We were sitting in our car at a drive-up window and a large SUV started backing toward us. In slow motion horror, it didn’t stop until we slammed on the horn. Too late, by then it scraped up and pushed in our passenger-side door. This is a very unique car (and color) in our area and brand new - perfect car (except the way it beeps when in reverse). I’m wondering now about auto-repair - how to get it back to perfect over the long term. I have no experience in auto body repair. Where should we take it, what should we say, etc... to make sure it is as good as new? The guy who hit us has insurance and is taking full responsibility.
Where in the great Midwest are you located ? If we have a better idea of a more specific locale, recommendations are tough . A suction cup dent puller won't work, or a pic of the carnage. Good luck and keep us posted.
Auto body guys are capable of wonderful work. Whether or not you have a good pro available to you is another question. Local recommendations from friends & family should be valued over anything you read here. Good luck!
I’ve never tried it but if it was me I would tell the insurance company the car is been violated and I intend on selling it so I should be reimbursed for diminished value. If you can get 1000 or two extra out of that, pocket it and run.
I’m in a large metro area so there will be good auto repair shops available. Was thinking more about losing factory finish and encountering possible long term issues like rust on the repaired part. Should I accept a statement like, “Oh, we can buff that out and use a suction cup to pull out the crease.” There are two parts to my angst. First, this was my first new car since 2009 and that other car’s body was still perfect. Why this car, now? Second, I used to fix rust problems and small scratches back in the 90s, and they’d look pretty good for a while. But, inevitably the patched or buffed out areas would always reappear after a while in certain light. I’m sure the pros are way better.
At least you were there when it happened. Unfortunately, my two experiences with my Prius being left damaged by someone who took off and left me with the cost and inconvenience of fixing their mistake has tainted my opinion of humankind.
We had repairs to our front bumper a few months ago. We worked through the Toyota dealer from who we bought the Prime and who has its own associated body shop. They put things good as new and worked with us to keep the repair cost down so that it would not exceed the amount which would cause our insurance carrier to increase our future premium. (The damage was our fault. We hit a rock concealed by high grass next to a driveway at a friend's country house.) The only snag we ran into was that the shop ordered the wrong bumper. The 2017 Prime "advanced trim" has a fog lights which result in a slightly different front end configuration. This slowed down completion of the repair by about a week while they re-ordered the correct part. Fortunately, our insurance covered the cost of a rental car. Because "the guy who hit us has insurance and is taking full responsibility", I'd recommend that you work with your Toyota dealer. Even if the dealer does not have its own body shop, it likely has a shop with which it has a relationship. Most body shops have extensive experience working with insurance companies and their adjusters. Your body shop has incentive to get all of the necessary repairs done in the best (and, for them, most profitable) way. Also, because your Prime is new, you should insist on OEM Toyota parts and not after-market or re-manufactured parts.
Sorry about the accident. I hope you will get it fixed right. I would check local reviews on the body shop you plan to use and make sure they are well equipped professional body shop. Depending on how the insurance handles, they may ask you to use a particular shop for the work, but I would suggest checking several options on your own. Most professional body shops do an extremely good job of repainting body parts, but if you have to replace any parts, insist on using OEM parts not cheap aftermarket. Good luck.
I actually bought a dash cam about 7 years ago because I was frustrated with all the hit and runs on my car... mostly door damage, but *serious* dents... had two different ones between 9-12” in length... Ever since I have had the cameras, I have not had a single significant mark (just one or two that are barely visible). Good karma I guess. Sounds like it may not have helped with this particular situation since it came from the side, but may have caught the vehicle coming or going. Interesting story... 3 years ago my wife and I met at Walmart on a particularly windy day, and I always park nose to nose when doing so allowing my dash cam to watch both cars... this incident was a pair of runaway carts that hit both our cars minutes apart in almost identical fashion. She initially thought she saved her car, and only realized she got it on the rebound the next morning when she discovered 4” dent/scratch on her car. Leaf - Prius (turn up your sound, @ 0:49) - Interestingly, the Prius had a light scuff that basically wiped off, while the Leaf took much worse damage. The paint on that car is terrible, so delicate. But I digress....
Not only were we in the car with a third passenger, but we were at a drive up window. The guy in the window watched it happen. Afterwards he even said they have a camera that caught it on video.
Well, if you come to the Midwest stay 3 feet away from each other. We might be able to give you a complimentary roll of toilet paper.
Just a follow up - the car was repaired for $1800 and looks perfectly new again. I was surprised by the cost and asked about it. It turned out that they had to take apart the door, take off the name plate, and remove the molding for the front and back door windows in order to get a space big enough to blend the new paint (magnetic blue) with the old paint. The name plate and molding parts all needed to be ordered new by Toyota’s own recommendation because you have to ruin them to remove them.
