Maybe too soon to ask because the insurance company hasn't decided whether to total it. But $2500 to replace bent struts and $2400 to repair the latest collision, not looking good for a 2009 with 168K+ miles. Option 1: the simple one, insurance pays out and takes it to shred. Option 2: insurance pays a bit less and we keep it with a salvage title. The interesting thing here is the hybrid battery has only 22,000 miles on it and a diagnostic report on it shows balanced cells. Option 3: we pay more than the car is worth, and then we have a well maintained Prius to drive. What else? What are good questions to ask myself before deciding? Another wrinkle is that an international move is likely and it would be sold this year anyway. If I were doing my usual thing of keeping cars forever, the calculations would be different.
Be done with it soon as international move is confirmed... If you post photos maybe some of us who also live in WA would be interested in it?
It's $2500 to get struts replaced these days? If it's just struts and all 4 and if $2500 includes alignment (it should), that sounds high to me.
Thanks to everybody. I've already had a friend skeptical about the strut estimate. I got a "too large" error on uploading the whole set of photos, and even just the one with the dent picture. I wonder if a Google Drive share will work for once. , , , , , , Basically a huge dent and a bent front strut, and AFAIK they have to be replaced as a pair. Insurance is still asking questions and we don't have a decision yet.
You've got a crash-damaged, almost-antique gas burning car on the eve of a fuel shortage and you're approaching an international relocation? That's a slam dunk for getting rid of the car if I ever saw one.
