Hi! I was rear ended tonight and am hoping someone can comfort me and say this is not a total. A shuttle bus slammed on his brakes and sandwiched me between him and a Chevy Cobalt. No major injuries, just whiplash and glass cuts. The impact was so bad my gum flew out of my mouth and on my leg. I was wearing a seatbelt of course. She has only 68k miles.
Glad you're okay! I'm not sure if that's a total loss. I'm not an insurance agent :/ makes me sad seeing your prius like that because it's exactly the same as my 2005
Contact Steve at http://www.autobeyourscom before letting the insurance company have it if they declare it totaled to see what he suggests. He buys wrecked Prii to rebuild as salvaged Prii. JeffD
That's a lot of trauma for a ten year old car.... Insurance companies usually pay a percenage of ACV, or actual cash value which for your 05 would be......what? Probably between $8,000 and $10,000. It's going to be close......
I think this is a case where because of the age of the vehicle and the perceived value, versus the cost of the body work it would need it could end up being totaled even though it could be salvaged. Since you had impact from the back and the front (although slightly from the front) I'm voting it get's totaled just based on the cost to repair that damage. Body work is SOO expensive. Someone who salvages vehicles? Who conceivably isn't going to charge himself for labor, might be able to make that vehicle "whole" in a way that is economically sensible for themselves. If the frame is at all damaged, I don't think I'd want to deal with it at all. It's sad, and 68,000 miles on a 10 year old vehicle isn't much, so it appeared it must of been in great shape for it's age before the wreck. But I think it's time to shop for a new vehicle. And battle with the insurance companies to try to get as much as possible for what appears to be a 10 year old vehicle that was in great shape.
What a shame for a vehicle with so few miles! This reminded me of an incident years ago when I went to the shopping mall in my MB 190E and I came to a stop for a left hand turn at a traffic light. Instinctively my eyes went to the rear view mirror and saw a Chrysler barreling down on me way too fast! I just knew this individual was not going to stop in time and pressed my brake peddle as hard as I could as I did not want to hit the vehicle in front of me. (I felt like Captain Kirk on the Enterprise on the bridge with the alarms sounding waiting for the inevitable collision) Suddenly the guy in the Chrysler realizes there is stopped traffic in front of him and he jams on the brakes! Too late! He slams into my trunk! Because I was bracing for collision and was standing on my brake pedal I did not hit the vehicle in front of me. Let us know what happens to your Prius!
I agree it is likely the car will be totaled because of the extensive damage to the rear plus the moderate damage to the front, compared to the market value of a 10 year old Prius which is not high.
So glad that YOU are ok! That sounds like some 'hit.' I've been rear ended 3 times in 8 months, nothing as major as what you have. The Prius rear is fiberglass, not metal, so it crushes a LOT. The worst one, I needed a new bumper, one new rear fender, one new tailight cover and . . . the silver bit behind the bulb. Wiring was ok. new liftback door and new locking mechanism. That cost the other party's insurance a bit over $5,000. If you kept records to show you did the proper maintenance, that may also help you get as much as possible. Oh, BTW, I always go through my OWN insurance co, and let them deal with collecting from the other insurance co. MUCH easier. My car is already in the shop being repaired before I even get contact from the other company. No idea how it works in a total loss situation.
?? The rear hatch is made of aluminum and the fenders are made of steel. The rear bumper cover is a rubber compound. No fiberglass, this is not a Corvette.
Well then obviously I don't know what I am talking about. I know I can't put any fancy magnets on the back, and I know the other car has NO damage at all. And, isn't this styrofoam inside the bumper?
Heyyy, off subject, but I think I met you at the To Go Before event last fall in New England? We talked about puppies?! Back on subject, I'm glad you're okay! Your Prius did it's job to protect you. I'd say they will most likely total it, but look at the bright side, could could always upgrade! Sorry for the loss.
That Prius Car, yes we did meet and talk about my dogs. Go check put this thread: Happy St. Patrick's Day, from my Flock of Fluffs! | PriusChat And . . . I am not the original poster, so Carmine is fine.
Thank you guys so much! We are still waiting for the insurance adjuster to inspect it, but the claims lady is already mentioning the T word since she has dealt with Prius's before and seen how charges add up once in the body shop. I took all of my belongings out of the car yesterday and took more pictures, but forgot the interior, DOH. The plastic carriage compartment in the trunk was broken and so was the plastic top behind it. I couldn't see more because I cant open the hatch so only God knows whats underneath. The exterior was pretty bad. My front right rim was busted. My hood is stuck into my grille and cracked not to mention the dents and spirals. My front bumper is split right in the middle plus dents and paint spirals. My hatch, like mentioned before, is caved in and the two hinges at the top are bent up which means so is the metal around and underneath it. On the left side underneath where the bumper was there is broken metal, which I think is part of the unibody and probably the deciding factor on whether to total the car or not, especially seeing that there appears to be a lot of damage to the plastic pieces on that side of the car, a storage compartment that is bent upward and a busted out tail light. I put the picture in full at the bottom, the damage is on the right. So who knows what they find once they remove the bumper. Unfortunately I think it's gonna be a total. There's too much metal damage to make me believe that they can fix it where it would hold up to another accident or not cause me anymore problems. ( Will let you guys know the outcome. RIP Goldie.....
May depend on where you take it. We recently had similar (but a little less) damage and I was already looking at used PiP's to buy with the $9000 bucks settlement, when they instead fixed if for about $2500. We took it to one of the places State Farm liked (also GEICO etc) probably because the shops does acceptable quick but not white glove type repairs.