[^Rb]

Friend came to visit in town, borrowed my truck to drive to the local card house.
On the way, some idiot side-swipes my truck and just drives off. Cops called & took report; apparently nobody got video/photos of the perp. 😑

Here's the damage:

2011 DoubleCab 4x4 Rock Warrior pkg w/ 126,000 on the clock.

What do you guys think? Is it fixable? Worth fixing? Dunno if I'll be claiming it on my insurance since my exotic is tied to my policy and it was next-to-impossible to get it insured and I'm worried about getting dropped.

Hope your guys' Thanksgiving was better than mine!

 

[cliffy]

A girl whose plates expired last may and didn’t have insurance hit /totaled my wife’s Camry a couple of months ago. We had to file a claim with our own insurance company. The agent told us our rates wouldn’t go up because they don’t see it as an at fault collision claim . Haven’t got the new bill yet to confirm.

 

[Atombum]

Definitely fixable. It looks like it may just be sheet metal damage. Hopefully, the perp's car got the brunt of the damage.

 

[Powertechn2]

Definitely fixable. But would go through ins. personally.

Sweet car btw, my wallet isn't that deep, just picked up an IS500 though

 

[310z]

I would get it fixed. You might talk to a couple body shops and tell them you are paying cash to avoid the insurance issue. You might be surprised how little it can cost when you remove the insurance companies.

 

[Mulefan]

I'm thinking your buddy was dicking around or got tipsy playing cards and crashed your truck. That truck looks driveable. Wouldn't he just follow the people while calling the cops? Seems suspicious to me....

 

[ShawnyD]

That sucks, man. Do the doors function properly? If so, I would either just not fix it and continue to use the truck (after rattle-can painting the affected areas), or I'd get a few quotes from low-cost body shops and tell them that you're paying cash. Don't go through insurance, there's no point in that. They'll just raise your rates or drop you.

 

[Mikecol]

Definitely fixable. As an option to insurance, you might look around on ebay or facebook market place and see if you can find some used doors in the same color that you can just bolt on. Also, check with a local large junkyard to see if they can locate some for you. If you can find some black ones, they are an easy swap. Everything is just plug and play, even the windows and all stuff inside the door are just bolt off/bolt on/plug in. There are no real adjustments you have to make.

Then all you would have to pay to fix is the small dent behind the rear door (or just get some black duplicolor paint and make it all black so the dent just kind of blends in and live with that small defect).

Also, check around on facebook/craiglist/ask some friends and see if you can find someone that does paint work on the side. There are some super talented mechanics out there that could fix all of this in a weekend in their garage.

 

[^Rb]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Really appreciate it!! Been a rough patch couple of weeks; found out girlfriend cheated on me a month ago then my beloved Tundra gets hit... 😢

In any other economy, I'd just sack up and buy a new truck, but this was the first new car I ever purchased for myself (when I was 25) and I wasn't even the one who crashed it!

Seems like the consensus is to fix it. So that's the plan. My preferred body shop said they can't get me on the schedule until mid-January, but I figure even if I went through insurance, it probably take just as long. In the meantime @Mikecol suggestion of looking around for spare doors (I'm going to need both front & rear) at junkyards, FB marketplace, etc. sounds like a great idea so I'm going to start hawkin'. I'd rather have an older, but intact door rather than a repaired one--right?

I'm thinking your buddy was dicking around or got tipsy playing cards and crashed your truck. That truck looks driveable. Wouldn't he just follow the people while calling the cops? Seems suspicious to me....

My thoughts exactly! Trust me, I was furious when I found out. What's even crazier is my friend had handgun on him (I guess because he didn't feel safe leaving card houses with a wad of cash?), but claims the perp who did this got out've their car and threatened him...?? I don't know what to believe/think since I wasn't there, but I know that if I was driving this would've ended up differently.

 

[Mikecol]

....one more tip. If you go on eBay, you will find a bunch of parts for tundra doors if you just search "Tundra Door". Some of them will have a picture of the donor truck even though they may be selling something else like a switch or arm rest. But if you find one in your color, message they guy and ask if the doors are available and you might get lucky and find one. Looks like a door goes for $350 to about $600 each. If your patient, eventually you will find one or a pair in the right color.

 

[Danny3737]

Did your friend call the police? Did he get a tag number since the other guy stopped? Your friend’s insurance should be paying, not yours. Something is very fishy about your friends story. Looks more like he ran off the road than a side swipe

 

[Mikecol]

I agree with Danny3737, You don't get to borrow a truck, wreck it, and walk away without paying. Your buddy should be paying for this. It is his responsibility to return the truck to you in the same condition as he borrowed it. That is the risk when you borrow someone's stuff. If it breaks down or something bad happens, your on the hook to pay for it.

 

[Danny3737]

This is reason enough that should have a dash cam, even if it’s only a forward facing one. You can get decent ones for less than $100. Sometimes your insurance will give you a discount if you have one. They are especially necessary if you have young drivers.

 

[kennedyzdad]

Sounds to me like the friend may have hit something.The old "someone hit me and left the scene" scenario is a cop out for taking care of his responsibilities. Does he not have a car of his own to drive? If he isn't offering to pay, are you both really friends?

I'm not sure why people are afraid to file claims on insurance policy. I'll file one in a heartbeat. I would not pay for insurance year after year and never have them pay for anything.

 

[MarkM]

A side swipe with no fender or quarter panel/bed damage? Something is wrong with that story....

Fix it, the thing is a tank.

 

[r8der]

sorry for your incident. my got hit by an 18 wheeler when the driver pulled out from a parking lot last year. damaged the front passenger side bumper, fender, headlight, punctured a hole in the windshield washer fluid reservoir. the damage is fixable and should be done in less than a week providing no "supply chain" issues. my tundra was in the shop for a couple of months because of the "supply chain" issues. initially I told 8-days.

 

[skills4lou]

I'll leave the 'how this happened' alone, but www.car-part.com is going to be your friend for finding doors. Beware buying parts from fleabay: there's a pile of chineseum parts on there. Very inexpensive, and they'll say "OEM" etc. in the ad but they are junk. If you have a couple salvage yards close by you can always call them too.
If that was my truck I think I'd replace the doors, maybe do a quick patch on the cab corner and tell my buddy he's helping and supplying the beer.

 

[Deerkiller]

Don’t lend anything out to anyone! Tell your friend take an Uber!

 

[xsnrg714]

Don’t lend anything out to anyone! Tell your friend take an Uber!

Hear hear