Toyota Tacoma ‘Rescue’ Starts Bad, Gets Worse
With friends like these, this poor Toyota Tacoma has no need for enemies.
If you’ve done any serious off-roading, there’s a good chance you’ve gotten stuck. There’s not shame in that, and it happens to the best drivers and rigs out there. In the interest of full disclosure, earlier this year, I almost got a Land Cruiser — one of the most capable all-terrain vehicles on the planet — stuck on a soggy field during a photoshoot. Just imagine the shame of having to admit to a tow truck driver that you managed that! I likely would have a become part of Seattle stupid towing lore.
Of course, if you do manage to get into someplace you can’t get out of, it’s always helpful to have some friends around. Unless, of course, those friends have no idea what they’re doing. Because in a sketchy situation on the trail, just wanting to help isn’t enough — there has to be some knowhow involved as well.
Unfortunately, while there’s no real context for this video, it doesn’t look like there’s a lot of ace trail recovery game on display. For those who have a high degree of mechanical sympathy, I should probably preface this video by saying that it’s pretty hard to watch.
By the end of the clip, it’s dreadfully obvious that this poor Toyota Tacoma was more far damaged in the “recovery” effort than it was during the incident which led to it landing on its side. Given just how much time it spends being dragged along sideways, it’s hard to imagine there’s a single piece of sheetmetal that doesn’t bear the scars of this forlorn outing.
Now, I’m not an insurance adjuster, but I do know a little something about cars, and from what I’ve seen here, I’d say that this baby is totaled. While there are certainly plenty of parts that could be scavenged, and the truck itself probably still moves — at least somewhat — fine under its own power, the process of getting it back to anything approaching showroom condition would be cost prohibitive.
Like I said, it’s not really clear what happened in the initial accident, and the video stops before the “recovery” ends. So I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope nobody got hurt. If you have any info on this ugly rescue, hit me up and let me know! I’d love to know what happened!
Photos: YouTube