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Help! Need advice on Wrecked 2006 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by sadwife, Jul 15, 2007.

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  1. sadwife

    sadwife New Member

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    Thanks to all for your info. I wan't trying to "force" the insurance co to total it, I really am concerned with the safety issue and I thought that the damage assessment was low-balled.

    After I posted this, I was told by a friend who is the shop manager at another Toyota dealer that the car is designed to absorb the shock in the engine compartment. However, once it does, even if it gets repaired (instead of replaced), the frame has lost its future ability to do its job. He also took a look-see and expressed concern about the sensors and electronics. I went back tonight and took more pictures, you can see that the firewall has intruded into the dashboard about 3-4 ins and the display is separated from the dash. That makes me feel even more uncomfortable, since the firewall is a prime part of this protection.

    In any case, I just spent a couple of hours talking to the dealer's body shop today, who told me that the adjuster just looked at the damage that was obvious. I found out that the Toyota dealer hasn't even completed their estimates of the mechanical damage. So, 10K for body work, valve cover and manifold, radiator and relay box.....I'm sure you all are right - there's going to be more then 10K of work.

    I'll check the insurace commissioner's website too. If the insurance co doesn't total it, I will definately look for the Toyota extended warranty and maintenance package.

    I'll let you know how it turns out.
     
    #21 sadwife, Jul 16, 2007
  2. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Maybe it's me, but it doesn't look like the valve cover is damaged, but rather the cover over the injectors. However any engine sitting w/o an oil cap out in the open is bound to get some nasty dirt inside.

    So far I've also spotted A/C lines, bent radiator in the mix. $10k maybe for the visible body work, but I'd consider it totaled after considering mechanical repairs.
     
    #22 HTMLSpinnr, Jul 17, 2007
  3. sadwife

    sadwife New Member

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    Latest update:

    Well, we're up to 17K of damage now that the mechanics have seen it. I still don't know what the interal electronics damage is. More to follow...
     
    #23 sadwife, Jul 19, 2007
  4. Bob Allen

    Bob Allen Captainbaba

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    By the time you read this, you will probably have made any relevant decisions about your car and have recovered something of your pre-accident sanity. I've been in your shoes, only I wasn't in the car when a hit and run driver knocked it up onto the sidewalk in front of our house at 2 am one morning two years ago. I was horrified when I looked at my barely one year old Prius with his rear quarter caved in. I thought for sure that it was a total; in 2005, it was still hard to get a Prius and I envisioned another six months on various waiting lists, but, lo, there are repair facilities that can do absolute wonders. I found one independently of my insurance company only to find that they were top rated by State Farm.

    There are multiple levels of body repair, beginning with the very amateurish do-it-yourself jobs, all the way to a virtual factory quality remanufacture of your car. The guys at the body shop were incredible. They showed me how the Prius (like most unibody cars) is put together and how they literally disassemble the damaged sections and re-weld the new panels. They showed me how well engineered the Prius is; the side opposite the impact was undamaged except for the wheels which were damaged when the car was shoved up on the sidewalk. One tech said that I could have been sleeping in the car and escaped uninjured other than possible hearing loss from the impact and having the s**t scared out of me.

    So, shop around for a good shop. You may elect to total the car now that getting a replacement Prius isn't as hard as it was two years ago. Even so, you will be out the difference between a new Prius and whatever is the depreciated value of your present Prius.

    If you intended to sell your car in a few years, you might consider totalling it because honor would compel you to inform any prospective buyer of the accident, and that might affect their willingness to buy the car. On the other hand, if you, like me, intend to keep your Prius until it drops, or for a good many years, having the car repaired might prove the better choice.

    The repair on my Prius is undectable. The shop took the car down to basic parts and reconstructed it. There are no visible indications that anything on the car has ever been replaced. The total bill was about 12k, and fortunately, I had coverage including car rental. Other than a few months of ill feeling towards the (drunken?) creep who did this and fled, I escaped in good shape.

    Keep us posted.
     
    #24 Bob Allen, Jul 23, 2007
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