I wrecked my 4Runner!!!

[Chandler_Ross]

Unfortunately, earlier this week I wrecked my 4Runner. No one was hurt. And my Runner is alright. Drove it home like nothing happened. A few scratches and dents. Nothing that can't be fixed (as far as I know). I'm taking it to the local Toyota/Lexus/Scion Collision Center tomorrow to get estimates and have it completely looked over.

How it happened:

So I was going down a busy 2 lane road, about 3:45 PM. A car pulls out of a neighborhood and cuts off the Honda Civic in front of me. The lady in the Civic slammed her brakes, barely tapped the first car and had no damage. She stopped incredibly quick. I had about 4-5 seconds from when I applied my brakes till I impacted her. You would think that would be enough time to stop. But not when you're pulling 33s on the stock brakes. (not the bigger 3rd gen brakes either, it came stock with 15s and small brakes) I hit her at less than 10 MPH. Right after I hit her, I look into my rearview and see a girl in a pickup truck. She was doing about 45. She ran directly into me. No brakes. No defensive driving. She claims to have never seen my brake lights. She thinks she can do this because at the scene I told her I hit my brakes and emergency brake. She tells everyone I did not hit my foot brake and managed to stop the vehicle before she hit me with only the e-brake. And she never saw brake lights. Any 3rd gen owner, and just about anyone with a heavy vehicle, knows that didn't happen. Anyway... Her bumper went under my trailer hitch, allowing my trailer hitch to take almost all of the impact. It smashed right through the logo on the grill of the little GMC. Pushed her radiator back into the motor, destroyed the front clip, etc... It was like she hit a brick wall with a pole sticking out of it at 45 MPH. The pickup rolled back about a foot or so after she hit me. I had all brakes applied at full force when she hit. My 4Runner didn't budge AT ALL. I was shocked that it handled that much force with little damage.
To top it all off, the lady who caused the wreck pulled over, looked at what she did, and took of before anyone could get a good look at her.

Anyway, I got the quote from the insurance company. $2700 is what they're offering. I will wait till I have the Collision Center inspect it and give an estimate before I do anything. $2700 is already nearly totaling the Runner. If I get a higher quote from the Collision Center, it may be totaled. Even though the damage is very minor. Even if it is totaled by the insurance company, I'm gonna keep it. Not many vehicles can take that much of an impact and still be drivable. I have a 97 Geo Prizm as my secondary car. If I had been driving it at the time, the outcome would've been a lot different.

Quick questions...

How big of a possibility is frame damage? The end rails on the front are smashed in a bit (I was planning on chopping them for an AOR bumper anyway).The rear hitch held up great. Not bent from what I can tell. But it was still a pickup truck going from 45 to 0 as soon as it hit the hitch. That kind of force is enough to worry me.

Also, judging by the pictures, how much would you guys say it would cost to fix? DIY, ebay parts for the most part. If they total it, I may try to keep it and take less than what it was insured for to get a daily driver, then fix the 4Runner.

PICS:

 

[blizz86]

DAYYYYUUUM that pickup got ROCKED. Any damage to your liftgate?

Interested to see if the body shop has anything to say about frame damage.

And good thing you're okay dude! Any neck/back pains?

 

[afg10000]

I would be in jail right now if that happened to me. I'm glad you're all right and hopefully your rig is good enough. Perhaps the fine lady behind you should've paid more attention to driving than her fancy rims. I'd keep the Runner no matter what, that's a good lookin' truck -

 

[PaperweightNate]

Time for plate bumpers!

 

[tee-bone]

Man it pisses me off when folks A) leave the scene of an accident and B) lie like little beaches.

Looking at that Chevy, I have a hard time seeing that amount of damage as being not braking at all. I could be wrong, I am no accident investigator, but I am guessing she saw your break lights when she looked up from her IPhone at the last moment and braked as hard as she could - slowed down, and hit you while her front end was kind of diving down.

Either way, I would have a hard time - with her standing there lying through her pie-hole - not punching her in it. I would resist, probably, but it would not be easy.

Sorry this happened to you and best of luck.

 

[01thunder]

she was probably too f**** busy playing around on her f**** phone, like everyone else does!

 

[concretejungle]

That, my friends, is when aftermarket bumpers are amazing.

 

[Morphyne]

Yup. time to call CBI!

 

[white_n_slow]

There is a possibility you got some rear frame damage, but the body shop should be able to clue you in to that. Looks like pretty much all the "crumple" was in the front of the GMC. Had it been an older, more sturdy vehicle, the outcome would have probably been a FUBAR frame and broken body mounts.

Doesn't really matter what the chick says, she is at fault in a rear-end scenario. At least according to CO law. And seriously, who the fawk sees an accident ahead of them and pulls the e-brake instead of hitting the brakes. :facepalm:

 

[Limbwalker]

Bummer. Well, it looks like she hit it pretty square, so hopefully there wont be frame damage. Aftermarket bumpers cause more damage than good in higher speed situations (dont get me wrong, I love em). I bent the frame on my bronco really bad bc the winch bumper didnt give at all when a kid pulled out in front of me at 35

 

[Chandler_Ross]

I'm not too upset about the fact she's saying she never saw my brake lights. I don't think they will believe that I tried to stop using only my emergency brake in court. I don't know of anyone who would even try to just stop the car using just the e brake. The thing that really pissed me off about it was the lady who caused it all. Who causes a 4 car accident and just leaves? People like that are the reason these type of things get so stressful and out of hand. People who lie are pretty bad. But if you caused a wreck and you know it was your fault, don't be an a**hole and leave. If I were her I'd feel terrible. I don't know how people can do things like that and not feel guilt.

 

[01thunder]

I'm not too upset about the fact she's saying she never saw my brake lights. I don't think they will believe that I tried to stop using only my emergency brake in court. I don't know of anyone who would even try to just stop the car using just the e brake. The thing that really pissed me off about it was the lady who caused it all. Who causes a 4 car accident and just leaves? People like that are the reason these type of things get so stressful and out of hand. People who lie are pretty bad. But if you caused a wreck and you know it was your fault, don't be an a**hole and leave. If I were her I'd feel terrible. I don't know how people can do things like that and not feel guilt.

i would have f*** chased her down! i did that to a lady who was driving reckless and got on the shoulder and kicked up a lot of rocks and sh*t and not only hit my truck and break the windshield but other cars as well. i didn't let her go!

 

[Desert36]

If the frame is straight (body shop will measure that out), it should be an easy fix to keep on the road. She wasn't doing 45, maybe 15 by the time of impact, believe me 45 would be wheels off the ground, air bags, much more damage, she saw you stop and slammed on them too. Your strong part hit her weak one.... .. This is why I want a dash cam with data logging.

 

[Chandler_Ross]

If the frame is straight (body shop will measure that out), it should be an easy fix to keep on the road. She wasn't doing 45, maybe 15 by the time of impact, believe me 45 would be wheels off the ground, air bags, much more damage, she saw you stop and slammed on them too. Your strong part hit her weak one.... .. This is why I want a dash cam with data logging.

She said she hit at 45 on her Facebook. She told the entire story on her Facebook wall. My little brother who was in the passenger seat at the time of the wreck looked her up on Facebook. Only to find her calling names and b*tching about how her boyfriend's truck is totaled and mine doesn't have much more than dents and scratches. I don't blame her for being mad about the truck. But calling my Mother a b*tch to all her Facebook friends is just down right rude, redneck, and wrong. Since I'm a minor, the truck is in my mom's name, and it is insured under my mom's policy, I obviously called my mom right after the wreck took place. Then I called my insurance company and filed a claim while my mom drove to the scene. My mom got there and took over talking to the insurance company while I talked to the cops. But before she did that, she talked to the girl who hit me. She made sure she was alright, offered any help she could, and tried to make things better for her. But I fail to see in any way how that would make her a "b*tch". This girl needs to realize that no matter how much she b*tches and moans about it, it was still her fault she hit me. It's her fault her truck is totaled. And it's her fault she was cited for following to closely. I was cited as well for hitting the Honda. Legally I had to be. Just like she had to be. This girl is 4 years older than me. But she seems to throw tantrums like someone 14 years younger than me.

 

[blizz86]

She said she hit at 45 on her Facebook. She told the entire story on her Facebook wall. My little brother who was in the passenger seat at the time of the wreck looked her up on Facebook. Only to find her calling names and b*tching about how her boyfriend's truck is totaled and mine doesn't have much more than dents and scratches. I don't blame her for being mad about the truck. But calling my Mother a b*tch to all her Facebook friends is just down right rude, redneck, and wrong. Since I'm a minor, the truck is in my mom's name, and it is insured under my mom's policy, I obviously called my mom right after the wreck took place. Then I called my insurance company and filed a claim while my mom drove to the scene. My mom got there and took over talking to the insurance company while I talked to the cops. But before she did that, she talked to the girl who hit me. She made sure she was alright, offered any help she could, and tried to make things better for her. But I fail to see in any way how that would make her a "b*tch". This girl needs to realize that no matter how much she b*tches and moans about it, it was still her fault she hit me. It's her fault her truck is totaled. And it's her fault she was cited for following to closely. I was cited as well for hitting the Honda. Legally I had to be. Just like she had to be. This girl is 4 years older than me. But she seems to throw tantrums like someone 14 years younger than me.

You cant get too mad at someone when they are stupid :l
What this b*tch doesnt realize is that of those xxx amount of 'friends' she has on faecbook, the only ones commenting and supporting her comments and opinion are the stupid ones.. and everyone not saying anything knows she was in the wrong (just as she does). Shes just trying to displace anger onto you and your mother, wrongly. Good thing it was clear who was at fault in this accident so there should be little to no chance of her blaming you for anything.

Get your neck checked out, not just to milk it either.. i was rear ended by a corolla when i was driving my beater 95 camry a few years ago, same exact thing happened to me. That corolla was doing 40+ and came to a dead stop against my ass. Funny thing was that was a rental and he had JUST rear ended someone else the week prior. His was completely totaled, radiator smashed to bits, pieces of both headlights all over, rad support looked like it was trying to kiss his block.

Cosmetically my 95 camry looked like it just had a few punctures on the rear bumper, and the front bumper was kissed by the hitch of the truck that was right in front of me (who also ran away). We opened the trunk later and the spare was inches from the trunk ceiling lol. It was declared total loss.

My neck is suffering the consequences though, when i play bball i get whiplashes that i never previously got, and its very easy for me to get a stiff neck nowadays. im only 20.

TL;DR: Get your runner inspected and dont be hesitant to go to the chiro.

 

[dapslappy]

What she says is completely irrelevant. She was behind you, she hit you, she is at fault. If it ever matters, you can subpoena her phone records and show she was texting (I assume she was). Even if the lady who started the whole thing had stayed she would have had no liability because it is all he said/she said. You all could swear she did what she did but the insurance companies base claims on relative positions. The only time there is any kind of follow through or investigation is when there is a critical or fatal injury. You are at fault for hitting the car ahead of you.
If a dog runs in front of you just hit it. If you swerve and hit another vehicle or light pole or person or whatever you are liable. The fact that you were engaged in an evasive maneuver because you didn't want to hurt the dog and it was an instinctive reaction is irrelevant. What is moral is often different than what is ethical is often different than a lawful determination.

 

[Robb235]

OP, where did this happen at? PM me her name, I may know this person since we're both from Chattanooga.

 

[Robb235]

Anyway, I got the quote from the insurance company. $2700 is what they're offering. I will wait till I have the Collision Center inspect it and give an estimate before I do anything. $2700 is already nearly totaling the Runner. If I get a higher quote from the Collision Center, it may be totaled. Even though the damage is very minor. Even if it is totaled by the insurance company, I'm gonna keep it.

Don't let her insurance company lowball you. If they total it, get what it's worth from them, and not a penny less. $2,700 almost totaling seems way low to me.

When my '97 got smacked in a parking lot, the guy who hit me had the same insurance company I did. My 4Runner had 200k+ miles, and was completely totaled. The insurance company offered me $4,900. No way was I going to accept that. I (politely) challenged it, and asked for the valuation report. When I reviewed it, I found that when determining the value of my T4R, they compared it against base model and SR5 models. Mine was a Limited, so that was unfair to me. They also left off several "options" (said it didn't have a radio, roof rack, said I had cloth seats when I actually had leather, said I didn't have running boards, etc.) that further unfairly devalued my T4R. I challenged them on those points, and they came back with $6,000. That was more than I paid for the '97, so I took that money and bought a '99 with fewer miles.

Don't let the insurance company take advantage of you, especially because you're a minor. At the end of the day, the insurance company's game is to pay out a little as possible to keep profits up. Be polite when dealing with them, but stand your ground.

 

[bergeron37]

Don't let her insurance company lowball you. If they total it, get what it's worth from them, and not a penny less. $2,700 almost totaling seems way low to me.

When my '97 got smacked in a parking lot, the guy who hit me had the same insurance company I did. My 4Runner had 200k+ miles, and was completely totaled. The insurance company offered me $4,900. No way was I going to accept that. I (politely) challenged it, and asked for the valuation report. When I reviewed it, I found that when determining the value of my T4R, they compared it against base model and SR5 models. Mine was a Limited, so that was unfair to me. They also left off several "options" (said it didn't have a radio, roof rack, said I had cloth seats when I actually had leather, said I didn't have running boards, etc.) that further unfairly devalued my T4R. I challenged them on those points, and they came back with $6,000. That was more than I paid for the '97, so I took that money and bought a '99 with fewer miles.

Don't let the insurance company take advantage of you, especially because you're a minor. At the end of the day, the insurance company's game is to pay out a little as possible to keep profits up. Be polite when dealing with them, but stand your ground.

This is exactly what happened to me. They offered me $3900 first and after about 4 weeks of going back and forth, I faxed them nearly 20 pages of comps and they offered me $6000. Same thing, more than I paid for the truck and bought another with less miles in better condition for $4800.

Insurance is a pain in the ass to deal with but you should NEVER accept their first offer on anything.

 

[Brian757]

All I can think: "Man, her black boyfriend is going to be sooo pissed."

She tells everyone I did not hit my foot brake and managed to stop the vehicle before she hit me with only the e-brake. And she never saw brake lights.

Ha... Using an e-brake with 33's.
That would be the equivalent to sticking your arm out of the window in an attempt to use wind resistance to slow you. #JustAsUseful

Oh, and FYI. When she tells people she didn't see your brake lights, but still managed to ram you at 45mph,
THAT, is the equivalent to:
"I saw everyone jumping off of the bridge, so I jumped as well. But I didn't notice anyone with a parachute."