How much damage does it take to total loss a Prius?

I'm in the the industry. That's an obvious total-loss. The Prius also has a lower threshold for damages before its declared a total-loss. Most of it has to do with the cost of the replacement parts, additional costs related to specialty skills to repair the hybrid system (if needed), and the uncertainty turnout of the repairs in the future.

In your most recent photos, I see very serious frame damage. Your suspension also looks like it's completely degloved. The structural member behind the bumper/radiator is also tore up. It looks pretty serious to me.

Of course, I think there's always potential for me to be wrong -- but it does looks like its the end of the road for your machine. Sorry.

 

Going by the new pics, I think my initial fear is confirmed. The wheels aren't pointing in the same direction by a substantial amount.

Mark my vote: totaled.

 

One thing I've learned over the years.
Accidents are always worse than they look.
There is always "hidden" damage that once you get into it adds up.

Years ago, we had a 6 month old Subaru hit by a woman running a stop sign.
It was a right hand drive vehicle, my wife used to deliver mail.
After it was hit, the car was completely dead on power.
They insisted on fixing it.
And provided me with a rental until it was fixed.
Being a right hand drive vehicle, certain parts needed had to be shipped from Japan.
I had the rental for over 6 weeks.
They did the body and paint first.
Then did suspension where they found the rack was bad, as well as bent "A" arms.
Then tackled why it wouldn't run.
first replaced underhood harness, then computer, then complete under dash harness.

I couldn't begin to remember everything they replaced........It was a lot!

The dealership came out and told me, and them right out, they could have bought me a brand new loaded car with what they spent on this, and saved a bunch of money.

Sometimes there is no rhyme or reason to what an insurance company does.
They follow set guidelines and common sense may not prevail.

 

The police do not find fault, at least in my state. That is the job of the insurance adjusters. I can't speak for every state, but I think this is the common theme.

They investigate the accident to determine if an infraction took place. In this case, sounds like they determined probable cause existed that the other drive was passing improperly, thus the citation was issued.

The fact that the other driver was issued a citation for a traffic infraction should (and probably will) carry quite a bit of weight with the insurance adjusters, but it's still their preogative to find fault as they see fit.

I've never been an insurance adjuster, but I was a cop for 12 years in another life.

 

I had the ability to check a "contributing circumstance" on the state accident report for each driver, such as improper passing, failure to yield, improper overtaking, etc. This was for statistical purposes only, though; it still came down to the insurance companies to ultimately determine fault, although I've been told that they usually gave quite a bit of precedence to if a citation was issued.

Might just be a Nebraska thing.

My wife was a dispatcher when I met her; kudoes to you for doing one of the toughest jobs in public safety.:rockon:

 

Sorry to hear you lost your car.
I think right now, a deal on a Prius is a thing of the past.
Gas prices are going up every day it seems.
The Prius will be sought after and command whatever the market will bear.

 

my 2010 Prius was a total loss at 12,000 + "unknown damage to the breaks and axes".

The accident was a hit and run...my unisured looked at 12000+probable 3K mechanical + 2 months in the shop + diminished value (it was a hit and run) + salvage value, and totalled it. Valuation was 20,700. I replaced it with a Subaru outback.

 

Glad you had gap insurance -- makes things a little better for you.

Yep, with $100 oil we'll be seeing $4+ at the pump in a couple months.