Grrr... I got side swiped today
 

Highway in left lane, passing people but not going too fast. 2 lanes, I have a truck tailgating me. The right lane freed up after I passed someone, so I slowed to the speed limit to let him go past, a third lane opens on the left ahead and traffic merges on the right- he can go on by.

He gets in the right lane, accelerates to pass then he just yanks the wheel on his 2014 Tundra to the left and hits me on the right front corner. He took off but I got his plate (that's a misdemeanor called highway violence).

So I will need a front bumper maybe the fender too. Has anyone had to replace 1 fender and the front bumper? How much $ are we talking? I'm trying to plan on how I'm going to replace these, OEM or aftermarket. The $500 deductible is going to suck.

Here it is

Goddamn it, what IS it with these truck drivers?

Part out thread?

This angers me! But make his insurance pay for the damages! Especially if you have the incident on video.

I'm about to get my front bumper resurfaced, if your bumper is still in one piece (which it looks like it might not be), you can probably have a shop strip the clear, sand the damaged sections, paint, blend, and re-clear. If you have to replace the bumper, go OEM. It's only a $40-50 difference compared to aftermarket if I recall.

See if you can polish out the fender damage and go the PDR route before considering replacing the fender.

I was quoted $900 for a new bumper painted, blended, and installed.

I would guess a side fender would be ~$600 - 700 to also do the above.

Don't worry he's paying. I'm already on that but I'm just wondering ball park what all this will cost. There are some nice aftermarket bumper covers out there. I'm certain the bumper has to be replaced because the plastic has a couple holes through it. The fender is dented, I don't know if it can be fixed but some body guys work magic.

Asshole is paying for an alignment too because there's no way that didn't throw off the camber. And the side marker is damaged. Florida has the worst laws for accidents though and it makes me worried

That is really annoying, sometimes I really hate people. Thankfully you got his plate. Hopefully they throw the book at him.

He's got a BOLO out now and he's being charged with a misdemeanor Highway Violence charge and fleeing the scene makes it more serious though I'm not sure how.

I just don't get what's in head of that tundra driver to do something like that. In worst case car could have spun out at highway speed with fatalities in crash :/
Car aside, glad you are fine and glad that he won't get through unpunished. There are after all cases, when culprit just flees and is left unidentified.

Had something similar happen to me this morning...

Dude in a Navigator comes flying up as I'm entering a construction zone where it goes from 2 lanes down to one( I mean flying he had to be doing 70mph). Lucky I saw him coming and I made enough space (just barely he was literally an inch from my mirror) for him to get around me. By him doing his he had to lockup his brakes because guy in front of me was going maybe 10 mph. I lay on the horn at him we start going again ( I'm still on the horn) we are going apx. 30mph and he brake checks me. I slam on the brakes and the guy drives off again. I let him go not wanting to escalate the situation any further and get onto the high way (this is all happening on an on-ramp). I get in the outside lane as I travel several miles down this road before exiting and low and behold there is dinkus a few cars in front of me driving slowly in the right hand lane. I get about a half a car length from him in he outside lane and he swerves into my lane no blinker then swerves back out of the lane again. I ended up taking his plate number down and calling it in to the state patrol. Really wish the cops could do more against these assholes especially if you have it on camera...

Have you considered your part in this and reflected on it?

Are there any driving courses you can take to learn to avoid hazards. Might be useful to you and other road users?

My part? I haven't heard of any courses on how to properly drive in a straight line. I'll look into it though

Since no one else has taken a guess...

I'm going to say you are probably close to $2,000 but 10 minutes at a reputable body shop will get you a better estimate.

This is based on my recent experience with getting hit in a similar location. I didn't have the fender damage you had, but they did bend my bumper bar and the fender support (you don't have a gap at the hood line like I did so I don't suspect you have that issue). You can see the details and photos near the end of my owner's journal (see signature).

Sounds like you were around 275 headed towards I4. Or headed the other way in the properly named "malfunction junction". I moved over to the other side of the bridges in Pinellas so I didn't have to deal with all the terrible drivers on the way to work. Now I have a nice 15 minute ride to work each day.


Worse part is the no fault insurance bull crap here in Florida. I was rear ended by a motorcycle in my previous vehicle. Yes a MOTORCYCLE. He didn't have insurance so it was up to me to pay for a lawer and file a civil claim to get the money to fix my car... Terrible laws here.

I think he is talking about defensively driving. Often times aggressive drivers give an indication of what they're about to do (come in to your lane, slam on brakes etc) so if you'd already taken note of an aggressive driver near you drive more defensively.


Obviously that was a forum comment, with no insight in to your particular situation, but I think that is what he was getting at. Driving on the highway is not always "properly driving in a straight line." We all know that.


Sorry about your car.

275 westbound just before the howard frankland where it's still 2 lanes. If he has insurance, his insurance will pay for it, if not, I won't try to pursue a claim through my insurance, but I'll pursue him in small claims court. It's no-fault but if someone hits you, you can go after the other person's insurance. He has a 2014 Tacoma and a job, I am assuming he's got insurance although according to his FB he's not exactly gainfully employed and a little bit of a loser so who knows.

He's the type of guy who flexes his bicep while taking a selfie. It's in his FB photos

Had a similar experience recently, just posted about it elsewhere. I had a lot more damage going on, had to replace the headlight, fender, wheel well liner, signal, the trim around the signal, side marker, bumper, repair long scratches on the door (could have turned into a door replacement but didn't), and get an alignment. Parts, paint, and labor it came out to almost $3800. Since for you it looks like you're talking fender and bumper only (and they may even be able to repair the fender if it's not mangled), and an alignment, I wouldn't expect your cost to pass $2000, and I'm trying to stretch it a bit.

One thing you'll need to watch for, wherever you bring it, is probably the blending of the paint to match the rest of the body. White may be a very tough one to get right.

Yet another reason to not have social media... seriously though best of luck to you man.

Monday I'm getting the estimate then I can start planning more. I figure $1000-2000, ish. Aftermarket bumper for sure (just for a different look) and if the fender needs replacing, I may go aftermarket there too. And I've been wanting to get an alignment and install the camber arms for the rear that I have laying around too so no time like the present.

Gotta make lemonade :iono: