1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

2007 Prius totaled by a mailbox!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by aSmithee, Nov 1, 2007.

  1. aSmithee

    aSmithee New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2007
    5
    0
    0
    I bought my 2007 Prius in March. Love it. In September my wife hit a mailbox (at 45 mph) and the insurance company decided to total it rather than repair it (dealership estimate was $20,000). Seems to me that one mailbox should not be capable of totaling this car!
     
  2. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    19,011
    4,081
    50
    Location:
    Grass Valley, CA.
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Was it one of those cute mailboxes with a rooster on top? Or the ones shaped like a bass?
     
  3. aSmithee

    aSmithee New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2007
    5
    0
    0
    I was not there, but I think it was the same shape as the iceberg that sank the Titanic.
     
  4. Boo

    Boo Boola Boola Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2007
    5,051
    485
    97
    Location:
    Flushing, NY
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Man that's too bad. Hope you're wife wasn't hurt.

    BTW, don't be surprised if the USPS sends you a bill for damage to the mailbox.
     
  5. lefat1

    lefat1 Fat Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2007
    1,476
    47
    0
    Location:
    Sunny S. Florida
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    i'd like to see that, got any photos...was the mailbox attached to the house? must have been or on a concrete pole. glad ur wifes ok. dont need photos of her..lol..
     
  6. Bob64

    Bob64 Sapphire of the Blue Sky

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2007
    1,540
    93
    0
    Location:
    Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Sigh :/

    I hope you didn't buy the car to help the environment... because there goes about 40,000 gallons of water among other things...
     
  7. aSmithee

    aSmithee New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2007
    5
    0
    0
    Thankfully, my wife was not hurt at all. BTW, the mailbox wasn't one of the big blue USPS box, it was just your average homeowner installed mailbox on a metal post.. Like I said, it must have been made by the Titanic iceberg Co... hard to believe that such a minor accident could cause so much damage (busted windshield, one wiper gone, cracked engine, etc).
     
  8. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2006
    18,058
    3,075
    7
    Location:
    Northern Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Any accident at 45 mph is likely to cause incredible amounts of damage. The amount of energy being carried at speed is really scary. Likewise, cars that are good at protecting their occupants, such as the Prius, are likely to suffer more damage when hitting small hard things. The car folds up and compresses, absorbing most of the energy, instead of bouncing its occupants around like a pea in a whistle.

    Tom
     
  9. lefat1

    lefat1 Fat Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2007
    1,476
    47
    0
    Location:
    Sunny S. Florida
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob64 @ Nov 1 2007, 08:33 AM) [snapback]533321[/snapback]</div>
    did <strike>he</strike> she hit a fire hydrant too?
     
  10. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    19,011
    4,081
    50
    Location:
    Grass Valley, CA.
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Be glad she wasn't driving a full size GMC/Chevy truck. She might have been hurt. Check out the tests

    A narrow steel pole should do much more damage than hitting a larger object due to force being applied to a very small area instead of spread out over a larger area and being absorbed.
     
  11. lefat1

    lefat1 Fat Member

    Joined:
    Jul 8, 2007
    1,476
    47
    0
    Location:
    Sunny S. Florida
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    [attachmentid=12281]dont f#$k with mailbox man...
    i have way too much time on my hands...dont worry i'm looking for a job
     
  12. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2006
    19,011
    4,081
    50
    Location:
    Grass Valley, CA.
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lefat1 @ Nov 1 2007, 05:44 AM) [snapback]533327[/snapback]</div>
    He may be refering to the amount of water required to produce the car. Seems a bit low if you take into account mining activities and such but probably close. We use an obcene amount of water in our daily lives.
     
  13. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2005
    4,089
    468
    0
    Location:
    Bahstahn
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Maybe it was one of those extra-robust setups designed to resist
    "mailbox baseball" -- a pretty common problem in the 'burbs.
    .
    _H*
     
  14. johnford

    johnford Old Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 2007
    105
    0
    0
    Location:
    Malvern, AR
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Near my home in Central Arkansas, there is an '06 Toyota that was totalled by the insurance company because a can of Fix a Flat blew up inside. It was fully loaded, Black with dark grey leather inside, simulated wood, back up camera and navagation. Sure wish I had a spare 16k lying around. There was nothing wrong with the car except for lots of little white spots everywhere. Still it had to have a salvage title since the Ins. Co. totalled it out.. Can an aftermarket warranty be gotten for a car with a salvage title?.... jf
    :huh:
     
  15. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    15,140
    611
    0
    Location:
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    Persona
    sorry to hear about your car. not surprised it was totaled. the unique car, materials used, and the continuing supply problems Toyota has in meeting public demand for the Prius just makes any repair and body replacemnt prohibitively expensive.

    my 2004 Prius was totaled by a Ford F-350 Extended cab which most would say "oh ya!! definitely totaled" right? well the truck turned left in front of me, i saw him, tried to avoid him and was an inch away from being successful. but that inch and soft aluminum body panels means that truck's bumper took off an inch off the entire left side of the car.

    the collision was so slight, that my sleeping passenger, heard the accident but thought we were not involved because there was no "bump" at all

    a small light at the end of the rainbow might exist if you have full coverage insurance... i paid after taxes, licence, etc... $22,317.44 for my package 1 2004. drove it 25 months, put 30,000 miles on it and the other drivers insurance company paid my rental cars expenses for the 3 weeks it took to pay me a check for $23,700...
     
  16. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    15,140
    611
    0
    Location:
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    Persona
    sorry to hear about your car. not surprised it was totaled. the unique car, materials used, and the continuing supply problems Toyota has in meeting public demand for the Prius just makes any repair and body replacemnt prohibitively expensive.

    my 2004 Prius was totaled by a Ford F-350 Extended cab which most would say "oh ya!! definitely totaled" right? well the truck turned left in front of me, i saw him, tried to avoid him and was an inch away from being successful. but that inch and soft aluminum body panels means that truck's bumper took off an inch off the entire left side of the car.

    the collision was so slight, that my sleeping passenger, heard the accident but thought we were not involved because there was no "bump" at all

    a small light at the end of the rainbow might exist if you have full coverage insurance... i paid after taxes, licence, etc... $22,317.44 for my package 1 2004. drove it 25 months, put 30,000 miles on it and the other drivers insurance company paid my rental cars expenses for the 3 weeks it took to pay me a check for $23,700...
     
  17. Vagabond

    Vagabond Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2005
    1,198
    1
    0
    Location:
    Southern California
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alan Smithee @ Nov 1 2007, 04:29 AM) [snapback]533303[/snapback]</div>

    The reason why your car was totaled was for the same reasons why a car hitting me in the chest while 20 mph won't kill me, but a bullet will, even though they exert the same amount of force on paper. Lots of energy on a tiny point: Splat.
     
  18. judymcfarland

    judymcfarland Queen of Moral Indignation

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 2006
    578
    4
    0
    Location:
    Glendale, WI
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    I'm wondering if this was like hitting a moose - you knock the legs out from under them & the body comes through your windshield to land in your lap. Ick! I imagine giant pole-shaped dent in the front end followed by the mailbox itself committing har-kari by crashing into the hood and/or lower windshield. Got a picture? Inquiring minds & all that. . . .
     
  19. darlenegalik

    darlenegalik New Member

    Joined:
    May 1, 2007
    30
    1
    0
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob64 @ Nov 1 2007, 08:33 AM) [snapback]533321[/snapback]</div>
    I thought this referred to the iceberg that hit the Titanic, very subtle humor there.....
     
  20. Bob64

    Bob64 Sapphire of the Blue Sky

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2007
    1,540
    93
    0
    Location:
    Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Heh, glad someone caught it... Must be the pirate humor aye?
    Heres another side to it:)

    Think of the glaciers~
    Losing a prius before it can start to impact the loss to the enviroment during the construction of the vechicle contributes to Global warming thus: Melts iceburgs/artic ice

    as well as wastes the water that goes into making the car...

    and ties in with the titanic