My Beloved Prius is a Goner.

[meep]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
3 things.

1. Glad you came out fine.
2. That does not look like that much damage.
3. There is no way with that much damage on your car that a Jeep Commander would be a write off.


I'm actually curious about how the commander held up. I had an 08 WK, which is pretty much the same vehicle, and there really wasn't a whole lot of metal up front. My *eyes* want to say the damage doesn't look that bad, BUT the OP is stating buckling in the trunk floor at the spare tire and other damage which suggests that there was some frame involvement as well. If the commander is anything like the cherokee, the only metal forward of the firewall is frame, external sheet metal, rad support, and cross member for the bumper. everything else is plastic dust shield. My cherokee would chassis-flex over normal undulations in the road--- was not a particularly rigid vehicle, but it was heavy--- so the weight was in the body, and the front end was crumple. we may never know the outcome, but i can see it happening, especially if there were sideways forces in the impact.

By far, the biggest item is, Glad You Are Ok!!!!!

 

[grampi]

She was probably either texting, or yacking on her cell phone...

 

[montero1]

Front end was all ripped off, leaking fluid everywhere. Both airbags had gone off.

 

[zzyzzx]

Wreck pics please!

 

[montero1]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Wreck pics please!


Wreck pics are in the first post- The good news, is that my insurance feels it is not totaled, the adjuster says there would have to be another $4200 in damage that he can't see to total it. Not sure why the other party (Geico) wants to total it.....Need I mention their adjuster was a young female? Had it towed to the body shop of my choice for tear-down and inspection. I'll proceed with my insurance, cause I want this car back. I'd likely have to spend 16k to find another Prius that was in the cosmetic condition mine is in, and regardless of the miles, I won't find another one that was cared for like mine.

 

[meep]

hey i think this is good news for you. impressive for the prius too. wow.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: montero1
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Wreck pics please!


Wreck pics are in the first post- The good news, is that my insurance feels it is not totaled, the adjuster says there would have to be another $4200 in damage that he can't see to total it. Not sure why the other party (Geico) wants to total it.....Need I mention their adjuster was a young female? Had it towed to the body shop of my choice for tear-down and inspection. I'll proceed with my insurance, cause I want this car back. I'd likely have to spend 16k to find another Prius that was in the cosmetic condition mine is in, and regardless of the miles, I won't find another one that was cared for like mine.


I am glad that it won't be totaled. I know what it is like to really like a vehicle and have it damaged by someone else's negligence.

I will be curious, if you don't mind posting the amount, what the final repair costs will be to fix it.

 

[matrass]

sounds promising that you might be able to get your car fixed. good luck and let us know how it turned out .

 

[stephen9666]

If you have to go through your own insurance to get it fixed, won't that be a claim on your policy that will cause your insurance rates to increase?

I know your company will try to recoup the money from Geico, but I'm still guessing they'll hike your rates if they have to do that.

Note - I'm no insurance expert.

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: stephen9666
If you have to go through your own insurance to get it fixed, won't that be a claim on your policy that will cause your insurance rates to increase?

I know your company will try to recoup the money from Geico, but I'm still guessing they'll hike your rates if they have to do that.

Note - I'm no insurance expert.


You are guessing absolutely wrong.

 

[Tdbo]

Not necessarily. Long story short: A mail carrier delivering mail in her own personal vehicle broadsided my wife and did about $5600. in damage to the Odyssey van that we had at the time.

Our insurance company subrogated the claim with her company. Went to arbitration. Carrier was found at fault.

Carrier decided that her excrement was non-odoriferous and how dare anyone think that she actually had to pay attention to her surroundings in the course of her appointed rounds, so she sued us. We had two excellent attorneys, thanks to our insurance. After an insurance arbitrator, a Judge (in a bench verdict), a jury (later trial), and an appeals court found the carrier totally negligent (over the course of 7 years) it was over.

During that time, the only change in our insurance cost was that the premium was lowered. Our premium has never gone up since (It will since I bought a new car this month, however. First hike since this event.)

On a major claim like this, he should use his company. That is why he pays for the service.

IF they jack his premium (I doubt they will especially if he is not at fault unless he has had multiple claims or violations,) then it is time to go insurance shopping. IMO, everyone should do this every couple of years , anyway.

 

[stephen9666]

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
Originally Posted By: stephen9666
If you have to go through your own insurance to get it fixed, won't that be a claim on your policy that will cause your insurance rates to increase?

I know your company will try to recoup the money from Geico, but I'm still guessing they'll hike your rates if they have to do that.

Note - I'm no insurance expert.


You are guessing absolutely wrong.


For the OP's sake, I hope I am wrong. But as we all know, you have to be on your toes when dealing with insurance companies and be ready to fight if they choose not to do the "right" thing.

Hopefully the OP keeps it in mind and watches his rates carefully if his own insurance company ends up paying.

 

[[email protected]]

Ive seen Prius's totaled out by insurance companies with less damage than the OP's!!

Remember - the car is assembled in Japan and shipped here. Body parts are a little expensive.

As another poster said earlier in this thread, in the Metro Detroit area, there are at least 2 outfits that I know of that come right out and advertise "rebuilt titles! buy for less!" I stopped and looked and their Prius selection, they had 5 on the lot. All had been wrecked and they seem to be a popular rebuilt titled car because the other lot I know of too always has several rebuilt Prius's for sale. I was seriously considering a rebuilt one, brought it for a test drive. I was poking around the car and found in the glovebox, the owners manual with oil change invoices from the past owner. Car came from NJ. Called the guy up, we chatted and he was generous enough to email me pictures of his accident. That Prius looked 50% better than the OP's and it only had 39,000 miles on it - the insurance co. totaled it out still though. Prius, as a Toyota and a hybrid, really hold their resale. It had to have been a significant amount of money to repair it for the insurance to total it out!

Either way, I passed on that Prius. Needless to say, I bought GAP insurance on my Prius....

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: stephen9666
If you have to go through your own insurance to get it fixed, won't that be a claim on your policy that will cause your insurance rates to increase?

I know your company will try to recoup the money from Geico, but I'm still guessing they'll hike your rates if they have to do that.

Note - I'm no insurance expert.


All depends on the insurance company and the situation. I had an accident where I was hit and not at fault. However I still had to file a claim with my insurance company to get the vehicle fixed. That instantly took away my no claims discount and my rate went up.

When I called to complain as I was not at fault and the other guy would have to pay they said as soon as they were reimursed by his insurance all negatives against me with them would go away and I would be reinstated at my previous level and discounts.

Insurance will do anything they can to take away discounts and raise rates. Even when you did nothing wrong. I was ok with losing my no claims discount as I did in fact make a claim. However, to raise my rates as well, when I was not at fault, was just ridiculous. Needless to say I waited for the situation to rectify itself and as soon as I was resinstated to the proper discounts and policy rate, so no funny business would be used against me, I switched companies.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
Its hard to tell the damage from the pics. There are too many variables as far as point of impact and what part of the car absorbed the impact to assume the speed it was hit. Not sure why people are trying to guess over the internet.

Sure the bumper looks crushed, but you don't know how far the damage goes beyond that. I saw a car that got rear ended at 55 mph or so. The rear bumper just looked pushed in and the rear glass shattered. Everything else as far as the trunk and rear quarter panels looked fine. I looked underneath it and the whole frame was buckled.


This.

I got rear-ended by an IS300 and while my car looked OK, upon inspection my right floor rail was buckled.

A few years later a bus crashed into a row of parked cars and mine was in the last in the chain. A Previa rode on my bumper and I just needed a new cover and impact absorber.

 

[montero1]

[censored]! It is indeed totaled. The Good news is, I replaced it with a '10 Mini Cooper that is a blast to drive. Got 42.5 MPG (computer) on the way home.