Getting your company involved at this point may only serve to get some claims points added to your next renewal. Ask your agent, who apparently already knows about the accident. I’d skip it, and understand that you don’t have to take the other guy’s company’s first offer. Everything is negotiable. You don’t have to take it to the body shop THEY suggest either. The other company may be in cahoots with the body shop. It’s your truck. Tow it wherever you like. You can also hire an independent adjuster. For About $100 they will give you an honest 2nd opinion. It might be money well spent.
That body shop wants the business. Of course they are going to tell you that they can fix it perfectly. I’m sure the adjuster knows that the frame is bent. It’s usually very easy to tell on a pickup. The gap between the bed and cab will be wider on one side than it is on the other. You can see that for yourself. Knowing that the rear axle was pushed sideways enough to break the spring shackles tells me (and everyone else on line) that the frame is bent, even though we haven’t sen it. Since the frame is bent, I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole, and I’ve touched a lot of “totals” in the last 10 years. I have seen cars that just didn’t drive right after “fixing” go to the insurance salvage pool as “incomplete repairs”. They may look perfect, but you can bet they aren’t.
MG is correct…$3500 sounds way to low…A new bed, tire, wheel, probably an axle, maybe the entire axle housing, frame straightening, welding on new spring mounts, new springs, probably at least one brake assembly, how is the exhaust system? check the driveshaft for straightness and balance, check the transmission tailhousing for damage, paint the entire truck, $3500???I don’t think so…
BustedKnuckle, this is old and outdated thinking. If the frame is bent sometimes it can be pulled back to specs AND if the right tech is on the job with a good frame rack it can be pulled back to square better than it was new. Just because a vehicle is new does not mean it was perfectly square, there are ± variances.
Sometimes a frame cannot be pulled and if it cost effective a new/used frame will put under the vehicle.
We have replaced 2 frames in our shop in the past 4 months.
But this is a moot point since this 01 Tocoma would be a t/l
No the repair shop did not include frame straightening in it’s estimate, although he agreed the frame was bent and that he would repair it for the same estimate. By not including it he eliminated it from the “circle of dependability” which is the only way I am protected incase the repair is not successful!-----I smell a skunk here and nobody’s smoking weed. Who is it?? The shop or the insurance adjuster or both. I got my insurance co. involved and he called the shop and the other ins. co. and read them the riot act. So now I’m waiting for the adjuster to revise his findings.
By not including it he eliminated it from the “circle of dependability” which is the only way I am protected incase the repair is not successful!-
HUH?
I’ve heard a lot of ridiculous BS, but that has to take the cake. Skunk nuthin’. That smells like a skunk eating limburger cheese, sitting in the county dump. Makes me wonder if the shop and the adjuster are in cahoots. Shop needs work, adjuster gets a Benjamin under the table. Does your state have an insurance commissioner or someone in charge of unscrupulous practices in the insurance industry? They may need to hear about all of this.
Anything can be fixed, but what is so special about this truck? Do you feel lucky? If a problem comes up in the future, its going to be one big circle jerk. E-mails, phone tag, Attorneys. Is it worth it?
NO! It’s not worth it. That is the whole point here. Why didn’t the insurance co. just total the truck?
From all appearances it looks like its some scam the bodyshop and ins.co. cooked up to line there own pockets at my expense.
We had that frame fix done to a van that a fedex truck happened to catch and push into a landscaping boulder. 3 months later the tranny started leaking fluid on a long trip and I had to add a quart of fluid and clean the rear window after every 300 miles. Got it fixed under trans shop warranty twice. They said I’m sorry things just aren’t lining up as the source of the problem, we traded it in.
I’m sure that if the insurance co. is informed that the frame is bent, they will total the truck. I don’t know of any shop that will straighten a frame for free.
Unless they are making up the money on the other end {used parts billed out as new ones] Talk to your claims adjuster again, or ask for another one to check over your truck. All claim adjusters go through a learning curve. Alot of them did not run a body shop before getting their current job,
Too bad it sounded like it was a really nice truck.
They may be able to bring the frame back into specs, but it will never be the same. I hate to say this truck is totaled but it?s totaled. I know some posters have stated that have straightened frames and they are as good as new, but they aren?t as good as new. Every time you bend and unbend steel you change it and unless you?re controlling the bending it going to be for the worst.
In fact your resale value is greatly decreased, ask those who claim it as good or better than new this, if you knew a truck had been in a major accident, one the bent both sides of the frame, would you be willing to pay book value on it? I wouldn?t
My opinions are subject to change with new facts.
Frames can be straightened out…but if it’s twisted then it may not be worth it.