Official Carnage Pics Thread

[homeyclaus]

Yeah,I understand that. Unfortunately, most people don't. I am not worried about driving it as much as I am bugged that a vehicle that should be worth around $40,000 is not worth anywhere near that now because no one want to buy a car that has been in an accident.-at least not for the same price as an un-wrecked car. I have also had three vehicles that have been wrecked (by others) and repaired, and they have all had issues afterwards.

My other car (a 2001 Nissan Maxima) got hit in the rear passenger side (like an oblique rear-ender) with my pregnant wife and I in it by some wingnut doing 55 in a 35 zone. The hit catapulted us into the car that was waiting to do the left turn ahead of us, and we then bounced back into oncoming traffic that thankfully didn't hit us while I scooted back into the lanes going the right way. The only injury was to the rest of our evening plans, I was truly impressed by the hit the car took and how it protected us.

12k damage, and I thought they would write it off. As it turned out, they didn't and I got VERY lucky with the repair shop. Other than some parts of it having fewer of those tiny scratches in the paint than elsewhere (which is that impossible-to-match metallic blue that somehow was made to match), you can't tell. At all. Shops can't, I can't, it's like it didn't happen. In the trunk some of the felt liner is crinkled because they didn't replace that, and that's your only hint. I was planning it on driving it until the wheels fell off anyways, and I got the insurance co to agree to buy it if I though the repair wasn't up to snuff.

The point of the story is that it is possible to have a car be $500 away from a salvage title and have a repair that's nearly undetectable. Given the way most shops run however, it's also extremely unlikely you'll get a repair that I would be considered "done right." You'd have to fight for it, it would get nasty and all sorts of stressful, and you'd have to deal with a lot of people who, quite frankly, don't give a damn about the quality of work they do or what you think.

 

[dpreich]

My other car (a 2001 Nissan Maxima) got hit in the rear passenger side (like an oblique rear-ender) with my pregnant wife and I in it by some wingnut doing 55 in a 35 zone. The hit catapulted us into the car that was waiting to do the left turn ahead of us, and we then bounced back into oncoming traffic that thankfully didn't hit us while I scooted back into the lanes going the right way. The only injury was to the rest of our evening plans, I was truly impressed by the hit the car took and how it protected us.

12k damage, and I thought they would write it off. As it turned out, they didn't and I got VERY lucky with the repair shop. Other than some parts of it having fewer of those tiny scratches in the paint than elsewhere (which is that impossible-to-match metallic blue that somehow was made to match), you can't tell. At all. Shops can't, I can't, it's like it didn't happen. In the trunk some of the felt liner is crinkled because they didn't replace that, and that's your only hint. I was planning it on driving it until the wheels fell off anyways, and I got the insurance co to agree to buy it if I though the repair wasn't up to snuff.

The point of the story is that it is possible to have a car be $500 away from a salvage title and have a repair that's nearly undetectable. Given the way most shops run however, it's also extremely unlikely you'll get a repair that I would be considered "done right." You'd have to fight for it, it would get nasty and all sorts of stressful, and you'd have to deal with a lot of people who, quite frankly, don't give a damn about the quality of work they do or what you think.

Yeah I agree.I was always planning on keeping the 4runner till the wheels fall off as well. I have three boys that I am hoping to pass it on to. I like the shop I took it to, but they are under a lot of pressure form the insurance company to hurry things along. The one good thing is that the car is so new that they cannot find any used parts. The shop owner has also agreed to put the third row option in instead of the replacing the sliding tray. I don't know how much extra it would cost, but if it is reasonable, I would probably do it.

 

[homeyclaus]

Yeah I agree.I was always planning on keeping the 4runner till the wheels fall off as well. I have three boys that I am hoping to pass it on to. I like the shop I took it to, but they are under a lot of pressure form the insurance company to hurry things along. The one good thing is that the car is so new that they cannot find any used parts. The shop owner has also agreed to put the third row option in instead of the replacing the sliding tray. I don't know how much extra it would cost, but if it is reasonable, I would probably do it.

If you're dealing with the other party's insurance, you should tell them to get stuffed, and tell the body shop to ignore them. You're the injured party and dealing with them through no fault of your own. In fact, that would be why I tend to run that through my insurance representing me (which is what you pay them for) to make sure it gets done right.

If it's your insurance company that keeps pushing the "do it cheap" button with the body shop you're going to have to get really really firm with them. It's a relatively new car, and doing a Earl Cheap job on it is going to cost them you and everyone who'll listen to you as a customer - they need to understand this, and the managers above them need to understand it. Again, you're in the position you're in through no fault of your own, and you're paying them to represent you.

Used parts are sometimes a lot better than the jobber parts or whatever they call them here (which thankfully aren't made for our T4R's yet either). In the case of my Maxima they basically bought the rear half of another Maxima that was a front-end write off, and took what they needed from that.

I hate seeing this sort of thing happen, and I hate the scams insurance outfits pull.

 

[blkmagic5]

I hit a small doe last week going about 35-40, well actually completely ran over. Nothing too major, it cracked front bumper, popped out lower grill, and pushed in the fog light. Oh and the entire underside of my 4runner looks like a blood splatter test as well as hair jammed in various trim. I just hope the paint matches and blend well. Good thing I hadn't gotten my other bumper scuff repaired already... :happens:

 

[dpreich]

My Wife was rear-ended by a jacked up F-250 in my '10 TE. It looks pretty nasty. I don't know if you can see it in the pics, but the body between the rear door and the tailgate is creased. I am starting to hope it is totalled because it will probably never be the same.

Just thought I'd post an update. After $15,900 and five and a half weeks, we got the 4runner back from the body shop. Overall, the repairs look good. The tailgate doesn't quite line up with the body on the right side and I can see an imperfection in the body right above the left rear door. Can anyone that has a black 4runner take a look at their rigs and see if the roofline area is totally smooth. I tried to get a look at one at the dealer, but the local dealer actually didn't have a 4runner in stock when I went. I also hired an independant vehicle appraiser to do a diminished value appraisal. The total came out to $9,292.00. According to him, the insurance company usually pays the claims without much trouble. I will believe it when I see it. Thanks to all of you that gave me advice throughout this process. I will post back when if I ever get paid for the diminished value claim.