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Just rear ended a car, what do these emergency lights mean on my car?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by yungprius, Oct 24, 2019.

  1. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    This is my first time rear ending my car and I hit a truck and there are barely any damages to his car, but as you can see, my hood is severely dented and some oil or some liquid spilled onto the street. My car turns on and runs fine but after about 15 seconds, the emergency lights in the picture below pop up and it says “main battery” on the touch screen. The damages to the other car are minimal, just some scratches on the bumper, but I’m just wondering if judging by the pictures, anyone could tell me if it’s best to go thru my insurance for this situation or I could get away with just paying for it out of pocket?
     

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  2. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    It’s likely that your air conditioner condenser and radiator are trashed. Possibly the inverter cooling pump, probably some of the plumbing connecting it, and the left headlight. Maybe more. If you were to DIY it might not be so bad, but if you had to pay for somebody else to fix it this would not be cheap.

    Given that it’s a 2005 insurance may well total it.
     
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  3. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    i have a reliable car guy an hour away back home and i have roadside assistance, i’ll get my car towed to him and i’m gonna see if he can assess the damages before i give my insurance a call. hoping for the best
     
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  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If you want to take it on, you or your car guy should definitely have access to Techstream to read trouble codes. There may be any number of connections to sensor circuits that got mashed and will need to be tracked down and spliced, and it's possible that codes reported by the car's computers can point you to them.
     
  5. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    That's seems to me to be a lot of damage, even if you just limit it to visual body damage. That's not even scratching the surface of what other things might be damaged that are causing the lights and codes you are now getting.

    If you're talking paying out of pocket for TOTAL repair, at professional body shop level of return, I'd think the cost would quickly exceed the value of the vehicle.
    Some experience with just minor dents, dings on bumpers and such. Body Shop work can add up quickly.
     
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  6. Striker325

    Striker325 Junior Member

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    Insurance will total your car unfortunately. Radiator support is likely crushed and alot of smaller parts possibly damaged aside from radiator and condenser.
     
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  7. M in KC

    M in KC Active Member

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    Agree that's a lot of visible damage that can be seen in your photos. The unknown currently is how much that can't be seen. There are a lot of parts right behind the front bumper cover especially the left front fender. Good luck for the best outcome. And thankfully you were uninjured.
     
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  8. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Don't turn your car on!
    .....otherwise those are going to be the "Change Owner" lights.

    I hope that you're OK and that you didn't injure another driver or damage the truck in front of you too badly.
    Remember....if there's paper on the accident (accident/police report) then you have an accident on your record and your car is already a "previously wrecked" (and possibly totaled) car.

    This looks like a relatively low speed collision and so it's possible that a new hood and whatever components you trashed under the hood might be all that's required to get you back on the road while you shake all of this off....BUT(!!!) those 'fluids' that you saw on the road are almost certainly coolant...maybe mixed in with a little hydraulic fluid.

    This means that, even with a friends help, your repair bill is going to have a comma in it.
     
  9. Jim Hearn

    Jim Hearn Junior Member

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    Just had my girlfriend just crashed her 07 pretty much the same way. The car dealer was only going to give her $500 towards a trade she was wanting. I told her screw that i'll give you the $500 and i'll tinker with it. So it was Remove and replace the condenser. (rock auto around $80 shipped) new metal aftermarket hood (rock auto $157 plus $80 freight shipping) new bumper cover from ebay $160 did not get the radiator support (around $80 rock auto) Plus the hood latch ($114,00) Currently held in place with a carbiner.
    I still get the check engine light until i turn on and off the battery switch i installed. Inverter pump is working but i have some fathom coolant leak i am trying to find time to fix.
    Bottom line is as a do it yourself-er your most likely going to need around $2000 grand to replace everything that's trashed. Look at the inverter coolant can which is behind the left front. Mine has a dent in it and it is not leaking but may be the source of fluid disappearing
     
  10. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Agree with Leadfoot. That's some bad damage there bent front end and condenser/rad and other stuff. The ac system is totaled. The main battery nag is probably from a damaged ac compressor which runs on the hybrid battery. High voltage wires may be exposed. Be careful. The car is in limp mode now as it has thrown a ground fault.

    That old car is totaled.
     
    #10 edthefox5, Oct 27, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2019
  11. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    BUT that should NOT prevent you from loosing your insurance benefits that you have been paying for.

    A little negotiating or a slight adjustment in the pay out might be necessary but you usually can get the "book value" payout and also KEEP the car.......so you can fix it yourself.......if you want to do that. Or sell off parts. Or sell it to a salvage yard or to a 3rd party.

    I think it is really....mmmmm.....not wise......to try and avoid using your insurance.
    If the other guy files with your company, the accident will be on your record anyway.
    Of course, if you were not paying for full coverage (collision), it is a moot point and your insurance will pay you NOTHING.
     
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  12. Striker325

    Striker325 Junior Member

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    True if there is collision coverage definitely take advantage of that.