I've been lurking on here for quite some times now and finally this year my wife and I bought our first Prius. It's a 4 non-touring. Unfortunately, the wife got into a car accident today. She's safe. I just got off the phone with my insurance company. Suppose to go see one one of their adjuster at one of their preferred shop. My concern is that the parts for the car being available. Are they going to use aftermarket or OEM considering the car is fairly new, less than 3500 miles. Should I go to one of their preferred shops or find my own? Any advise or guidance would be greatly appreciated. See attached photo below.
Ouch! Sorry to hear.... I usually go to a shop that I always take my cars to... I've been using them for years but luckily they happened to be one of my insurance's preferred shop. Since they can't tell you which shop to take it to, I'd go around and see who u feel comfortable with. Given that the model is so new, I'd ask your local dealer to see if they have a preferred repair shop, since they'll likely have to order parts from the dealer? Just my 2 cents... If u don't mind me asking, how did the accident happen? Did the car have Safety Sense and did it apply braking for her? iPhone ?
I'm happy with the dealer's body shop so that is where I would go. I would also arrange for a Prius rental through them so it will be there when I drop the car off.
The accident happened while she was waiting in the center lane. She waited for it to be clear so she could merge. She thought it was clear so she inched over but there was a car to her right. So her front right touched the other cars back left. My model doesn't come with safety sense.
Sorry to hear about the accident. I'm not sure if this would help, however I mounted a blind spot mirror on my right door and it really helps me (with blind spot on my right). I also have a blind spot mirror on the left side. Sorry about the reflection in the photo.
I just picked up my wife's 2014 Prius v three from the body shop a few days ago which had pretty much the same damage and got repaired. The wife had a little fender bender in stop and go traffic resulting in as stated similar damage to the front right bumper area. The bill was just under 3k. We went through insurance and made a claim. As good as new now and ready for our Big road trip at the end of next week. Getting the free 10k / 1yr service done at the dealer on Monday prior to as well. Your car is brand new, I'd say go factory OEM for parts if your insurance allows as it should (I've heard from my body shop guy that geico sometimes does not allow OEM parts!!) . Unless you want to save some money and or it's a lease or you don't really care. Most aftermarket quality parts looks just as good as factory and one would be hard pressed to see a difference.
I would think that since the Gen. 4 is new, all parts should be genuine Toyota parts. Hood and fender looks o.k., new front end. Good luck!
I didn't stick the blind spot mirrors on my new Prius, but I have on all my other cars. They're the kind that you stick on the actual side mirror. They help a lot!
Agreed. That's the first thing I did... apply spot mirrors. (Maybe I took the dealer frames off first.) I took two, 4" stick-on blind spot mirrors with me to the dealer when I bought my Prius. Had them on every vehicle in the past; I can't drive well without them. Being older now, my neck doesn't swivel like it used to. Supraman, glad your wife is Ok. I think I would choose a Toyota dealer that has a body & paint shop, and uses OEM parts. Longo Toyota comes to mind.
When my 2010 was rear-ended at age 3 years, both my insurance company and the responsible party's company had their own lists of preferred shops. I compared lists, got quotes from three shops that were high on both lists and convenient to me, then presented those top names to my favorite independent Honda/Toyota mechanic, who doesn't do body work himself. He had a clear preference, I went with his choice, and was happy with the results. I paid a little bit extra from my own pocket to get a new OEM bumper instead of a reconditioned part. The price difference was less than the time and hassle of fighting anything.
In California you can go to whatever repair shop you choose and the insurance company can not dictate one to use. They will firmly make a recommendation, but you do not have to go there. You can also require OEM parts only.
Fountain Valley Body Works, is one of the best shops in Orange County and have a life time warranty on their work.
Indeed. Any issues with repairs go directly back to the Toyota facility completing said work. So, it's clearly advantageous to have a Toyo shop do the work with OEM replacement parts. A no-brainer.........
Agreed, I doubt if there are many aftermarket parts out there yet, I'm having trouble finding non-Toyota mats for it.
Indeed. Wife hit a deer with her then new Mazda CX5. They had to order a hood from Japan and her insurance was and is still Geico. Took 37 days in total for the repairs. She still lost out , since they only allowed her a rental for 30 days , had to pay for the extra 7 days. Yes, we did fight it and lost. LG-H901 ?
