Hi everyone, My 2008 silver pkg 4 was totaled by a drunk driver over the weekend. Pics will be at the bottom of the thread but we're basically being watched over by God because we shouldn't have made it out of there alive. Anyway, the police report is still pending and I don't even know if the drunk is insured. Without the police report, basically nothing can happen for me as far as getting a replacement is concerned. My question is, what sort of value would you estimate a 13 month old 2008 pkg 4 with no dents and 14,000 miles to be worth? I just need peace of mind right now. It's been nearly a week and I have no information whatsoever on anything! My car was killed but we survived. pt I | Facebook
Saw the pics, if that were my car, boy would I be PISSED!!! Glad however you made it out ! It takes up to 14 days to get a final police report. Usually they are ready in 72 hours. Last accident I had, that's how long it took to get my copy. HOWEVER, GET A LAWYER!!!!! Right now, not later, now. Do not answer the insurance companys questions, his or yours, without one. The Insurance company is NOT your friend. They want to pay you as LITTLE as they can. This is why you are going to get a lawyer, you have no idea, unless you are a laywer, of the scope of this accident. THE DRUNK PAYS FOR EVERYTHING!!! The legal system will work it out. Again the Lawyer will talk to your insurance and get the best settlement. You did not ask to be clobered, "The Drunk" took it upon himself to get loaded, and find a target, YOU!!! Thankfuly things were not worse. Google Philly Accident Attorneys. Call several, talk is free, and you find one you feel comfortable with, have him take the case. I would bet there seveal PROMINENT Attorneys in Philly who specialize in this kind of matter.Usually the first visit is aways free, talk to the attorney, tell him what happened, show, email, link him the photos. You will come out WAY ahead of this mess with an Attorney, rather than without one. Good Luck, please let us know how it resolves out!
Glad you were not hurt! This is the kind of thing I'm talking about when I advise people to buy insurance from the best company, not from the cheapest company. A good insurance company would have had someone look at your car, and then would have settled with you immediately. The police report would have determined whether your insurance company takes it out of its own pocket, or goes after the other driver or his insurance company, assuming you have both collision insurance and uninsured driver coverage. Of course, if you didn't have collision coverage, then you're not covered unless there's a determination that you were not at fault, and that will depend at least in part on the police report. But if you are fully insured, your insurance company has no excuse for delaying. I've never had an accident of this magnitude, but I've had several fender-benders, and my company covers it immediately, and then makes a determination if it's my fault (in which case my rates will go up, but they'll still pay) or the other driver's fault (in which case my company pays me, and then gets it back from the other company.) If your insurance company is stalling, then maybe you do need a lawyer. But then you need another insurance company, that won't make you hire a lawyer to get the coverage the insurance company promised you!
They're doing that today. The only reason they hadn't done it already was because I couldn't get to my car to remove my stuff. The police forgot to give me back my license at the scene so I don't have access to transportation. Ugh! I do have a lawyer identified I just didn't know if I should retain one until the report is ready. My insurance has been awesome throughout this whole mess, btw. I have Nationwide and I paid for just about every option worth having on the policy. They called 2 days after the accident to get my loan information so they could pay that off. They told me today to start looking for a new car. They told me since it's a Prius, it should retain most of it's value since it's only a year old. Okay, contact my lawyer now. got it! I've never been involved in anything requiring a lawyer so this is all brand new.
Okay, I officially retained a lawyer. He's the brother of a good family friend. He has an excellent reputation in the city and a great record. I can't wait to start getting SOME closure. This whole thing is worse than a nightmare.
Good for YOU!!! As I have sooo painfully found out on my own, things wil just not happen fast enough for you!!! This is NORMAL, it's like Time Dilation on the Event Horizon of a BLACK HOLE..... Everything around you is normal but YOUR life will drag behind until it's over. Been there, Done that!! I found Marguerita's help! My Attorney did all the work. One day I received that wonderful call, CASE CLOSED!!! He handed me a check, and I had already picked up my NEW 4Runner!!! This was in '95, today it would Be a "V with AT"!!! WooHoo I was now back in real time!!! You day WILL come, look forward to it!
The worst part is leaving you guys for the gen 3 crowd! Seriously, it's a huge weight off my shoulders just knowing i have someone going for war for me. Hopefully I get my license in the mail tomorrow and at least I'll gain some autonomy again!
Are you still OK? No extra pains today? I hope not. Thanks for the pics... Nice to see the Toyota Buyers Protection Plan (ie airbags) deployed apprpriately... since both went, I presume you werent alone. BTW, it wouldn't look as bad.... ... if you removed those trim rings.
Glad you are OK. Looks like Toyota builds them correctly as it didn't look like a piece of glass broke. About the lawyer, I don't necessarily agree though. If there were injuries involved, absolutely get a lawyer. Since it doesn't seem like it, it might just be a waste to me. You can call three dealers to get estimates of your vehicles worth "to replace", not wholesale value. Look in the local autotrader online, cars.com, etc. All of those will give you a decent value to replace since that is what the insurance is contracted to do. I guess having an attorney can't hurt anything but the bottom line since he has to get paid for his time. Hopefully you negotiated a fair amount for him instead of a percentage of your money. Since he is kind of family, I would think the latter isn't the case.
Sorry I'm not multiquoting. I'm replying to several of you guys here: There are several injuries. I suffered a concussion, whiplash, and a lumbar/cervical strain that's serious enough that I need a steady supply of vicodin and tizanidine. My girlfriend has a lot of bruising to internal organs. She was in the passenger seat and got knocked into the center console so hard it actually broke off the car. My girlfriend's mom has cartilage leaking from her knee. No broken bones, though. I also lost a lot of business since I wasn't allowed to fly this week. All in all a nightmare. My girlfriend hasn't slept since last weekend because she's emotionally traumatized.
Oh yeah, I am very glad you took KK's advice and seeked out counsel. Wow, that is quite the list of injuries. Looks like it was a mostly head on collision. And there are still people wondering why drinking and driving is such a stupid thing to do... Cabs are MORE than welcome to come pick you up nowadays. I even called a tow truck once. Just so I didn't have to take a cab back the next morning to get my demo.
I very rarely will even have one beer before I drive. If you drink enough to lose your ability to make good judgments (let alone to keep your eyes open) and you still decide to drive then that really says a lot about your character. I hate when people call that a mistake. I've gotten REALLY drunk when I had my keys on me and I'll just sleep on the floor if I have to. No matter how drunk I get, I know right from wrong. He actually t-boned us. He was on a side street doing about 40 in a 25 and either passed out or just wasn't looking and ran a stop sign. I'm thinking he was just really out of it because he went directly for my headlights. That's a typical drunk type of thing. They aim for lights for whatever reason (something I learned in pharmacology). The only way you teach someone like that not to drink and drive again is to punish him severely.
The officer at the scene visited one of my passengers to drop off our IDs. She confirmed the guy was legally intoxicated and they did drag his butt to jail after he got out of the hospital. She also commended me for my driving because apparently we shouldn't have made it out of that crash in one piece. I steered us away from a brick building and a pole somehow. My happiness right now is indescribable.
Thank the good Lord you are alright. I was involved in a front and rear crush by a drunk driver in my 1997 Geo Metro Hatchback. Police were chasing her and she crashed into my car while I was stopped at a stop light behind a Ford Taurus wagon. Police told me he thought I was lucky to be alive. I became a total believer after that! At any rate, demand more from your insurance company. You did not ask for that drunk driver to hit you, and you want to have a car equivalent to yours back.
