Hello all. I just purchased a 2008 Prius Base model with 119,000 miles on October 9th. Pretty much loaded with most options, 6 disc premium sound system , factory fog lights, HID headlights etc. Last night I hit a deer. Swerved to avoid it and clipped the back of the deer with the right side. There doesn't appear to be frame damage. Looking at it, it appears the headlight assembly is obviously smashed, the hood has a little bend in the front corner, the bumper cover will need replaced, and it appears the n front right quarter panel got pushed back on impact. The gap between the passenger door and quarter panel is gone and door sticks on the panel when opening. We still owe about 7300.00 as haven't even made a first payment. Do you think insurance will repair the damage?
If you have comprehensive coverage and any reasonable proof that it was a deer strike, then you should pursue a claim. The deer fur counts towards reasonable proof, so keep it.
File a claim and find out. Even if they won't cover it a trip to the junkyard for a hood, headlight, and right fender shouldn't set you back too much. You might have to search for a while to find the same color though. For the hood check that the hinges aren't also bent. (I once had a car that had been in a minor crash before I bought it. They replaced the hood but didn't replace the hinges, so the new hood, even though it was undamaged, did not sit straight.) Not clear to me that the bumper cover cannot be fixed by pushing out the dent from the other side. The pictures are a little too close. Please post one from further back, it is hard to appreciate the extent of the fender and hood damage.
That's Because we literally just bought it from a dealer not even 2 weeks ago. The price was right on par with the kbb value. I had a 2009 with over 300,000 miles and I know how reliable they are. That's the reason I wanted a late model 2nd gen Prius. Carfax showed the vehicle was always serviced at a Toyota dealership. We also have a police report filed we can provide to the insurance company. The hood doesn't appear to be damaged more than a slight bend in the metal. The drivers side still lines up perfectly with the frame and opens and closes just fine. It appears the passenger quarter panel was bent in at the bottom and pushed back from the impact.
I used a heat gun on my front bumper and pushed it out from the inside. There are youtube videos on it.
Sounds like it just comes down to whether you elected to get comprehensive coverage in addition to liability coverage.
Nah, collision is for when you swerve to avoid the deer and crash into another car, or tree or guardrail or something. In other words, you lost control of your car, leading to a crash. Comprehensive is for "non-traffic events" meaning bad things that didn't really have anything to do with the driver or operating conditions. Trees falling on it, floods, somebody stealing your catalytic converter, and for when wildlife damages your car. In insurance industry terms, the deer hits your car- not the other way around. You never had control of the deer in the first place. Kind of weird, but that's how they do it. Nerdwallet gives a pretty good guide, if you care to go read.
Body damage can be ridiculously expensive to fix. You’re looking at a 4 figure repair bill for sure, but whether that’s enough to total the car or not is anyone’s guess. Insurance companies don’t publicize their actuarial tables.
for sure anyone here in the Prius Chat forum are certified insurance adjusters who can answer your question correctly. if you're asking if it can be fixed DIY then yes, it can be done cheaply. Talk to your insurance agent to get an accurate answer and not just wild guesses. We really don't know what kind of insurance you have (is just liability only or comprehensive/collission)
