Rear Ended!

No experience, but I feel truly awful for you.
Do post photos, especially if they are able to fix it... before and after. (good documentation for you, too)

Good luck, and all the gods bless you.

 

Please post pictures if you can. I work at a body shop so I'll be able to help you out with any questions.

If it's a hard hit and I'm trying to vision it I wouldn't be suprised if they total it. If the damage amount exceeds what the vehicle is worth ( by a percentage) then you get to buy a new one.

After a wreck a lot of things can go wrong long after the hit. it might dog track a little bit going down the road which will cause irregular tire wear and bearing failures. It's not common to see it with cars but you will see it with trucks when the rear axle gets hit and tweaks the frame a bit. It's like you going down the road slightly sideways.

 

When my poor Prius got hit, it crumpled most of the right rear. I had some canvas bags in the hatch that were unreachable until in the body shop. I was very lucky that the body shop was experienced with Prii and worked with the Dealership. The dealership sent a van to pick up the hybrid batteries before they started working on the replacements - safety reasons. But the dealership apparently did testing of it while they had it - and after the body work was done replaced it in the car - checking wiring etc at the time.

I was really pleased that the people in the body shop allowed me in to see the car at various times while they had it in the shop. Also lucky that the other insurance company agreed to all new Toyota parts.

 

Such a severe accident repair will show up in CarFax report when you try to sell it later. Most private buyers who use CarFax will be turned off by this repair. That means depreciation of your Prius even if they can repair it nicely. If you trade in your Prius, it probably won't make any difference if the dealer will not check CarFax and send it directly to auction. More and more people rely on CarFax (or AutoCheck for that matter) to investigate the history of any used vehicles.

I am just suggesting that you probably should deal with the insurance company from this depreciation angle to cover your future loss in value due to this accident repair. Make sense?

 

I'm sorry to hear about your accident, Jimnjo. Glad to hear that you are still around. Physically, I hope you are alright. Good Luck on the repairs and hopefully you can get your Prius back on the road.

 

The traction battery needs to be pulled before it goes into the paint booth as the heat used to cure the paint will damage the battery. My condolences.

 

I have no experience with it but am sorry to hear about your accident. It sounds like the car did a good job of keeping you from being injured. Keep us posted on the progress and, watch your back around the insurance company. Good luck.

 

I wonder if the VSC was what made it possible for you to maintain control?

 

What an amazing similarity... We were just rear ended Dec. 18 in our 2006 Prius. We were at a complete stop on a busy street with my left turn signal on waiting for oncoming traffic to pass so I could turn left.

I just happened to glance in the rearview mirror in time to see a full sized pickup flying toward me. It was a 16 year old kid with another 16 year old in the pasenger seat. He never swerved, hit his brakes or anything. I estimated he hit us at around 45 mph. It threw the car directly forward appx. 50 feet. We were fortunate that we were not thrown into the oncoming traffic and hit head-on.

Very similar to your Prius our rear end compartment crunched like an accordian, but the passenger area was pretty well intact. The rear doors were hard to open but they still opened and closed. Our rear bumper was left hanging on the front of the kids pickup.

The body shop guy was very impressed with the way the Prius handled the impact and said he sees cars all the time that do not stand up nearly as well and he could tell that we were hit very hard. The rear passenger compartment didn't have much damage, but I did lay the seat down and it was broken. I'm so thankful my kids weren't in the backseat.

The airbags did not deploy - which I am told they shouldn't on a rear-end collision, but I noticed a very fine white powder inside the car immediately after we were hit. Anyone have any idea what that could be?? A guy at Toyota said it sounds like an airbag malfunctioned but the body shop guy said there is no way to inspect the airbags without really tearing into the car and he believes it is a total loss so he doesn't want to put that much time into it. He said he would be sending a recommendation to the ins. co. tomorrow (12/31) to total it.

Never been in an accident before... anyone have any advice on dealing with insurance? I want a NEW Prius, but I really don't feel like I should be out of pocket to get one and it should have all the features of our old one. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

First thing to consider about the accident - were you injured in any way?

If yes then get a lawyer to maintain your rights. Even if you were not injured you will possibly want an attorney to get your deductible back from the other party,

Next thing to consider - what insurance does the other party have? Ask your insurance agent for their opinion of the other parties insurance company. You will need a lawyer if the other party has low coverage. An attorney is needed to negotiate with your own insurance company for you. They will talk you out of things if you are not represented by an attorney.

Then were tickets issued? Go to court for all trial dates. Do not ask just go and testify as to the facts. This is important latter in time for many reasons that I am not qualified to answer,


Go to the shop where your car is being repaired and take pictures of the damage even if the car is torn apart. Document, document, document, then take more pictures of the accident scene. Just collect every bit of information that you can get. If you should need to defend yourself in court, do not tell me that it cannot happen, you will have the information that you need to prove your side of the story.

I know that this sounds like a lot to do but believe me when it comes to accidents there is never enough proof of what happened.

Go to the police department and get a copy of the accident report. A real official copy filled out by the police officer that did the accident report. You will find more information than you would believe in that document.

Send me a PM if you want more information - your profile does not have the state that you live in so I am left in the lurch for giving your more about your state.

Martindale Hubble is the reference used to find a good attorney.

http://www.martindale.com/

Best of luck in Americas legal system.

 

I just let my insurance handle it all. I know they are a good company from 10 years working for a crash repairer. They look after all the money side of it even the excess all I have to do is pick up a hire car(paid by insurance) for the duration of the repair and if the car is a write off and under 3 years old I get the cost of a new car plus on road costs paid in full. Any personal injury it would pay to have a lawyer even if just a sore neck or shoulder, just in case. Lawyers have a way of getting higher payment but taking more than their share in fees.

The first thing you should do in a accident you need to do before it happens, get insurance with the best company available. Ask a crash repairer who deals with many insurance companies and has a good reputation who is the best company to deal with, then even if it costs a little more go with them.

I use South Australian RAA insurance for all 3 cars and my home and contents. Cheaper insurance is less insurance.

Off my high horse, good luck with a favorable outcome.

 

Sorry to hear about the accident, glad you are ok. Like someone said earlier, make sure you get the depreciation value taken in to account. Perhaps the other party's insurance should pay that to you.

 

Thanks Bobwho,
I was not injured but my wife's back, neck and shoulder are still very sore and she is still taking pain pills. She was miserable all through Christmas and New Years. So far insurance has been taking care of everything. We have a claim number and the chiropractor and Dr's office is sending everything directly to them.

We are in KS. I didn't see a place on the profile to put my state...
Anyway, I spoke to an attorney who told me that in KS we are considered a "no fault" state. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what that means, but she said what it means to me right now is that the first $2,000 of medical bills will go through MY insurance and if it goes above that we will have the right to take the other driver to court.

We heard back from the ins. co. yesterday, they said the shop has recommended that the car is a total loss but the ins co is sending it to their "Total loss" department and we should hear back today or Monday.
I'm really anxious to hear what they offer.
Thanks for the advice and links!

 

Rear Ended in the Bay Area

I've read the posts before but never posted anything.

Friday night I was rear-ended just before the toll booths on the Oakland Bay Bridge. (A guy in his pajamas hit me with his Toyota pick-up truck because his slipper slipped onto the accelerator. ARGHH!)

Anyway, I had it towed to the first open body shop in San Francisco, and it's sitting there pending the insurance adjuster's visit. I had to fly home to the OC and rent a car. I must say the "crumple zone" did a good job of protecting me and I'm proud of my little car. I was very lucky to find, once I could get into the back compartment, that my $6000.00 worth of cameras, lenses, and a Mac were all fine.

Does anyone have any advice or experience with an accident like this? I've attached a picture if it helps. I have no idea what's all back there and somehow I feel that the car will never be the same. If the car is totaled, I'll lose my carpool stickers, I think, since the state has run out and they aren't transferable. Anyone know anything about that?

Thanks!

 

Re: Rear Ended in the Bay Area

Sorry to hear about your accident. Can't help with the accident info but I think you can get replacement stickers per the CA State website:
Clean Air Stickers - High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lane Usage
Good luck...

 

Re: Rear Ended in the Bay Area

Nope, the stickers are gone. I've been through the same thing. Replacement stickers are only issued to the original VIN and are absolutely not transferable to another vehicle.