I posted this in OT but think it should have been here. What have your experiences been with fixing this kind of damage? Should it even be fixed, anything I should look out for it the Ins Co. fixes this?
Thanks guys.

Thought I'd share some lovely pics of my 4Runner with you guys. Perhaps you've seen my Tahoe trip pics and know how proud I am of my truck.
Well last Thursday morning some Fing Mexican decided to run a stop sigh and plow into me at about 30 miles per hour. Lovely. He had; a suspended license, warrent, and driving some one else's truck, then tried to convince the officer that he did stop then went out into the intersection and didn't see me. You can clearly see the skid marks that start after the white line and he was clearly going about 30 (in a 25)
So my beloved 4Runner is smashed and I have new found resentment for moron drivers.
I think the 4Runner saved my ass in this crash. The front fender to the rear door is pounded in and the rocker as well as the structure between the doors is bent to hell. The truck actually went up on two wheels and the people who saw it said they thought it was going over. However I am safe and not badly injured. If I had been in my RX and got hit by a full sized Chevy truck I would be really bad. I love my 4Runner and if I don't get this one back I'm going straight to Toyota and getting another one.

I'm going to start a thread about how to deal with insurance, but if any one has any ideas please post them here.

 

If You Buy It Back I Would Be Interested In The Motor Ecu And Wiring Harness. But Dealing With The Insurance Company First Thing To Do Is Have The Frame Looked At Real Well On A Frame Machine. The Body Is Going To Have To Be Done By A Very Good Shop Not Just The Run Of The Mill Shop To Get All The Body Lines And Doors To Work Proper. If Theres Any Real Bends In The Frame Most Likeily They Will Total It And Thats Where You Ask Them About The Buy Back Should Be Like 500-1000 Bucks And You Can Part It Out To Get That Back.

 

SAS, tube doors, and chop the back end!!!

 

Hopefully HE had insurance, I'd go after him pretty hard. And if not him then the owner of the truck. Sorry about your 4Runner, I know in my mind once a vehicle is hit and repaired it's never the same again. At least you can get your money out of it from insurance then decide if it's worth keeping. Just be forthright about the accident and repair should you decide to sell.

 

That will buff right out, come on walk it off.

Just kidding, sorry you've been a victim of some moron. If they total it I'd say it would still be worth well over $4000 salvaged. Maybe you can turn a lemon into lemon aid. Good luck

 

dude did you really capitalize every single word?

at first i just saw the doors but closer inspection the pinch weld below the rockers seems mangled. also i can't tell from the pic but is the body damaged underneath the fender flare? like he said above, unless you would like to turn it into a mean mean rig then your options are limited, who's fault was it?

edit: sorry ran through it again. if he's an illegal mexican your chance of ideal compensation is low, but i would take that bastard to court and ring every penny i could out of him

 

damn dude, that sucks... dibs on the S/C if you buy it back!

 

It's prety mashed under behind the doors too. The pillar between the doors got bend as well as the rocker/pinch weld etc.The front fender took a hit you can see in one of the pics up by the mirror. I don't think the rear got hit but the truck was towed to the shop and I don't have access to it. They will call sometime today to discuss what will happen to it.

 

What year is your 4Runner? a 2002? If you ever decide to part out your 4Runner, I would love to buy your headlights!

 

There's those damn vultures again! Guys, let the man collect his thoughts first. Glad to see you are O.K. It appears the truck did its job.

 

If someone desides to re-skin this, make sure it's done right! Although, I doubt they'd go through all that.

 

i had a similar wreck a while back but it was only the rear door and my rim/tire back there i did a 180 in my 4Runner, but if u do go for fixed there will be obvios visual differences, like the bottom of the body in there was dented mean so welded in a new part instead. it was long and hasnt been 100% since. if they want to total it i'd say get it back and make it bad!! tubes, exo, sas, removable top, the works ha sorry tho man good ur ok

 

What insurance plan you have on the 4runner? You may have to go through your uninsured motors. I got hit not to bad but the guy didn?t have insurance (he forgot to send in the check..bull even though it was expired for almost a year before the accident) Find a good lawyer and pursue it that way if your insurance doesn?t pull through.

Sorry to hear about another 4runner down.

 

If you would like to part with it in AS IS condition as it sits, now, I'd be pretty happy to take the whole thing off your hands. Let me know how much.....

 

He would need new door shells, not just a re-skin. The door frame is damaged. Limited parts are pretty spendy, so the insurance company will proilly total the truck. Buy it back, fix the damage the RIGHT way, and move on!

 

I also had my 98 4Runner totalled. I was thinking of buying it back ($2900), but it just wouldn't be the same anymore after the wreck. I had a 95 Integra that I loved, then it got smashed in the rear quarter panel and the rear hatch area. After the fix, it didn't feel the same. Some body panels were a bit off, even drove a bit different. Maybe it was in my head, but I vowed never to own a previously wrecked car after that.

So personally, I would just get your money and buy another one, or buy this one back and just part it out.

 

Exactly what i was thinking

 

That's what I'm afraid of. I don't want a bunch of problems to show up later. The damage did not go all the way the the frame so it shouldn't have much of an influence on how it drives and the body its self was not bent it's just the entire left side. It looks like they are going to fix it at this point. It's going to be $11K to fix it and it's worth about $15-$18k to them. I actually would like to just get about $20k and go buy a new 4th gen but I don't know if they will do that.

 

Holy cow! What are the labor rates there?

I was figuring somewhere around 7K.

 

It isn't that bad. 11,000 surprises me, especially considering you can buy another 3rd gen for less.

I had a similar accident in a 2 door S-10 Blazer eons ago and fixed it all myself. Cut the rocker out and replaced it, bent the door frame back and replaced the door. Porta-power was my friend.

When you get it back just check for leaks around the door seal, static with a water hose and also while driving highway speeds. As long as all the door gaps line up and are even, the electrical is fine and the paint looks good you'll be fine. Make sure they don't give you a salvage title though!