This happened today! Hopefully the attached photos show up correctly here. My Prius was parked, and an elderly lady lost control in a parking lot. She admitted to driving with both feet and her foot slipping. Luckily, nobody was hurt, although a pedestrian had to run away from her moving car. Right now, the Prius is at a Tow Yard awaiting towing to a body shop in the morning. I'm wondering the liklihood of battery damage, if the car may be considered a total loss, etc. Is there anything you can think of that I may want to ask the body shop, insurance, etc. Thank you! Eric
Yes, it's an '09 Package II. An insurance adjuster told me that, if the battery needs replacement, that alone would cost 7 to 9K.
WOW! Thankfully no one was hurt! I'd let the insurance companies take care of it. Possibility of total loss if it exceeds 50% of the current value. CA may allow for diminished value too and that combined with actual damages may make it a total loss. I doubt there is battery damage since it's locatd behind the back seat but all systems will need to be checked out.
I think the 12V battery is toast as evidenced by the cat litter type stuff they put on the ground to soak up the acid under the right rear corner, but I'd be pretty surprised if the HV battery is gone. I think that's pretty well protected in the center of the car. Still looks like a bit of damage to the rear, and possibly to the front suspension... looks like it got pushed up onto the curb. Did it actually hit anything in front?
It was pushed about 12 feet, including over a concrete parking block and then up the curb and onto the sidewalk. It didn't hit anything else in the front end.
I'd say your HV battery is fine. Was there a leak from your car (would the 12V leak when crushed even though it is SLA?) or e.g. antifreeze from hers? Anyway, the 12V battery should be replaced, along with the brake backup capacitor bank, and possibly the HV battery fan ducting. Then there is frame damage, a door that looks messed up, the lift gate and quarter panels need to be replaced. Given that the car was pushed over a parking stop and the curb, I'd be worried about undercarriage damage too. Quite possibly totaled, I'm sorry to say.
There was a slow-dripping leak coming from the passenger-side rear corner. I have no idea what it was though.
Ugh, slightly tangential (sorry for your loss, by the way!), but it's so frustrating to see pointless accidents like this. I love my grandparents, but they are terrible, dangerous drivers, and I can't figure out why there're no regulations in place for retests...or something!
It may not be totaled per the insurance company......but I wouldn't want to drive it after being repaired. If they do repair it.....try it...if not completely happy with it......unload it. !!!!!!
The 12V battery is in the passenger side rear corner, and it would leak if it was cracked open. There's a tube for the washer fluid to get to the rear window that runs somewhere along the passenger side, but I think it's higher than the damage was at that point, so I doubt it was that. I don't think there's anything else back there that might leak.
My two biggest concerns would not involve the battery pack. I think my biggest worry from looking at the pictures, involves damage to the rack and pinion steering unit; damage to the parking prawl in the transaxle is also another concern. Front suspension damage is also possible; this is specially true if the wheels were at an angle as they hit the curb.
I'm going to guess it's a total. After my accident in my 09, i was viewing the salvage auctions across the country to get a guess if mine was a total, and i saw many with similar or even less damage. Best of luck with what ever is decided!
HV battery replacement should be less per Prius Battery Change is No Big Deal - Newsroom : Our Point of View Post / Toyota. Yow... I didn't read the original post carefully but yeah, from the above, I do now think it's going to be well above $5k then, even w/o HV pack damage.
Y'ouch! I'm afraid that's not going to buff out. Glad to hear that you're okay and no one was hurt. (I moved this thread from the Gen1 forum to the Gen2 forum)
First, thankfully nobody was hurt or killed. She could have easily taken several people out. Hopefully, her driving days are done. Her family needs to take the keys. As for your car, its done. I have seen cars with far less damage that have been totaled. In this case, I think it is best for you if they total it. The only way to fix that would to be to do some serious surgery, and I wouldn't want it back after that. Hopefully the other insurance company takes good care of you. Keep us posted.
That's terrible... Glad no one was hurt. Hopefully you can get the deductible (plus the drop in value) from the lady or her insurance.
Body shop just called me. It's a total loss. He said that he was already up to $15K and he wasn't finished. I'm going to start a new post about negotiating "Actual Cash Value" from the insurance company.
Well, I guess it's good and bad. You won't need to ever worry about it not driving the same as before... Too bad I doubt they'd let you part it out. Some parts might be valuable, if not damaged like the HV battery pack and inverter.
