Side curtain airbags deployed...cost? Insurance?

[decker1]

The button appears to be missing for me as well. I will pull a fuse if I have to next time

Since my door and the airbags are two different scenarios, maybe I should just tell insurance that they can leave the door out of it. Maybe that will help.
Or just have them knock everything out since im paying them.
If my brother admitted fault to the door and not the airbag deployment would he be considered at fault? Would both of us?

To answer an earlier question, I did not roll the runner.

 

[e60ral]

just explain the situation the agent and they will tell you how to file, i assume it would be 2 different events. if your brother admitted fault and wants to pay out of pocket or file on his insurance you won't need to open a claim on yours for the door.

 

[1engineer]

The button appears to be missing for me as well. I will pull a fuse if I have to next time

Since my door and the airbags are two different scenarios, maybe I should just tell insurance that they can leave the door out of it. Maybe that will help.
Or just have them knock everything out since im paying them.
If my brother admitted fault to the door and not the airbag deployment would he be considered at fault? Would both of us?

To answer an earlier question, I did not roll the runner.

How fast were you going?

 

[e60ral]

page 42-on of the owners manual describes the situations where side airbags will or may deploy

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Don't take this the wrong way but if you are going to be beating the shit out of a vehicle like you obviously are, why don't you buy a beat up old vehicle instead of tearing up your expensive 4Runner?

I understand off-roading and that's what they are made for, but if you are getting hit by your brother AND setting off your airbags during the same excursion maybe, just maybe, you are doing things a little wrong?

If you claim this on your insurance it will hit the CarFax and you are going to significantly devalue the vehicles worth. Most dealers (except those little "We Habla Espanol" and "Buy Here, Pay Here" joints on the bad side of town) won't touch a vehicle that's had the airbags deployed.

Net result: You have a much bigger problem than I think you realize.

 

[e60ral]

i highly doubt that the amount of diminished value is more than the repair cost though, it would still make sense to file

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Typically an "Airbag Deployed" mark on a title decreases the value of a vehicle 50-60%'

So let's say that vehicle is worth $30K pre-crash it's now worth $12-15K post crash.

Also note that many insurance companies will total a vehicle out sight unseen if the airbags have deployed due to future liability.

I'm not saying it's necessarily right (in this situation) but that's the way it works. It's the Scarlet Letter for any vehicle. It had something bad enough to deploy the airbags - nobody wants to touch them.

Look at the exotic car salvage sites. They are full of vehicles selling at 50% or less of retail because the airbags deployed. It's a lot more serious than most people realize. And no, they are not cheap to replace in the least.

 

[mountain mike]

I rolled a 2010 FJ in 2013 and it was $6k just for the bags. No installation included in that number.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Also note that many insurance companies will total a vehicle out sight unseen if the airbags have deployed due to future liability.

Can you expound on that a bit? I don't understand where the liability comes from, if the airbags and sensors are replaced with OME parts.

(Of course, I do realize that a LOT of stuff that gets done in the name of "liability" has nothing to do with reason or rationality.)

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Can you expound on that a bit? I don't understand where the liability comes from, if the airbags and sensors are replaced with OME parts.

(Of course, I do realize that a LOT of stuff that gets done in the name of "liability" has nothing to do with reason or rationality.)

Sure. Assume you meant OEM not OME.

There is a stigma in the industry and insurance circles that airbags that are replaced by somebody that is not the OEM (Toyota in this case) may or may NOT know what they are doing.

If a car is involved in a collision after the airbags have been replaced and they do not deploy and somebody dies it opens the insurance company up to a huge liability.

In today's world if your car is involved in an insurance claim, it's out there. If your car had it's airbag's deployed it's out there (and traceable through the black box).

Picture the perfect lawyer scenario:

My husband Joe was driving home in the car we had repaired (the air bags).

Drunk idiot crosses the double line and head on's my husband and he is now dead because the airbags didn't deploy. And oh yeah, I want $5M.

Think it doesn't happen? It does.

When you buy a salvage vehicle you buy it as is. No promises. No liability.

So the insurance companies have these guys called Underwriters. Their job is to assess risk vs. return. Do we want to risk a $30K write-off vs a potential $1-5M loss?

Answer: Nope

Source: Me. I've worked for insurance companies most of my life and understand the algorithm.

 

[Snow-Jet-MK5]

Don't take this the wrong way but if you are going to be beating the shit out of a vehicle like you obviously are, why don't you buy a beat up old vehicle instead of tearing up your expensive 4Runner?

I understand off-roading and that's what they are made for, but if you are getting hit by your brother AND setting off your airbags during the same excursion maybe, just maybe, you are doing things a little wrong?

If you claim this on your insurance it will hit the CarFax and you are going to significantly devalue the vehicles worth. Most dealers (except those little "We Habla Espanol" and "Buy Here, Pay Here" joints on the bad side of town) won't touch a vehicle that's had the airbags deployed.

Net result: You have a much bigger problem than I think you realize.

From my understanding it doesn't hit Carfax unless the driver has reported it to local Law Enforcement or Highway Patrol. Carfax get their information from police reports which are public records where as the insurance companies uses an internal database which is only shared between other insurance companies.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[Bumbo]

From my understanding it doesn't hit Carfax unless the driver has reported it to local Law Enforcement or Highway Patrol. Carfax get their information from police reports which are public records where as the insurance companies uses an internal database which is only shared between other insurance companies.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

No disrespect but its 2016... I can buy information, really, anything I want... I have a friend works as a data broker and the reach of their database would make your head spin. People catalog information about the most bizarre things too its almost borderline scary, but not really all things considered.

Regarding Carfax... its actually not a secret, and it absolutely does include insurance companies...

In fact, they tell you where they get their data from right there on their website.

https://www.carfax.com/company/vhr-data-sources

 

[Bumbo]

When you buy a salvage vehicle you buy it as is. No promises. No liability.

So the insurance companies have these guys called Underwriters. Their job is to assess risk vs. return. Do we want to risk a $30K write-off vs a potential $1-5M loss?

My wife works in the insurance industry as well... I was looking at a used Tacoma with a salvage title a few weeks back and was told they wont even insure the truck.

So basically I get what you are saying, their underwriters wont even entertain the liability.

 

[-JD-]

I'm surprised your airbags wouldn't have gone off initially, when your brother ran in to you with his steel bumper.

 

[JSparky]

I'm curious, what drive mode were you in when the bags deployed? 2wd, 4hi or 4lo? I asked the dealer specifically about the lack of an RSCA button on the 14+ model years. Their final answer after searching for awhile was that Toyota "probably worked it into the 4wd system, such that the roll sensor disengages in 4lo". If this is true or not I never verified. If your bags went off independent of a side impact and not during a rollover you may consider taking this up with Toyota. However, considering you have a side-impact from the same trip may understandably complicate things.

 

[Woz1976-MT]

First, as I mentioned in another thread, DO NOT lie to your insurance company about the facts of the loss. Dishonesty can lead to two things: 1) your insurance company will deny the claim; and 2) you may be charged with insurance fraud.

Nearly every auto insurance policy I've read includes clauses about cooperating with the company's investigation and allows for claim denial of you impede the investigation (which includes dishonesty about the facts of the loss).

You need to check your policy -- get your agent's help if necessary, since he/she isn't part of claims -- to make sure you're covered. Also, it sounds like these two things are separate incidents (i.e. one happened and then later the other happened). Keep in mind this would be two separate claims, with two separate deductibles if they are covered. I do agree with a previous poster, your insurance will most likely cover the damage.

Your vehicle, being as new as it is, is going to be governed by state law concerning requirements for totaling it and/or titling requirements after it is fixed (for example, Wisconsin requires a vehicle 7 model years or newer to be totaled when the repair costs reach 70% of actual cash value/value just prior to the loss).

Salvage titles don't always cause you to lose insurance -- and if it is fixed and you keep it your company can't claim they can no longer insure it (since the company would be giving you "gold" for a court case against them). If they do, they are admitting that they didn't indemnify you (get you back to the point before the loss(es) occurred) and that they didn't properly return your vehicle to the condition it was in prior to the loss.

A diminished value claim can be possible, but you have one year from the date of the loss to prove it in most cases -- so you'll have to have it fixed and then sell it quickly, take a loss, get documentation of the 4R's value if there was no loss, and then take the insurance company to court. It's not an easy process and I've only seen it happen with expensive exotics and high-performance vehicles.

Like another member posted with their repair example, if you've set off an airbag or two and have damaged/creased a few body panels, you're well into the several thousand dollar range for proper repairs.

 

[Woz1976-MT]

The button appears to be missing for me as well. I will pull a fuse if I have to next time

Since my door and the airbags are two different scenarios, maybe I should just tell insurance that they can leave the door out of it. Maybe that will help.
Or just have them knock everything out since im paying them.
If my brother admitted fault to the door and not the airbag deployment would he be considered at fault? Would both of us?

Actually, by being truthful to your insurance company they will automatically file against your brother's insurance company after they handle the door damage (it's called subrogation). You are correct -- I mentioned this in my earlier post -- that this will be considered two events with two separate deductibles. When your insurance company subro's against your brother's insurance company, you'd get that deductible back.

Also, you can do a Google search for vehicle total loss requirements by state, which can help you understand when/if your insurance company would consider your vehicle a total loss if the estimates for the damage repair are high.

 

[Jayhawk5G]

Just wanted to point out that removing the button makes a ton of sense. The vehicle knows when it is in 4lo and should automatically disable this. It seems like it was only a matter of time before someone forgot to disengage it and had the bags deploy.

Beyond that point I agree you should be honest and just file a claim.

 

[1engineer]

Just wanted to point out that removing the button makes a ton of sense. The vehicle knows when it is in 4lo and should automatically disable this. It seems like it was only a matter of time before someone forgot to disengage it and had the bags deploy.

Beyond that point I agree you should be honest and just file a claim.

I don't think 4LO is the switch for the side airbags. I think it's vehicle speed, like KDSS and some of the other traction aids. Once you get below, say, 12 mph then the side airbags require a different algorithm to trip them. For example a higher yaw angle or even the rate the yaw is changing plus the acceleration.

I think now the 2014+ 4Runners can always have their side airbags deployed it's just harder to do at a lower speed.

My .02

 

[nb rob]

Hey [MENTION=29011]Blitzkrieg[/MENTION],

Are you an actuary? I actually studied hard for that career many moons ago when I was majoring in statistics.
I took the easy route and switched to engineering

Sorry to get off topic.