Hey yall, I have had my 2017 Honda fit for about 7 months. I love it so much. It is the only place in the world that is mine and mine alone. It has like 29k miles on it and I imagined myself driving this car until it fell apart.

I got into an accident on I-76 right outside Philadelphia. That traffic is so wonky, very stop and go. I hit a car in front of me because I couldn't stop in time. I am not sure how fast I was going, somewhere under 50 mph because I remember being able to hit the break before impact. I wasn't even doing anything dumb for once, I just looked down at the time on the center console for what seemed like a second. I had like 3 seconds of notice before impact into a car that had come to a stop. Luckily that car only had cosmetic damage and they are ok.

Do you think it is totaled? I was able to drive it about a mile to a lot off the highway and none of the warning lights were on on the dash, no weird sounds or anything like that. Also, my airbags didn't deploy! Freaking wild. I walked away with just bruises, I am so lucky.

I felt good about it being able to be repaired until my insurance said that they were sending out an inspector before they will transport it to the shop to repair it. Just looking for some advice. Thanks.

 

Yeah, texting and driving is not a good practice.

 

Ya know what, BMWguy22, I agree, that's why I wasnt doing it. I have before but I am a genuinely careful driver and prefer to text to speech or wait until I am done driving.

That morning, I had the last appointment with my therapist who decided I wasn't a good fit anymore to work with them. I am really upset about it. I have borderline personality disorder. I need therapy. I have a lot of trauma. Hence having borderline.

So my drive into work was really shitty. But I needed to go to work because I am a first responder. So. I was ya know. Struggling through it. Dissociating. Like one does with a disorder that involves dissociating.

Now that we have that out of the way and my integrity is not in question, because why would I lie about texting and driving, everyone does that, why lie about it, do you think my car it totaled, BMWguy22?

 

I am so sorry that first of all, you are OK, without massive injuries. I hope the insurance total your car because you never know if the frame can be fixed, never can in my opinion. Or,the engine to transmission were affected by the crash. Surely they can make it look new from the outside, but who knows about the power train later. My suggestion has always been, if the insurance would not total the Fit, negotiate for a payment instead, and then sell the car as is. It is better to lose some money, get another Fit, than to have to deal with potential problems later. I don't even like to paired my iphone to the car.

 

Maybe, but then again, I'm not an insurance agent.

Also, sorry to hear of your condition. Good to hear you are ok.
Maybe you should consider NOT driving for a while, especially if you are putting yourself and others at risk when you are behind the wheel.

 

As others have mentioned, if the frame is impacted its pretty much totalled. And I think that the advice to avoid a repaired car is prudent, as you might end up chasing gremlins for the rest of the cars life. Either way, glad you're safe, hope you do well with whichever option you pick!

 

Looks totaled to me.

 

It is tough to say, but whatever happens, it is just a car and your health and that of others is most important.

Good luck with your insurance company and with finding a therapist that really works for you.

 

As a point of comparison, here's my wife's 2000 Corolla with similar front end damage that occurred when it was only about three months old. That car was totaled by the insurance company. Your car has three years of depreciation, so it will take less to total it relative to its new value. With the cost of replacement airbags, there's less left to repair the actual mechanical damage before the car is considered totaled.

 

Totaled, totaled, totaled.

 

It's totaled - simply because (as others have said) the frame is impacted enough that the Insurance's actuarial tables would say that it's more cost effective to get you into a safer car than to: (1) deal with iterative repairs to get the car back to normal for you; (2) data suggests that the car might have another accident, (3) another accident might be closer to a fatality due to potential frame issues, (4) they make out on selling the car for parts.

I had the luxury in 2003 to visit my dead car at intermediary lot (the lot where the insurance company sends the sold totaled cars prior to shipment) - and I was shocked at how many very new cars were on the lot (with only minor front end or rear end damage). Every but you wins in the totaling-a-car game.

 

Very interesting that people can tell the extent of your frame damage by these pictures. I just watched a replacement video on YouTube for the radiator brace which will need replacing. After that you may need to have the frame straightened, but that is for the pros to say...



probably most of these keyboard warriors have never taken off their bumper cover but what do I know...
Here's a link to the replacement...

 

You're going to need a radiator and an AC condenser/ evaporator (the "freon radiator"). I bought a double core fully aluminum radiator recently if you're doing upgrades. I can send you the link. Best of luck!

 

That looks totaled to me. If you're driving in a lot of stop and go traffic, I'd recommend getting something with automatic emergency braking if you can next.

lol I don't know if you've driven on 76 around Philadelphia, but if you have you'd know that a guy having a bad day momentarily distracted by glancing down at his clock is at the very bottom of the priority list of people that shouldn't be driving on that road

 

I'd be surprised if they didn't total it. I hit and ran over an animal with my Fit. Damage was basically new bumper cover with paint, lower and one side radiator support/bracket, and new condenser = $2100. This looks way worse.

 

from the photos it's hard to tell if the actual frame is bent , the suspension mounting points could all be intact . but looks like a lot
of sheet metal is pretty much mangled and considering how quickly repair costs will add up , could be be close . crazy , since it's
a '17 with low miles , the book should still be high . something over $10,000 ?

 

Almost certainly totaled.



Bill for just this tiny deer hit came to $4300