Prius declared a total loss

I thought perhaps people would want to know my story. My 2010 Prius, which I bought in September 2009, I was rear-ended on a main road by a car going highway speed. Neither I nor my passenger (my wife) were hurt at all. The insurance company for the other driver promptly admitted fault. The car drove fine even after the accident.

I went to their estimator,who took pictures and said the damage would cost about $1000 to repair. I then went to my body shop, which took off the bumper and said there was $5000 in damage. The insurance company agreed to pay that as a supplemental. So the body shop started taking off panels and the like, and found even more damage. So the car has been declared a total loss. The body shop guy (who I've dealt with in the past) told me that modern cars are designed to pretty much fold up in case of an accident so that the car and not the humans in it bears the brunt of the damage. That worked perfectly here: as I said earlier, neither my wife or I were injured. The insurance company is paying what I think is a reasonable amount for the car.

So the question becomes what to do from here. I am not inclined to buy another Prius. I liked the gas mileage and the hatchback was a convenience even though I rarely folded down the rear seats. But I always thought the visibility from the driver's seat was inadequate. As my wife and I grow older, getting into and out of a car that low is an increasing issue. (I understand the new Prius is very low). And, as I've posted here, I find that my right leg goes numb after about a half hour of driving -- perhaps the Prius is why.

I had a year-old Corolla as a rental while the car was at the body shop. Rentals are never great, but I was unimpressed. The visibility and access weren't much better -- I think the access was actually worse -- and I thought the engine was noisy.

My hunch is that we will look for a compact SUV. I'd like to buy another hybrid so that I feel environmentally responsible, but I really don't hear great things about the Rav4 or Honda CR Suvs. We might go with a Subaru Forester, although I am suspicious of a boxer engine (I understand it's not a good setup for reliability) and it will be 2026 before they have a hybrid.

Anyway, I thought it might interest some of you to read this. I have benefited a great deal over the years from this forum, and I want to wish all of you the absolute best.

 

As always, you have good advice -- we will look at it. One of my concerns is visibility, and Consumer Reports criticizes the thick back pillars. But we will see. I have to say in all honesty that I have had three Toyotas -- a Tercel, a Camry and now the Prius -- and all three times the car did not live up to Toyota's reputation. And it's not as though I do anything in a car that's particularly challenging.

Thanks for your good wishes -- I still can't believe that neither of us felt even a twinge afterward. The other car was a Chevy Silverado -- not exactly a little car!

 

87,000 miles!? That's all???
Maybe I'm behind the times, but I am not ready for an electric vehicle until the charging infrastructure improves a lot. But I know many smart people disagree with me. Thanks again for your thoughts!

 

Thanks for the suggestion! The CR-V hybrid is definitely on our list of cars to look at. It has good visibility and access.

 

We did finally buy a Subaru Forester. The CR-V hybrid is several thousand dollars more, and we don't drive enough to make that pay back in fuel economy. We also liked the visibility much better in the Forester. Consumer Reports hates the current Rav-4 (except for the Prime) so much that we didn't give it serious consideration. As I said above, my three Toyotas have all disappointed me in various ways, and so I don't feel any brand loyalty. (I still can't believe that the Prius began burning a quart of oil every 2-3000 miles at 90,000 miles.)

I've enjoyed conversing with all of you over the years, and I learned a lot. The advice I got here was invaluable. Please accept my best wishes to all of you, both with your vehicles and otherwise.