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Camry Hybrid Overheated - $11K for engine replacement

Discussion in 'Other Cars' started by pardreamer, Dec 25, 2013.

  1. pardreamer

    pardreamer Member

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    Hi all,

    My father-in-law was in a minor bender fender accident. His 2011 Camry rear ended someone. After the accident, he drove on without knowing that the radiator had a big leak and after 20 miles of driving without coolant, the engine seized and was damaged. Now the cost for repairing the body is $4k and the cost for replacing the engine is $11k quoted by a Toyota dealer. The car is worth around $15k. So my question is, can we go to a local auto repair shop and get this repair at a lower price? What are other options?

    Thanks,
     
  2. vskid3

    vskid3 Active Member

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    $11k seems very high. I would get a second opinion. A decent regular shop should be able to do the swap. You might be able to get a good deal on a used engine that has a lot of life left, I know the Prius engines are cheap.
     
  3. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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  4. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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  5. vskid3

    vskid3 Active Member

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    Ah, not nearly as good as the Prius engine prices. Still, it shouldn't be more than 2-3 grand to get it installed at a regular shop, which is still half of what the dealer quoted. Just something to look into, I know $11k would be hard for me to stomach.
     
  6. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    As I recall, the Camry Hybrid uses a 2.5 liter engine. Any good mechanical shop can replace the engine with a short block and have a machine shop rebuild the head, unless the inverter was also fried from the car overheating. Does the car also need an inverter?


    You stated, "His Camry rear ended someone," like the car did it, and he was not responsible. He rear ended someone while he was driving. It's his fault. The question is whether he has collision insurance and whether it will pay for the repairs.
     
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  7. pardreamer

    pardreamer Member

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    Wawanesa insurance declared the car a total loss and to our suprise, they will pay for the total cost of the vehicle. I thought my father was clearly at fault when driving the car after coolant has leaked out.
    We will find out what is the cost for buying back the vehicle from the insurance. If it is under $3000, we might want to keep it. I will contact a local mechanic to find out the cost of engine replacement.

    Edit: I just found out that my mechanic can put in a used engine for $2500-$3000, labor included.
     
  8. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Any damage as a result of the accident is part of the accident. The insurance companies should cover any engine repairs that were damaged as a result. I didn't know engine overheating would equal the end of the engine's life. Maybe it just needed to be cooled down?
     
  9. pardreamer

    pardreamer Member

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    If he didn't continue to drive after the accident the engine would be fine. So the engine was the result of him driving after the accident and not during the accident.

     
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  10. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Ah the beauty of insurance. Yes the damage is as a result of the accident. If there were no accident, there wouldn't be a leak, the car would not seize up. It's like if the car got into an accident, coolant leaked out and the car engine can't be shut down and kept running. The motor dies the same way and as a result, the accident caused the damage.

    or if the car needed to be towed and the tow truck driver screws up the entire underside of the car while towing it....after the accident. The insurance still would cover the damage as it was a result of the accident that required the towing that damaged the car.

    Wawanesa, what a great company, been with them for 15 years
     
  11. Troy Heagy

    Troy Heagy Member

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    No offense intended, but why ask? The sad truth is your father's car is scrap. It would actually be cheaper to start searching Ebay for a used Camry hybrid (or Prius hybrid or Civic hybrid or whatever else he might want). I just got a nice used car for $8000...... certainly better than spending $15,000 on repairs.
     
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    hard to believe a 2011 hycam is only worth 15k. how many miles on her?
     
  13. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I'm more curious what the insurance company valued as the totaled value of the car. They have completely different information.
     
  14. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Overheating can reach the point of causing the heads and block to warp. Then the head gasket definatly went. Allowing coolant into the oil.
    I've heard of seized engines being revived, but in most cases it entailed pulling the engine at least partially apart to replace parts and free up seized ones.
    I think iron blocks are the ones that are more forgiving of such abuse.
     
  15. pardreamer

    pardreamer Member

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    The car is not worth $15k. $15k is what needed to fix it and insurance determined that it is too close to the actual value of the car to fix it. I just checked Edmunds car value and it came out to be $19k. We are still waiting to see how much we will get paid. The car has 28k miles on the odo.
    Note that my father in law paid $22k for this car brand new. I think it was a time when the new 2012 Camry Hybrid came out with much better gas mileage so most buyers gravitated toward the new model and he got a $5k discount on it.
     
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  16. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Just remember the amount they "offer" you is a negotiable amount. If you feel it's too low compared to what's on the used car market, you can ask him to come closer to the other examples. If I were in your shoes, I would print up some CPO examples to show him what it would cost to replace the car at similar mileage.

    My friend totaled his 4runner and the insurance offered him $6000, after showing them the CPO value of the cars, he was able to get $9000 at the end. Just let them know the car was in pristine condition, not a scratch, just like a new car....blah blah blah
     
  17. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    so the car is worth 19k, and needs 7k to fix. i would be comfortable paying as much as 7-8k for it.
     
  18. pardreamer

    pardreamer Member

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    Wow, Wow, Wawanesa agreed to pay $23k for the two year old car. We don't even have gap insurance. My father in law bought it brand new for $22k because of the $5k discount he received. It was at the time the 2012 Camry Hybrid came out with much better gas mileage. They paid off the $11k loan and give another $12k cash to us.

    We decided not to buy back the car for $7k.
     
  19. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    $7000 is not bad if the car only needs a new engine.
     
  20. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congrats!(y) just emphasizes JC91006's comment about them.