Got Rear ended, broken crossmember, now what?

[RubenZ]

I honestly can’t believe damage is that low. Tires alone is 1k. Even if they just damaged the rear 2 I’d demand all 4. The bumper alone is another 800 or so. If the crossmember are damaged what’s to seay whatever is bolted to them didn’t get bent?

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[GreyFox]

Glad you and your pup are OK. First things first, take care of you two and get better!

 

[PaPasJP]

Make sure you tell the doctor about anything that hurts or feels wrong, Florida law is strange on accidents and injuries.

It took a month before my shoulder hurt bad and had to have an operation to repair damage to the collar bone that took that long to show up.

Luckily, I had complained about my shoulder and it was covered, $26K.

 

[TrailTorque]

@AlrightAlready

Sorry to hear this! You need to go get checked out NO MATTER WHAT!

I’m very surprised it’s only 4k.. I don’t trust that evaluation and neither should you..

I would have it inspected by another shop. Most shops have adjusters that work at the shop itself.

A similar situation happened to us in our van. We were at a stoplight and got hit and the individual didn’t even brake at all.

(1) frame rail was bent. I had it towed to a local shop (we were about 4 counties over where it happened) and went and spoke with them. He said that because it was brand new it was going to be tough because the damages had to exceed a certain portion of the current value. He went through it with a fine tooth and an A/C component in the rear saved our butts and he was able to officially total it. We were very glad because we didn’t want to drive a vehicle that had previous frame damage.

Long story short, these shops make tons of money when they DONT total them for obvious reasons (because they get to fix it).

My suggestion is to have a candid conversation with the adjuster at the shop. If he is not willing to go through it in detail and add EVERYTHING up as he should, then you need to have it towed to another shop for an evaluation. If the shop we took it to wouldn’t have taken their time we would have still been driving that around.

Best of luck to you and your family! If you have any questions just PM me and I can walk you through what we did as our situations are/were extremely similar. I’m in Florida as well and we went through this 1 year ago so I can explain what to expect, what to do and a shop that’s not far from you to take it to as I don’t live far from you.

 

[Gippeyfish]

Title pretty much explains it. 2018 JLUR, 2.5 lift and 40's. Was stopped awaiting a DUI checkpoint (sober) and had a young girl rear end me somewhere in the 45-60mph range, no braking, no skids, just whiplash and me wondering why my 80lb labrador was in my lap instead of the back of the jeep. Had a hitch on but it completely destroyed the rear bumper, snapped crossmember in half, and bent a few sections of the frame. Some minor paint damage and potential chunks out of my rear tires. Had an estimate of repair come in just north of 4k. The jeep barely has 4,015 miles on it. Girl had insurance but if I had to guess, Florida's minimum and I'm almost certain there is nothing to pursue on that end afterwards. Biggest fear: diminished value. Carfax and other places will have this listed as *frame damage* and *frame repair* on it's record. Anybody been through a similar situation? Please advise. I was F*cked 4 years ago on a motorcycle when a girl hit me and it ended up costing me tens of thousands out of pocket even including insurance coverage once I got out of the hospital as the person at fault had minimums (which didn't even cover the bikes value, much less my astronomical medical bills.)

Had something similar happen last year. I was sitting at a stop light in South Carolina on the way home from vacation. I was rear-ended by a Toyota Tundra, and was pushed into the truck in front of me. Had extensive damage to front and rear of my truck ( 2017 F350). I was able to drive home from South Carolina to Tampa, Florida because the cooling system was not breached.

The initial estimate was based on pictures of the truck, and was $5000. After tear down of the vehicle supplements were issued to the insurance company from the body shop, and the final repair cost was about $14K.

So the estimate you have now is probably based on pictures and a cursory examination of the vehicle. Once tear down and repair starts they will likely find more damage and the repair cost will increase.

We asked the insurance company for diminished value, but the amount they offered seemed low. We had a diminished value appraisal performed by Appraisal Engine. The cost of the diminished value appraisal was $175. The insurance company still would not increase their offer which was $3k below the appraisal. They stated that the only way to know the diminished value is when the vehicle is sold. I ordered a 2019 JLUR and will trade my truck in when the new Jeep arrives. This should establish my diminished value.

You should also ask for loss of use of your vehicle if you are not provided a rental car. The loss of use should be about $25/day that your vehicle is in the shop.

 

[MKJL]

We tried for a diminished value claim about 5 years ago when my wife was rear ended by a kid. Went thru the online estimate companies as well as actual bent frame depreciation with our local dealer when we trade it in. All documentation went to an attorney after their insurance wouldn’t deal. Ended up barely getting enough to cover legal fees. Sucks.

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