Opinions on damage

[Hotrodheart]

Speaking as a Chicago Bears fan, I hope the bear you hit was wearing a #6 jersey.

[NOHOME]

Quarter panel? As in the big huge hard to replace piece of tin on the rear of the car? How did that get involved?

[sgtcarrot]

It did ding the barrier: did a 180 counter clockwise and right rear was stopped by the barrier.

But I did mispeak: I was talking about the front. They are fixing the back, its a tiny ding. The front was all bent and they simply removed it and are replacing it. The guy commented how easy it was to do: bolts on with one tack weld at the front.

Been a bike guy forever, still learning cars. So isnt that front right also a quarter panel? I assume there are four total: 2 front and 2 back.

Always learning.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by sgtcarrot

It did ding the barrier: did a 180 counter clockwise and right rear was stopped by the barrier.

But I did mispeak: I was talking about the front. They are fixing the back, its a tiny ding. The front was all bent and they simply removed it and are replacing it. The guy commented how easy it was to do: bolts on with one tack weld at the front.

Been a bike guy forever, still learning cars. So isnt that front right also a quarter panel? I assume there are four total: 2 front and 2 back.

Always learning.

Technically yes, the front would be a quarter panel but the word fender has pretty much been the norm. Same goes for the rear quarter (only in reverse) since it is actually a fender as well but nobody calls it that anymore.

[3ball]

Airbag deployed? It's totalled. I just had that happen to my 2013 2 months ago.

[Packofcrows]

Damn, now we know these cars are not bear proof.



Damn, your car is like my car's twin. Also a 37J MY2014.

Hope you get your neck checked up and no injuries come about.

[jackblack21]

I'm willing to bet that's totaled.

[N1cotine]

Originally Posted by Luke

So far, not so good.

The insurance company has been fine to deal with, but I no longer have faith in the bodyshop. Yesterday I stopped by there and the car had still not been touched. They put it on the lift while I was talking with the owner and said they would get started. I had him provide me with a written quote that included parts and labor.

Upon glancing at the quote, I only noticed that it didn't include any hardware/fasteners at all. However, once I went through it more thoroughly and viewed exploded diagrams of the parts categories (hood, fender, bumper & grille, etc.) His intentions were pretty obvious, anything that could not be seen without removing panels/covers/shrouds was not on the list. The panels/covers/shrouds were of course. He even listed components directly in front of and behind the radiator, but no mention of the radiator (he finally mentioned it on the phone with the adjuster today, saying it might be damaged, but not a big deal). As if to believe it wasn't damaged when everything on every side of it was. The estimate doesn't even get into any of the structural components or brackets that are connecting two damaged parts (and visibly damaged in the pictures) so I'm still not sure how deep the damage.

Adjuster said he is transferring the claim to another individual, probably a field adjuster who can come view the car in person. I told them to notify the bodyshop not to perform any repairs as I don't trust their repair ability and don't believe they are acting in good faith.

We'll see where it goes from here... fun times coming up.

Hi I work at a large autobody shop. Have you signed anything yet? If you have you may get charged if you pull your car out post teardown. If you havent I would recommend you find out if your insurance has any direct shops (DRP) or find out if your local toyota dealer has a shop they use. Insurance shops usually offer a lifetime warranty on the work as long as you own the car, and if you have any issues you can bring it to another shop in their network. Also dealers tend to use certified shops for warranty purposes. If you end up having to have it repaired there, send me the estimate so I can look it over.

And its probably not totaled based on photos. Insurance companies will start to consider totaling cars if the repair is 75% of the value of the car.

[Luke]

Originally Posted by Maaad86

do you have a picture of the inside where the air bag deployed?
I hope your able to repair it without much hassle, some insurances take their sweet time

All the pictures I have were taken a couple days afterward (when I just stopped by the shop one afternoon). I had left the keys with them and it was locked, so this is the only shot I have of the airbag:


I had a pretty heated conversation with the local adjuster last week. He believed all of the concerns I had were unfounded. He chose to use the phrase "the bodyshop owner is a professional and all the points you bring up have no basis." I didn't care for his choice of words and tone so the conversation didn't go well.

I've noticed it about myself and have others told me as well, when I argue, I always "trap" the other person. That's not my intention going into it and I don't even realize that's what I'm doing at the time. I'll ask questions that I already know how they're going to answer, then ask other questions which cause them to use a counter answer. In the end, I make them contradict themselves, then point out the flaws in their reasoning, but by that point I'm just being degrading. In the end, I don't get the result I'm looking for since they feel like I've made them out to be a fool and left them without a good solution. That's why I wish I didn't do this, I don't get any benefit except for the satisfaction during the argument. That's how it went with the adjuster, so there wasn't a good resolution.

Regardless, the shop has taken a lot of the front end off. Damage to the front bumper was obvious in the pictures, but they didn't show that the air box was also busted and his quote included repair to the radiator support. During the conversation with the adjuster, I asked how could everything in front of the radiator be damaged and the parts behind it be damaged, with no damage on the radiator? Of course he said he's seen it a lot, but when they took the front end off the radiator was mangled. So, that's been added to the quote, pushing it to around 10k. I also pointed out the fuse box was broken at the bottom, just a small section, but that does allow water/moisture intrusion, so it will be replaced as well. He checked and apparently the box cannot be ordered without the engine wiring harness. I checked as well since that was a bit hard to believe and it appears to be true. Box and wiring harness parts cost for an AT... $1,851.00, lol. That price doesn't include labor cost for installation.

Insurance was planning to repair from the get go, even before any parts came off. I tried to convince them a proper tear down would be a good idea, but the adjuster felt my mechanical knowledge wasn't up to par (despite me having a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and 12 years field experience). I approved them to perform all repairs necessary, also let them know any issues I see, will require repair/replacement. The logical side of me knows that the best thing would be that they are able to finish up everything pretty soon and it all goes well. My ego wants to prove the adjuster even more wrong, keep finding issues and raising the repair bill, just to say "I told you so" in the end. We'll see which one gets what they want, lol.