this happened yesterday, going about 25-30mph, hit panel van that stopped in front of me






2012 rx 350

the air bags didn't deploy which surprised me Any insight as to why not?
Its at collision center now, I'm wondering if they will total it.

 

Airbags deploy if certain deceleration is detected. It doesn't look that bad, so likely seat belts were enough. Front crumple zone absorbed the shock like it was intended to.

 

I've had the air bags deploy in my previous German vehicles which sustained much less damage than the pics provided by the OP.

Given my previous experiences, I am shocked the air bags did not deploy in those pics. Also recently, my friends were hit almost head-on with a lot of frontal damage ($20K+) to their Toyota Sienna and their air bags did not deploy.

Are Toyota vehicles set-up with higher tolerances before air bags deploy?

 

Never thought about it like this, never researched it, but it makes sense.

 

It looks like your vehicle contacted the other vehicle in an area that might not have normally been expected.

 

we hit pretty much directly center on the front...

 

My wife told me about this thread, so here I am. I have worked on a lot of cars hit that hard that didn't blow the bags. It doesn't appear to have any major structural damage is why. It looks bad for those not in the trade, but honestly, it is really not a bad hit. The aluminum front reinforcement bar is a bolt on thing and looks like it took the majority of the impact. The frame rails are most likely just fine, maybe slightly swayed in, but no buckles or kinks. Not a big deal for a good shop. It looks like the only damage to any welded on piece would be the upper tie bar, which is just a thin piece of stamped sheet metal. It is the part that the hood latch is bolted to.

Unless the car has a boatload of miles on it and it is sad shape, I seriously doubt it will be a total loss,unless the damaged parts are priced outrageously. Those HID's aren't cheap if they need replacing. Sometimes the plastic mounts break and ruin the entire lamp assembly. If I sound like an expert, it is because I am............or was. I retired about a year and a half ago from doing collision work for over 40 years, 18 of it at a Ford/Toyota dealership. it is really mostly a cosmetic hit and not near as bad as it looks. Once you strip away the damaged bolt on parts, there really won't be much damage, at least from what I am seeing in the pics. Hopefully it is at a reputable shop. Good luck with it keziah23.

 

thanks. around 55k miles on it, all service has always been done by dealership so I'd say its in good shape, except the coating of lemonade on all interior surfaces

 

Hope you and your passengers are ok.

Is it in a Lexus-dealer collision shop? If not, I'd recommend towing it to one. I used a non-dealer shop once and I don't think i'd go to one again.

It will also depend on your insurance company. Some may say that once the frame has been damaged, they will not repair it.

 

As far as frame rail damage, if it is buckled or has any kind of kink, it would need to be replaced according to ICAR. If replacement exceeds value of the car, it may total. Looking at the pics, those rails should be fine with the exception of possible slight sway. Easily fixed on a good frame rack. Over the years, I have replaced several front frame and rails, even both front rails on a Mustang once. It is not a job for the feint of heart, but can be done if the value is there on the vehicle.

If possible, take it to a Lexus dealer, but it is not a must. A Lexus dealer may be able to match the color a bit better than an independent shop or other dealer ship only because they are more familiar with the color. But that hit is not that bad and any quality tech should be able to easily handle it, no matter the shop as long as they have good equipment and techs. It's just a matter of squaring up the front group, welding in an upper tie bar and bolting every thing back together. Again, this is just going off the pics provided.

 

its at a lexus collision center. they did work on it last year when all 4 doors got keyed (ouch).

myself and my daughter are both okay, I'm a bit sore but she seems fine (yay car seat doing its job!), thanks for asking.

 

Forgive the brief off-topic, but I'd love to see your 1970 440 GTX - I was a Chevy guy - and/but my then-future-wife came very close to buying a '70 GTX - and being able to be in (or, better yet, drive) her GTX might have converted me. I LOVED the sound of the exhaust; and, in fact, duplicated it on my '63 Chev Imp wagon with tri-power 396 and 4spd (Telegraph Road street sleeper). Oh, and she didn't buy it because the insurance payments were to be greater than the car payments (which is a good thing - since she couldn't keep rear tires on her cars as it was).

 

Here ya go Nate. We sold it several years ago before we moved to Nevada and now just basically keep the user name because I have had it for so long. It now resides in Sweden, they LOVE American classic cars over there. This pic was taken as we were leaving a car show in Sacramento in 2004....

 

Oh, yeah!

'Takes me back to my roots in DetRiot!

Thanks.

 

The front end doesn't look bad enough for the airbags to deploy. Trust me, you don't want your airbags to blow up in your face if not needed at all.