In An Accident Tonight

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adboyd06

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Was in an accident tonight, both myself and the other driver are okay. He was at fault and ticketed, he turned left as I was clearing the intersection, I slammed on my brakes, but still hit him. Pictures below. Thoughts on repair time line, estimated cost, will they total? Hopefully meeting with the adjuster and getting a rental car tomorrow.

Special thanks to all of the first responders (EMS, fireman, and Police).

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IRSmart

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That journey is definitely toast. They hold value like a rock in a pond. Your truck doesn’t look too well off either.
 

chrisbh17

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Glad everyone is OK.

The fact you can open your doors is a good sign, but the crumpled A pillar will mean a good amount of work to fix it (if they can). Looks like all the panels on the RAM crumpled like they should have. Cant tell if anything in your front end is pushed back or not (radiator core support, etc)

On one hand, trucks hold value well so its a little tougher to get to "totalled" amount of damage, but on the other hand you dont want to be left with a Humpy Dumpty put back together again.
 

6.7CumminsDrvr

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Any one you can walk away from is a win, glad no one was injured. Always tuff to tell from pics but it looks like mostly panel damage, either way, hope the process of fixing or replacing doesn’t turn into a nightmare. Best wishes sir
 

mboymopar

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Glad everyone is okay.
Let us know how the insurance turns out.
 
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adboyd06

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Thank you all - Not looking forward to the insurance debacle. Anxious to see what the adjuster will say. I had plans to keep the truck for a long, long time so I'm hoping it can get properly repaired. "Properly" being the operative word, don't want something getting thrown back together.
 

mboymopar

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Do you have a Ram dealer close by with a body shop?
 

likes2build

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Glad you're OK that's the important part!
Don't know whose insurance company you plan on going through but just remember no carrier can dictate what shop you use. Don't give a statement on recorded line to the other carrier, if the other driver denies fault and beats the ticket, even on a technicality you could be in trouble.

If it's repairable choose a shop wisely, like they've been in business a long time with a great reputation (the repair is only going to be as good as the techs that do it), offer a lifetime warranty and the paying insurer has a working relationship with that shop and will back up that warranty.

Adjusters come in all kinds both good and bad. A field appraiser/adjuster is the person that comes out and looks at the damage and if it's repairable negotiates with the shop and handles the towing /storage /physical damage or moves it if it's a T/L. The inside adjuster handles the rental/bodily injury/coverage/liability issues. If that field appraiser doesn't have the check book then the inside person pays the claim. Plan on talking to multiple people and in the end go with whatever company is going to do the best for YOU. Even if you have to go with your own company and pay your deductible they can subrogate against the other to get it back for you. Some companies waive the deductible if both vehicles are insured by them, it's called a cross-claim.

There's a lot to deal with and more if it's a T/L, don't accept any settlement offers that aren't to your liking or in your best interest. Remember, going by what you said it wasn't your fault and now even repaired it's not the same value vehicle as it was before the accident and has a loss history attached to it.

Dealing with an insurance claim can be like buying a new vehicle (sales person/deal closer/manager/F&I person) to maximize the dealership profit. At the insurance company each person you talk to has a specific area of expertise to minimize the payout of the claim (severity).

I used to work for a really large carrier and have settled thousands of claims.
 
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MADDOG

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Dang..sorry for your troubles. If the frame is not bent and the doors all open, you may be OK.

You are right...dealing with insurance can be a debacle. I just went through this about 1.5 years ago and, unfortunately, the accident resulted in a bent frame and tweaked body so my 2014 2500 was totaled.

Good luck!
 

hablox

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Glad everyone is OK....but I fear your truck will not fare as well...Looks totaled to me...
 

reek

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that looks messy! glad everyone was OK. In 2015, I had an 07 Tundra totaled with less damage than that but air bags deployed. Still was able to drive it home. got paid $33,000. Was sooo happy they deemed it totaled. Was able to get into a brand new Ram with minimal out of pocket cost.

With your truck looking like that and the other driver at fault, if I were you, I'd hope for it to be totaled so you can get a new truck. that's enough damage, atleast for me, that I'd worry it'd never be the same after a repair. make sure you dig up all your receipts for mods if they total it.
 

JohnnyMac

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There's a lot to deal with and more if it's a T/L, don't accept any settlement offers that aren't to your liking or in your best interest. Remember, going by what you said it wasn't your fault and now even repaired it's not the same value vehicle as it was before the accident and has a loss history attached to it.

^^ THIS ^^

I know not quite apples to apples but.... I had 64 VW Bug that was stolen. The ins. company offered me peanuts for replacement. I fought with them and ended up having to bring in about $6k in receipts for all the mods I had done to get them to ultimately pay me what I wanted. Don't ever accept their first offer.
 

BWL

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It looks bad, but really hard to say. If the frame is bent she's a goner, but if not there's a decent chance they'll fix it. Really is a matter of repair cost vs payout-salvage value and that can vary widely depending where you are.
 
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adboyd06

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I don't believe the bed shifted and I was able to open and close the tailgate.

likes2build - thanks or the insight, are you recommending talking the truck to multiple repair shops? Does each shop need to see the truck or can they estimate the repair job off of the adjusters report? The place I plan on taking it just so happens to be an approved shop and my family and I have had work done there before.

reek - I'm certainly leaning that way, towards hoping it's totaled that is. I'll be sure to express my concerns with the adjuster.

No air bags went off, surprisingly. The officer said they might not have went off since the truck is leveled and that can change the angle of the sensors. Don't know if that's true or not.

If the truck is deemed a total lost, do you all have decent negotiation tactics? Never dealt with this before, or is it like any other negotiation where they will give me $25,000 but I want $30,000 and we meet somewhere in the middle (after presenting receipts with mods).

Thanks again.
 

JPT

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No air bags went off, surprisingly. The officer said they might not have went off since the truck is leveled and that can change the angle of the sensors. Don't know if that's true or not.

If this is true, people better not get in an accident going uphill... (it's not true, there is no way).

Glad everyone is ok. That looks like a LOT of damage.
 

TerraNewf

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Glad you're both ok, I had a 1996 LHS and it was totalled. Car was 2.5 years old at the time. I rear ended a vehicle in front of me and totalled 3 cars including mine, no air bags were deployed and I could open the doors no problem. Like mentioned above, it depends where the sensors are located.
Hope everything works out for you with the least amount of aggravation.
 
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