New Prius got smushed :(

Argh! I've had my new Prius for a month and was loving every minute of it, but now I'm stuck driving a Pontiac Grand Prix (possibly the worst car I've ever driven heh...and it's red no less) rental while I wait for my car to get fixed. I blame my alarm clock! If it had gone off I wouldn't have missed carpooling with my coworker, and wouldn't have ended up parked in the Dunkin Donuts lot later that morning. I went in to get a coffee for the ride to work and when I walked out I was dumbfounded. My car was not where I left it. The back end was 6 feet or so over, in the parking spot next to it and there was a Chevy truck sticking out of my car's back bumper. Apparently the truck owner had been gassing up across the road when he heard a snap and his truck started rolling downhill. It went across 2 lanes of traffic, through the dunkin donuts parking lot and straight into my car. How I didn't hear the crash I don't know. This was last Friday. Car is at the shop and should be fixed up in the next few days. Guess I was lucky that all the damage is focussed on the corner of the bumper itself. At least it seems that way. The appraisal guy from the insurance company seems to feel there is only cosmetic damage. Getting a new bumper put on and a wheel realignment done. As soon as the body work is done I'm taking it to our dealership for the alignment and I'll have them give it a once over to make sure everything seems in working order.

I miss my baby!

 

This is what I saw when I walked out the door, only the truck had still been imbedded in my bumper.


Close-up of the damage (not too bad considering!)

 

Thanks everyone, I knew you'd understand Hehe, yeah I feel pretty lucky. Poor guy that hit me was so upset about it all. He was actually running across the road with it while it was rolling, trying to grab on and get it to stop. Just glad that somehow the truck missed all traffic on the road it crossed and avoided all the pedestrians coming in and out of the coffee shop! Crazy!

Funny how attached to my car I've gotten in just these few weeks...seeing even that small dent is very upsetting Should have it back by end of day Tuesday though!

 

"Wait! That's right where the secret compartment is, where you were keeping all your gold! And now there isn't any there! Oh No!:heh:"

- No kidding! I was wondering why there was a crowd around my car when I walked out of the DD...and by the time I got to my car they were all scattered. Thieves!

"But I have to say... this sounds like a case of "THE HYBRID CONSPIRACY." Non-hybrids maliciously and intentionally targeting and attacking hybrid cars. Drivers need not be present, as this example shows."

- HA! I KNEW it! That Chevy truck looked soo derned smug over there. Was wondering how it got through all that traffic without hitting anyone..."parking brake snapped"? Ha! it was all part of its evil plan! It didn't have a scratch on it either...just remnants of MY paint job on its bumper. How rude!

Code Blue - Holy cow, your poor Prius! My dent looks SO small after looking at the remains of your car! Glad you were able to get a replacment soon after!

Hehe, seriously, you guys are so awesome! Thanks for the wisdom and wit I am getting a full bumper replacement btw and they are covering the 4 wheel alignment. SOOO relieved that (aside from my hidden gold compartment) there wasn't much behind the bumper cover. I'll have the Toyota techs check that wheel tub and the filler, thanks for the tips! Meanwhile I'll continue with hat and sunglasses whilst driving that awful Grand Prix (I was so embarassed to be driving it in today...!). Will be back in my Grander Prius soon (Love that hehehe).

-Tara

 

Hi everyone,

Well for something that was minor damage, it took over a week to get my car back (just picked it up yesterday). When they took the bumper off they apparently did fine some more damage behind it...nothing to the frame, but there was some sheet metal between the frame and bumper (?) that got dented and scratched. So they had to call the insurance company to send out the appraiser...which took several days...and then it was 8 hours more work to fix.

But I do have my baby back and so far it seems to be working great. I did notice two things though:

1) The black rubber piece that is adhered to the bottom of the bumper wasn't put on well. It has lifted along the left side. It isn't dangling off or anything but it has lifted away from the metal and you can see the white gobs of adhesive behind it. Definitely going to have them fix that.

2) The other thing is really minor and I guess I won't say anything about it. Along the seam on the right side of the bumper there is an imperfection in the paint. Seems like maybe some bubbled up and then the bubble collapsed and the paint dried leaving a half inch crusted imperfection. It is on the inside of the seam though, and so not really noticeable when just looking at the side of the car.

All very minor and not affecting the joy I feel to have my car back! Now I just have to get used to driving it instead of that huge, heavy Pontiac hehe.