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2019 Silverado WT double cab, 4 wheel drive. 10,000 miles. well, what a crappy week. Got rear ended by a vehicle while I was sitting at a red light. 35-40mph impact to my rear hitch and bumper. Totally not my fault, the entire wreck was captured on my dash cam, and all costs listed below are being paid by the other person’s insurance company. And yes, I could see the guy typing on his cell phone with my rear dashcam moments before he slammed into me at full speed. Me and my 10-year-old daughter were in the truck. And yes, we’re both medically fine so I got two estimates today from two different auto body repair companies. Damages… (wait for it) Tailgate has to be replaced, right and left rear bed quarter panels have to be repaired, new bumper, new hitch, and the worst part… when the hitch went forward it sheared the holes in the frame rails where it attaches with bolts to the frame. Basically the 3/4” holes in the frame rail that the hitch bolts go through, became 3 inch holes after being stretched and torn from the impact. Both auto body shops said the entire frame has to be replaced with another OEM frame. They said that they normally could put it on a frame straightener and straighten the frame out, but the shearing in the middle could not be repaired to a point that they could guarantee that the tow rating would remain the same as the engineers at GM designed this frame for. Also, I asked about sectional frame repair. They both told me that GM does not authorize sectional frame repair on these trucks Therefore, a complete new frame is needed. The estimate average between the two body shops was around $12,000. Both shops said it would probably be in the shop for at least two months. The cost of two months rental for a full-size equivalent pick up truck is $99 a day. About $6000 bucks total. (could be more if not finished on time.) diminished value… Online calculators give a total diminished value estimate around $3000 due to the loss of trade-in value because of the now marred Carfax wreck history. (i’ll have to probably beg, plead, and pray to Jesus, to get that money out of the car insurance company. I’ve done it before in past wrecks, but I’ve also been told to, “kick rocks“ before.) and yes before anyone says it, I know I could “lawyer up” to get that money. But I really want to try to do this the right way first. There’s too much unknown of what will come next. Not saying I’m against lawyering up, but I’d really rather not. basically it’s a $21,000 minimum cost to the guy’s insurance company to repair this (when you add up everything mentioned above). keep in mind, my truck only has a actual wholesale value of around $28-$30,000. is it totaled??? Per my state law, if damages exceed 75% of wholesale value, the vehicle is a total loss. However, I don’t know if they are calculating the rental fees, and the diminished value cost in that math. Maybe it’s just the actual body shop work/parts cost. I’m not sure. I would imagine that they would include The total cost to the insurance company, since the Insurance company would not have to pay this if they just totaled the vehicle outright. so I find out in the next couple days what the insurance company is going to decide to do. I really hope they total it and I’ll tell you why… We all know that this truck was built in the GM assembly plant, to exact torque specs, clearances, etc. And a lot of that work was done by robots, calibrated tools, etc. I am sure “Billy Bob“ the autobody mechanic is not going to be as precise. (No offense to Billy Bob) If the vehicle is not totaled, and it is completely disassembled and reassembled by auto body mechanics, I will be selling it the day I get it back repaired. I refuse to drive around a “science experiment“. I feel like it will just be problem after problem from that point on. Forgive me if I’m being dramatic, but I really don’t even wanna take the chance. And God only knows how the hell that would affect my original factory warranty. I can see Chevrolet refusing to do anything with it from that point on. I’ll basically have to be going back to the body shop for any further problems. Then the body shop will blame Chevrolet, and vice versa. What a nightmare. and forgive me for calling the autobody mechanic “Billy Bob“. I have a lot of respect for these guys, and it’s truly an art that takes absolute talent to do. But I think we all know that I’m not wrong in assuming that this truck will not be built back to the same perfection that it came out of the GM plant with. I appreciate any thoughts or insights anyone on here might have. And just a reminder, any solid impact to your hitch will absolutely destroy your entire frame. The guy who hit me was only going about 35 to 40 mph. not sure what’s gonna happen from this point on, but I will be sure to update this post in the next few days If you are a religious type, any prayers are appreciated.
