Prometheus bites the dust

It took me a couple days to think of looking at my state's (Washington) Insurance Commissioner's website for the rules on how the insurance company should treat you. If you haven't already, you might see if Illinois puts similar information on the web.

Glad to see that the only serious injury is to your car.

 

no drivers's license??? what insurance company insures unlicensed drivers??

well, the answer to that is pretty easy

 

ough deal. I just got my car fixed. yours has more damage though. Mine cost about 1600 dollars. that side panel will cost more in labor because they have to remove the door to repair it. so you're looking more around 2k in damage. the good thing is, they are all bolt on parts. that front "frame" bolts off. and they will replace the absorber on that side too. Lucky your airbag didn't go off. the sensor is right in that zone that got wiped out. even better that it wasn't the other side. the thermal containers are on the other corner.

best of luck and hope your car gets repaired asap.

 

Should be interesting. I'd guess from the pictures you're not more than $5k in damage which puts it a long way from totaled.

Bad deal, glad everyone is ok.

 

Just wondering of the name "Prometheus".... Stargate SG1 fan?

Well... didn't the "Prometheus" get distroyed this season? Man, hate to have named your car this if it is so.

Sorry, never the less. I have my share of accidents and concusions from accidents... so I know how you feel.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(parrot_lady @ Apr 10 2006, 06:24 PM) [snapback]237828[/snapback]</div>

Nope you can not lock the key in the trunk. I should know I learned it the hard way. I picked up my car out of state the next day I put my bags in the back and picked up my son for breakfast (he found the car for me). I could not lock the car? What is this all these strange beeps? I finally dragged out the owners manual and deciphered the beeps. Key in the car? It was clearly in my pocket!!! Oh no my new car was defective, then I remembered I put the second key in the bag in my trunk! As usual I was wrong and the computers were correct! I hate that. People just don't get this car too many new things, and no idea how much it might cost to replace them. Look at the poor guy who valet parked his car at an airport and the car arrived with an empty gas tank and battery because the car had been left on for a week or so. Don't trust them, stand up for yourself and don't take any wood nickels.

 

oic...so she has a license, but just not with her?? the insurance company name and the vehicle information should be more than enough to track down any policy she might have had, if any

 

My sister was rear ended a few years ago when she signaled a right turn and slowed down, the car behind her did not slow down and hit her shoving her car into a ditch almost into a tree. Of course they were a young couple about 20 years old or so and the girl was pregnant, driver "didn't have his insurance with him" which was included in his citation but he gave the name of his insurance company. My sisters insurance paid for the repairs and attempted to track down this kids insurance, found out that his mother had a policy with that company but he wasn't on it so the insurance company could have sued it out of him or just eat the costs, not sure what happened but I think it was just claimed on uninsured motorist.

From my experiences with accidents/repairs/rentals:
I gave the body shop hell with my Honda Insight because they did such poor work, so I took it to the Honda dealer who did an even worse job of it (luckily state farm paid to have the car stripped down and painted twice) and it seems like the more you compain about a body shop's work the worse they do just to make you even more mad.
I had hell with Enterprise also, they always seemed to be out of cars and ended up giving me the choice between an SUV or a Chevy S-10 truck once, I took the S-10 and put about as much gas in it in one day of driving as it would take my Insight about 4 weeks to use, so of course I had it right back at Enterprise that evening for a trade. The manager was expecting me to bring the truck back, so he figured since I just had one of their cars I would get a free upgrade so he delivers a Malibu Classic to me. Once again, gas guzzler in comparison, I quickly ate up about $15 in gas on that one. Once again, straight back to Enterprise. After enough whining the manager apologized stating that he thought I would appreciate a free upgrade and he didn't think to notice in my information in their paperwork that I drove a Hybrid (and he reimbursed me with cash out of his pockets for my gas reciepts). I had been to a Toyota dealer before looking for a Prius to see up close and all they could tell me is "we dont keep them on the lot, you can go to enterprise down the street and see if they have one you can look at" so I went and they were nice enough to get the keys and go outside to show it to me and show me how it works. The girl even mentioned that I could request it if I wanted to rent it. So I decided since I needed a rental car I should give it a try, only to find out that "we only rent the Prius to Toyota customers, we have a contract with Toyota" and they just flat out refused, and told me I have the choice between an SUV (at my cost for upgrade) or a Focus and thats all the choice they had left (besides the forbidden Prius). I took the Focus, hauled @$$ down the nastiest dirt roads I could find like it was a rally car until I flew over a hill, landed and slammed on the brakes and the engine quit. It did start again, but it shook really bad whenever I stopped, so I called Enterprise, told them their piece of $hit car is broken and they told me to bring it right back and they would have the dealer look at it (of course I washed it first). As soon as I pulled onto the Enterprise lot they were standing there waiting for me with the keys to the Prius in hand... Of course they gave me the "you only get it for the weekend, bring it right back first thing monday morning and be careful with it, if anything happens to this car we can't get Toyota to replace it" to which I replied "can I get the insurance with that?".

And as far as Insurance claims adjusters go, I have learned that you stand there with them when they look the car over and MAKE SURE that they include things that possibly need replacing or repairs... you point out every little thing and then some and make the estimate as high as you possibly can even if it may not need to be replaced or may not be damaged at least try to make them quote it anyway. I had a minivan try to illegally pass in the center turn lane just as I approached my turn as entered the turn lane forcing the idiot into oncoming traffic nearly hitting multiple cars head on and clipping the front of my car as they swerved back to the right side of the road. Of course the fool ran, so my dad called 911 and 25 miles later (about 20 of it on the freeway at 80+ mph) I finally lost them as they faked an exit and I could not see around cars between us and never saw them again. The cops met me to get a report and said they were waiting just past the next exit and never saw them. I was pissed but fortunately I was able to read off the plate number to the 911 operator and they tracked the address and later caught them at home, had someone admit to driving the car and hitting me (claimed he didn't know he actually hit me and said he thought I was drunk so he tried to illegally pass me). Worst part is my dad said the minivan looked like it was full of people, and while telling my side of the story to one of their insurance reps she told me "I think they might have had their kids in the car" and she told me their ages, even she was upset by it.

Sorry for the long post, but it is difficult to deal with accidents. One other thing, it wouldn't hurt to try to claim "diminished value" which is the lowered value of your car due to accident history. I tried to claim it with state farm in one of my accidents, and they told me "go to at least 3 used car dealers and get signatures and estimated trade-in values that they would pay both with and without accident history and we will average the differences" or something like that, but it was such a hassle to deal with these car salesman that don't want to bother with you unless you are buying something... If you can get the insurance company to pay you off to your satisfaction prior to the repairs, then it may be worthwhile to part the car out or sell it on eBay "as is" and buy a new one. Some people buy these cars and repair them for a living, and others like to buy "well repaired" cars because they can afford them. Best of luck!

Oh yeah!!! Just recently the IMA light came on in my Honda Insight and I lost hybrid functions, no assist and battery gauge was dead. I had to go straight to a dealer, and found out that the main hybrid fuse INSIDE the battery pack "broke" (conveniently located all the way at the bottom under everything). The tech had to find this out through Honda Techline, he didn't know enough about a Hybrid to troubleshoot it and he was "one of their top 2 mechanics" which he was pretty good, nice enough guy anyway, but he found out that these fuses have broken in a very rare few cases and they think it may be from vibration or something is causing the sand to leak out of the fuse and the filament breaks... To my convenience, it had to happen on a friday, took all day before they could even look at it because I "didn't have an appointment", then it was so late in the day that they couldn't even order a fuse. Monday was a holiday at the time, and by Tuesday I get a call saying "the fuse is on back order, but they are supposed to be releasing them from Oregon tomorrow". So it was overnighted when available, with a grand total of appx $485 for parts/labor/shop supplies. I later put 2 and 2 together realizing that one of the body shops I got an estimate from put a special note on the estimate "DO NOT BAKE - Hybrid components may be damaged by heat" and I am now wondering if the fuse may have been damaged by baking in a paint booth and finally gave. Don't know if there is any way to prove anything or get compensation for it... but you should probably be sure it does not get baked if you do get it repaired.

 

actually, I think the box in question might be the headlight ECU.
The impact sensors are on the inward side of the frame rails,
I believe...
.
_H*

 

That sucks Amy! <----- obvious statement!

I'm sure it'll all work out for you, obviously, you have a good head on your shoulders!

BTW, I LOOOOOOOVE this line:

Nice....!!!!!!!

B)

 

Okay, first thing if you want to get this taken care of right you need to check the attitude and get a little more mature about this whole thing.

Blowing up, jumping up and down, cussing, screaming at people, and yelling about your thousands of dollars worth of equipment are just going to make the body shop and the insurance company want to get rid of you as fast as possible. That means they don't care about making you happy or doing the absolute best work they can for you, they just want you gone. Thats why thepolice and tow driver at the scene reacted the way they did and rushed the process like they did.

You're an adult, somebody hit your car. Its just a car and this happens to everybody at some point. If you take your time, do your research, be firm, calm, polite, and respectful to the bodyshop and the insurance company you can and will have the vehicle repaired and get everything you want. That won't happen however if you continue to scream at everyone like a kid.

Okay, if you'll take three breaths and listen I can help you.

Here are your objectives:

1. You want the car repaired properly and restored to like new condition using all factory OEM parts. This is your right, it is ILLEGAL for an insurance company to refuse to cover OEM replacement parts on a vehicle less than 7 model years old. This is a given. State Farm knows this because they're the ones that got sued and lost to establish the precedent.

2. You want to be reimbursed for the difference in trade in values after the accident, this is also your right depending on your state's laws and it is called a "deminished value claim".

2. You want to be reimbursed for the replacement cost for the equipment that was installed aftermarket on the car. This is also your right but as you've realized it gets trickier here. In the grand scheme of things which is more important? Being reimbursed for the cost of a $150 stiffening plate or your $2,000 computer? You need to pick your battles here.

3. You want to be reimbursed for your rental, sounds like a done deal.

4. You want to be reimbursed for your medial expenditures and pain and suffering. If you have medical expenditures then indeed, the insurance company should pay for them. Pain and suffering needs to go right out the window. Again, this is life and it happens to everybody. A judge is going to dismiss that immediately unless there has been some permanent damage done to someone who'se life is altered because of it.

Okay, understanding that these are your objectives you need to realize that these are not the objectives of the insurance company, and if the body shop was reccomended by the insurance company then its not their objective either. They want to have to spend as little as possible and make you go away. This is now a business negotiation, and if you come at it with anger and drama you LOSE. If you come at it armed with facts, a knowledge of your rights, and an unyielding polite firmness you WIN! You are in total control over whether you lose or win.

If you are incapable of doing this, have someone else do it.

You also have to realize that you are unqualified to assess the amount the repairs should be. If you question their assessment, get as many opinions as you need. Yes, this may cost you some money but its worth it. Talk to some other shops reccomended to you by family and friends and the Toyota dealer. Yes the Prius is different, but its not THAT different from a normal car.

And lastly, stay positive. Everything will work out, worst case scenario you'll be displeased with the car after you get it back and you'll trade it in on another one. Thats a hard hit, but the damage doesn't look that bad to me. $10k would be my guess.

 

Should she also be "polite and respectful" with some yutz that tried
to whip a left in front of them and caused this whole mess in the
first place? Someone who evidently can't be bothered to find her
own paperwork before hitting the highway?
.
Where do you strike the balance? How do we ensure that the at-fault
party learns to be a better, more proactive driver from this? How
do we make it easy to turn "you F** idiot, you're supposed to YIELD
when making a left" into positive encouragement for that person?
.
_H*

 

Yes, absolutely. She should be polite and respectful to everyone, she's only hurting herself by not being so.

You don't have to give people "positive encouragement" but getting angry and spitting venom at everybody doesn't do ANYTHING to make the situation better. All it does is make it worse, and the person who ultimately will pay for that is her since she's the one that cares. Do you think those people in that Saturn care how their car is repaired? No.

This isn't about making people "better proactive drivers" or helping people do or become anything, this is about making her position the strongest it possibly can be so that she comes out of this as well as is possible. The way to do that is to be calm, professional, armed with facts and information, flexible, and unwaveringly firm about her position.

Contrary to popular belief being beligerant and absuive doesn't send the message "I will not accept anything less than the best possible repair of my vehicle and reasonable restitution for all damages to my property", it sends the message "I'm a crazy b#!&*, I want to yell and scream at everyone, and you're NEVER going to be able to satisfy me. Take advantage of me and then get rid of me".

Being calm, professional, knowledgable, polite, and FIRM sends the message she wants to send.

For the record, I have a degree in Psychology and Communication with an emphasis on business negotiating strategies and I negotiate multi-million dollar real estate transactions for a living. The first person who gets angry in a negotiation loses. Trust me.

Amy- I know you're angry, upset, and beyond stressed out about this but you have to listen to me. This is how they want you to be because you are incapable of making rational decisions like this. You stay like this, they win. If you listen to me, you win. Your choice.