New Prius rear-ended. Would Geico buy me a new one?

I'm glad you where in an accident and are mainly concerned with the material damage.

I agree that if your car is badly beaten up (frame damaged) then it will never be the same. Not sure how you can push for a new car as I have no experience with american insurance on that level

 

Its just my opinion, but why would an insurance company buy you a new car, unless the old one IS actually totalled? The same thing happened to me in college. My Mustang was rear-ended and very close to a writeoff (in my opinion). The insurance company paid to fix it, and it was as good as new. I still have it, and the accident was back in 1971. I was pretty attached to that car, and I'm glad it was fixed and not totalled.

 

I think I would agree with your opinion... it doesn't seem to make sense that they would be willing to pay you more money for a new car if they decide it's fixable at a lower cost. There may be some state-specific laws, but none that i've ever heard of.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(joy2000 @ Oct 27 2006, 03:04 PM) [snapback]339526[/snapback]</div>

I don't think you can demand more than your "damage". I feel your pain, I was riding to work one day in our new car, with all of about 3000 miles on it, and someone ran a stop sign and just demolished the passenger side fender, door, etc. At least I felt like I was getting the bad luck out of the way early.

Body shops can work miracles, though, and at least you are getting some diminished value money out of it. Insist on OEM parts, and be picky about which body shop they use. Other than that, I don't have much to add other than good luck, and keep in mind it's just a thing, and you are still here with the living.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(joy2000 @ Oct 27 2006, 02:46 PM) [snapback]339565[/snapback]</div>

You could always get it fixed, sell it and take advantage of the reduced value law in Georgia. Take what you get from the sale of the car and use that towards the purchase of a new car.

Just my 2 pennies.

Adam

 

Although I'm no fan of lawyers, in this case....Get a GOOD Lawyer! Also let it be known through your lawyer that gee the stress from accident and afterwords means you may need medical attention. A good lawyer should get fast action then and his fee's shouldn't be very much for a few phone calls,which is all it should take. They should be happy to settle for just replacing your Prius then

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(joy2000 @ Oct 27 2006, 03:46 PM) [snapback]339565[/snapback]</div>

Get a grip it's just a car. It's damaged, not violated. At least you are not in the ICU. If it bothers you so much, after they fix it trade it for a new one. Of course there is no guarantee you won't be rear ended on the drive home from the dealer. I'd hate to guess what insurance rates would be if every car in a serious wreck was totaled out.

 

The best advise was mentioned above. Get it repaired, take the diminishment of value (which should only be applied if you sell the car anyway) and get a new one. Yeah, it bites that you weren't at fault, but stuff happens and you are not entitled (by law) to have your vehicle replaced if it wasn't totalled. Unless you were actually injured, an attorney isn't going to take a straight property damage claim. 1) There's no money to be made and 2) well, they just can't make any money on them. (If you have a family friend that is an attorney, he/she may agree to talk to the insurance adjuster - but it's not going to get you very far.) With property damage there isn't much to argue. Property damage is not subjective - it is what it is - as opposed to injury claims which vary from person to person. If you make an injury claim - make sure you are actually injured - go to the doctor and get checked out. You loose credibility if you claim injury only after you don't feel like the property damage claim is going the way you want it to. Georgia is very conservative regarding insurance claims, so don't be fooled by the back of the phone book ads.

Good luck - but be grateful that it wasn't worse.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jburns @ Oct 27 2006, 07:51 PM) [snapback]339758[/snapback]</div>

Exactly. Life is what happens when you least expect it. We've all had car wrecks. Be glad you weren't hurt, fix the car, move on. If you really want a new car, sell the fixed one, while resale is high, and get a new one. My new prius was "violated" $1300 worth 2 weeks from new by a flying truck tire tread. New front bumper, fog light, grill and re paint passenger door. That's what you pay insurance for. You can't realistically expect a new car every time it is damaged.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(joy2000 @ Oct 27 2006, 12:46 PM) [snapback]339565[/snapback]</div>

Actually I never did hear that as an official law anywhere. I hit and broke a bottle of ketchup in a carefree moment at Ralph's the other day and all they did was call the clean-up crew. If you get a flat, you just replace it with a new one no matter how emotionally attached you were to that big old lug of a tire. Your car wasn't new: it's two years old on the car calendar. The parts they are going to give you are newer than the broken ones. The car was made of transplanted parts originally, from a bevy of broken homes: the fender came from Tachikawa, the steering wheel was born in Yokota, etc. Was it a repetitive winner at the concours d'élégance? If not, it is just another car.

If my wife got a broken leg, I don't think I'd ask for a new wife. Well..... maybe I need to think that through a little more......

Without going into a lot of deep existential philosophy and Freudian psychology, I don't equate my woman with my car. Call me sentimental. (I mean, I LOVE my car!) You seem willing to toss away all your beloved 2005 parts for a motly collection of 2007 strangers. Personally, and I've been really wrong before, it sounds like you are trying to make a profit out of this accident.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(paprius4030 @ Oct 27 2006, 01:24 PM) [snapback]339597[/snapback]</div>

And then, after your settlement, maybe we should open a thread on what it means to be "ethically challenged."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jburns @ Oct 27 2006, 10:51 PM) [snapback]339758[/snapback]</div>

I agree, this is a definate "get a grip" situation. Its a car, not a person and the original poster's analogy is beyond absurd. I love my cars, they are my hobby, a big focus in my life and their condition means a lot to me. BUT they are just cars and you can't drive a car everyday and not expect that at some point its going to be involved in some kind of collision.

As for the "new car", the car is no longer new actually. Its a 2005, 2 model years old with 12k miles. So, even if it were totalled why would they buy you a new car? Its a used car! They'll give you what a 2 year old Prius with 12k is worth as a used car, because thats what it is.

Now, some insurance companies have programs where if the car is less than 3 years old and totalled they will replace it with the most similar same model new car as possible (I have this through Allstate, who knows if it works and I hope I never find out), but Geico is not one of them.

If it bothers you that the vehicle has been in an accident then get rid of it and buy a new one yourself. Thats what the diminished value claim is for, to help offset the cost of doing that.

And if I were you I would seek professional help. I'm not kidding, if you can't take your car being damaged emotionally then you are in for serious and extreme hardships in the future as ACTUAL adversity finds your way. You need to learn some coping strategies.