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Collision advice wanted

2K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  Electric Blue 18 
#1 ·
Some context: 2018 RAV4 XLE, my first new car in 40 years. Yes, 40. File me under old fart with lots of kids. Kids moved out, I can afford said new car. Georgia driver, no road salt, my DD and I keep it clean. Anyone want to guess what happened last week? Beloved wife was driving and was rear ended by a very apologetic adult driver. No question as to who is at fault, etc. Have already made some contact with the other insurance company who are already getting pissy.

So I've done this circus before but not with a 1 year old car with 8700 miles on it. The bumper is gone, the hatch has issues opening and closing, other damage. I know where I want to get it fixed (local dealer with Toyota collision center) and I know there is going to be compensation for loss of value. But I'll be damned if in 3 years I'm driving a two-toned vehicle.

Thoughts toward strategies welcome.

thanks
 
#3 ·
Yes, notify YOUR insurance first. Always. They will be notified by the other driver's insurance company and we(yes, I worked for a major insurance company) really don't like to be find out that way as the information provided by the other company may be biased.
If you have uninsured/under-insured that would apply if the drivers' insurance company doesn't pay up because the driver doesn't have enough insurance, AND if the other insurance company won't pay enough to cover the damages.

Your Liability insurance would be used if your wife caused the accident. This is why it is important to get a police report regardless of the fact that no one was injured. The other driver could claim that you wife put the car into reverse and guess what? Given you said that the car was new they could make the point that it was new and your wife didn't know how to drive it. Probably won't fly but don't bet on what insurance companies will do to get out of paying. :(

Yes, everything should be repaired to "make you whole" again and you should not accept anything that makes your car less than new looking as it was new. Some people in some states have taken insurance companies to court over the meaning of "to make you whole" as that is the purpose of your insurance claiming that you are entitled to the lost book value that you will suffer because the vehicle was in an accident. You'll have to check your state to see if that applies but most if not possibly all have sided with the insurance companies.
 
#11 ·
I would take major exception with what you are saying. I worked in the insurance claims department for 21 years and the last thing you want to do is notify your own carrier UNLESS YOU ABSOLUTLY HAVE TO! Why? because it will count against you regardless of who's fault it is. Currently I have State Farm with a good drivers discount. The policy says, not direct quote, that insured can loose good drivers discount for any claim made over $700. Amount seems to vary with SF but its always been under $1,000.. The exception is a comprehensive claim,usually made on windshields. Basically they raise your rates. Have a daughter who made two claims on her own policy for incidents that were not her fault. She did not want to deal with other carrier despite my warnings not to as well as my offer to handle it for her. Several months after the second claim was settled,and forgotten she got a cancellation notice for making two claims-- this was the carriers reason,not something she made up.Everybody has to make their own decisions, but recommend everyone consider the long term financial actions of taking the easy way out, Getting an attorney might well be cheaper. Side note on on my daughters claims, her own carrier recovered the damages they paid to her from the at fault parties auto insurance carrier, yet still cancelled her. It was one of the big insurance companies too.
 
#4 ·
Any reputable collision repair shop should guaranty their work for at least 1 year. Anything wrong with their work you bring it back and let them fix it for free. My collision repair shop operates this way!
 
#5 ·
This is a real piss off to be sure and I don't know how insurance in the US differs from
Canada (which is absolutely the worst).

Added to this the rules may vary from state to state. We don't even get post-impact
depreciation up here in the true North. Too polite I guess.

Insurance is a complete and utter scam which you are forced to buy. I think that is
true right across North America.
".... it was new and your wife didn't know how to drive it.
Don't bet on what insurance companies will do to get out of paying."


There is no word for shame in the Insurance industry vocabulary.

Do you have a lawyer or an adjuster locally who can advise you

(cost effectively) how this is likely to play out in your jurisdiction?

I had something similar with the first new car I ever bought 3 days after delivery.
Brand new 1978 Camaro Z-28 (you can guess how mature I am)
It never got fixed right and eventually the dealer took it back in trade for a another
new one. Cost me a lot in the end.

I really hope your deal works out better for you.
 
#6 ·
This is a real piss off to be sure and I don't know how insurance in the US differs from
Canada (which is absolutely the worst).

Added to this the rules may vary from state to state. We don't even get post-impact
depreciation up here in the true North. Too polite I guess.

Insurance is a complete and utter scam which you are forced to buy. I think that is
true right across North America.
".... it was new and your wife didn't know how to drive it.
Don't bet on what insurance companies will do to get out of paying."


There is no word for shame in the Insurance industry vocabulary.

Do you have a lawyer or an adjuster locally who can advise you

(cost effectively) how this is likely to play out in your jurisdiction?

I had something similar with the first new car I ever bought 3 days after delivery.
Brand new 1978 Camaro Z-28 (you can guess how mature I am)
It never got fixed right and eventually the dealer took it back in trade for a another
new one. Cost me a lot in the end.

I really hope your deal works out better for you.
I won't agree with the utter and complete scam but it isn't always what we want it to be. By definition, we pay for insurance for loses that we cannot afford, accidents, theft, storm damage, etc. The insurance companies, the good ones will have no problem handling a claim and getting your vehicle back in good shape. The problem is that like the bad insurance companies there are scammers that take the companies for millions of dollars by staging fake events. It is up to the insurance companies as a group to discover and prosecute these people most of the time.
Yes, Canada is surely different that then the U.S. as is every country. I wish you the best of luck. And try to be friendly with the company as it will get you more in the end. Imagine you were the claims adjuster and you had a angry abussive person on the phone. Would you want to spend time trying to help him or just get rid of him? :)

Good luck again.
 
#7 ·
I just went through a similar thing but it was the front drivers side corner (thankfully missed the wheel!) and we went with a local toyota dealer with a collision center. Their warranty on anything they touched is for as long as we own the car. We are only a few weeks since the repair but looks brand new! They matched the factory paint perfectly!
 
#8 ·
Just to follow up - I was delayed in getting the car in the shop. The other driver was completely at fault, but I don't have at-fault accidents. I tend to drive older cars, so when another driver wipes me out, the car is usually totalled. Sniff, I miss my 6 speed Maxima. Anyway, I learned a few things:
  1. Don't use State Farms mobile app. Or, if you do, fully expect the initial quote to be stupid low. Don't panic though.
  2. I called my insurance company - I'm not really sure it's necessary (and they were useless). Yes, shopping for a new company now.
  3. Went to two places that were highly rated - my local dealership and a shop across the street. The dealership (where I bought the car) came in twice as high as the place across the street, but I think they looked deeper. When I had such huge quote differences, I went back to the dealership to discuss the quotes. The specialist went line by line, pointed out why they were higher (they found more), and she saw no problem working with State Farm. Re-assured, I dropped the car off at the dealership.

    $8,200 and 6 weeks later, I have my car back. The deeper they dug, the more was bent. You really don't want to crash these cars. Everytime they found more damage, they would bring out the SF adjuster who authorized the repairs.
Now my car is back, and it is perfect as far as I can see (lifetime warranty on all repairs). The only gripe I have is that they updated the software for the safety systems. The collision avoidance radar is about twice as sensitive now - more like the 2020 Corolla I was driving. I think it's too sensitive.

Next up is the diminished value claim. State Farm is going to be paying much more than their first offer.

Summary - ignore the insurance company, they are not your friends.
 
#9 ·
Obviously it is good that your RAV4 has been repaired and that you are satisfied. Insurance companies can be problematic. But where we are we had a body shop with an excellent reputation and when there was an insurance-related damage claim the shop owner took care of all of the insurance situation. They submitted their estimate directly to whichever insurance company was involved electronically and got authorisation for the repair by return message. We never had to contact either the insurance company of the at-fault driver or our own. Repairs were first rate. Sadly the owners retired last year and sold the property which now is a pub.
 
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#10 ·
Concur. I guess I did not really make that clear. The initial estimate was completely bogus. Once the shop got involved, I just called once/week for status.

If the other driver had been paying attention and slammed on his brakes, there would have been a lot less damage. As it was, he pancaked into the rear at about 20 mph (guess) mostly missing the bumper completely. The result was that the entire hatch area was pushed in 1". Dealer had to completely cut it out and replace it (they have parts for this).

I hate crashes. lol
 
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