Yeah man, your car is definitely NOT totalled. At the most $15k in damage I suspect.

If I were you because its probably not totalled. Get the car fixed. Once you get it back sell it to CARMAX and get yourself into a NEW IS again.

I would hate paying for a $35k+ car for 5 years knowing its been in a bad accident.

 

Glad that you are safe for starters, and points for owning up to a mistake. In light of the thread topic though, what did you hit? Are your wheels turned, or is that axle/suspension damage? I personally don't believe its totaled, but it will also depend on how much shock/damage the engine and chassis absorbed...but it doesn't look to be extensive IMO.

BTW do you have larger photos? or are they just not loading for me? I'm getting 4 smaller photos.

 

The repairs have to exceed a certain percentage of current bluebook for it to be totalled.
I think its about 30%, not sure.
If the engine survived it will probably be repairable.
I hope they total it for you sake.

 

First and foremost, thank God your o.k. That looks like a pretty bad bump, but at least you were going rather slow. I'm pretty sure you can imagine how that would look like if this happened on the freeway.

Second, there are a couple of things that may make your car "totalled." One of the things that you should me most concerned about is the integrity of the car's frame. You don't want the frame of the car to be compromised just in case you are involved in another accident in the same car. Also, not only will it cost a lot to fix the body of the car, but each air bag costs about $2-3k each to fix. Again, this is a major safety issue, and something that should never be compromised. You also have to replace every major part of the engine cabin that was in the right front corner, like the radiator and such.

Finally, beyond safety, there are many electrical components to your car that may have been compromised. This make take several man hours to configure the "brain" of the car's computer, and it may not be worth it to recalibrate such programs. I don't know how complicated the car's computer system is, and I doubt that a simple "reboot" will take care of the problem. Don't forget that a lot of the systems of the car such as braking and the transmission are electronically controlled by a computer, not just your foot hitting the brake or you changing gears.

Keep us informed with the progress. Again, I'm glad to hear your safe. And I know that a lot of CL members will be glad once they hear that your situation will be taken care of with ease and haste.

Take care.

 

ah man, i am sorry to see this, but i am glad you are ok. keep us update!

 

so i'm guessing you didn't have the pre-collisions system?

 

Actually, the PCS prepares you for a collision, not prevent it...

 

Did the knee airbags go off? and if so, were they really helpful at all? I think its awesome that the IS is pretty much the only car that has knee airbags.... however, I dont really know how necessary they are.

also, from the pics, it looks like the passenger air bag went off... so i'm guessing you had a passenger in the car? from my undertanding, the passenger airbag wont go off if it senses no one sitting there right?

 

You know..I'd feel better if it was the Nav Hack..it's even worse. Phone rang, number didnt appear on NAV screen...looked for phone for, no joke, ONE second, looked up and crash...all it took was ONE second and all I thought was..."I could have killed someone" I hope everyone learns from the stupid mistake I made..I know I did..The car I hit was actually, parked w/ nobody in it..which was a blessing itself. I'm a little messed up in my shoulders. Going to the doctor today.

 

I'm not sure what is damaged. I believe the adjuster is coming today to the body shopI know the airbags in itself are 3k each (I had a friend that works at Lexus take a look at pics) and there were 4 of those.

I DO have larger photos..it's odd on my computer they came up huge. I'll see if I can get a link to bigger ones here at work.

One more thing..the car IS leased..do accidents like this happen any different with a lease?

 

I've been on so many different car forums, and this is the FIRST time someone has admitted that it was their own mistake.

The more I've been on this forum, the more mature the drivers are it seems when I read posts like these.

Glad you are ok though, there is a % of damage that needs to be done in order for it to be totalled like the other member stated... depends on your insurance company.

 

That's the first thing that came to my mind also...well not the first, the first was OUCH!!! then hmm I wonder what the distraction was. Glad you are ok hope you have a good insurance company .

 

Actually, the Kia Sorento from 99-03 had knee airbags (driver only). So does the new Camry and ES hehe. Sorry, I'm just nitpicking.

Hmm, glad you're okay. Seems like a new bumper and fender are in order. You could hammer the hood back since it's barely crumpled (a new hood would probably double your cost. My dad demanded a new hood for our 00 Corolla and that cost Cdn$2,000!). I know the feeling about driving a car you know has been damaged but if the parts replaced are new, why worry? Unless there's some internal damage to the engine block or chassis.

 

So did you do the NAV Hack to your car?

 

Yes the knee airbags did go off. And they actually were helpful. ALL the airbags were helpful. That seatbelt gave me a nice burn on my shoulder/chest area..but I dont know what I would have done without the airbags/belt.

I actually did not have a passenger in the car, but both of the passanger airbags went off as well! Maybe it thought my purse was a person?? I doubt it though, wouldn't the seatbelt sensor have gone off?