Arghhh, someone backed into our new Prime

Where in the great Midwest are you located ?

If we have a better idea of a more specific locale, recommendations are tough .

A suction cup dent puller won't work, or a pic of the carnage.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Auto body guys are capable of wonderful work. Whether or not you have a good pro available to you is another question.

Local recommendations from friends & family should be valued over anything you read here. Good luck!

 

I’ve never tried it but if it was me I would tell the insurance company the car is been violated and I intend on selling it so I should be reimbursed for diminished value. If you can get 1000 or two extra out of that, pocket it and run.

 

if you nail down the location just a bit more, we can come to your house and take a close look at it

 

You're retired .

You've got nothing better to do.

Road trip to the upper mid west metro areas .

 

At least you were there when it happened. Unfortunately, my two experiences with my Prius being left damaged by someone who took off and left me with the cost and inconvenience of fixing their mistake has tainted my opinion of humankind.

 

Aren't you near the city of "brotherly love"?

Must be how it's done there.

 

If you think 55 miles away is near, then yeah.

 

it is in the midwest

 

We had repairs to our front bumper a few months ago. We worked through the Toyota dealer from who we bought the Prime and who has its own associated body shop.

They put things good as new and worked with us to keep the repair cost down so that it would not exceed the amount which would cause our insurance carrier to increase our future premium. (The damage was our fault. We hit a rock concealed by high grass next to a driveway at a friend's country house.)

The only snag we ran into was that the shop ordered the wrong bumper. The 2017 Prime "advanced trim" has a fog lights which result in a slightly different front end configuration. This slowed down completion of the repair by about a week while they re-ordered the correct part. Fortunately, our insurance covered the cost of a rental car.

Because "the guy who hit us has insurance and is taking full responsibility", I'd recommend that you work with your Toyota dealer. Even if the dealer does not have its own body shop, it likely has a shop with which it has a relationship. Most body shops have extensive experience working with insurance companies and their adjusters. Your body shop has incentive to get all of the necessary repairs done in the best (and, for them, most profitable) way.

Also, because your Prime is new, you should insist on OEM Toyota parts and not after-market or re-manufactured parts.

 

Whether or not they'll comply with that might depend on the particulars of your insurance.

 

Sorry about the accident. I hope you will get it fixed right. I would check local reviews on the body shop you plan to use and make sure they are well equipped professional body shop. Depending on how the insurance handles, they may ask you to use a particular shop for the work, but I would suggest checking several options on your own. Most professional body shops do an extremely good job of repainting body parts, but if you have to replace any parts, insist on using OEM parts not cheap aftermarket.

Good luck.

 

I actually bought a dash cam about 7 years ago because I was frustrated with all the hit and runs on my car... mostly door damage, but *serious* dents... had two different ones between 9-12” in length...

Ever since I have had the cameras, I have not had a single significant mark (just one or two that are barely visible). Good karma I guess.

Sounds like it may not have helped with this particular situation since it came from the side, but may have caught the vehicle coming or going.

Interesting story... 3 years ago my wife and I met at Walmart on a particularly windy day, and I always park nose to nose when doing so allowing my dash cam to watch both cars... this incident was a pair of runaway carts that hit both our cars minutes apart in almost identical fashion. She initially thought she saved her car, and only realized she got it on the rebound the next morning when she discovered 4” dent/scratch on her car.

Leaf -

Prius (turn up your sound, @ 0:49) -

Interestingly, the Prius had a light scuff that basically wiped off, while the Leaf took much worse damage. The paint on that car is terrible, so delicate. But I digress....

 

Well, if you come to the Midwest stay 3 feet away from each other. We might be able to give you a complimentary roll of toilet paper.

 

glad to hear she's good as new!