First off, please let me apologize for my ignorance in all things auto related. My husband is on a mini-deployment for the next couple of weeks, and of course, the crap hit the fan back here at home.

We were involved in a pretty bad wreck over the weekend while driving my suburban. (2001, 2500, 2 wheel drive) It was towed to the shop, but they keep stalling on telling me what's going on with it.The insurance company and Iwere supposed to know by now, but they keep saying"we'll know soon", missing both time frames theyguaranteed for answers.

First off, some moron was changing his flat in the left hand lane in L.A. 5-car pile-up ensued. Long story short, a large Ford truck was in front of me. I was almost to a stop (thank goodness for the 4 new tires we bought the day before) when we were hit from behind at 70 mphby a Tacoma double-cab weighted down with a large load, and then a 2 door Lexus. It quite obviously totaled the Tacoma and Lexus (the engines were pretty crushed, and the Tacoma's front 1 1/2 feet of frame was exposed).

The Tacoma hit the back of my suburban off center, hitting most of the impactstarting fromthe center on to the right-side bumper. It buckled my barn doors some, the back passenger panel, and shoved it up under the back passenger door. The impact rammed us into the truck in front of us, and apparently (according to CHP) crushed my radiator. I had a hitch on the back, which is now at a slight angle, yet still solidly attached to the car. It knocked my spare completely out, as well.

Looking at the damage (reminder, I'm totally clueless about cars), to meit doesn't looktoo bad. It looks to me like mainly sheet metal damage, bumpers, and the radiator. My guess, though, is that itwould havescrewed up the frame. I'm guessing this is likely with the force of impact not being square on? I have pics if it might help anyone give me some info.

In addition, our airbags did not go off, and that has me confused. We slammed on the brakes before hitting the truck, and I remember thinking it wasn't going to be so bad. I don't know if I was completely stopped or not before we were hit from behind, but I was standing on the brakes with all I could. Shouldn't the airbags have deployed at least once we were hit into the truck in front of us? Was it a malfunction, or the way the wreck happened? My daughter was thrown against the dashboard, and hit her head pretty good, and I just remember being panicked about the airbags not going off.

On another note, if we'd been driving somethingsmaller than our suburban, I think we'd have been much worse off - if we'd have even made it. The 2 vehicles in front were drivable. Ours and those behind were not. CHP said our car basically took the brunt of the impact and acted as a cushion to those in front of us. The truck behind us looked like it hit a brick wall. I'm so incredibly grateful that we had that extra lenghth of car both in front of us and behind where the passengers were.

And the dumb*** who stopped to change his flat never even got hit. Ain't that a kicker... Oh, and we paid off my suburban last month. Figures, huh?

Any input would be great!

 

First of all, Thank goodness everyone is okay. I have a K2500 Suburban as well and appreciate the size and strength of it. If you say that the rad was pushed in, perhaps the bumper never felt the full impact to deploy the airbags. I'm not sure what the air bags are set at but should have been deployed if there was a front inpact, depending on the speed and force applied to your SUB. As for the SUB being a write off, I doubt it if the air bags weren't deployed. Depending o the impact and if the frame was twisted or fractured and is something else entirely. Get an estimate at a trustworthy repair shop and and don't settle for the first shop. Have your claims adjuster verify the damage and what it might cost for repairs and what they will give you. There are a lot of well experienced members in this forum, they might know more than I. Hope I helped you in some way.

 

Your airbags probably didn't deploy because you may not have been going 25MPG when you hit the truck in front of you. They will only deploy at 25MPG or high at time of impact. As for being totalled, don't be surprised. My wife hit the back of a 2007 Ford full-sized PU last year and did not-so-much damage to the front right corner of my 95 Burb. Cost: $3800 for a new fender and lights. Amazing how much it is. If your damage is as bad as you say, it's more than the truck is worth - especially if the frame is torqued.

 

why dont u post some pictures here so i can take a look. the frame of the 2500 is pretty strong. i'td take a lot to mess it up. im familiar with this type of work and if the frames not bent too badly chances are it could be fixed for a reasonable price.