Got a distress call from my wife this evening. She hit a car that stopped suddenly in front of her. She is ok, but the car is a real mess. Poor Pri. We can take it to the bodyshop of our choice. Will call several Toyota dealers tomorrow. Does anyone have a good bodyshop to report in Seattle or Tacoma?
I have heard of some body shops not wanting to work on hybrids because of the high voltage battery, so you might want to call several Toyota dealers in your area and see whom THEY recommend. If a dealer does body work, they probably do it on all cars (I took my Camry to a local Ford dealer's body shop when someone rearended me years ago since they were approved by AAA). It makes me so sad to see a Prius in an accident!!! I'm very glad to know that your wife is OK, and I'm sure your car will look good as new very soon. BTW I went to AAA.com and did a search of auto body places. It looks like Toyota of Seattle has an approved body shop, but I encourage you to check out the website for yourself to see where more places are. Good luck!!! (Oops!!! Edited to add I went to auto repair instead of auto body...Toyota of Seattle does repair, but not body work, I guess. Sorry!! Best to call a dealer for a reference.)
Ouch! Sorry to hear about the accident and glad your wife is ok. When you get a chance perhaps you can let us know what safety features activated. Did air bag(s) deploy? Was there any visual indication that the battery system was shutdown/isolated? Best of luck in finding quality repair service.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jmccord @ Jun 18 2006, 09:39 PM) [snapback]273307[/snapback]</div> When I arrived at the scene of the accident, the only light that would come on was the door light. I disabled the sks light and then the key light came on. Other than that the car was/is dead as a brick. I'm assuming that the high-voltage cutoff kicked in. The airbags didn't deploy. I'm guessing that the impact was at less than 20 mph. The car crumpled where it should crumple. No injuries. The tow driver disconnected the 12v battery. So now the car is totally inert. It looks like Burien Toyota has a body shop in house. This is where we are likely to take it in to. Has anyone had any experience with them?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Begreen @ Jun 19 2006, 09:33 AM) [snapback]273445[/snapback]</div> Estimates coming in - $10,700 to 13,000. Half the price of the car, for a 15 mph banger. We'll be out of a car for a month. My wife doesn't want to drive anything but "simple, old" cars now.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Begreen @ Jun 20 2006, 08:15 PM) [snapback]274459[/snapback]</div> Whew! Are the electrical components the largest of all the line-items? I couldn't believe that the body damage and repair would be the largest chunk of that estimate. I read quite a while ago about insurance companies totalling a much larger percentage of wrecked cars in the past 5 or more years because of the high amount of electronic components that get easily damaged in a wreck. I guess the Prius and other Hybrids are probably worse off. One other thing I'd note is that I've gotten body work done before and the dealer body shop is always way more expensive without necessarily being any better than a word-of-mouth recommendation. Though if you're only paying a deductible, it doesn't make much difference.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Begreen @ Jun 20 2006, 09:15 PM) [snapback]274459[/snapback]</div> I was in an accident in our two-month old Prius on July 18, and can totally relate with your wife, we pick up the car today after a long and drawn out argument with the autobody shop, and I don't know if I'll be able to drive anything besides my Corolla for a while. I do have a question though. Did they relpace the battery and reset everything after your accident?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Begreen @ Jun 20 2006, 09:15 PM) [snapback]274459[/snapback]</div> Wow, that is pretty steep. I, too, am interested in what the components of that cost are...From the location of the damage the only thing I can imagine is that the inverter itself was damaged &/or the axle or frame were seriously damaged. Can't say I understand that. I assume you're insured, so your out of pocket shouldn't be any more than it would have been for a 'simple, old car'. Being in a "simple, old car" wouldn't have prevented the accident. And, depending upon what compromises the majority of the repair cost it might have been just as expensive to repair that "simple, old car". Or is she upset past the point that logic will help?
**SIGH* Just added another irritating animated avatar to my IGNORED list. What in %#@@ do wheel covers have to do with repair costs? I removed mine long ago.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Aug 8 2006, 06:30 PM) [snapback]299831[/snapback]</div> That was an attempt at levity...... Or a joke if that is simpler for you.
