Project "butthurt"

Ouch! Sorry for your aggravation and the forthcoming inconvenience. Glad you weren't hurt.

It's called "crush space," and it did.

 

Hopefully you can get a copy of the police report. Insurance companies usually won't release it to you in a multi-party accident because it contains personal information of the other parties. I've only been able to get a copy of the full report in single-party accidents (the one time I hit a deer on my motorcycle - the deer was not around to worry about its privacy post-accident!)

 

Sorry to hear about the damage, hobbit, glad you and all the others are okay. Are you taking your car to Hyundai for the body work or a private shop. And hope the insurance co doesn’t give you any grief.

 

I have some experience rebuilding wrecked cars. From what I see in that picture your no where close to being totaled. Looks like your going to get a new tailgate door, bumper support, plastic bumper cover, associated trim and at least one lower light assembly. There is damage to the unibody structure for sure which will require the frame pulling services of decent body shop. Your likely around $5-7K in damages. You should also talk to the prospective repair shop and make sure they are comfortable with an EV repair. There are some nuances like not baking the paint finish at too high of a heat as this can damage the traction battery. The only problem I see is if your worried about resale value that damage estimate is going to show on the vehicle's carfax history. You might might want to ask your insurance company about diminished value compensation. If you push that angle I could see how that might trip a write off.

 

A few years ago I had a similar case in my Toyota Avensis Verso - the staring youngster did not brake in time when I stopped at the pedestrian crossing. There were bumper, tailgate, trunk floor and some small decorative elements to be replaced. The car was not old, so there was no question of total damage. It all depends on the cost of the repair. In our country, they cannot exceed 70% of the car's value, but insurers like to cheat with the appraisal of the value, eg they take into account the cheapest version of the vehicle, "forgetting" about the costly additional factory equipment. And this, as it is easy to guess, very easily leads to the recognition of total loss. At least in one case, it was only a solid skirmish with the insurer's representative that prevented me from declaring total loss. Nevertheless, sometimes totalization can pay off even more if the compensation and the price for which you sell the wreck together are enough to buy a new car. In this way my father once exchanged a crashed two-year-old Kia Venga for a new one, without adding a cent.
A separate issue is agreeing the cost of repair, here also insurers often pretend to be naive and you have to add money despite the payment of compensation. However, we have a cashless repair mechanism - then the insurer is dealt with by the workshop, not the vehicle owner.

 

The other day I was nearly sideswiped by a bus that I was able to swerve out of the way. After I collected myself I thought about your silver lining. I could get the updated Kona, which I think looks gorgeous, and get rid of the potentially bad battery all in one shot.

Good luck with your new purchase. By the way, and I may have asked, which Hyundai dealer do you use?

 

2021 or 2022? Around here, there's a decent supply of 2021s but the 2022s haven't been released to the dealers yet.

 

Sorry for your bad luck. Good you are all OK - personally. Like you attitude dude! New buying sucks.

 

The most important thing is that you are all - the car is a purchased thing. Besides, if you manage to get some decent insurance money, you can buy a generation higher than the Kona. You will still be a beta tester but it seems that the new models are actually a big leap.

 

Or you can join in "For those involved in the Buyback program: what are your plans after?" There's a lot of overlap about vehicle choice, and it might turn into a buying discussion as the checks start flowing.

 

You might get a good deal right now. There's $3000 "dealer cash" through June 1, although I've been talking to different dealers and they either don't mention it or say I'd have to take out a loan to qualify, which I could pay off after three months.

I haven't seen that change much in the past few days, but it might over the long weekend. And Hyundai may offer even more cash after June 1. Or less - they might keep selling the 2021 inventory in the U.S. and sending their perhaps limited 2022 production everywhere else in the world.

But around here the SELs are going first. I see 93 EVs within 150 miles but only one SEL. The rest are 50-50 Limiteds and Ultimates.

I'd rather have a 2022. No major differences, but a few nice minor ones, and if I'm going to go through the hassle I'd rather have something at least a little different.

 

You shouldn't have any trouble here as Jeep #2 was clearly at fault. Do you know what insurance company they are with?

Btw I used to be an insurance adjuster for quite a few years so if you have questions feel free to message me. Short version is: file through her company and they'll pay / set you up in a rental when your car is being fixed, you should have no out of pocket costs here. Or file through your company they may charge you your collision deductible initially but you'll be reimbursed later once Jeep #2's insurance pays up. If you don't have rental coverage you may still need to seek that through the other company.

 

Should have read more before replying. Anyway, THAT is surprising. Btw note that you ALWAYS have the option to keep the car. Just because they total it doesn't mean you have to give it up, though typically that's what one should do. Here, not so sure. I mean if they offer you $30k for the car and it'll cost $23k to fix you may want to go that route, just be aware you'll be on the hook for a rental if you get one while it's being fixed and it will take a long time to fix. Also, if there are unseen damages that raise the total you're on the hook for it all. That said, I find it very hard to believe it would cost much more than $23k to fix it. If you do keep it, you'll get the value prior to damage minus the salvage value now. That could be tricky too if they value the salvage highly b/c of the battery. Anyway just wanted to point out you are always in control here, totaling a car doesn't always mean it's not repairable it just means the cost to repair + rental + unknown might not be worth it. Typically, insurance companies total a vehicle if the estimate is 70 or 75% of the pre-collision value.