I'd had my Prius a mere five days. And then, I got T-boned in an intersection in downtown Minneapolis. Nobody hurt (!!!). $3k in body damage. Both passenger-side doors will need to be replaced. Grrrrrr.
Downer. Major Downer. Make them give you a Prius to drive while yours is being repaired. Enterprise and Budget have them. If they don't make them pay for the extra gas.
Yes, but it was based on the standard formula, by which estimate I should have it back next Wednesday. They won't know until they start actually trying to order parts (replacement doors) how long it will really take, of course. Since the doors aren't what holds up Prius production, I'm trying not to be pessimistic.
mshappe... I'm glad nobody was hurt... How do you reserve a Prius from one of these companies? I tried to make a reservation through Enterprise but they would only guarantee that I would get a compact, it may be a Prius or it may be a Ford Focus "or similar". I don't see how a Prius is similar to a Focus. Also, isn't the Prius considered a mid-sized car?
Sorry to hear about your car. Hope everybody was ok. Mine got rear ended in July, so I feel your pain.
rental car companies have different ideas of 'compact' and 'mid-size' than the EPA does. i believe last time i looked they considered a pontiac grand am to be full-sized, and a buick lesabre was a luxury vehicle.
Be sure that they have someone take a look at the frame. So often getting T-Boned means a bent frame due to the point of impact. Also, because of the new-ness of your car, you should push to be paid for the lost value of your car. You had a brand new car, worth let's say $26,000. Now you have a car with a substantial collision and your car value will theoretically drop (I know with the Prius all bets are off, but still). This is NOT something your insurance or theirs will suggest, so you'll have to push for it. Basically they'll ask you to get quotes on the value of your car now that it has been wrecked - I'd keep the claim open as long as possible, then get an appraisal (that way you can wait for the Prius frenzy to die down some). Also, GO TO THE DOCTOR. It doesn't matter if you feel something now or not, GO TO THE DOCTOR. Set up the fact that there is possible damage caused by the wreck. I was TBoned a few years ago and have had neck problems ever since that didn't develop until months later, but were caused by the wreck. I didn't go to the Doctor, so I don't get jack in help from the guy who caused the damage. You have to protect yourself as much as possible and cover your bases when it comes to a car accident. I learned a couple of years ago that being Mr Niceguy and letting the system work itself through didn't get me anywhere and only allowed the insurance companies to make more money in the end. DO NOT OPEN A CLAIM WITH YOUR INSURANCE IF THE WRECK WAS NOT YOUR FAULT. Opening a claim with your insurance will only damage your driver record and cause your rates to increase, even if it wasn't your fault. Handle everything directly through the other driver's insurance company. Those are my tips - take them for what they're worth! Best of luck getting all of this resolved!
A few notes: The claim is already opened, and I did it with my own insurance. This may have been a mistake; however, my agent has assured me that my rates will not rise unless I'm at fault, period. My driving record, if it's going to be tarnished, has already been done so by the police report. I haven't seen the report yet, myself, and there was some real ambiguity as to who was at fault in the accident, if anyone. There is a strong possibility of a malfunctioning/mis-sequenced traffic signal. The body shop to which the car was taken has an extremely good reputation. They haven't reported any frame damage. I will, however, ask them about that explicitly when I talk to them next. As to the rest (getting compensated for lost value, etc), I will definitely bring those things up, going forward. Thanks for the note!
I just called Enterprise and said I wanted a Prius for a week. They put me on their list. Now I wasn't flying somewhere so I didn't say "I need it this day". In fact, I waited until the called me to say they had one and then set up my appt in Boston. I specifically wanted to drive the car some distance before buying one and I needed to go to Boston, just not any particular week/day.I waited about a week and a half.
There's the difference... I'm flying into NJ next week and needed to rent a car. i figured it would be the perfect time to take the Prius on an extended test drive. Sorry to have hijacked the thread...
That might be true and I hope it is, but remember that insurance agents are salesmen who have access to their insurance companie's computer system, nothing more. At least that is my disgruntled opinion of State Farm agents. By driving record I was really only referring to your insurance's version of your driving record (ie claims, etc). If there was indeed a malfunctioning/mis-sequenced traffic signal, you need to get something in writing about that and possibly hire a lawyer because you and your co-wrecker should probably go after the city/county for financial retribution. Again, not a lawyer, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. Do not even thing 2x about going to a Dr for a checkup, even if it's just to get it documented that you saw a Dr. Once the claim is made it doesn't matter if it's $3k or $500k, so make it count.
As it happens, shortly after that post, I had occasion to speak both with the body shop, and with the other folks' claim agent. They, too, made the claim directly to their agent, rather than mine, so at least, if I made a mistake, it's a symmetrical one The frame is mostly fine. There was a slight tweak to the pillar between the doors, but that's easily fixed. The doors (which I was afraid would take time to arrive) will arrive tomorrow -- apparently, it's a stock them, and the body shop was able to get one easily. So we're on track to have the car back next Wednesday. Minnesota does not recognise 'lost value from collision' as a claim. It's expected instead that if the body shop says it will take X to make the car good-as-new, it will be, and that's all. So, no chance of payment there, unless I choose to make recourse to lawyers. And I'm not inclined to do so at this time.
Ah, that's the difference. This is not an insurance sales agent I'm dealing with; it's a claims agent. As far as I know, all he does is claims adjustment, not sales. If my premium was going to go up, it would likely be at his explicit recommendation! Got it. You're right, of course, but even if I made the claim through their insurance agency, they were going to be calling mine eventually, because that's how the game works, at least in Minnesota, where proportional blame is recognised. So either way, my insurance company would know about the accident. My insurance company is already on that. Basically: my insurance is going to front the repair money, period. They're then going to try to reclaim that money from either the opposing driver (if the balance of fault allows for that), or from MnDOT if the signal was faulty. The only out-of-pocket expense for me in all this is a deductable, and I'll get that back if I wasn't at fault.
