Prius Totaled

[harrv]

I took possession of my brand new 2005 pkg 6 less than two months ago (November 4). I've always been very cost conscious, and have only purchased used cars up to this point. Now, at 39 years old, I decided I could finally afford to buy a new car. I researched and fell in love with the Prius. As many of you are, I am emotionally invested in this car.

Last Thursday night, I was driving on a local road with my wife and son in the car. I noticed a man and his dog waiting to cross in a crosswalk, so I slowed and then stopped to let them cross (as is the law). I had been stopped for two or three seconds when a van slammed into the back of my car. I think he must have been going at least 40 mph. Luckily no one was seriously injured. My wife has some bruises on her arm from being slammed against the door and window, and my son banged his knee, but they both feel much better now and I wasn't injured at all. None of the occupents of the van (there were quite a few kids in there) were injuered at all. So, that's good.

However, the vehicles didn't make out in such good shape. Specifically, the entire back-end of my Prius is crushed. The officer filing the accident report listed it as totaled. I think it's the insurance company who ultimately makes that decision, but that's what he put in the report.

I have a few questions for you guys about what happens next and how you think I should approach this with insurance.

The officer issued a citation to the other driver and listed him as the driver at fault (obviously) in the accident. Both of us are insured, with different insurance companies (he's with Liberty Mutual, and I'm with State Farm). The morning after the accident as I talked with my insurance agent, she asked me if I wanted to deal directly with the other driver's insurance company, or if I wanted to deal with my insurance company (after which, I assume, they would settle with Liberty Mutual). That seems like such a basic question, I was suprised I didn't know the answer. What should I have said? What are the consequences of choosing one route over the other?

What I ended up telling her is that I would deal with her (and State Farm). She asked me some basic information about the accident, etc, and where the car was. Liberty Mutual called me and told me I could rent a car at their rate and they would reimburse me. Is that typical? I'd rather have the car rental place bill them directly, which they said they're set up to do, but because of Christmas there have been a couple of silent days now.

Anyway, a lot of info for one post, but what do you think is going to be the likely outcome of this? From what I gather it'll be either

A) Car will be declared totaled. I'll have to fight to get a fair settlement payment.

or

B) Car will be repaired. I'll have to fight to get a fair diminished value settlement payment.

Since the car was less than two months old, I'm going to really fight for a fair settlement, but what is that? What advice can you all give me? Thanks a ton.

Harrv

[Wynder]

Please don't take this as gospel -- I'm by no means an expert, but I did want to share my experiences... Generally, State Farm has taken good care of me in the past; Rentals for me have been both reimbursed (with Progressive I think) and charged directly to State Farm via giving a claim number to the rental agency.

I guess part of it determines on what course of action you want to take -- if you had your own lawyer and wanted to persue a legal action, you might want to deal with their insurance direction for the purposes of suing. If you're happy with whatever settlement you get, you'd probably have State Farm handle everything.

As for determining whether a car is totalled, I do believe that's the responsibility of the insurance adjuster -- sometimes it's right on the cusp of being totalled, so if you have a preference, be sure to express that to the garage/adjuster -- it can be a difference between having the car going under major repair, or getting a decent amount back to perhaps invest in a brand new one.

Best of luck,
Rob

[paprius4030]

Hi, I'm very glad to see that you and your family weren't hurt bad and can enjoy the holiday season. From the sounds of things you took a very hard hit and things could have turned out much worse, so be thankful for the good things. I'm by no means an expert, but I'll share what has happened to me in the past. First a person that hit me years ago had Liberty Mutual and I also has them for our insurance for a few years and have found them to be a good insurance company also. I would have no problems dealing with them directly. I would really get assurance from your own insurance company that if they handle things, that your rate won't go up. I know of cases that even though the person wasn't at fault they're rates went up anyway. Too me this is the big advantage of dealing with Liberty Mutual direct. As far as a car rental I think Enterprise bills alot of the insurance companies directly. Also I would insist that your Prius be declared totalled and the REPLACE it with a NEW one! Also they should pay for a rental till your new one comes in. When you talk to them always let them know that you haven't hired a lawyer, yet, let them know that you are still waiting to see if anybody developes any pain. Let them be anxious to get you a new Prius fast before you lose your "goodheaertness" And if you think for an instant they are trying to screw you don't say another word to them and get a GOOD lawyer. Good luck

[parrot_lady]

State Farm insurance is FINE if you're the other person in the accident.

However with them and me... I got hit by a hit and run driver last year (I was in my car) in Oct. First accident for me while I was driving.

because I bounced off of my drivers side door I had injured my shoulder and knee. THe shoulder was taken care of with conserative treatment. Yes, I had my seatbelt on, and my car was about $200 from being totaled.

I went for conserative treatment of my knee injury from there and eventually wound up having surgery four months later. ><

Heres the good Part:

State farm has yet to get up off their dead beat arse and pay any bill related to my accident. I have 3 leins against me. The claims adjusters are impossible to get ahold of.

My advice: Get a lawyer. Mines been going for a settlement from them that includes paying the $25,000+ in outstanding medical bills.

[AlphaTeam]

Sorry about your car.

If it is so new get a lawyer. If you can't/don't want to I understand because they cost a lot.

DO NOT SIGN OFF ON IT RIGHT AWAY!!!!
They love to have you sign off and months later you feel pain and now it is too late. It is their job to make money for the company and taking care of you second. So they all will try and cheap out. That is where a lawyer will help. The insurace company will act all friendly like they care and they don't. It is a lot of money you are playing with.

As for the rental. I've read here where others have even had the insturance company pay the difference in gas mileage between their Prius and a rental.

[busterbrown]

Condolences for the trouble you'll be going through, but grateful no one was hurt.

In August, my 2000 Outback was hit by a driver, who was cited. I was obligated to work with their company (Direct) which opted to repair the vehicle. After $7,500 in repairs, the are saying that the vehicle has been repaired to its pre-accident status are are refusing to discuss loss of value.

The adjuster admits that they should have deemed the car totaled - as the value of the car was $11k. Now I am working with a compamy to get the loss of value while I wait for my 2006 prius to arrive.

Lesson learned - insist that the car be deemed totaled, wait until you have the terms you want (new vehicle, rental in the interum, gas voucher) before you sign any documents. When in doubt, speak with an attorney - you sure can bet they have.

good luck.

[tumbleweed]

You may already be aware of this but in the event you are not-insurance companies, even the "good ones", will typically offer you about 70% of the value of your car if it is totaled. They hope you will accept it through ignorance, most people do. But it is negotiable and their job is to make you whole. That means put you back to where you were before the accident or as close as possible to that. When you go to talk to them be sure you know the value of your car as it was equipped in the area where you live. Check Kelly Blue Book and Edmonds on line and check with some dealers and used car lots that may have a Prius like yours and see what the retail value is.

[DocVijay]

My opinoin is that you should deal with his insurance company only if possible. If they don't do things in a timely manner or they try to screw you, then call your company. They have lawyers and you should be able to use their services to help you. That's what you pay premiums for. If they are a good company they will try and help you out.

[CraigCSJ]

In 2004 my wife and I were in a new 2004 Prius with about 610 miles on it and stopped at a stoplight in Yucca Valley, California. A small truck driven by a young marine drove into the back of our Prius at 45-55 miles per hour and pushed my Prius into the vehicle stopped ahead of me. We were not injured. We had State Farm insurance, and the small truck was insured. We dealt only with State Farm, and expressed our desire that it be considered a total loss. Within three weeks State Farm gave us a check for the full purchase price of the Prius, including tax and license, less a per mile cost which I don't remember times the 610 miles we had driven the vehicle. The State Farm adjuster said they would go after the other insurance company and recover what they could.

We were very satisfied with this result, and our local Toyota dealer sold us another Prius about one month later. We love our Prius.

CraigCSJ 04 Driftwood #9BC 31000 miles @48.2mpg

[harrv]

Originally posted by tumbleweed@Dec 26 2005, 11:00 AM
You may already be aware of this but in the event you are not-insurance companies, even the "good ones", will typically offer you about 70% of the value of your car if it is totaled.  They hope you will accept it through ignorance, most people do.  But it is negotiable and their job is to make you whole.  That means put you back to where you were before the accident or as close as possible to that.  When you go to talk to them be sure you know the value of your car as it was equipped in the area where you live.  Check Kelly Blue Book and Edmonds on line and check with some dealers and used car lots that may have a Prius like yours and see what the retail value is.

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Problem with that is, who sells their Prius after owning it for less than two months? I bought my car brand new less than two months ago. Should I have to settle for a used one owned by someone else now?

Thanks for all of the advice, well-wishes, etc, everybody!