Rocker Panel Done In

Sorry to hear the news. I hope you had more sense about you than I normally exhibit, and you comforted her!

If the rocker panel has some significant denting, then it may be a whole different story, but otherwise it would be a paint job. If your fortune is like mine in these circumstances, the cost will be +/- 50 of your deductible.

The cost for a professional paint job on the rocker panel (assuming they don't want to blend in the doors (and don't let them do it to an existing factory paint) should be around $300-$500 for paint and materials.

 

I had to same problem. Gouged panel on 2010 prius, big time, below the back passenger side door (rocker panel?) going around a high curb. I'm trying to buy a new panel and have it replaced to save money going to a body shop. Has anyone tried that?

 

Can't really help you other then maybe with my story.
We picked our 06 Prius up on a Thursday and on a Monday evening my wife was driving home. Now, I wasn't in the car so only she knows what happend here. She said she was driving around a bend when a car was coming straight at her and she had to hop the curb and ended up hitting the right rear door/quarter panel against a light post.
Damage had to be out of our pocket or insurance was going to jack up HUGE.
$4500, and that was a 'deal'.
So after having our car for all of 4 days this happends, BUT 160,000kms on it now and it has never asked for anything but gas and oil changes.

So, unless you've only had your '10 for 4 days or less, maybe this will help her chear up.

 

One thing you have probably already considered...don't do an insurance claim no matter how much the rocker panel is to fix....and I'm sorry, but it could be a lot depending on how seriously it got whammed.

In addition to sullying your accident rate with the insurance company with a probable increase in your premiums, your car's resale value will be depreciated by quite a bit if there's a reported incident attached to the VIN# on the car. This is in no way advise to 'hide' the damage when you sell the car---if you ever do, but a self-repaired ding in a panel is waaaaay different than the word 'accident' on a vehicle's CARFAX report.
I took a stump strike in the rocker panel of my last truck and chose not to have it fixed (Estimate was something like 1,500 bucks) and when I went to sell my truck it had a spotless CARFAX report.
Obviously the dent was still there, and I took a very slight ding for it when I sold the truck (no pun intended for once!), but when you attach the word 'accident' to the word 'Prius' just sit back and watch what happens to the resale value....

Just a thought.
GOOD LUCK!

 

On my good ol' RSX, the rocker panels came pre-painted and, when I did something similar, cost something like $143.00, installed, at an aftermarket shop. Obviously this doesn't answer your question, but maybe gives you hope. No need to do any paint-matching, even years later--they're so low and constantly dirty anyway, no one would notice any mis-match.

And I definitely second ETC(SS), at least if you can go a cheap route like this; if you're selling it years later as a private party sale, you can if need be explain the situation (after all, it's just a piece of plastic). But, as said, if the "A-word" appears on the CARFAX, woe be unto thee.

Good luck--hope your situation is similar to mine.
~T

 

In my experience, there is something about the Prius' steering at low
speeds that leads to 'over steering' and running into/over curbs.

I haven't been able to fully identify what the issue is. After 3 years I
haven't figured what's going on. The closest I can guess is the rear
wheel being so close to the end of the car and perhaps a very tight
turning radius.

At any rate, it cost me big time. I was driving in Portland, ME, where
they use granite block with sharp edges -- apparently these hold up
better to abuse by snow plows than cement -- and I clipped the curb on
a slow speed turn, rode up on the curb, then dropped off, and
shredded the sidewall. Nothing like changing a tire on a snowy street.

When I'm maneuvering at slow speeds I have to consciously not turn,
but go a little farther forward, until the rear tire is next to the object
I'm turning around.

This is not a good explanation, I know. It's the best I can come up with.

Maybe someone else will give it a go.

 

I think it has to do with the deceptively long wheelbase.

 

The exact same thing happened to my wife. Except for the snow in Maine part! But it was dark in California... Shredded the tire, lost the wheel cover. And the car was only a month old. I think it's the long wheel-base, as PintoGirl mentioned.
BT

 

I agree that the relatively long wheelbase is a contributing factor,
but not the whole story. My two previous vehicles were a Dodge
Grand Cravan and Nissan Maxima, equally long wheelbase, total
of 14 years. I never ran over a curb. So there's something else
contributing to the "condition."

I'm thinking it has to do with the steering. One or both of:
* No feedback from the steering wheel, and/or
* Enhanced steering angle at slow speeds.

[EDIT] It may also have to do with not being able to see the front
edge of the hood as a gauge of how fast the front end is swinging.

Going around any corner in any car, the rear wheel takes a shorter
path than the front wheels. (I noticed this when I was a kid riding
bikes in the snow; front wheel track has wide swings. Rear wheel
tracks inside the rear on turns.)

My current working understanding is that at slow speeds, with no
feedback from the front wheels due the fly-by-wire steering, I'm
turning either too soon or too much.

On the one occasion that I let a trusted family member drive our
beloved Amapola, I actualy cautioned/instructed them to be extra
vigilant when maneuvering between cars in a parking lot.
Really, I think I asked them to only park in the center spot of three
unoccupied adjacent spots!

 

I’m not doing an insurance claim but the dent fixing company took my VIN number when giving me an estimate. Does that mean a Carfax report would include accident? My ding is just a short scrape about 10” long and a bit of paint removed. Now starting to wonder if AI should just get some touch up paint and forget the repair.

williamthechild

 

Ask the boss.
I'm not going to pretend to know how battle damage is reported in strange and foreign lands, but the body shop should be able to do a decent job of repairing the scrape - for a price.

If I were buying your car and you came clean about a scrape before the carfax report and the report showed "minor body repair" then I would mark that down as a net positive.

What makes things scarier are entries like:

03/06/2017....Vehicle Purchased.
03/15/2017....Vehicle Registered in Itswaytoocold, Canada.
03/04/2018.....Registration Renewed.
05/10/2019.....Accident repair.......Beat and Bang Body Shop, Itswaytoocold, Canada
10/10/2019......4-wheel alignment.......Toyota of Itswaytoocold, Canada.
11/10/2019......4-wheel alignment.......Toyota of Itswaytoocold, Canada
11/20/2019......4-wheel alignment.......Toyota of Itswaytoocold, Canada
12/01/2019.....Vehicle Sold......Toyota of Itswaytoocold, Canada