New Prius - Wrecked

What a horrible feeling. I'm glad everyone is ok.

EvenIf they can fix your car it will always carry the accident with it via carfax reports so I would press her insurance company to compensate you appropriately if possible.

 

I'm thinking it wont be totaled. I hope everyone is ok.

 

Grrr, that makes me a little angry (and I'm so mild mannered), but I am glad you and your kids are alright. I can't help but ask...was it an older driver, or how did they completely blow by a stop sign? That damage looks pretty bad considering you'd expect people to be rolling at 5 or 10 mph. She didn't slow at all?

 

At least you're all ok - even more important when you had your kids in the car. You can always get another car but you can't get another you.

Amazing how badly damaged her car was compared to yours.

 

Glad everyone was able to walk away. Given the point of impact I would really want the front axle and drive train FULLY inspected. Maybe to the point that in any settlement you ask for additional money for potential issues in the future as a result of her willful negligence ( she did willfully/willingly run that stop sign ).

Be sure to get checked out for soft tissue injuries. They can be very painful and do not always show up immediately. BTDT too many times with people rear-ending us or running lights and other traffic control.

 

No way your car will be totalled. I'd guess $5-7K from an exterior POV.

About $8-9K total ... it's not as bad as it seemns. The car will be fine ... they'll take it apart until they get to the point that it's not damaged anymore, and just rebuild it from the inside out. They don't really straighten anything anymore ... it's cheaper to replace pieces.

Your car will be fine a month or so from now.

PS ... her car isn't totalled either. It almost takes a rollover to total a new car these days.

REV

 

I'm sorry about the accident, but I'm glad that everybody is OK!
My browser did an image-ectomy on the pictures, but based on what I'm reading you're not looking at a total loss on the car. That's really good news/bad news since as you pointed out, your car now has a sullied history.
If she has a no-name insurance company, she might be a high risk driver with whatever North Carolina considers to be the minimum "full coverage" liability insurance. You'll want to check your coverage to see if you're covered for underinsured drivers (USAA---you probably are....)
Good Luck.
If you get your car fixed by a 'real' body shop, chances are that it will look like and (much more importantly!) drive like it did before the accident.

Good Luck!

 

As for your side airbags, was anyone hurt in your car? Airbags are designed to minimize injury. Unfortunately, they can also cause injury, so there is a delicate balance between deploying them to prevent injury and not deploying them to prevent injury.

We often get posts where people question why their airbags didn't fire, but when asked, it turns out they weren't needed.

Tom

 

Glad everyone is ok.

With that kind of a side hit through wheel straight into the driveline, wow that can't be good for the car. If they don't total it, push for body shop to only use genuine Toyota repair parts.

 

When I went to Honda's new owner workshop, the mechanic fired off two airbags outside of a car....

did anyone know an airbag sounds like a very powerful gun going off? No kidding, everyone had to wear ear plugs from 25 ft away. Very loud.

 

i dont think it will be totaled either. air bag deployment probably would have done it, but i see no more than 7-8,000 in damages. i think to total it has to exceed 40% of the cars value if new.

glad everyone is ok. dont take too much stock in carfax reports. people only really shy away from them if the car is sold right afterwards. get it fixed, drive it 5-6 years, that report will hold little weight

 

Cant believe nobody has said this. Registered the forum just for you so you dont get screwed from this accident.

DO NOT just settle with their insurance company and just get your Prius fixed and repaired! Your car was BRAND SPANKIN NEW! You have LOST VALUE on your vehicle! I know sometimes insurance companies wont bring this up unless you bring it to their attention but if they dont, DEMAND money back for the lost of value on your vehicle! Normally they wont make a big fuss over it but if they do, just go online or dealership (carmax would be good!) and ask for quote of how much your vehicle is worth after being in an accident that has taken structural and possibly mechanical damage. Your car can EASILY worth less 5000 less than if it hadnt been in an accident! There is no reason you should be paying for a new car when it is now, on paper, a used and repaired car!

 

Sorry to hear/see that. Glad everybody is OK.

 

I second this, and get your deductible from her as well. I am so glad you and the kids are fine (and the other driver too).

 

I doubt very much if you'll be able to recover for any kind of 'decreased value' claim. My mother in law had something similar happen to her a few years back, and I brought this up as well. Her insurance company more or less said '$hit happens', and they don't recover or pay for that type of 'loss'. How would you possibly assign value to any given loss ?

Good luck on the repair of your car. I know what you're going through. I bought a brand new Mazda 6 in 2005, and got about 3/4 of a mile from the dealership, and some 16 year old kid that had had his license for 4 days ran a red light and t-boned me. It cost about 5K to fix the car, but in the end it was fine, and it never turned up in carfax.

Carfax is very questionable as a source for damage because it's really hit or miss as to what gets reported.

REV

 

For an additional $10, I was able to have the an police report emailed straight to me within a couple of hours (personal info deleted) on a used vehicle I just purchased.