We were within 100 feet of our driveway returning home from a 500 mile trip. Barry Manilow was on the E-Z Listening station on the satellite radio singing, "Looks Like We Made it". I said to my wife, "looks like we made it home". I spoke too soon. I honked hello as we slowly drove past our friends A.J. and Sherry's home and their pride and joy light blue '66 Mustang that they just bought recently. They were outside bar-b-queing. Two big pick up trucks were blocking the view of the driveway that came out from some duplexes. As we drove past the driveway I saw a light blue Toyota Prius driving right at us. And it's not stopping! Crrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaashhh!

The woman was driving with flip-flops on her feet. My wife calls them thongs. The woman driving the Prius said she hit her brakes but her foot slipped off the brake and hit the accelerator.

Never had as much as a scratch or blemish on our Mustang until now. Sorta discouraging.

My wife is a little sore but no one was badly injured which is the most important thing. It happened at home and the woman is insured which is lucky. She had a highway patrolman come out on his motorcycle and write up a report. Her fault. Her insurance will pay. But still, we're a little heart broken. And we feel badly for the woman because she is in the process of selling her Prius. The guy had already given her the money and had told her, "whatever you do, don't get into an accident". This was the first time she'd ever hit anybody. A couple of lessons to be learned here, huh?

 

Sorry to hear this, no one hurt is good and looks like time for a rear end here!

 

looks like you got lucky just rear bumper damage from I can see. Hopefully not to much damage behind that bumper.

 

Couple of points to keep in mind when dealing with HER insurance. Do not involve yours unless they refuse to settle.

OEM parts only.

Body shop of your choosing, do not even consider a shop they try to send you to.

Replacement of any energy absorbing materials behind the bumper that were displaced with new OEM parts.

You are entitled to a rental car of comparable quality to what you are removed from.
Do not settle for a Geo Metro. Hertz rents V6 Mustang Verts..Expensive but suggesting this will get them to allow for at least a decent rental.

Rental Car should be direct billed to HER insurance company. Do not tie up your money on her behalf without compensation.

Do not turn in the rental car until YOU are completely satisfied. Its the only reason the body shop or insurance company have for any urgency to finish the repair.

AFTER the car is repaired and you are ready to accept it back, THEN call HER insurance adjuster and begin the conversation on compensation for depreciated value. NOT AFTER YOU PICK IT UP. The car has been wrecked, any competent buyer can tell its been repaired. The car is worth less after the repair than before it was damaged by her. You are ENTITLED to compensation for that loss.

Good luck in getting back what she took from you. You just want to break even and you will have to fight to do so. They have a paid staff to ensure you do not.

 

Maybe the driver heard you playing Barry Manilow and just lost it. I know I would have.






All kidding aside, that does suck. Hopefully the frame was not touched. Other than that, looks like a fairly straight forward repair.

 

That sucks! At least nobody was hurt.

You think that it was not a pre-Earth Day attack - you know Prius attacking a Mustang?

Perhaps a CS rear bumper is in your future - the least you can do is make the best of it!

 

These are all really good points...


Good luck with everything man, hopefull you just need a new GT/CS bumper cover.

 

Looks like more than just bumper damage. Inorder for the bumper to be bent like that, there has got to be some frame damage also or some other plastic stuff.

 

jcthorne, thank you for all of your excellent advice. Why do you say the following:

"Couple of points to keep in mind when dealing with HER insurance. Do not involve yours unless they refuse to settle."

Why should I not involve my insurance company unless her insurance company refuses to settle?

You said:
"AFTER the car is repaired and you are ready to accept it back, THEN call HER insurance adjuster and begin the conversation on compensation for depreciated value. NOT AFTER YOU PICK IT UP. The car has been wrecked, any competent buyer can tell its been repaired. The car is worth less after the repair than before it was damaged by her. You are ENTITLED to compensation for that loss."

You make a very good point. I had not considered this. But, If I were looking to buy a Mustang and found one I was interested in, I might not want to buy it after I found out it was in a wreck. A Mustang that's been in an accident may be more difficult to sell.

Everyone, thanks for your posts.

 

at least it doesnt look too bad, I hate prius's, dont yall?
now you can upgrade!

 

I not driving anywhere today....

 

Ouch!
I feel your pain brother.
Glad everyone's ok, be thankful she wasn't driving a Tundra.
LJS

 

As I've said before, I never deal with the other person's insurance at all anymore.
When the kids started driving, I got plenty of opportunities to explore all the different ways of dealing with accidents.
It is not worth my time and trouble to deal with some jerk at the other insurance company who is trying to screw me.
I let my company handle the fighting, that's what I pay them for.
My company is happy to get all the proper money to fix my car out of them.

 

What did the Prius look like?

 

Totaled!


Sorry to see those pictures Ed. I know how much you like you car and after the first blemish somehow it loses some of it's appeal. Don't let Wittmeier work on it. Probably Concours Elite would be your best bet.

 

pre earth day attack??
lol

she should be happy some american in his F350 dually didnt t-bone her teeny prius lol


friggin toyota owners... see keep warning everyone

apparently on a side note hyundais cannot go past 15mph ..cuz i havent seen it yet lol

 

a horrible mangled mess of plastic and hippyness OH you meant after the accident?

 

^lol

 

Man oh man what a drag. Good that no one was badly hurt.

 

Thanks Rich. Ummmm, yes I agree with you, after something like this, it somehow loses some of it's appeal, but I'm working on my attitude so I don't feel that way. Jeeze, why couldn't she have hit me when I was driving my old beater?

I just came back from taking my 94 y.o. step mom on a ride with the top down on Old Redwood Highway from Windsor through Santa Rosa. She loves our Mustang GT convertible and had the time of her life. Other guys in their Mustangs waved to her along the way.

Our Mustang is being repaired at California Color.

Thank you all for your valuable feedback and suggestions (and humor!).

I've decided to go through my insurance company and let them subrogate against her insurance company. Sure, I've got to come up with my deductible before I get it eventually refunded, but I feel it's worth it to be working with my insurance company. My guys are being helpful. They seem to be in my corner.

Her insurance guys seem to be trying to nail me any way they can. They seemed nice at first but then I started getting a bad feeling. They've grilled me a couple of times. They act like I'm the defendant on the witness stand and they're the District Attorney. I'm not putting up with that anymore. From now on I'm telling them to talk to my insurance company. Maybe it was just the personality of the individual adjusters.

My insurance adjuster gave a higher estimate than hers.

Both are big name insurance companies.