While taking my dog on an emergency night time trip to the vet, I hit a deer with my 2 month old 09 Prius. The bumper on the passenger side is completly smashed in, the front passenger quarter panel is smashed, preventing the passenger door from opening although the door itself looks fine. The headlight assembly is completely smashed although the HID bulb still works. Some coolent recovery tank was hanging down in the wheel well. Anyway, scan temps were fine and I drove it home, after the vet. Only the driver side power window still works, but i suspect that could be a fuse. I guess I will take it to the dealer, although I have a great body shop guy but he is completely unfamiliar with hybrids and I am worried about other possible damage. Any tips appreciated.
Use the very best crash repairer you can find and claim on insurance. When my Prius got bent I went to a mate in Toyota spare parts and asked him which crash repairer uses the most genuine Toyota parts. A warning though, a good repairer will have a waiting list. I have been waiting almost 2 months. My car goes in next Monday.
i once spoke to an adjuster and he told me.............."the last place you want to hit your prius is in the front end"...............so, with that said, i would be very careful that the shop you take it to is VERY well versed in the prius and the repair of them. good luck and hope your dog is ok.
If the deer hadn't been killed, I probably would have beaten him to death with a tire iron. Unfortunately our dog (Disco, a black and white Siberian Husky) died later that evening.
He was 11, a fairly good age for a Siberian. We used to raise them years ago and Disco and his sister Shelly (a red Siberian) were our last two. I guess Shelly will be our last dog now.
Sorry to hear about your pet. It's difficult when you lose one Smacking a deer is never a good experience. This cop was going around 70 mph when the Go Rhino police bar paid for itself. I have to warn you, the Digital Eyewitness captures guts flying around On the Prius driver side, the silvery thing, like a small beer keg, is the coolant storage thermos. Take an impact to that, the car is no longer driveable The see through plastic bottle on the other side is the windshield washer tank. Is it filled with bluish/greenish fluid? Windshield washer fluid The see through tank near the rad is the coolant overflow, the fluid is pinkish. A hit strong enough to take out that tank, will probably destroy the rad As others have stated, make sure a competent shop is used, and make sure genuine parts are used too
The winshield washer tank is still there so it had to be the coolent overflow. The radiator is fine so somehow the damage must have just clipped the tank exactly right.
Your lucky Well, maybe not "lucky" but you were not stranded on the side of the road. Keep an eye on the coolant level though. Any drips?
Turns out that what I thought was a coolent overflow container was really the resonator for the air intake. Coolent overflow was fine, which explains why I had no overheating after the accident. Repairs are now in the hands of the body shop. Keeping fingers crossed.
