Rear bumper damage - worth filing a claim?

[sben]

Thanks all. Based on your advice/perspectives, I will seek estimates through Rivian Service Center and through at least one Rivian certified independent shop. I do wish these parts were more readily available for self-installation (if anyone has ideas on if there is a place I can order such parts, please let me know).

With any other vehicle I’d buy the parts from the parts counter and try to fix myself. Probably worth it to get an estimate from the service center, might yield you a parts list. I know they have preferred repair shops, can probably get that info when you take it in for service appointment. If nothing else, see if they will sell you that lense to replace …

Trailer come off or just wrap against back of truck?

Thank you for the advice. As embarrassing sa it is to admit, I had just purchased the travel trailer, the trailer coupler popped off the ball at a pothole (literally 1/4 mile from where I had just purchased the trailer). Total facepalm moment.

I would get a quote from Rivian on it then decide whether it’s worth fixing now or later or through insurance or not. At some point parts will hopefully be more readily available and you might be able to get it fixed for cheaper.

The only thing I would even be concerned with if you wait is if water was to get inside those lights and do other damage.

I think all of that makes a lot of sense. Maybe I'll just prioritize the red reflector/light cover and wait for the panels to become more available if the repair ends up being exorbitantly expensive. I even see a used silver panel (at least for the right side) for sale on ebay.

Did the the trailer jackknife, or how did that damage happen? The light damage appears to be only to the reflector surrounding the back-up light which appears to be intact.

Brian

Thanks - yes I increasingly think this is maybe a situation where I just "deal with it" until these parts are more readily available. Or if an independent shop can replace those panels for a somewhat reasonable price, I'd go for it. See above for description of what happened.

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[Donald Stanfield]

Yeah it seems like you already made up your mind but the way I see it is your truck got hurt doing truck things, and that's what trucks are for. That's the best part of having a truck, when it gets scratched up doing work it's supposed to. I'd leave it or replace the parts yourself.

 

[Mathme]

As others have said, see get an estimate and see what the cost is.

I had an idiot sit & run my last car while I was stopped at a stop light. only damaged the plastic rear bumper cover. Ended up being about $1200 and I had a $1000 deductible. It wasn't worth filing a claim at that rate.

I say see what the cost will be and then decide if you can live with the scrapes or not. Note though, you'll need to fix it before selling as that'll mean a big hit on resale at that time.

 

[Tucker74]

Thank you for the advice. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I had just purchased the travel trailer, the trailer coupler popped off the ball at a pothole (literally 1/4 mile from where I had just purchased the trailer). Total facepalm moment.

It happens more than you'd think, the hitch being so close to the rear of the Rivian didn't help I'm sure (usually the safety chains catch as it slides under). Highly recommend looking into a quality weight distribution hitch, it would mitigate this scenario as well.

 

[COdogman]

Thanks all. Based on your advice/perspectives, I will seek estimates through Rivian Service Center and through at least one Rivian certified independent shop. I do wish these parts were more readily available for self-installation (if anyone has ideas on if there is a place I can order such parts, please let me know).



Thank you for the advice. As embarrassing sa it is to admit, I had just purchased the travel trailer, the trailer coupler popped off the ball at a pothole (literally 1/4 mile from where I had just purchased the trailer). Total facepalm moment.



I think all of that makes a lot of sense. Maybe I'll just prioritize the red reflector/light cover and wait for the panels to become more available if the repair ends up being exorbitantly expensive. I even see a used silver panel (at least for the right side) for sale on ebay.



Thanks - yes I increasingly think this is maybe a situation where I just "deal with it" until these parts are more readily available. Or if an independent shop can replace those panels for a somewhat reasonable price, I'd go for it. See above for description of what happened.

A long time ago I used some of this tape when my car was too junky to even consider going to a body shop. It worked great until I could track down a replacement part online.

https://www.amazon.com/3M-03441-1-875-Parking-Repair/dp/B000BOCAMQ

 

[Count Orlok]

Your insurance won’t necessarily rise from one claim in 15 years. Apart from losing the No-claim discount which sounds scammy. The purpose of insurance is to use it when You need it.

maybe see what the cost is first and balance it against your deductible which I hope is at least $1000 if you never file claims.

^^^ this^^^

the OP has been paying for insurance for 15 years just to not use it. SMFH

 

[crashmtb]

^^^ this^^^

the OP has been paying for insurance for 15 years just to not use it. SMFH

here if I had a similar scenario, my insurance company would call this an at fault single vehicle collision. It would mean five demerits on drivers license, which would take as many years to recover. Way less aggravation to just pay to have it fixed.


if it was caused by someone else, or much more serious damage… claim it.

i once drove over what looked like a patch of ice..in the parking lot at work. It was a two foot deep sinkhole. Bent radiator bent AC condensor, broken washer fluid bottle, car dumped all its coolant. Broken bumper cover, on and on. $5000 repair so I filed an insurance claim. $200 deductible and I was at fault because I apparently should’ve known it was a giant hole.
In that instance it was cost effective to go through insurance.

 

[zymolysis]

the trailer coupler popped off the ball at a pothole (literally 1/4 mile from where I had just purchased the trailer).

The same thing happened to me 35 years ago. I had just purchased a used cargo trailer. I pulled it home with no issue. But the first time I loaded it (to go camping), it popped off a couple of blocks away, and beat up the back of my truck. I learned, that night, that there is an adjustment on the underside of the hitch.

 

[sben]

To provide some closure to this topic, and hopefully help inform others in similar situations, I ended up getting a quote from a Rivian certified shop of about $1300 to replace the entire bumper. Not nearly as much as I expected, and given the delta of $800 over my $500 deductible, and that I was told by insurance that I would (at minimum) lose a discount of about $400 per year (for who knows how long--and lord help me if I had a second at-fault claim!), it was a no-brainer to pay out of pocket. Note to self: should probably increase my deductible since repairs in this range aren't worth an at-fault claim on the record anyway.

 

[Merrill]

Trying to find a video on replacing the left rear bumper light on an R1T.

 

[sben]

Picked up the truck on Saturday (in for the bumper replacement AND repair of additional damage caused by someone backing into the truck when it was parked *facepalm*). Nothing makes me as grateful for the R1T as driving a rental Buick Encore for a few weeks

 

[SparkyR1t]

I would not be surprised to see a repair estimate from a Rivian approved shop of several thousand dollars if that is the case use the insurance

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