$12,000... Rear-end-Collision-damage. Rerair vs. replace rear side rail assemblies??!

The simple answer is if they are crumpled, torn, or cracked they should be replaced. That is what is stated in the Toyota Collision Repair manual. Here is a shot of my '08 that I am repairing. I replaced the damaged section of the passenger side frame rail and I straightened the drivers side rail.

 

Yep, they should be replaced to get the car back to its prior condition. This is a matter of safety and likely of alignment/drivability/handling as well.

 

They should ABSOLUTELY be REPLACED!!! They form part of the built in CRUMPLE ZONE that is built in to your Prius to save your life. Go go back out on the road with it bent as is, well would 1 - Alignment issues. 2 - What if you get into another accident. The Crumple Zone, already being compromised, would probably fail prematurely, possibly causing you injury!!!

If the truckers insurance balks, SUE THE CRAP out of them. They have the responsibility to make your car 100% right. What state / city do you live in??
Here in CA when there is an accident you have FINAL say where your car is repaired! That way you do not get shoved into a cheap insurance friendly facility! I happen to have had my several wrecks, oops my bad, at a shop that is so clean and professional you could eat off the floors. Their work is impeccable!!!

Hope things work out for you! oww!!!


73 de Pat KK6PD

 

David,

The Toyota Collision Repair manual should be the "Bible" for this shouldn't it? Jelloslug says that it says to replace them if they are "crumpled, torn, or cracked." I think you should check with that Toyota Collision center, get the relevant page from the manual and ask for Toyota's evaluation. If they say it should be replaced under the criteria, then the insurance company is screwed. (My guess is that the dealer shop wouldn't pass up the business.) The only wiggle room I see is if "bent" is specifically excluded and Toyota/etc. agree that they are just bent. If they are just bent a little with no crumples then you might be stuck.

 

I also say replace them (but I'm not in anyway qualified to have anything but a gut reaction opinion).

I've fought with insurance companies about replace/repair decisions on safety equipment in the past. If I was the policy holder, I lost. If my car was damaged by someone else I won.

Good luck with this and let us know what happens. Especially if you can get Toyota to make an official declaration. I'd like to be able to cite it if needed!

 

Replace or the value of your car will be much less if you only straighten them,

I know you are not going to sell your car.

 

my advice

12,500 is almost 50 % of the value of the car, and i thought some insurance companies will automatically total it out when the damage is this high. if your insurance company will not total this out, you could try contacting the semi's insurance company, and if that does not work to your satisfaction, i would consider suing the other driver for the entire replacement value of the car.

 

It's been awhile but from what I recall totalling in Texas was 2/3 or 3/4 of its value. I had to fight for a month to get a car repaired rather than totalled some years ago. It wasn't that badly damaged and was in far better shape than what I could get comparable. I think the problem was that they could get so much in salvage out of it that they were trying to lowball me on the value and pay the totalling to pocket the difference in salvage. I wouldn't play the game as I didn't want to get some crappy smoker's car that had didn't have an immaculate interior, wasn't mechanically rock solid, had cheap unsafe tires, and lacked the aftermarket suspension/performance upgrades I had done. By the time I was through tallying what it would take for me to accept their offer (including new registration fees, new parts, etc. and the closest comparables I could find) the person who was handling the claim had been terminated and we got the car repaired.

 

Hi David,

Have you tried to access the Prius Collision Manual via techinfo.toyota.com ?

If you invest $10 in that subscription website, maybe you can find the guidance it provides regarding your collision damage, and download/print the relevant pages if that helps your case.

Good luck.

 

I sent you a PM about the info a while back.

 

David, I just got off the phone with my insurance person re: a much smaller issue, and below is the terminology it was suggested I use, only applied to your situation when speaking with the semi's adjustor. Btw, I am in GA also.

Repairing bent rails that serve as part of the safety structure of your car would not meet (Insurance) "Industry Standards which require that you be made whole or indemnified by the use of at least OEM/aftermarket parts rather than refurbished(ing) /rebuilt parts. If OEM/aftermarket parts aren't available than you want new Toyota parts. Using Refurbished//rebuilt parts do not make you whole or indemnify you." (mean basically the same thing, I'd just use indemnify)

Hopefully your "awareness of law" will send them scurrying, but if the semi's insurance person says, "but putting new parts on will make it better than new." Your response, here in Georgia, might well be, "I suspect, if I have to call him, John Oxindine, the Insurance Commisioner, would rather error on the side of the innocent public, rather than on the side of the offender's carrier, and while waiting for his determination I will also have loss of use considerations to be met, on top of the rental car, after all, you're going to put me in a mid size car that gets what? 20 mpg? costing me more than twice what I pay in gas on my 45 mpg car ." Don't talk further about this, your insurance folks ought to handle it if it gets to this point.

I had never heard of loss of use till my broker mentioned it, and I am frankly surprised that all you received was 1500 for diminution of value, and that you have already received it. Perhaps it is just an initial payment. My person said it would happen later, and my person will also, as a value added service, handle calls up the insurance ladder if I am not dealt with quickly and appropriately, without it going on my record.

Btw, any other info on diminution of value would be appreciated.

Hope this made sense, I'm still seething that they thought they could get away with a "rebuilt" bumper on my car, when their idiot hit me!

Well, none of the above worked for me, lol, so I'm going to let my company do their thing. So much for wanting to take control.

 

go for the new!!!
I was rear ended at speed limit on cape, my company wanted to fix up just about everything, his insurance adjuster said to go for the new.

guess which I did

 

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