I was in an accident where I was hit from the side on the rear passenger wheel well. It's messed up the rear axle, and the insurance is totaling it. If I surrender it to them, I will get $1200 more back, but I feel like it's worth more than that for the parts. I contacted my local Prius dealer, a small, honest, one-person dealership who specializes in only Priuses, and fixes them as well. He says he'd give $1500. The battery alone is almost worth that much! What should I do? Here is a picture. It still drives but is a bit wobbly, due to the rear axle. Everything else is in pretty good condition, normal wear and tear. 150k miles. A/C evaporator unit has a leak, but I just replaced the blower motor myself. (so it blows air now, but only stays cold for a month or two before having to add more freon). The ABS Actuator Assembly was also just replaced 2 months ago. That was expensive, and sucks that the car is totaled now. That's really it, everything else is in good shape. It's got smart key and JBL audio and I do not know if any of that matters much. What would you do? Would you try to sell some parts on Ebay to get the most out of it (despite not being the most handy and it'll be a huge learning curve to get most of the parts out or even just identifying them lol) or just sell it to the dealer guy? I will not be getting enough back from the insurance to attempt to get it fixed on my own and continue driving it. I will have to find a new car and a new loan, or buy a junker outright for less than 2k. Which will make me cry to not be able to drive a Prius anymore. I have been in my rental now for a month, and I so miss driving my Prius
Is it orig hybrid batt? or new one? I suppose the used batt is worth something to batt reclaimers, but I do not know. Take out the spare tire and give it to a Prius Plug_in owner maybe if it fits I'd give it to the Toyota guy for $1500 unless there is a higher bidder and maybe he can swing a 2007-08 replacement for you?
Take the 1500.00 along with what the insurance gives you and be done with it , be sure To have a doctor check your back and neck , whip lash some times takes a while to show up
you live in the same area I do there is a complete rear axle on craigs list for $150 and replace the rim if needed...2008 Toyota Prius Rear Axle Complete for under $700 parts and labor you can have the car back on the road.he might take less he has had it for sale for a long time
I will join the herd and say take the 1500. I was in an accident some 20 years or so ago in a Corolla, a much simpler car than the Prius, and it sounds like much the same damage. Insurance totaled the car, gave me some amount of cash and I kept the car. I repaired it myself with help from an uncle who was a retired professional mechanic (he owned his own garage) and while I THINK we did a good job, the car never felt really safe or as if it was totally fixed -- this despite the fact that I drove it for another 12 years with no problems. Technically, you are in violation of the law in many states in the USA if you "part out" your car -- a license of some sort is almost always required, and while I have never heard of anyone cited for this... Finally, I would contend that parting out the car sounds like a good deal, but I would imagine it would be a massive headache. Much worse than selling a used car yourself.
How much is your time worth? If you're unemployed or underemployed you can tinker with parting the car out, but $1500 seems to be the going rate. Keep the car and let the insurance company keep the $1200. Spend an hour or two seeing if you can get a better deal than the $1500 than the dealer is offering, but keep your day job. If it's me? I'm taking the $1500. Good Luck.
Thank you all for the feedback! Seems like the consensus is to sell it to the dealer. I was assuming but I just wanted to be sure I was doing the right thing. Stevewoods, I never heard of it being illegal to part out the car. But it would definitely be a massive headache anyway, you're right.
Did you look into the Craigslist rear axle? I don't see what the problem is with changing it out. Another thing you want to look into is the procedure to put it back on the road. Avi
Is it possible to total it, take the money to fix it and resell and make a profit? If not i'd take the $1500 and buy a new Prius.
I suggested that too but was out voted 99 to 1 repair and inspection is all you need for a rebuilt title in florida then drive it away
How much time do you have to invest in either parting out the car or repair it your self? Take parting out the car, parts will need to be stripped out. Do you have the time? Parts take space to store. Parts will sit on the shelf for months even years before a buy comes along. After you part out the car completely, is the total return worth the time and space? Take repair, do you have the time to do the repairs yourself? Everyone has an uncle who has an auto repair shop but he needs to make a living too. Will the repair done to factory specs? It may look OK but is it safe to drive? After you've done the repairs, it can only be registered as salvage title. That alone will make the car worth less than 3/4. If you sell it after repair, will the profit cover the time and money you've spent repairing it? I don't want you to take either route and 10 months later say I should have taken the 1500 dollars and ran
