"Only with a Prius" repair costs

I was hit a few weeks ago - a stoplight turned green, but the car in front of me decided it still looked red and didn't move. So I waited, but the SUV behind me saw that green light and Whammo! hit me pretty hard.

I'm happy to say that my baby is back now and looks completely beautiful. But Wow, you do not want to get stuck with the cost of fixing one of these cars!

The body shop's original estimate was $4600; the total at the end of the day was over $6100.

Special "only with a Prius" charges included...

--> towing between the body shop and the Toyota dealership to disconnect the hybrid battery system; and then reconnect it after the body work was done (3 tows total) --> $180

--> Toyota's charges to disconnect and the reconnect the hybrid battery system --> $450

--> The Secret Compartment black plastic box which holds the spare tire materials --> $307 --> this was more than all the bumper pieces

--> The rear liftgate lock assembly (smart start); body shop told me a piece like this w/o smart start is usually about $25 --> $224

--> The start battery - (not the hybrid battery); this had to be replaced because after the accident, the rear tailgate wouldn't shut completely and hence the little light would not go off. This drained the battery dead - it is a small battery compared to a conventional car. --> $184

A "before" picture is below.

-Erin

I am happy yoyr car is now fixed. It was so sad to see a hurt Prius. My deepesr sympathies.

Salvaged or repaired?

Wow, that sure doesn't look like $6,100 worth of damage - more like about $2,500.

Which reminds me... I was looking for a Prius three or four months ago and started watching eBay pretty regularly. One thing that surprised me were the ones for sale that appeared to have limited damage - in many cases repaired - but were being sold with salvage titles.

Wonder if this is an indication that damaged Priuses are going to be in the "totaled" category a lot sooner than a normal car, and instead of a repair option we're simply going to be handed a check?

Geoff

$184 for a "smaller than motorcycle" battery...

what a rip.

I guess that explains why my insurance rate has been creeping up every month for my Prius. The more of these type of bills that come in the more the insurance companies raise rates. Any one else notice their premium slowly getting higher? (And I haven't had an accident or repair required in years.)

Luta

my rates are too high to go up

Though I know I am in the serious minority here, we don't carry collision insurance on any of our cars. It's very expensive, and we figure that over many years, we will pay less in repair costs than the insurance would cost us. Over the past 15 years, we have paid less than $1000 in accident-related auto repairs. We are also fortunate enough that we would not go broke if we really screwed up and totalled our own car; that's a risk we can take.

Of course, we do not live in a "no-fault" insurance state. Therefore when we get hit by some other careless person, their insurance pays the bill.

(and we carry uninsured motorist insurance)

-Erin

i do the same thing

full coverage for me would be 2500/6 months

>Though I know I am in the serious minority here, we don't >carry collision insurance on any of our cars. It's very >expensive, and we figure that over many years, we will >pay less in repair costs than the insurance would cost us.

I feel the same about collision insurance, but AFAIK all auto loan providers require it. Do you know of a way around this, or are you one of those lucky people who could pay cash for a new car?

paid cash, besides bad driving record, have no credit either

My Daughter was rear ended recently had a few thousand in damage but had a bump on the back of her head from the head rest. It was nothing but a small bruise but I told her to see a her doctor. He saw her once everything was OK but the insurance company offered her 500 extra dollars to "close" the claim. Seems strange to me since she had a very minor injury, my brother in law, a lawyer said it was routine and she should take it. Stuff like that drives up everyone's insurance. I guess they do that to avoid expensive claims later.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hdrygas\";p=\"45666)</div>

They do that to close the case so you won't sue later. Don't know if that works, but that's why they do it. I thought my policy for the Prius was very reasonable. We're paying about $330/six months with GEICO. (That's not an advertisement and I don't have any connections with them other than being a customer with them now for over 25 years). I live in Northern Virginia and my premiums shot up a bit when we moved here from South Eastern Virginia, but I still didn't think it was too bad.

Hey i thought my insurance premium was pretty go but GEICO is better. Is that for FULL coverage, comp. and collision? I'm paying $897 for 12 months with Erie. I thought that was pretty good till I read your post.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(paprius4030\";p=\"45684)</div>

Yes, it's ful coverage w/$250 deductible...including rental car. Remember though, I've been with them for 25 years, both of us have the 5 year good drivng discount, plus I get retired military discount and as you can see by my signature, I have a few vehicles insured with them. (yes, they insure motorcycles too.) I've looked elsewhere when I thought GEICO was getting high, but nobody can touch the premiums that I'm paying. I've heard that Erie is a good insurance company too, but it wouldn't hurt to give GEICO a call and see if they could beat them.
:?

Automobile repair costs are going up.
Before I got the Prius in August, I had a '99 Saturn. It was rear-ended. Didn't look like a big deal. Only reason it was undrivable was that part of the rear fender was rubbing the tire a bit. Not bad, I was able to move the car without damaging the tire, but shouldn't be driven normally like that. Estimates came out to over $4K. They totalled it, and paid much less than I could get a replacement. A few years ago, it might have been only 2K or less to fix.

I originally was going to wait 2 years, then get a used '04 prius, but because of the accident, ended getting new.

As for insurance rates, I was with Geico when I had the Saturn, but they were getting expensive and switched to Progressive. Biggest discount was paying up front for 6mo policy.
Ironic thing is, someone I work with had Progressive, but switched to Geico for same reason.
When I was up for renewal just after getting the prius, Progressive charged $710 full coverage $500 deductable, where Geico wanted $840.

I think alot has to do where you live. We get lumped into the Phili area even though we live in the woods LOL

it is location. i know that living 20 miles farther north would raise my rates 20%. living 20 south would lower my rates 9% since i have recently lived in both places

I recenlty had a hit-and-run damage to my front bumper (someone smashed the front driver corner of my bumper in and left when I was not in/around the car). I am dreading taking it to the dealership to get fixed because I know that they will gouge me. The paint isn't chipped, so I'm trying to find an independent repair place that may be able to "pop" it back out. I have a $500 deductible on my insurance anyway, so if it's near that, why put in a claim? I was especially mad, because I was so excited that I had just saved $300 when I changed car insurance companies a month ago. I'd hate to put in a claim already and have my premium go up in 6 months when I renew.