pay-out on. Many auto insurers are now writing into their policies exclusions for diminished value claims by insureds (mean only a "claimant" can try to recover the diminished value -- also meaning you'd have to try to go after the auto insurance company of the person who hit you, if if was determined to be the other driver's fault).

Depending on who you have your auto insurance coverage with, it may not be that negative of an experience. The big name auto insurance providers (American Family, Allstate, State Farm, etc.) are usually good to deal with following a collision. Others, not so much.
Click to expand...

In all things insurance YMMV, but with Progressive I personally had no issue claiming diminished value. They sent me a 400 dollar check after someone keyed my passenger door
 
I was expecting something a lot worse... I am sorry, but you did not get T-Boned and its not that bad.

You got sideswiped. Those damages are pretty damn easy for a mediocre body shop to fix. So if you go to a reputable shop.. that will be fixed and you wont know the difference. Definitely anyone looking at it will not know it was ever in an accident.
 
Definitely not a total. Not by a long shot. I worked as an estimator at a high volume body shop for a while. Insurance companies absolutely suck to deal with. If the insured insurance company has a very reputable direct repair shop in your area I would go that route. In a lot of areas non-direct repair shops have to wait for an estimator from the insurance company to come out before they can do any work outside of the initial or previous estimate. And it can seriously delay things. I would also suggest using OE parts even if you have to pay a little out of pocket. Aftermarket lights and bumpers especially. They just don't fit like OE at all. Used doors are fine if your insurance company wants to go that way but DON'T use any used weld-on panels. And you absolutely shouldn't be able to tell anything ever happened if it's repaired at a good shop.
 
I got rear ended twice in my tundra in the same year! That repair will definitely show up on carfax. I took about a 2k hit when i traded my truck In. If your going to keep it forever doesn’t really matter. I got some $ for diminished value from at fault persons insurance company. I went on Carvana like I wanted to sell the truck to them. They gave me a offer for the truck and showed how much the value was affected due to the accident. So I used that for proof of diminished value. Good luck!


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Appreciate all the helpful advice from everyone here!

Just wanted to update that I am going to the insurance company's shop to get an estimate on the damage. Also, airbags did not deploy during the hit.

After, I plan to bring it to Longo Toyota Collision Repair Center and get them to repair. Had a great experience with working with them in the past.
 
I literally just went through this. You don’t have to sell it to get a DV claim. I didn’t anyway. I just got 5k DV on my 2018 STI with 12k in damage, and then traded it in. Lady who hit me had State Farm, so they will pay, but you have to file when the car is fixed. Hire a DV professional (I paid 200 bucks) to run the numbers and send State Farm the report with explanations of your loss and why it requires DV. They will either have their appraiser look at it or hire a 3rd party. I didn’t have the time to deal with the paperwork, or knowledge to fight SF, so that 200 bucks was well spent. In NC you have to fill out a damage disclosure if over 25% so beware of that. Carfax report will show if fixed and paid for by insurance, or even go by the police report. Many ways to get screwed here so just ask a lot of questions if you go the DV route.
 
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