Someone fell asleep at the wheel and rear-ended me. I really loved this car and always stayed on top of its maintenance. I was hoping to keep it for another 5–8 years since it only has 122k miles. Now, I’m worried it might get totaled, which would mean having to find a new car and taking on a monthly payment again.
Any insight or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Moderator: If this post goes against the rules, please let me know, and I’ll remove it.
That frame damage is bad. It’s probably done for. Instead of dealing with repairs, you could just take the payout and buy another Camry of the same year.
Hayden said:
That frame damage is bad. It’s probably done for. Instead of dealing with repairs, you could just take the payout and buy another Camry of the same year.
Have you checked the used car market lately? The insurance payout might not be enough to buy a similar car.
@Kenan
Yeah, I went through this with my old 2016 Corolla in Canada. It was worth maybe 10k, but insurance actually gave me 20k for it.
Hayden said:
@Kenan
Yeah, I went through this with my old 2016 Corolla in Canada. It was worth maybe 10k, but insurance actually gave me 20k for it.
Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes not. Depends on the insurance company and how hard you push them.
@Kenan
Never take their first offer. Fight for a better payout. Show them listings of similar cars and make them pay what it’s actually worth.
Dylan said:
@Kenan
Never take their first offer. Fight for a better payout. Show them listings of similar cars and make them pay what it’s actually worth.
Yeah, my mom fought her insurance when her Corolla was totaled. They offered 7k at first, she got them up to 9k.
Hayden said:
That frame damage is bad. It’s probably done for. Instead of dealing with repairs, you could just take the payout and buy another Camry of the same year.
I had a 2019 with similar damage, and mine was totaled. Rear-end damage is tricky, but in my case, it was enough for them to write it off.
If you’re dealing with insurance, check how they value the car. Mine used CCC, and they actually paid me more than KBB value, so I lucked out.
Hayden said:
That frame damage is bad. It’s probably done for. Instead of dealing with repairs, you could just take the payout and buy another Camry of the same year.
That’s a unibody car, it doesn’t have a separate frame like a truck.
@Marriot
True, but people still use ‘frame’ when talking about unibody cars. Either way, it’s bent up bad.
I’m not an insurance adjuster, but that damage looks bad. The door sill is pushed out, the wheel is bent in… yeah, it’s probably toast.
Claire said:
I’m not an insurance adjuster, but that damage looks bad. The door sill is pushed out, the wheel is bent in… yeah, it’s probably toast.
Axle looks messed up too. Not a good sign.
When wheels bend in like that, you know something deep in the suspension got wrecked. That’s expensive to fix. Most likely totaled.
Man, that sucks. I have the same Camry and love it. Hope you’re okay.
If you liked this model, maybe just look for another one in good shape instead of getting something newer.
I had a 98 Corolla that got totaled after a guy crashed into me in the snow. Frame damage was enough to total it, and no shops around me would even try to fix it.
Toyotas hold up well in accidents, but once the structural part is damaged, insurance doesn’t like repairing them. I wanted to keep mine forever, but it wasn’t worth it.
Feels bad, man.
Yeah, it’s done.
Not sure what year your car is, but it looks similar to this 2012 beauty I recently picked up with 56k miles for $13,700. You might be able to get most or even all of that from insurance.
@madisonwilson
I bought a 2015 XLE back in 2019 with 30k miles for 17k. Now it has 36k miles since I mostly work from home. I’ve been thinking about selling it since we use my wife’s car more.
