jciii

New to this forum, but nice to meet everyone. I drove it home earlier this week, and yesterday a lady not paying attention ran a red light and hit the rear left driver side going approximately 40MPH.

Car did a complete 180, airbags deployed, and the rear axle is bent up. Fortunately everyone was alright, but absolutely heart breaking. It doesn’t look that bad in pictures but in person the wheel / axle is bent ~25 degrees.

I guess I’m just curious to know if you think it’s totaled? I figure the airbags alone are $6-8k, the axle, rim, tire, bumper, and potentially air suspension is ruined. Could be >$25k-$30k in Damage. It was a lease and I’d honestly like a fresh start here.

Chawski

I've got a funny feeling your car is donezo. Not sure how it plays into a car with only 200 miles but as an almost general rule, if the bags deploy, it's probably getting totaled. There's a lot more damage than you can see

Glad to hear everyone is OK. That's really all that matters. It's a car, you have insurance, and you walked away. It's an inconvenience at worst

spindlewood

I would say so and you should not settle for anything less than a brand new car. If your insurance doesn't agree, you might have to get a lawyer involved (and I don't expect they also want to pay lawyer fees). With the damage you describe, the car will not be able to be repaired to like new without them spending more than the car is worth. And that really is the good news because you will end up with a new car because of it.

I had a car stolen many years back. The insurance agent said that if the car is less than 30 days old, they would reimburse the full amount paid. Hopefully they can cut you a check without delay and you can be in a new car again soon. Until then, your insurance might have a rental car provision.

So glad that no one was hurt, but it has to be completely unnerving. Good luck with the process and report back how it went.

edwyun

Dang, glad you are ok. It does look like a total given the axle damage. At least the car can be replaced.

texasDFWS4

I got hit January 5th from a lady that was coming out of a parking lot she dragged me 8' sideways before we stopped. She t-boned the drivers side and bent the wheel 30° up and front end pieces like hood fender bumper and drives door. I like you wanted it totaled but they an Audi certified location were able to fix it. Unlike you no air bags deployed but it still cost 19,000 + to fix. I would go to the yard with a hammer and finish the job (don't do it).

CapCap

Omgosh that is so heartbreaking! Important thing is that nobody was hurt! I'm also going to guess it may be totaled, especially with the airbags deploying. My hubby had a deer hit his Tacoma last winter and literally damaged every part of the driver's side from the hood to the tailgate and all down the side. To the tune of over $9k. Airbags did not go off and sheriff and insurance company commented that if they had, it probably would have been considered a complete loss.