Sympathy time - Somone nailed my new 4Runner

[UoD]

Driving home from my lunch break today during a light rain here in Tallahassee. I was stopped in a line of traffic while a car was waiting to turn left about 6 cars in front of me. I had to have been stopped for about 20 to 30 seconds. The line of traffic started releasing their breaks .... as did I. Right when I was putting my foot on the accelerator to start moving forard ------ WHAM. Someone nails me from behind. I was hit so hard that my natural reaction was to brace with my feet to stop my body from moving. Unfortunately, one foot was on the accelerator. Luckily, I was able to get out with only barely clipping the car in front of me (would have been a nice front end collision had I not reacted) and jet across the oncoming lane of traffic without hitting anyone.

Of course ---- the {insert modifying explicitve here} idiot behind me never appologized or anything. The guy that I clipped was real awesome though. Him and I had a few good laughs while waiting for the cop to write it up.

Luckily I didn't get any ticket or anything for clipping the guy in front of me. The impact was hard enough that I would have bumped him no matter what (and luckily the cop was able to see that himself).

Anyhow --- the 88 Pontiac that hit me was nothing more than a mangled mess of steel (car was beyond totalled). Luckily the rear of these 4Runners are built like tanks ... cause my damage actually wasn't that bad. I had it at a body shop being working on less than 2 hours after the accident. Good news is that the other driver was insured.... I wasn't charged for clipping the guy in front of me ... and no one was hurt.


Of course a post such as this wouldn't be worth anything without the pics.... So --- here we go .... (Sorry for the poor resolution ---- I had to take these with my camera phone on a rainy dim-lit day)



This is where I was pushed into the guy in front of me. Luckily I barely clipped him. Front bumper and lens are being replaced.

Full view of the read end. Representing the T4R.ORG sticker, of course. Just put it on yesturday.

Passenger side read bumper. This is where the majority of the bumper damage is.

Here you can really see the scratched up bumper and receiver for the hitch. The hitch got pushed in to where it is almost touching the spare tire.

Rear driver side. Surprisingly, it looks pretty clean.

Good news is that the other driver was insured.... I wasn't charged for clipping the guy in front of me ... and no one was hurt.

 

[sharp4runr]

Wow, sucks big time because of the accident. But at least no one was hurt and the property damage to your truck was minimal.

 

[UoD]

I just hate the fact that it hasn't even been in service for 40 days and it is already in the body shop.

 

[GatorGreg]

That really sucks - sorry to see that. Normally I don't have much sympathy for 'Noles but you did buy a T4R.ORG sticker so you can't be all that bad Hopefully they'll be able to make it look as good as new.

 

[UoD]

I knew it wouldn't be long before I got an anti-nole comment

 

[olliebear]

the numbskull was just jealous of your Runner....

so he must have thought, what the heck....

Good thing they held up well.

 

[2003_4Runner]

Glad that no one was hurt and minimal damage to your property.
It hurts to see the new vehicle in the body shop.....

 

[Kanab]

If I was you I would be at the emergency room with a real sore neck or at least with your MD. You are going to lose value on your 4runner because of this accident. It will cost you maybe a couple of grand at trade time (when they ask you if your vehicle has been in an accident and then the $$ amount of damage). The only way I know for you to get that back is from your personal injury that they will pay you for. Get some chiropractic and massage work done and then settle for treatment costs and a couple of $KK for your pain and suffering. Good luck sorry you got nailed.

 

[Derek]

That makes me want to cry. But I fear the same thing will happen to me since it has happened twice in the last 3 years. Luckily, neither of those times was when I was driving the 4Runner. Good luck with the repairs, hope everything turns out okay.

 

[Spider5]

Since the hitch got whacked pretty good, make sure they check out the frame alignment, and rear axle alignment. I had this happen on my explorer and didn't find the problem until I lost most of my tread on the rear tires prematurely.

 

[Mark86]

Sorry to see what happened to your 4Runner. I hope everything goes well for you. The rear of your truck does not look badly damaged for such a hard impact that totalled the guys 88 Pontiac. I hope that the driver who hit you is responsible for the damage to the other guys car as well. The most important thing is that nobody was injured in this.

 

[Expat]

Sorry to hear your news. I too was in a rear-ender this week. The 4runners do hold up very well. I couldn't believe the daamge to the other car. Hope your repairs work out well.

 

[ksneubec]

If I was you I would be at the emergency room with a real sore neck or at least with your MD. You are going to lose value on your 4runner because of this accident. It will cost you maybe a couple of grand at trade time (when they ask you if your vehicle has been in an accident and then the $$ amount of damage). The only way I know for you to get that back is from your personal injury that they will pay you for. Get some chiropractic and massage work done and then settle for treatment costs and a couple of $KK for your pain and suffering. Good luck sorry you got nailed.

Normally I appreciate your posts, but this one is not cool. Yeah, the guy who rear-ended UoD is an ass, but lying about it and taking advantage of the situation is the reason we are ALL paying more in insurance costs. It's one thing if you actually get hurt, but if you don't, you are as bad as the guy who hits you when you fake injuries.

 

[808Sport]

I feel your pain. I have had my 4R for 33 days now and have that same worry about those people not watching the road. I hope it looks as good as new when you get it back.

 

[Hank]

Ouch, sorry to hear about the bad news. I would've been friggin upset if I was in your shoes especially since your 4R is still new. Too many damn careless and moronic drivers on the road these days. I had a close call two days ago when a semi-truck almost put me into the wall when changing lanes on a freeway/expressway interchange ramp. I had to slam the brakes hard and put the ABS to work because I was running over all sorts of debris on the shoulder trying to avoid getting hit. I was nearly pinned between the wall and the trailer (about a little more than 1ft on my left and right sides). Damn driver didn't know I was even there! I doubt he heard my horn. Anyone know where I can get some aftermarket horns that sounds like the ones the semi-trucks have?

 

[808Sport]

Ouch, sorry to hear about the bad news. I would've been friggin upset if I was in your shoes especially since your 4R is still new. Too many damn careless and moronic drivers on the road these days. I had a close call two days ago when a semi-truck almost put me into the wall when changing lanes on a freeway/expressway interchange ramp. I had to slam the brakes hard and put the ABS to work because I was running over all sorts of debris on the shoulder trying to avoid getting hit. I was nearly pinned between the wall and the trailer (about a little more than 1ft on my left and right sides). Damn driver didn't know I was even there! I doubt he heard my horn. Anyone know where I can get some aftermarket horns that sounds like the ones the semi-trucks have?

Try JC Whitney for the horn. The semis all have A/C now so even more so that they can't hear our horns.

 

[ksneubec]

Anyone know where I can get some aftermarket horns that sounds like the ones the semi-trucks have?

If you are serious, and want to spend a bit of money, you can get an electronic 100 watt horn for about $200. PM me if you want to know.

 

[RickyCRX]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if your hitch got bent, there is a VERY good chance you have frame damage. The hitch is bolted right up to the frame and is nearly as structurally sound as the rear frame rails... If the hitch got hit hard enough to bend, the frame rails probably did as well.

Hopefully if that is the case, they'll total it out and you can go get a new one. May not be the case on a $30k vehicle, but you can always hope. It will never be the same no matter how good of a body shop you have.

Ricky

Driving home from my lunch break today during a light rain here in Tallahassee. I was stopped in a line of traffic while a car was waiting to turn left about 6 cars in front of me. I had to have been stopped for about 20 to 30 seconds. The line of traffic started releasing their breaks .... as did I. Right when I was putting my foot on the accelerator to start moving forard ------ WHAM. Someone nails me from behind. I was hit so hard that my natural reaction was to brace with my feet to stop my body from moving. Unfortunately, one foot was on the accelerator. Luckily, I was able to get out with only barely clipping the car in front of me (would have been a nice front end collision had I not reacted) and jet across the oncoming lane of traffic without hitting anyone.

Of course ---- the {insert modifying explicitve here} idiot behind me never appologized or anything. The guy that I clipped was real awesome though. Him and I had a few good laughs while waiting for the cop to write it up.

Luckily I didn't get any ticket or anything for clipping the guy in front of me. The impact was hard enough that I would have bumped him no matter what (and luckily the cop was able to see that himself).

Anyhow --- the 88 Pontiac that hit me was nothing more than a mangled mess of steel (car was beyond totalled). Luckily the rear of these 4Runners are built like tanks ... cause my damage actually wasn't that bad. I had it at a body shop being working on less than 2 hours after the accident. Good news is that the other driver was insured.... I wasn't charged for clipping the guy in front of me ... and no one was hurt.


Of course a post such as this wouldn't be worth anything without the pics.... So --- here we go .... (Sorry for the poor resolution ---- I had to take these with my camera phone on a rainy dim-lit day)



This is where I was pushed into the guy in front of me. Luckily I barely clipped him. Front bumper and lens are being replaced.

Full view of the read end. Representing the T4R.ORG sticker, of course. Just put it on yesturday.

Passenger side read bumper. This is where the majority of the bumper damage is.

Here you can really see the scratched up bumper and receiver for the hitch. The hitch got pushed in to where it is almost touching the spare tire.

Rear driver side. Surprisingly, it looks pretty clean.

Good news is that the other driver was insured.... I wasn't charged for clipping the guy in front of me ... and no one was hurt.

 

[UoD]

Thanks for the concern everyone (and giving me a forum on which to vent ....)




RickyCRX --- That was my same concern. Actually --- a few days ago when I was considering whether or not to buy one of those hitch step bars, I was thinking about what would happen if enough force slammed my hitch. Looking at the mount points, it seems that it could do some pretty serious damage if it got whacked pretty hard. This was one of the first questions I asked the guy at the body shop. He took a good look under there and didn't seem to think there was any frame problem. At most, he said the rear end would have been pushed down "a little bit" .... in which case he would have to toss it on the frame machine and straighten it out. Nightmare to my ears, of course.

 

[charlier180]

Glad to hear that no one was injured. Damage appears to be minimal. Make sure the body shop people give it the once over, twice. You might give serious consideration to having all the mounting bolts for the hitch receiver replaced. The shock of the accident could have stressed the bolts. Replacing them will also give the body shop people the opportunity to check out the mounting points on the frame more closely for other signs of stress.

If I was you I would be at the emergency room with a real sore neck or at least with your MD. You are going to lose value on your 4runner because of this accident. It will cost you maybe a couple of grand at trade time (when they ask you if your vehicle has been in an accident and then the $$ amount of damage). The only way I know for you to get that back is from your personal injury that they will pay you for. Get some chiropractic and massage work done and then settle for treatment costs and a couple of $KK for your pain and suffering. Good luck sorry you got nailed.

I am sure this must be a joke because someone here would never suggest the comission of a crime (ie Insurance FRAUD) in a public forum. To commit a crime for "a couple of $KK" is not very smart. Just ask the former neighbor of my sister. Lost his house, job, his savings, his marriage and went to jail for comitting insurance fraud. Apparently the commercials on TV are correct. Insurance companies do take FRAUD very seriously.