2004 in accident, looks bad but fared well

[nannyandnutro]

Just thought I'd share this picture with you guys. Thanks to a large truck slamming on its brakes, our Prius rear-ended a Cadillac. We still don't have a damage estimate but all the HSD parts appear to have remained intact. How bad does it look?

http://www.geocities.com/macinleia/wreck.jpeg

[paprius4030]

Sorry to see your Prius like this, but it doesn't seem too bad.

[Sufferin' Prius Envy]

Sorry to see your Prius like this, but it IS bad.

That is never a good look for a Prius. :cry:
Hummer- Yes. Prius- No!

Did the airbags deploy?

[nannyandnutro]

They didn't deploy. It still ran after it happened, but I can tell the radiator was damaged badly due to all the coolant on the freeway. I remember getting over the initial shock of the impact and then chuckling at the "check engine" light being on. I just said aloud, "no smurf, maybe they can look into it at the next oil change". I'm driving a Chrysler Sebring in the meantime which, for a 20k car is very disappointing. It's got the Neon interior slapped on a large sedan. Can I say pisspoor on these forums? ops: Nothing can compare to my Prius but this is ridiculous.

Oh, and we're looking on the bright side here...all those rock chips will be gone once they replace the bumper/hood. :P

Even better, Toyota's own shop is fixing my baby which takes a load off.

[Tideland Prius]

I think the hood crumpling is what makes it look worse than it really is. Looking at your bumper, it's just two dents and a scratch, otherwise it's fairly intact.

Seeing that Toyota is fixing it, you'll have peace of mind that it'll be back to pre-collision state in no time

[TonyPSchaefer]

So that's how you get that towing plug out!

Seriously, I hate to see damaged cars, much less Prii. I'm glad to hear that everyone's ok. Hopefully the unstoppable seatbelt chimes reminded everyone to fasten up. Here are 50 points to help tide you over until it gets back from the shop.

[nannyandnutro]

Wow...thanks! The claims adjuster asked specifically if I'd been wearing a seatbelt and I told her my car gets very angry if I don't so yes.

Unfortunately, I already knew how to get that plug out since the car went haywire on me several months ago. Alas...

Hopefully we'll know on Monday how bad it really is.

[Bob Allen]

So sorry to see your banged up Prius!
I've had two repairs done to my Prius: the rear bumper was replaced for a 1000 bucks, and a ding in the hood for 530 bucks.
My guess is that the repairs will be about 5k. The thumb sized ding in my hood was caused by a flying rock off a truck; the indent was really visible, though, so I decided to get it fixed. Fortunately, the insurance paid all but the 50 buck deductible. The bill was 530 bucks. Given that your bumper (1000 bucks), the grill and the hood will need to be replaced, the repair cost will be steep. Hopefully, nothing serious happened to the engine compartment. All in all, your car probably did well. What was the speed of impact?
It's amazing that Toyota can get that much cabin crash zone protection in such a small distance/space from the front bumper to the dash. Keep us posted. Many of us will be interested in your story since we don't really know the cost of maintaining these cars yet.
Bob

[nannyandnutro]

Well, they came back with an estimate for me: $6400! They're going to fix it thank goodness but my rental coverage may run out before they get the parts in. The Toyota guy thinks two weeks minimum. Oh, get me out of this Chrysler Depression or whatever they call it! I drove our Camry for the first time in awhile last night and even at nearly 100k it was smoother, quieter, and just nicer than the rental which isn't even to its first oil change. Amazing.

By the way, Liberty Mutual is by far the sorriest excuse for an insurance company I've seen. They had the GALL to leave me a nasty message saying, "since you can drive your car, you really shouldn't have a rental. And now you haven't signed authorization for the repairs even though we've had an estimate for days. Maybe you can return it until your car is being fixed?" First off, you can't drive a car without a radiator last I checked. I've told them that it's not driveable several times. Second, they were supposed to call ME with the estimate and fax a work authorization to me. It never happened, I had to make the call to even find out if it was a total loss. :cussing:

The parts will be hard to find, but hopefully it'll get fixed up right. I'll keep you all posted.

[galaxee]

Aww, that sucks. Good luck getting it fixed up! Insurance companies make it such a hassle.

My hubby bought an 87 camry last month (to replace his 88 camry) and at 200K it runs smoother than my old buick.

May I suggest a mask for your new front end? That takes my mind off stone chips on the bumper and hood... and it's not too expensive compared to what Bob paid!