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Won't turn on after car accident

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by zprius414, Sep 16, 2011.

  1. zprius414

    zprius414 New Member

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    Hello everyone,

    I was involved in a car crash 4 days ago. The SUV in front of me stopped short and my 2010 Prius ran into it. I was pretty disoriented because of the smell from the air bag and my glasses had been knocked off my face, so I stepped out of the car, without thinking to put it in park. Once I stepped out, the car immediately started going in reverse before getting stopped by the bumper of a van behind me.

    Since then it has been towed to a body shop and my Geico Auto Damage Adjuster has been to the shop to check on the vehicle. Now here is my question --- does anyone know why everyone at the body shop is having trouble getting the car to start back up? They checked under the hood and determined that power IS Getting to the car, its just that they can't get the car to turn ON.

    Thanks so much...
     
  2. Gary Otto

    Gary Otto Member

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    Some cars have a feature that shuts off the fuel pump in the event of a rear end collision....the Prius could have a similar feature. A reset button or something. You should call the dealer service dept and ask.
     
  3. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    Have they tried doing a 12V disconnect? Do they have a code reader? There are several HV connectors in the front that are easily damaged in a collision.

    Honestly, if you hit hard enough to deploy airbags, I question why this isn't a total loss.
     
  4. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

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    Given the issues you describe I'd say that you have the car towed to a Toyota dealership that also has a body shop * - a quick goggling shows that MD is a state where you have the right to choose the repair shop. The dealership will be best able to coordinate the repairs and will have the diagnostic equipment needed. I do not know what the cost to tow would be, but you can always sign up for AAA and then use it for the tow.

    * Unless you happen to know of an independent shop that specializes in Prius issues. I happen to have both near me and in this case I'd choose the dealer.
     
    KK6PD likes this.
  5. barcelona11

    barcelona11 New Member

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    Many folks have towing coverage on their auto insurance and don't even know it. My mom paid for AAA for years before I convinced her that towing under auto insurance is cheaper. Mine is $4 per year. Turns out she already had towing coverage:rolleyes:. So try you insurance for the tow.

    Sadly, air bag deployment often spells t-o-t-a-l.
     
  6. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    The Prius has an automatic HV disconnect that triggers with impact. I suspect this is your main problem.

    Tom
     
  7. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    i could be many things... most likely it's as described above... the car could have been left on where the hybrid battery drained... they could have moved it with all 4 wheels on ground and the car not in N... a lot of ideas can be tossed out here but the shop really needs to plug in an OBD-II tool to pull whichever codes are present. (there probably is something there if it won't start)
     
  8. ferraribuyer

    ferraribuyer Junior Member

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    i have same issue what ever happened to your car?
     
  9. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Did any airbags deploy? If so, then this:
     
  10. Jonny Zero

    Jonny Zero Giggidy

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    If so, why did it roll in reverse after he got out then?
     
  11. Tiamaybe

    Tiamaybe Junior Member

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    I was in an accident two days ago in a2014 Prius C. A truck stopped suddenly and I slid into his back end. Did some frontal damage, but, didn’t bust the radiator or the motor (as far as we can tell) The airbags didn’t deploy (even though I expected them to) The car won’t start now. Does it need to go to a dealer to reset it or is there another way to try before putting out all that money?
     
  12. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    Assuming that the 12V battery on your car works (ie, some of the warning lights on the dash come on when you attempt to ready up, or that the headlights function), then you need to be able to scan the entire car for any diagnostic trouble codes to see what is going on. The scanner must be capable of communicating with all electronic modules on a Prius. That is usually beyond what most cheap OBD2 or parts store scanners can do. So unless you have a friend or relative who has the equipment, you will have to spend something to figure out if it is worth fixing.
     
    #12 mr_guy_mann, Jan 22, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2021