Prius Heartbreak

Okay, I'm going to post here about my saga over the past month or so. Will start with photos of the modifications my 22 year old teenager made to my 2008 Prius.

 

Sympathy votes are welcomed here. I am past 238K with this one, and was looking to make the 300K club.

 

Good news is that I did have collision coverage, minus my $1K deductible. With the years, miles, and damage on it, it could have easily been a total (My state requires that if damage is 75% of book value, insurance company must declare it a total and pay the full value minus deductible). The car is actually still drive-able, so I talked the adjuster into writing up the damage so that it came in under the 75%, and I just took a check for the damage. My 22 year old teenager, who had done pretty much this same exact thing to his pickup truck about a year and a half ago, and then burned up the engine in a 2nd pickup (didn't see the importance of keeping oil in it), needs a way to work. Figured I would let him drive around this wreckage every day for a while so he could reflect on his carelessness, and I would take the insurance proceeds along with some cash out of my pocket and buy myself another Prius (which I did -- more on the new Prius later). My idea is that we would do some minimal repairs ourselves on the cheap, just to make sure it is safe & functional, etc. It would make for an economical ride for him, but still look like a wreck, which I think is a good thing for him to have to deal with at this point. Certainly don't want him driving anything else I own!

Well, drove from Mobile, AL to Houston, TX weekend before last in a rental car to pick up a new-to-me 2009 Prius which I bought online. Got back to Mobile with it and stopped in the first Walmart I came to here, to buy a windshield wiper for it. Looked around and there stands my 22 year old. He was having a new tire put on the right front of the first (wrecked) Prius. He had driven it out in a bad storm against his mother's advice after midnight the night before and turned into a curb in extremely heavy rain and punctured the tire. At least that's the story I got. Asked him about the wheel. He said there was a little mark on it. Turns out there is about a 3" long chunk gone from the face of the rim, although there is still enough wheel left to mount the tire. Ruined as far as cosmetics go. A few days later I am suspicious about the alignment because of the way the new tire is wearing, so I take it in to a shop for an alignment check. The steering wanders & makes clunking noises the whole way to the shop, something he had not bothered to mention to me. Turns out the strut mount or bearing plate is busted and the strut is bent from this latest mishap. Official estimate on all of that would be about another $1,500, including the new tire, a new wheel, new struts & mounts, installation, and an alignment.

 

Gonna address the strut situation on the cheap, too. What's left of this thing's value just doesn't justify spending a lot. Bought a pair of "quick struts" and hoping to mount them myself, with 22 year old's help. Any comments or advice on how do-able this should be for me as a DIY? A written procedure anyone can point me to? I have seen some past stuff on the strut replacement, but not using the quick strut (all-in-one package). Will I have to compress the springs for the quick struts? Would love some Priuschat help!

 

Attention, 22 year old men, get out, get a job, make money, WHILE YOU STILL KNOW EVERYTHING!

(Yes, I was bad at that age, too, although I have to say not that bad.)

 

The new ride:

 

Of course, on the safe & reliable. If I'm convinced it isn't, he won't be driving it. That's why it's basically parked until I get the new struts in. Cosmetically, though, he's going to live with the banged up look versus the shiny new red pickup he would prefer. Too much helicopter parenting I think has helped to put us in this situation!

 

No one has been hurt yet in his mishaps (although I'll have to admit to at least briefly entertaining that option - j/k). Seriously, we of course were so grateful when this happened a month ago that neither he nor the young lady he rear ended were hurt. Metal, glass, and plastic can be replaced. But now that all that smoke has cleared, the realization comes that my pockets only go so deep. Something has to change. Hopefully, driving an ugly car that is the result of his own doing will have an impact. I might have had a slightly better outlook on things if he had actually been on the route to his work, which is what I loaned him the car for. I got the call that he had the wreck on the way to work, but later saw that it was written up by a City of Mobile cop. That means he was in a different county from where we live & he works. Anyway, didn't really intend to make this a thread on a young man so much as on the old and new Prii.

 

That's definitely unsafe for him, in our area. Surprises people to learn of it, with us being here so close to the gulf coast, but highly rolling terrain. It's 20 miles each way to his work, with no dedicated bike lanes.