Make sure you get a separate check for diminished value of your car. It's worth less when it's been in an accident Another $5000 worth of damage and the car would've been totalled. Maybe the body shop you choose will find hidden damage that will bring it over the top
1. That's good to know that an owner can get a check to cover the diminished amount of a vehicle. When I see an accident, I'll steer clear of the used car. I had a preowned Land Cruiser, that was a declared a salvage under the previous owner, because it was stolen and recovered. Mechanics verified it was never in an accident. However, when it came time to sell it, there was very little interest and I had to discount it heavily to sell it. 2. Good advice on looking for additional damage to get the car totalled. In Illinois, the total loss formula is the cost of repair + scrap value of car = preaccident value of car. If the body shop can make the numbers work, then by law, the insurance company has to declare the car a total loss.
As far as an update, they started pulling her apart today. Repair shop said, "the floor of your vehicle has damage and we couldn't pull it all straight. The technician is looking at it on Thursday." Can anyone provide insight?
Sounds like he wants to say, "your car won't be the same as before". Therefore it'll have to be totalled
"We couldn't pull it all straight" sounds like "the frame is bent severely enough we'll have to call it a total". Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
I had the front bumper and some of the plastic pieces from the underside and wheel wells replaced. Check from the AAA to the body shop was north of $5,000 dollars.
Ouch! Resisting the temptation to suggest Honda might have once, there no way of knowing. My instinct tells me that an impossibly buckled floorpan in a monocoque car body would be a write off. It would badly affect vehicle integrity in any subsequent crash and lead to punitive damages claims. Should the insurers still opt for a repair, demand a written statement that the vehicle still offers the same protection for any occupants in a collision as an undamaged Prius. Toyota would likely support you if they felt their warranty was degraded.
Wow. This seems brutal. Hope it turns out ok in the end. Did you say they took the main traction battery too? Doesn't that itself cost thousands to get and more to install?
Nice. Sorry about your terrible ordeal, but at least you'll soon be driving a car that has never been in a major accident (and good decision in getting gap insurance).
