[coug11]

The other (at fault) driver turned left right in front of my wife and another driver in the lane next to her. The driver side airbag deployed. Luckily everyone is ok, just some seatbelt bruising and stiffness. Thank goodness the odysseys are so safe!

Now I’m waiting to hear back from the repair shop and adjuster on an estimate. I’m worried that if they repair it the van will never be the same and it will be in-sellable later on. If anyone’s been in a similar position, what are the odds this gets classified as a total loss (which I would really prefer)?

 

[mgpan0401]

If they total your Odyssey, please don't get a new Odyssey. Consider getting a Toyota Sienna. I'm done with Honda/Acura. It has given me nothing but issues, even with Honda's service advisors.

 

[FinishLine]

Glad your family is safe. You must have been going crazy not being there when it happened.

The Ody appears to have taken the hit well. It did it's job which was to keep your family safe.

Best of luck with your insurance company. I would recommend getting another one, even if they decide to repair it.

 

[2011.2017.odyssey]

glad everyone is OK

what year and mileage?

if the airbags didn't deploy, its likely repairable.

hard to tell without the bumper cover off.

The frame rail down below is "possibly" ok, but that top one is folded over.
if the one below is bent, its a write off for most adjusters.

That area has the power steering reservoir, the washer reservoir, some AC lines, grill looks iffy.
likely all damaged.
PCM and fuse box look untouched.

if the above are all ok, its a bumper cover, bumper support (maybe), hood, headlight. fender, reuse the fender liner, bits and bobs.
if not too badly kinked, some straightening on the top frame rail/ headlight rad support.
otherwise those pieces would need to be removed and panel bonded / weld new ones in.
prep and paint.

5 grand minimum, if things arent effed up too badly under the cover...

 

[coug11]

Glad your family is safe. You must have been going crazy not being there when it happened.

The Ody appears to have taken the hit well. It did it's job which was to keep your family safe.

Best of luck with your insurance company. I would recommend getting another one, even if they decide to repair it.

The accident was about 2 miles from home and I swear every red light I hit on the way there took 3x longer than normal!

 

[coug11]

glad everyone is OK

what year and mileage?

if the airbags didn't deploy, its likely repairable.

hard to tell without the bumper cover off.

The frame rail down below is "possibly" ok, but that top one is folded over.
if the one below is bent, its a write off for most adjusters.

That area has the power steering reservoir, the washer reservoir, some AC lines, grill looks iffy.
likely all damaged.
PCM and fuse box look untouched.

if the above are all ok, its a bumper cover, bumper support (maybe), hood, headlight. fender, reuse the fender liner, bits and bobs.
if not too badly kinked, some straightening on the top frame rail/ headlight rad support.
otherwise those pieces would need to be removed and panel bonded / weld new ones in.
prep and paint.

5 grand minimum, if things arent effed up too badly under the cover...

2016, about 50k miles.

The driver airbag deployed, luckily there was nobody in the passenger seat at the time.

The grill will definitely need to be replaced, it’s not broken but has deep gouges on the left side of it.

I’m in California so I’m hoping the repairs + salvage value + diminished value adds up to a total.

The bummer is that it was just paid off last year, and the white exterior/tan interior combo was hard to find (and appears to still be hard to find, searching used listings in our area).

 

[phattyduck]

I'm gonna guess you can get that totalled. Looks right on the edge though - depends on your insurance company's internal rules. That frame rail is at least somewhat tweaked.

Interesting how the aluminum fender just rips, isn't it? (hood and front fenders are aluminum on the 14-17 years)

-Charlie

 

[2011.2017.odyssey]

2016, about 50k miles.

The driver airbag deployed, luckily there was nobody in the passenger seat at the time.

The grill will definitely need to be replaced, it’s not broken but has deep gouges on the left side of it.

I’m in California so I’m hoping the repairs + salvage value + diminished value adds up to a total.

The bummer is that it was just paid off last year, and the white exterior/tan interior combo was hard to find (and appears to still be hard to find, searching used listings in our area).

bummer...yea its likely going to be totaled out.
if the air bag deployed, so did the seat belt.

hood hinge is bent too, its going to need lots of little parts and pieces.

Depending on the price, you could buy the salvage off the insurance company, and rebuild it in your spare time then sell it or keep it.
you would need to find donor parts or go brand new.

I have some colleagues that do this as a hobby, and for side income.
They pull all the old parts off in their garage, tow it to the body shop for any straightening, welding and painting needed, then re-assemble it in their shop.

if that's not your cup of tea, then negotiate hard on a "fair" payout.
do a nationwide search for similar year trim line and mileage, and go in prepared.

your mileage is low it's 4-5 years old, and im sure being a California van was near mint.
put together all your service/maintenance records, any modifications like towing packages etc and factor those in on the settlement.

I was burned before by an insurance settlement in my younger years, so speaking from experience.

good luck

 

[coug11]

I'm gonna guess you can get that totalled. Looks right on the edge though - depends on your insurance company's internal rules. That frame rail is at least somewhat tweaked.

Interesting how the aluminum fender just rips, isn't it? (hood and front fenders are aluminum on the 14-17 years)

-Charlie

Can you describe where you see the tweaked frame rail? I’m hoping the shop comes back with their estimate tomorrow and I’ll want to make sure that’s listed if you can see something just from that photo.

 

[jnissen]

Hard to tell from photos but the upper rail appears to be intact. It could be rebuilt but the fact the airbag popped it’s unlikely.

Most insurance will total them when the safety systems are compromised. Way too much liability for them.

 

[2011.2017.odyssey]

Can you describe where you see the tweaked frame rail? I’m hoping the shop comes back with their estimate tomorrow and I’ll want to make sure that’s listed if you can see something just from that photo.

Red arrows are where its "tweaked" green one is where the front lower arrow should be.

 

[DerbyDad03]

The other (at fault) driver turned left right in front of my wife and another driver in the lane next to her. The driver side airbag deployed. Luckily everyone is ok, just some seatbelt bruising and stiffness. Thank goodness the odysseys are so safe!

Now I’m waiting to hear back from the repair shop and adjuster on an estimate. I’m worried that if they repair it the van will never be the same and it will be in-sellable later on. If anyone’s been in a similar position, what are the odds this gets classified as a total loss (which I would really prefer)?

If they total the vehicle, I suggest that you immediately refuse their initial offer and ask them to escalate the issue. They may try to low ball you with the first offer and it is within your rights to ask them to do more research into the value. It can not hurt as they will not lower their initial offer, but they might increase it.

A friend who used to work for an major insurance company's claims department gave me that suggestion and it worked great.

When a storm-felled tree crushed my 2004 Ody LX with 160K on it, they offered me $3200. I asked them to try again and within 24 hours they came back with $4800. That's a 50% increase just for asking. No one even looked at the vehicle a second time. It was all done in the back office.

As I mentioned earlier, it can't hurt to ask.

 

[191145]

The front end is designed to allow the engine/trans to rotate down in a 'sacrificial' movement rather than go back into the cabin. It looks to me like the whole front end has done that. I don't know what that means in the monetary sense but I hope for your sake they total it if that's what happened.

 

[phattyduck]

Can you describe where you see the tweaked frame rail? I’m hoping the shop comes back with their estimate tomorrow and I’ll want to make sure that’s listed if you can see something just from that photo.

Nothing to see - it was a hard enough impact on the front to trigger the airbags and cause seatbelt bruising, concentrated on one corner. The front end, outside of the 'safety cage' is meant to crumple and absorb energy, and that's likely what it did.

-Charlie

 

[DNK]

what year and model?

 

[coug11]

what year and model?

2016 EX-L, 50k miles

 

[DNK]

I thought I saw that somewhere but couldn't find it

Make sure the Ins company gives you at least 22K because that's what it will take to replace it

 

[davedrivesody]

Firstly, I'm glad that your wife and kids are generally okay after this crash. This is what nightmares are made of.

FWIW, I think the van is totaled due to front end structural and body damage. The former is not a sign of weakness. As mentioned, it's designed that way so to absorb the impact rather than allowing it to spread into the passenger cabin.

 

[vango5]

Glad the family did well. Looks like the van absorbed the impact and kept the damage to the passenger compartment/passengers to a minimum.

If the vehicle is deemed reparable by the insurance adjuster/estimator, the repairs need to be done by a reputable shop that offers a warranty on their work. The vehicle should look as good if not better than before the accident--no uneven gaps, paint should look as close to identical as possible (some of the paint techs are insanely accurate by just eyeballing it--just plugging in the factory paint code may not match due to fading), the vehicle should mechanically be as good or better than before the accident. There really shouldn't be much of a hit in resale value as long as the van isn't totaled.

If it is totaled, I would try to get as much money as you can from the insurance company--since your family wasn't at fault, you should be dealing with the other party's insurance company. The insurance company's have access to a wide variety of databases and should provide a printout (or pdf equivalent) of comparable vehicles on the market and provide an reasonable offer (especially with the used car market presently). If the van does get totaled, I would take the money and walk away from the vehicle. Even if one fixed up the totaled vehicle it will (or should) always have a salvage title and the used care value (monetary not utility) will always be significantly less than a non-salvage equivalent and insurance companies don't provide the same coverage for salvaged vehicles.

 

[rd24dec]

The other (at fault) driver turned left right in front of my wife and another driver in the lane next to her. The driver side airbag deployed. Luckily everyone is ok, just some seatbelt bruising and stiffness. Thank goodness the odysseys are so safe!

Now I’m waiting to hear back from the repair shop and adjuster on an estimate. I’m worried that if they repair it the van will never be the same and it will be in-sellable later on. If anyone’s been in a similar position, what are the odds this gets classified as a total loss (which I would really prefer)?

View attachment 159435
View attachment 159436

2016, 50K miles? Unless the repairs are greater than $15k, they'll probably repair it. If there is underlying damage (bent frame, e.g.) that might get it totaled.