prius broadsided

Dude, sorry for your loss! I loath red-light-runners! :angry: :angry:

When I lived in Raleigh, NC, many years ago, a women pulled out in front of me right after I had bought a brand-new Toyota pickup truck (back when you could get a stripped down version for $10,500). The damage was $5,000 to the vehicle... UGH! I wanted her insurance company, Allstate, to total the truck, but because it only had 800 miles on it, and it was a Toyota, they said it was still worth too much to total.

I bitched and complained for a month telling them that I would NEVER buy a vehicle that had been wrecked nor do I want to own a vehicle that was wrecked.

Once it was repaired I took my truck to a dealer to trade it in on a new truck. By law I had to divulge that it HAD been wrecked. Once they heard that it was wrecked they only offered me $5,000 for the trade in - down from the $9,000 that the guy initially"ball parked".

I took this back to the insurance company and demanded a replacement vehicle. In the end they gave me $2,500 to compensate for the value of a vehicle "post-accident". Not what I wanted, but all I was going to get.

So, you might want to look in to that kind of compensation.

As an side to this story, I later moved to Ft. Worth, Texas. Once I arrived I went shopping for insurance. I submitted an application to Allstate - and the price came back four times what other quotes were! I asked the agent why and he told me it was because I had been in an accident. I told him that it wasn't my fault - and that the person at fault was an Allstate insured. He said, "Exactly. That's why they don't want you as a client." How's that for their "Good Hands" policy!

Good luck with your situation, and SO SORRY for your loss. I've never felt as attached to a piece of metal and technology in my life as I am with my Pri.

 

Look into diminished value. It might be state specific.

Getting dealer quotes for your car in repaired condition (but BEFORE repair) might be helpful.

Be careful not to take any money from the Ins. company that then precludes any future demands.

Expect to spend time and aggravation, maybe small claims, and possibly money on a lawyer.

 

That much right there may speak volumes. I would get it to a dealer to take a real good look at the entire drivetrain. With a wheel bent, there could very easily be major internal damage in the PSD, both MG1 and 2 and the ICE. Insurance adjusters aren't going to have a clue about the complex internals that they cannot see, and the folks that repair it may not know untill they have begun to do major disassembly.

 

another example of insurance companies not caring about the people they insure...unfortunately, a necessary evil. that is why i drive extra carefully and dont carry collision. dont recommend that anyone be as foolish as me. i can afford the consequences and frankly would gladly pay to replace my vehicle before i would give a single dime more than the minimum level of coverage required by my state to any insurance company.

 

I agree with having them get a look inside.

The estimate may just be at what can be seen and estimated from the outside. Once the car is taken apart and they start to work on it, they may find more damage that not only drives the repair price up, but renders the repairs suspect as far as putting it back exactly the way it was.

My car didn't have near the damage yours did and my repair was $7,000.

And the windshield washers don't work at all as well as they did now so I have to take that in and get it fixed.

I only needed a new passenger fender, hood, front bumper, and the containers inside the hood on the passenger side. And some sort of bracket for the hood. Sounds like you have a lot more structural damage.

Is this the insurance company's shop that's doing the estimate or a certified Toyota repair facility? Take it to the Toyota people. They know the Prius a lot better and will have a much better idea of exactly how much it will cost. AND you won't have to worry about warranty if the Toyota people do it.