2002 Prius deemed total loss, want to retain salvage, what should I be on the look out for?

Mexicatl, My 2001 has 128,000 and I just lost the steering rack and pinion on my car which also has a new cat and inverter pump. Sorry to hear you got broadsided. Good luck on your decision. I’m looking for rack and pinion for my car. 2nd time its failed.

 

There's no damage to that car are you kidding me You got insurance working on that they're going to do something about it no kidding yeah I wouldn't let that car go anywhere I mean that little bit of scratching there you can about buff most of that out who needs to have it pulled and flattened and all that body work man hours for what an old Corolla Prius car nobody does that I'm surprised this thing is still on the road in California I figured peer pressure would laugh it off the road or something I don't know but that's nothing there clean that right up and keep it Don't let that car go anywhere especially with that kind of mileage the insides nice right All the plastic good been kept in the shade maybe a garage I don't know but yeah that that doesn't go anywhere at least not here anyway if that's embarrassing to drive oh boy I would be driving it into the next century.

 

Wow. They're not going to give you $10k. The $4300 offer was very fair. I got less than that for one 5 years ago. I'd have to see the pics to offer an opinion on repairs. The most likely issue is the middle pillar. The front pillar is also possible and harder to fix. The rear quarter panel also costs money since it doesn't just unbolt. Either cut and replace, or straighten and bondo.

Definitely could be frame/suspension issues if it feels weird while driving. Tire wear over time would confirm. Measure and compare distances from the wheel well front and back, and outside.

The key will be how much they will sell it back to you for. I bet just a couple of hundred dollars. That would leave you with ~$4000 and a badly wrecked car with a salvage title. You can argue for them to just pay to repair and keep the title clean, but no reason. Title doesn't matter at this age, and I doubt you'd win the argument anyway.

Which leaves you with another problem - getting the car re-insured in CA. SYK, these cars get totaled for the smallest possible damage in CA - because it's a CARB state that requires high-dollar cats, and the insurance companies figure the cat will get stolen sooner than later. (those shields don't help). If they pay to replace the cat on a claim, it'll just get stolen again. So they total it for any reason and don't re-insure.

That means these cars are hard to sell in CA or, at least, for top value. The CA auctions have many of these cars going for scrap prices. As described, yours is worth about $500.

Honestly, your only problem is they didn't catch the other guy. Do you have uninsured drivers coverage on your policy? If not, you got to pay your deductible, which messes you up a bit.

My recommendation: take the $4000 and buy the car back. Then, sell the cat assembly for about $1000 to some other CA resident or just cut out the cats and recycle those to get about $700. You can easily sell that battery for at $1000, probably more.- there's still a lot of Gen1s in CA. I have a hard time selling my batteries because of shipping costs and no way to tell their shape. You can show folks the battery working and it's still under warranty.

You can pull some other parts - the passenger side doors/fender get wrecked a whole lot more than the driver's side. You can sell them. Maybe someone needs some cleaner seats, a hood and trunk lid have value. A good set of tires are always easy to sell, and if your rims are in good shape - I've had inquiries about those from owners. You might con someone into buying that shield in CA. Just don't mention that the same tool the thief will use to cut your cat out also cuts the shield, and just as quickly.

Sell all those parts cheap, don't get greedy unless you want to keep them awhile. Again, most of these cars in CA aren't going to be repaired, they'll be scrapped. Only idiots like me are going to the effort you're describing to fix these cars. When you're through scrapping, you'll get a couple of hundred bucks for the carcass at the crusher yard. That would net you close to $6000, and I don't see you getting any more than that otherwise.

 

Ginny. a new steering rack from Detroit Axle is available for around $300.
Link: https://www.amazon.com/Detroit-Axle-Complete-Steering-2001-2003
Unless you can do it yourself (the job is painful; figure 8 hours), the bigger expense will be installation labor cost at a repair shop.
Plus once it's replaced, a front end alignment ($125-$200)
128k miles on a 23 year old car? Barely broken in.....

Mexicatl, the "fair market" value of a Gen 1 Prius is less than US$5k. doesn't matter what the cost of the new parts that you installed was.... If you are handy with auto body repair (I am not), then take less-than-total-replacement from the insurance company, keep the car (assuming you are comfortable driving it), and fix the body.

 

I'd take the cash buy it back and just drive it with the damage. The hard repair is the back quarter and then repainting it, not really something you can diy without experience. If you are fashion conscious you can find a shop that will fix it much cheaper.

 

I have never been able to sell any part from my gen1 prius. Nothing, nada, I had 5 of them at one time. Not a single fender hood seat nothing. I sold one good battery. Texas must be different than norcal, few people fix cars unless its insurance repair.

 

Yeah, I don't sell many parts - mostly little things like inverter pumps, ECUs, an inverter, etc. that can be shipped inexpensively. I'd literally give most parts to people if they come pull them off the cars. Mostly, I just wait until I find a wrecked one I can fix with the parts I have from the last wrecked one I bought, lol, then crush the carcass.