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Had an accident in my 2008 Touring this morning. Think this is totaled?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by wowbobwow, May 8, 2013.

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  1. She's dead, Jim. Stuff her into a photo torpedo and fire at will.

    51.3%
  2. It might get prettied-up at the auto-shop, but it'll never feel right again.

    35.9%
  3. Eh, it'll buff out. Stop whining.

    12.8%
  1. wowbobwow

    wowbobwow Junior Member

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    I was driving to work this morning at about 5:30 AM through Oakland on interstate 880 and was in the rear end of a chain collision. My arm was hurt some, but otherwise I'm okay but my poor beautiful, new-to-me Prius is badly bashed up as you can see in the photos.

    After the accident when the police arrived on the scene I could not turn the car on and could not put it into neutral, so the police officer on the scene tried to clear me off the freeway by pushing my car down the road with his police car but it wouldn't budge since the wheels were still locked in park. They ended up having a CHP flatbed come which hauled it to the nearest exit ramp into Oakland where another flatbed came and took it to an auto shop where it's now sitting.

    While I'm super glad to have survived with only a badly-sprained wrist and hand, I'm utterly heartbroken over this - I just bought the car from CarMax in Feb., and I still think of it as "my new car."

    The airbags didn't go off (which the CHP guys found pretty shocking, but was probably due to the angle of impact), but everything under the hood looks to have been mashed around.

    I'm (morbidly) curious if you guys think from these pics if this will be a "total loss" or not. I'll have an estimate from the shop in a day or two, but I'm super anxious over it all. I don't know if I'm hoping it will be a total loss, or if they repair it it will never drive the same way again.

    Have any of you had a Prius with similar damage that was repaired? If so, did it feel "right" again?


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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    that looks pretty far gone, hope you're all right!
     
  3. mmmodem

    mmmodem Senior Taste Tester

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    So you're the jerk stopping up traffic for me this morning! J/K :p I'm glad you're okay. I thought the bay bridge had a problem. I detoured at the ramp shown just behind your first 3 picture. Darn, I was so close to passing the bottleneck too.

    Anyway, when we were poor, we used to buy salvaged cars. My dad always had one rule though. No front end damage. Damage anywhere else could be fixed maybe not well but adequately. But when the engine is damaged in any way, even us po' folk stay away. My experience in cars with damage in the engine bay is that reliability goes down considerably. Even if they don't total it, I'd just ask the insurance company for the repair money and walk away.
     
  4. boppo

    boppo Active Member

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    Glad u are ok, man that sucks. The electric motor system is in that area so my guess it is a total.
     
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  5. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    Did the air bags go off? If they did and the age of the vehicle you will most likely get a Total from ins. Use the money to buy a PIP
     
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  6. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Sucks to hear that.

    My guess is that the repairs will add up to a LOT: radiator, fans, front end pieces, headlight assemblies, hood, bumper, bumper cover, grille, all sorts of repainting, etc. Who knows what other parts were damaged like the themos?

    Glad to hear you're ok. I do like the humor of your 1st poll choice. You must be a Star Trek fan. :)
     
  7. Rupert B Puppenstein

    Rupert B Puppenstein Active Member

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    So glad you are okay and hope that your arm gets better soon! I think any auto insurance company is going to total the car. It is far too expensive to repair when they can get more money selling the parts that are okay. It is never fun being forced to get a new car though especially so soon after getting the car that was new to you...so I honestly think you are going to get bad news. How does a chain reaction crash work as far as fault, etc.? I hope your car insurance company is great through this. I am not surprised that the airbag didn't go off, they either seem too sensitive or not sensitive enough. The entire reason I have my Prius was that I was in an accident and wasn't going fast at all, yet my airbags went off. Will never forget that horrible smell!
     
  8. HaroldW

    HaroldW Active Member

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    Your Prius took the hit in a very bad place. Probably a write off?. H
     
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  9. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    Definetly let us know what occurs, and what is your next car
     
  10. desmondlee

    desmondlee Member

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    Glad you are ok. Looks total to me. When I got rear ended last year, the repairs were $5800. It did not look that bad, but the repair shop said there were a lot of stuff underneath that had to be repaired. The initial estimate was in the $3000 dollar range,
    they said this is only an estimate, they would not know the total amount until they took the bumper off. Good thing I did not accept any money from the person who hit me, otherwise I would have been out a lot of money. The other thing that bothers me is when I go to the Kelley Blue Book, it asks if you have been in an accident and if it was over or under $2500. Not sure what that does to the value of the car.
     
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  11. wowbobwow

    wowbobwow Junior Member

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    Thanks to all of you for the support and insightful comments. My arm / wrist are doing okay (sore, but manageable), and I should have a more concrete update on the future of the car tomorrow or Friday. If it is determined to be beyond economical repair, I'll definitely be looking into another Prius. I'm so sad that this happened to my car, but I'm thankful that I walked away with such minimal injury.

    My 3-year-old son was super concerned about my arm (he came with my wife pick me up from the ER after my splint was applied), but I think he's equally worried about the car. Trying to explain the situation to him in terms he could understand helped me understand it myself: ultimately, a car has two purposes - to get you where you need to go, and to protect you if something goes wrong. In the ~2 months I owned the Prius, it accomplished both of those goals with flying colors, and I'll be happy to resume driving one ASAP.

    Thanks again, everyone - keep the ideas / suggestions coming, and I'll update again once there's something worth reporting from the mechanic.
     
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  12. morpheusx

    morpheusx Professor Chaos

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    I think it can be repaired although it wont be cheap, by the looks of what I can see underneath the hood the Invertor looks to be in tact. Underneath the vehicle doesn't look to have leaked much if any fluids either. I had a similar looking accident a few years back in mine and my insurance company fixed it. (invoice on my repair was about $15K).
     
  13. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    Being a young man with a young family wonder if one of the larger Hybrid cars (Camry) may be in your future.
     
  14. Mark Hollis

    Mark Hollis New Member

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    First, I am very happy to hear you are OK. I had a similar accident where I was very close-to totaled, but not totaled. My 2005 Prius was hit by a Mercedes. Insurance company told me that, had any airbag gone off, they would have totaled the car and I'd be shopping for another Prius.

    I was hit on the passenger front quarter panel and that pushed me into a Jersey Barrier, which pretty much took out my driver's side front quarter panel, axing a wheel and toasting my skirt (crumple). Did not break an axle, but I could start and move the car (max was about 10 miles per hour).

    I think the term "totaled" has to do with money, not damage. So the question comes down to, "will it cost more to repair or buy a car with similar mileage, the same year?"
     
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  15. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Well as everyone say's.....the important thing is you are okay.
    Too bad, as it sounds like you were happy with your vehicle.

    If it was me? I'd be hoping they do total it. I wouldn't want it back after damage like that, even if it was conceivably "fixed".

    Good Luck whatever happens.
     
  16. maestro8

    maestro8 Nouveau Member

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    Glad you're okay. But take this as a lesson, everyone... always leave space between your car and the car in front of you when stopped.
     
  17. wowbobwow

    wowbobwow Junior Member

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    Update time! After several days in the shop, they determined that my car is repairable. After some careful thought and research, I opted to proceed with the repairs, which are estimated to take 2 to 2.5 weeks.

    For your entertainment / horror, I'll provide the clearer snapshots I got from the auto shop, along with the parts-list from the quote and total estimated repair cost.

    Note that this is only the estimate from the "body shop" - while they will be replacing the AC system and radiator, the car will also be making a trip to a nearby Toyota dealership for additional mechanical review and repair (I don't have a quote for that yet).

    I'm highly skeptical that the car will ever feel the same as it did before the crash, but if there is continued interest I'll certainly update this thread again once I have it back and take her out for a spin.

    Thanks again for all the support and insightful / helpful comments - I really love this community!

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  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    8 grande seems cheap, but i suppose you won't know the final number for awhile. still find it hard to believe it's worth fixing. what's the value, 12k?
     
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  19. wowbobwow

    wowbobwow Junior Member

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    Before I decided about repair vs. replace, I ran the KBB value and got an estimated ~$17.5k, which is almost exactly what I paid just 2 months ago.
     
  20. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

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    Who figured
     
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