Got rear ended today.. my hitch is destroyed and car damaged, would love any advice or reassurance.

You should probably get a lawyer. You'll have to sue the person to get the money
you'll need to get another vehicle if it's totaled...

 

Yet more proof that skateboards are invincible! As for the car, first impression is that all your stuff you were hauling absorbed most of the impact and protected your car from being totaled. But to be sure you need to unbolt the hitch and take the bumper cover off and see if the frame's been bent at all, as well as if the impact goes beyond what the bumper under the cover was able to absorb. This is simple nuts and bolts stuff you can do in the parking lot of hotel. There's you tube videos on how to remove the bumper cover and hammer the metal around the hatch latch so it works again. Hopefully all you need is a new set of rear bumper cover clips to remount it and a new hitch-haul and hitch and you'll be good.

 

sometimes, the bumper cover gets pushed under the hatch lid and prevents it from opening

 

I doubt you'll need a lawyer. Just find a good repair place if you can. If not - your insurance company will recommend one wherever you are (ours did). The damage doesn't look too bad to me. I have a 2010 Mazda 3 where my wife hit someone and the front was just mangled. The repair place got a used bumper from the junkyard, replaced the radiator and a few other things and I swear the car looked brand new. I was amazed.

Don't sweat the insurance, most are a breeze to work with. Mine was (USAA).

 

I’m jshocked you’re doing the phone calls. Your insurance rep should rep you making the phone calls for you. That’s part of your insurance payment to have a rep to do things on your behalf.

 

... provided he has insurance coverage for this risk. Not everyone does. Collision coverage is not a legally required element, and not everyone still carries it on cars of this age.

The other guy's insurance agent may not have incentive to be so helpful.

 

You're actually in a really good shape there I don't think your hitch is damaged you mean your little cart thing there that has the stuff on it might be damaged I bet when you remove that from the receiver you'll see the receiver's probably fine which means the hitch is okay just the tray thingy that's holding the merchandise is kind of toast you might could bend it back and keep getting it tie it to a tree and pull on it a little bit The car doesn't look hardly damaged at all The catalytic converter isn't back there that would be the muffler usually the receiver doesn't it go under the muffler I have to go out and look at my 13 but I can't remember I have the hidden hitch brand on mine

 

People who consider their Prius for camping/survival as an essential part of avoiding homelessness don't spend big money on the type of comprehensive coverage that goes after the insurance company that liable party is at fault for.

 

I'd avoid taking anything apart before the adjuster gets to evaluate the damage.

I seriously doubt that the catalytic converter was damaged, the muffler maybe. The catalytic converter is way up front, under the front seat area.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I don't think your car will be declared a total loss, based on the minimal damage that shows in the few pictures provided.

If the frame is bent, then it's a different matter.

If the adjuster does "total" the car, then it all comes down to who your insurance provider is, who covers the other driver/car, and how much coverage you and the other driver has.

My 2014 Toyota Corolla LE was totalled this year. My fault, rear ended a large SUV on an on ramp to a freeway when someone up ahead stopped completely. I was looking back at traffic to merge and didn't see the car in front of me stop suddenly. I couldn't stop in time.

I was surprised how much I got from the insurance company to buy a comparable model replacement.

I ended up buying a 2016 Toyota Corolla S Plus with comparable mileage on the odometer to my 2014 for only $1200 (includes my out of pocket costs for rental car after rental coverage applied) over what the insurance company paid me. So I came out of it with a newer model car by 2 years, that was a higher level trim for a little more out of pocket. Got rear disc brakes, soft tex seats, and side mirror turn indicators. I'm happy overall.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Good you have a hotel for 2 weeks.
Do you have a friend who is an attorney?
What type of insurance do you have on your car?

This has happened to me so I’ll be happy to share what I learned. You can come out ok but take care what you do or say.

Celebrate that you weren’t injured or killed, and try not to worry.

 

Reassurance:
If the hatch opens and closes I doubt that there's much structural damage. As stated above, the homeless/camping rig actually absorbed a lot of the force from the impact and it really doesn't look like there was much of an impact.
You drove away, right?
That pretty much means that, unless you had to dial in a BUNCH of rudder correction while you were limping back to the hotel, your car is probably not quite as twisted as much as the news we watch every night.

If you can take the car up to highway speed and let go of the steering wheel without the car yawing towards the geezer lane before you can make a panic grab for the wheel, then you're probably in as good a shape as one could hope for......in a 2011 G3, that is.

Advice:
1. Fire State Farm!
They're a full service insurance company that appears in this case to offer the same level of service as the non-brick and mortar places do. It costs MONEY to rent sub-rate office space in nearly every city and town in America and staff them with old high school football jocks rocking bad comb-overs trying to up-sell you on home-auto-life combos.
They pass those saving on to their customers!
If you or an immediate family member is/was a vet - consider USAA, but beware that you'll have to talk them out of a lot of the Gucci add-ons that they try to get you to buy. They're NOT the USAA of old, but they're heads and shoulders above the competition!
Like politicians.....it's a LOW bar! They only have to "suck less."

If you're not qualified for USAA, look into Amica.
How to Shop for Car Insurance
As a former President once nearly said...."The 80's just called. They want their insurance back!"
This is 2022.

b. Stay away from the ambulance chasers.
Unless you're sporting a neck brace, or the person who hit you was drunker than Pelosi's husband (can't BLAME him, personally!) there's simply not much money here to split with the person who is renting cheesy office space next to the town's State Farm agent.
You have an 11 year old, middle-shelf car that's either on it's second head gasket, or is about to be.
Any lawyer that's interested in this case isn't worth hiring.

iii. Reconsider the comp and collision.
If you're 'Wallydocking" (home address is the same as your town's WalMart) then I'm thinking that the $50 a month that you're saving on liability-only insurance isn't worth hazzarding your digs.
The purpose of insurance is to indemnify you against an unsustainable loss.
Get some quotes for high-deductible comp and collision or at least make sure that you have some kind of uninsured/under-insured motorist coverage.
If you suffer a REAL hull-loss accident from fire, flooding, "mostly peaceful" demonstrations, bad weather (not unheard of in the Sooner state!) or if some cretin smashes your house and then hauls tail then you might be in more deeper financial dire straits than not being able to buy a box of wine and take out pizza thrice a month.


Good Luck!

 

Dealerships would likely turn it over to a body shop; that's not typically their business. FWIW, it'll likely be a competent body shop. Maybe just contact a few dealerships, ask for body shop recomendations. And the body shop, if there's suspension damage, may sub that back to a dealership, or competent third-party mechanical shop.

 

Agree, repair will definitely be done by a body shop. You can specifically ask for oem parts, but most will say "oem or comparable" will be used depending on availability.

FYI, all of the outer panels in the back of the Prius is either plastic or non-ferrous (not steel). Found that out when I couldn't get a magnetic sign to stick anywhere in the back of my 2011.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Absolutely reconsider collision insurance...

I was recently looking into dropping collision on our 2012 v wagon. Apparently, if you don't have collision, you get hit, and the other party is at fault, you are pretty much on your own when dealing with the other party's insurance company. Your insurance company *will not* help you.

My daughter was rear ended a while back, her car was 'totaled', the other party was at fault, and we *did* have collision. Our insurance company was great...they actually paid us while they were working with the other insurance company ( minus deductible ). Now that's great service. If we wouldn't have had collision, we would have been out of luck.