Gen III Safety--first hand experience

[Bobsprius]

Glad your OK, that's most important...As for the Fruit, you can replace them easily!

Let's hope your car is repairable and if your prefer the latter (total) then let's hope it's whatever you want that makes you happy!

I reached for a Tic Tac years ago, yes...I know, STUPID as it was, lifted my foot off the brake in the middle of the ambidestrous move to pick it off the floor and slammed into the guy in front of me!
Never did get the darn tic tac! After I made the report and such, guess what rolled back onto the floormat near my foot???

That Darn Tic Tac! I don't think I ate one since!

[timo27]

Thanks to all of you guys (gender-neutral term here) for your well-wishes. The physical soreness is starting to wear off and I really think the car did what it was designed to do. (The embarrassment will linger longer...). It is also amazing how long the smell of the airbag deployment explosive lasts--it seems to have permeated my being (probably similar to how firing a gun leaves a residue). I saw the car yesterday (poor thing) and the cabin seems solid, though the front end is a gnarled plasticky mess. When you turn the car on it makes a sickly sputtering sound and advises "check hybrid system." Probably not a good sign...

Juju, the apples were great, though none to appreciative of their trauma followed by being eaten...

I find out today what the adjuster's verdict is. I'll post pics if any of the ones I took by phone are worthy.

Happy motoring,
Tim

btw my rental is a chevy HHR--getting 22 mpgs w/ scarcely more power than the prius, and the stench of the new car smell literally makes my gorge rise. Bletch! I want my Prius back, waaah!

[yadax3]

I think the 10-second-rule preconditions all of us to do what you did.

It's good to know you made it through okay. If your car is a loss you're going to buy another Prius, right? If you do, would you get the same model or something different? Just curious.

[Smoke-N-Shot]

So sorry from your misfortune but it could been anybody doing the same thing... The Prius is replaceable but you are not so consider yourself one very lucky individual...

[timo27]

Originally Posted by yadax3

I think the 10-second-rule preconditions all of us to do what you did.

It's good to know you made it through okay. If your car is a loss you're going to buy another Prius, right? If you do, would you get the same model or something different? Just curious.

Thanks for your thoughts. I really would want another Prius, and would get the same model (IV--the lumbar support is a must for me). But I'm not sure the insurance payment would be enough for me to replace it if they did total it.

I just got some more info that is somewhat discouraging--they cannot even write a 'real' estimate for the thing, since the Gen III parts are not in the insurance company's database yet. So writing it up as an '09, the adjuster quoted "about 11.5K" but acknowledging that it would likely go up when they started pulling it apart. He said it would probably take at least 2 months (!) to fix it but thought it was definitely repairable.

What I wonder is, if it is out of my use for an indefinite period of time, might that be fair to figure into the decision to declare it a total loss? I have rental reimbursement for 30 days but after that I am SOL. I'd think the insurance company might not want to risk paying for weeks of expensive work only to have it be determined unfixable; I don't want to have a car that is not crashworthy, either.

Any thoughts/advice (besides 'if it drops, don't pick it up') from anyone here? Much appreciated.

In all, though, I have to admit my main thought is I'm thankful for how it did turn out--could have been much worse.

[Salsawonder]

You are not the only person to get distracted. My sister was at a T stop ready to turn when she just glanced back to yell at one of her kids, Blam! Right into the light pole that was across the street! Lost some of her teeth and ended up with a partial. The kids were fine, car was trashed!
We are all human..........

[JimN]

If they total it I believe you should be able to get a replacement within the 1st year. There have been some ads here promoting this coverage.

This doesn't sound good but is not unexpected. Once the insurance company is in for a penny they'll be in for a pound as the incremental cost of fixing "the next thing" will be less than paying for the completed work and paying for the car. I doubt the insurance company is going to authorize the shop to perform any work before knowing what the parts will cost just as the shop won't quote a price. Was a Toyota dealer asked for a quote on the listed parts?

My only advice is to challenge repair estimates from the shop & adjuster and expect the discovery of hidden damage as the car is disassembled.

Also keep in mind that the manufacturer's warranty is voided on whatever is replaced.