So I was in a car accident a week ago (no one was injured). It was a fairly slow crash. I was going 5 mph and the other owner said she was going about 25 mph. No air bags were deployed in either car. After the crash I noticed that the indicator said to 'check hybrid system' I got out and made sure she was alright and we exchanged insurance information shortly after. After the police arrived they took down statements and asked us to return to our vehicles. (Approximately 15 minutes have passed). I got back in my car and turned off my windshield wipers that were still running. Then the entire system shut off. There we no more lights on the dash and I couldn't start the Prius anymore. There was no 'ready' light either. I was sure that the car was going to be totaled. The insurance did their thing and to my surprise the appraiser said the Prius could be fixed. The quote for the damaged was a little over $5,500. So my question is why would the Prius not start after the accident? Could the 12V battery have died from the damage in the images below? Or maybe a fuse blew?
wow. glad you're okay! lloking at the picture, i'd say it was self explanatory. although, the exact cause will need to be determined by toyota tech stream diagnostic software, we'll be happy to guess.
The traction battery will disconnect in the event of an "event", meaning a hit. It has to be reset, according to the owners manual, by a dealer. Without the traction battery the car won't move. You can easily test the 12V with a meter, or even just press the brake pedal and see if the brake lights go on. Or even the headlamps. Try turning them on. The second possibility is either the positive or negative lead from the traction battery was shorted to the chassis. There is a ground fault interrupter in the traction battery box, and if either lead is shorted to ground it will disconnect both (the output relay). I add this because the damage intruded into the engine compartment, where there are high voltage components, such as the A/C compressor. Both are there to protect first responders and subsequently, mechanics and body shop people. They will remove the quick disconnect from the traction battery eventually, making the car safe to work on. 200V DC doesn't sound too dangerous, but it's worse than AC. Once you touch it your muscles will clamp down and you can't let go. Hence all the safety systems are built into the car. At any rate, your car isn't going anywhere without lots of work, so it really doesn't matter.
For anyone browsing in the future. The shop repairing my Prius came back to the insurance company and said that the repairs were going to cost $12,000 and not the $5,500. The insurance appraiser came out to the site again and the repair cost went up to $15,700. Part of the repair fee was a lot of the circuitry part of it was the air bag deployment sensors. So the Prius was declared as a total loss.
It appeared far worse than 5,500 to me. I think you will be better off with another car. Good luck and let us know how it goes and what you end up with to replace it.
Thanks, The Prius was purchased August 2012 (2012 Model Four) and I paid $33,000 with TTL. I'm getting back a little over $18,000 due to the many modifications done on the Prius. I personally don't like the Gen 4 Prius (looks ugly to me especially the interior) and I don't think I could get another Prius as I'll always think back to all the work I put into the one that was totaled. So I will end up purchasing a 2013 Volt with 30k miles on it for $20,000.
We where rear ended last week. while the bumper did not sustain a lot of damage the car has not been right since and now doesn't want to start without rocking the car banging on the passenger seat and the safety restraint system is now malfunctioning. The dash is totally black for several attempts, it takes many attempts to get the car to start. Being that it's a 2012 Prius c I'm assuming that the repairs are going to cost more than the car is worth and that we also may be looking at a total loss.
Best to start a new thread, in the Prius c Maintenance forum: Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting | PriusChat Click this button and you're off. Once you've posted something like 5 times, you'll be able to post pictures. You can just do a few filler posts to accomplish that.
