Memphis4X4

I was standing in line at Home Depot paying for the new keys for my Runner (the original one I've used for 12 years had finally wore out) and I hear over the intercom the description of my truck and that I need to report to the Service Desk. I do and have a Soccer Mom standing there and she tells me that she just hit my truck. I envision miles of wrinkled mangled sheet metal. She is trying to be cool because she is trying to explain to me what had happened, write down her insurance info, AND explain to he husband over the cell what had happened. I started to feel sorry for her because I could hear him chewing her out as she held her cell a foot away from her ear. We went to look at the damage and amazingly enough, she had just caught the factory chrome fender trim piece on the passenger rear and tore it off. As that piece was torn off it cut the pebble-finish plastic trim piece that integrates the door sill with the lower fender. Any ideas on fixing that? Also, there was a slight dent, like a door ding where the chrome piece had hit the fender. I think I'm going to just get a new chome trim piece from the dealer, get the dent removed at the dent doctor, and call it even with her. There are 12 years of scratches in other spots and the one's she made just blend with those. Her Montero with the soccer ball decal in the rear window was in worse shape....the urethane bumper had the paint all cracked on the front driver corner. I heard her tell her screaming husband that she was trying to avoid the 'buggies' in the spot next to her's as she pulled in and didn't realize she was that close to my truck.

I'm glad it wasn't worse,
David

AznSky

That's cool of you to just call it even with just fixing the stuff. I would feel sorry for her too, and since you said ur truck already has a few dings in it, nothing to get really pissed about ya know? She's already gonna get a lot of crap from her husband, no need for more if there wasn't any personal injury.

asudan96Runner

I would have liked to talk to her husband. What an ass. Accidents happen, no reason to yell at anyone. At lease she had the "balls" to tell you, I bet the husband wouldn't have.

Dan

Bob_98SR5

Memphis:

You gotta take a pic and post it. I think I know what you're saying but not quite sure.

Wow, shows you that there are some honest, moral people left in the world. My running boards got scraped once and the jerk who did it just left w/o a note.

What a good lesson to teach your kids---to do the honest thing but the jerk husband yells at his wife? I might've grabbed the phone, calmed him down and then give him a piece of my mind!

Bob

INsr5runner

yeah no kidding. I've had two hit and run accidents. one was just a paint scratch on my bumper, but I knew the car that did it, because I parked next to a red car that day, and later that day, I realized I had a red scrape on my GREY bumper.

and the other time...well I don't know when it happend, but REALLY recently. I noticed it at the shop while I was getting my lift on. someone has put a BIG dent in my front bumper. it's on the part that stickst out right next to the turn signal.

OOOOh I hate that! if they would have at least left a note, fessing up, I would have told them that it was cool, because I am getting a new bumper anyways. but to hit and run is just shady business

mjletts

Nothing pisses me off more than a hit and run! The last truck i owned was hit and run 3 times!!! The last time it happend, i just had $1000 of body work done to fix the other hit and runs, and some rust taken off. 2 days later.......hit and run. Sucks. So, I applaud the Soccer Mom for fessing up.

Tacoma Dude

I think I would've been calm with the woman and then yelled at the guy on the phone. What a jerk!

Memphis4X4

All:
Yeah.....those were the thoughts going through my mind:

soccer mom = good for fessing up and husband = asshole for his insensitivity.

At first I briefly thought about my truck but then the sympathy factor kicked in. The dude should have been more concerned about his wife and her well-being. In fact, he should have been proud that she had the proper ethics to come in a admit to what she had done. It was MY truck that had been hit and rather than running out to check it out or being mean to her, the first thing I did was say to her, "jeez, thanks for coming and telling me....most people would have hit it and then driven off." Of course for those conspiracy theorists out there, she could have called her husband when it happened and told him to call her back in 5 minutes and act like he was chewing her out to get me to be more sympathetic . I know that wasn't the case. So, when I settle up with them, I will make a point to commend her actions and then treat him like the asshole that he is. You could tell that she didn't get in these situations often and was writing down her insurance agents name and number and deductible amount ($250). I kept telling her that it wasn't that bad and that there wasn't any need to get her insurance company involved. I told her that the trim piece and the dent doctor would only cost $50-$100 max and to assure her husband that it wasn't bad. She said that she could have driven off and that I would have never noticed it until later because it was on my passenger side....but that she could do that. She said that if she had left without telling, something equivalent would have happened to her......she told me she was just glad that I was nice to her.....I can see why with an asshole husband like she has.

Bob_98SR5: I'll try and take some pics and post so you can see.

David

Yotabozo

Was she cute? Sounds like a nice gal. Oh wait, you said she was married. Never mind.

Memphis4X4

Well if her husband keeps acting like that she probably won't be married for ever!! When I settle up with them, I'll tell her that when she splits with that asshole, Yotabozo wants her number!!

Yotabozo

When you do...Just leave out the "bozo" part...Yotaman will do just fine.....
I'm happily married...just playing with ya ! take care and good luck with the 4runner...

Memphis4X4

Thanks.....I'm glad to see that YOU ALSO have good ethics !!

89-4run

Wow. Reminds me of my story last year. I park my 89Runner far out in a parking lot so that nobody will hit it. I go to lunch with a buddy and return and the whole driver side from rear wheel well to the front is smashed in. I sat there and scratched my head thinking "This can't be my truck".

My buddy goes into the Electronics store and there was a woman already on the phone. She said that she had parked behind my car in the next row of slots, turned around to give her crying kid some juice and before she knew it, she was smashing into my car (rolling backwards). I felt bad for her and she was embarassed cuz she had forgotten to put the car in park. Everyone was ok, the father wasn't an ass, and had $3000 worth of repairs coming to me.......

Tacoma Dude

I got a story for you - get ready for a long one!

I was working one night at the UCSD campus. I was a shift supervisor for our Community Service Officer (CSO) Program. You know, that service that provides safety escorts for students? Yeah, that's us. Anyhow, there I am in the office and I'm talking to a coworker when I hear another CSO (who's working at a concert across the way) yell into his radio that there's a fight going on.

We run like crazy over there and by the time we get there it's broken up. Now we have 2 groups that are separated. One that wants to kick butt and another that wants to leave. I tell 1/2 of our staff to stay behind and watch the "buttkickers" while I take another CSO with me and we provide a safety escort for them to their cars in different parking lots.

1/2 way to the furthest parking lot we're hearing more and more over the radio about how the "buttkickers" are managing to get out and starting to walk over to their cars. So we start to get a little concerned.

At the same time, part of the group that's already gotten into cars come driving up the wrong way through a one way street. I tell these guys they need to turn around and go the other way. While I'm walking away and leading this group, the CSO that's watching the rear of the group yells into his radio that there's just been a non-injury car accident. I run over and see that the idiot has reversed and backed up into a very familiar looking car. I tell him that it's okay and he needs to get the heck out of there and meet us in the other parking lot.

We go on and as we're getting into another lot where more people are getting into their car one of the girls is commenting about the car that just got hit and how "oh, the owner of that car probably doesn't care about it anyway," at which point the CSO holding up the rear points to me and says, "No... that's HIS car!"

I have the rest of the story but this is all that's pertinent to the story

kyle_22r

it's great that she had the guts to stick around and tell you, and that you decided to call it even

i had some moron destroy my bumper in the parking lot and run about a month ago, i came out to my truck and my rear bumper was mooshed up almost into my tailgate

4runner4life

Definitely good that she stuck around, but I just fume when people (male or female) instantly get a big truck and think that its gonna handle the same as their sedans. And when people change lanes in big @ss suburbans and end up running you off the road. Just had to vent on this topic but the yelling at the wife is uncalled for.

Memphis4X4

Well....I went to the dealer to get the chrome fender trim piece. For those you with the 2nd Gen's with this trim, be aware that these items have become very valuable!!!! The dealer wants $99 for the single piece!!!



I think when the truck was new, I got all four for not much more than that price. I went on line and found it on partznet for $76. With shipping, it'll still cost the lady $85-90. I didn't realize they had gone up so much. It's the ol' supply & demand economics taking place....regardless, I'm still in sticker shock!!

David