Disposable Car

[facebreaker1212]

Yaris, owned for 16,000 and one year and loved every minute. Until I was in a 20 mph collision and now the car is going to the salvage yard.

Loved it but not buying another. I was not harmed but come on, that's silly.

[ddongbap]

Shit happens.

[nemelek]

Sorry about your accident. Even with good insurance it is hard to come out even money wise.

[ddongbap]

This just in, the Yaris is a one-time-use car.

[PHXDEMON]

It's a subcompact econobox. What do you expect :iono:

[1NZYaris1]

The car is the reason you where not harmed, it absorbed the impact instead
of you, also it's not the cars fault it was involved in a accident .
Try looking at the drivers:eek:
Walking away from the accident speaks volumes for the car (econobox)
i would have thought.
best of luck with your next car.:thumbsup:
may it be a tank.

[Yawesh]

Yaris, owned for 16,000 and one year and loved every minute. Until I was in a 20 mph collision and now the car is going to the salvage yard.

Loved it but not buying another. I was not harmed but come on, that's silly.

bro, that's what insurance for. depending on your deductible(hopefully 100-500)

they will subract from your total value(since the car is like new)

so if you paid 12,000, and have a 500 deduct, then the insurance will give you back like 11,500. (am i right ppl)

o yea, at least you are ok, that's most important

but ur fault or not, insurance will most likely increase your rate, or kick u out.

[Bob_VT]

Yaris, owned for 16,000 and one year and loved every minute. Until I was in a 20 mph collision and now the car is going to the salvage yard.

Loved it but not buying another. I was not harmed but come on, that's silly.

So what are youing to buy next? Something that will sustain the 20 mph collisions......or go for 30 mph......

The car did it's job and you are here to talk about it. Insurance will take care of the car.

What did you hit at "20 mph" where is the damage? Post a picture or two......

[500snakz]

Yeah you are right about DISPOSABLE...I hit a deer going 50 mph and the deer ran away. I was left with 4k damage.
The car should never have been totaled in a 20 mph accident.
There is NOTHING in the front of these cars but a small amount of plastic. My body shop guy said that he would never drive one of these cars for safety reasons and that they are dangerous in an accident.
I like the yaris, but there are some things that I wish were made a little better in a 13k car.


Good thing the deer was gone, I probably would of kicked and beat the snot out of the thing.

[1NZYaris1]

Hmmm thats why the Yaris has the highest safty rating 5 stars ,
opp's wait USA citizens don't like air bags and safty stuff ,my mistake:thumbdown:

[500snakz]

Hmmm thats why the Yaris has the highest safty rating 5 stars ,
opp's wait USA citizens don't like air bags and safty stuff ,my mistake:thumbdown:

Thats why my yaris don't have side air bags OR anti-lock brakes...

[tuckevalastin]

It's certainly not a car that is meant to take an accident and keep on going but I will say that from what I've seen it does at least do a good job of keeping the passengers safe in these accidents.

[ddongbap]

So whats cooler? The guy who gets in to an accident at 20 mph, or the guy who calls a econo box disposable, or the guy who decided to try to talk trash on a Yaris, on a Yaris discussion board?

[TinyGiant]

lol


id much rather be safe with a totalled car .. than be hurt with a car that can drive after.. if you are bothered just get the GAP insurance on the car.. that way you come out clean


americans are too focused on the goods not the people.

i used to stitch firesuits in a factory and we has some suits that we had to made for some European customers and they were made with way less protection because in Europe they focus on saving the family and controlling the burn of the home... not saving the home so people can keep their stuff. i thought that was interesting

[ddongbap]

Because in America, results are more important.

[metalshark]

+ 1 on the gap insurance. No matter what, on mine I walk away with a check for $5000 for the life of the loan. Every month I pay for that in my car payment. Disposable Car? Who cares. Now I want a four door hatch with the fold flat rear seat anyway. My hot rod parts and suspension pieces port right over. Its all good.

[500snakz]

We live in a disposable society. Why would a new car be any diferent? Because it cost 13,000 dollars, thats why. I just expected more from a car.

[facebreaker1212]

I'm not talking trash about the car but getting totaled at 20mph makes me not want to put my girlfriend in shotgun and take it on the interstate.

I'm looking at Suzuki SX4 AWD. The dealer has a white 2008 model leftover. I trust their engineering when I'm on two wheels so four wheels is an even safer bet.

As for the finances I owe less than the car is worth, I'll end up in not too bad of shape.

I had no misconceptions about the durability of the car when I got it for $10,500. I got it for the fuel economy and reliability. This next purchase I'll realign my values a little.

[Kal-El]

OP, where are you?

Seems you opened up with a negative comment, and left with no details/pics.
:iono:

Can we get some info?

And BTW, most car's are pretty screwed in a 20 mph crash believe it or not.
Bumpers only allow about 5 mph without damage. Rear bumper crashes usually stand up the best but anywhere else on the car is going to crumple pretty easily unless where taliking a big truck or SUV.

Cars are made disposable (hence crumple zones) so that human life may avoid being disposed of. :wink:

[ddongbap]

I can make a car out of gum, and tooth picks.

[cali yaris]

good read, but not subscribing. :rolleyes:

[1NZYaris1]

good read, but not subscribing. :rolleyes:

Coming from a :bow:wiseman who buy's proformance ebay chip's:laugh:
you won't live that down in a hurry!!!!:laugh::laugh: :burnrubber:

[MadMax]

If you want something that can take a beating, get a Jeep Wrangler (an old TJ, not the newer JKs). Sure, it gets 15 mpg, and you can't safely drive over 70 mph with it, and it's untstable in an emergency maneuver; but I've mashed into plenty of trees and rocks with mine and it's still running. As a matter of fact, "trail scars" = Jeep cred!

A $13k car is disposable, pay 2-4x that and you may have something worth fixing after a major accident. But as much as we love it (and I do love mine!), the Yaris is Toyota's cheapest model (at least here in the States) and it doesn't take much to total it.

[YAR1S]

Why not get another Yaris, It saved your life right? AND you'll get back at least 11,500...

For $500... I'd risk another yaris....

[YAR1S]

Besides... you could have bought a much safer care to drive to begin with like a hummer... or perhaps a tank... I mean yeah the yaris is safe to drive as any other car that can be sold... but crash it and it wont look pretty...

but you didn't get the yaris to withstand crashes right? I bet that didnt go through your mind at the time.... You got it to save you some money, cause it looks good... and if you were to get into a crash ... it would at least save you....

I dont get why your so mad? :[ maybe Im missing something....

[KCALB SIRAY]

It's small, it's a Yaris, you lived to tell, and you had insur. Sounds like a good car to me.

[eTiMaGo]

I'd rather dispose of my car than my spine and legs :smile:

[kou]

my last yaris took a serious beat down.it was totaled i was paid in full,except registration fees.i was so happy with how it took the abuse i bought another.

[YarisSedan]

Ive been in several accidents so far in my life time. After my last one i was left slightly traumitized and I wouldnt drive for weeks. Now when i drive i am extremely cautiouse. I am constantly scanning the road for other drivers that look like they are possibly going into my lane without signaling and not looking. I have avoided multiple accidents because of other drives stupidity. And i probally attribute it to my new hightend sense of awareness driving.

Especialy living in california there are still people trying to purposly get hit so they can sue you. Both me and my brother got in a low speed collision. Say approx 5 mph at point of inpact. Both of us got sued. My brothers law suite is still ongoing. THey want over a million dollars. Insurance still hasnt settled it and its 2 years later. But thats what insurance is for. You live and learn.

[mastaofdisasta]

:iono:must be fuckin nice to make enough money where you can say that your yaris is "disposable". Way to perpetuate the stereotype of all americans being fat, lazy, greedy, materialistic assholes. As if we done get enough of a bad rep from the euro crowd. Calling a car disposable, what are you high?:bs::bs::bs::bs::bs::bs::bs::bs::bs::bs::bs:: brokenheart:

How can you say, that the car that gets you from work and back, and everywhere else you need to go, is just as disposable as a empty mcdonalds cup, you dont have to throw it away man, sometimes you need to get a refill

[MUSKOKA800]

Not sure how much experience you have dealing with insurance companies but a word of advise. Don't settle for a low-ball insurance pay-out. Turn down the first settlement and watch the number grow. Go to several dealerships and price a similar year and mileage Yaris. Then demand that money for yours. Then settle for that less the deductible. Don't forget to include all taxes, delivery charges, etc.
The Yaris has excellent resale value and should bring a healthy pay-out.

[Bob_VT]

Okay I see the picture not...... You intentionally smashed the car to do damage with the intent of buying a new Suzuki...... obviously the SUzuki dealer did not offer you a decent trade value..... It's sad that people resort to such actions! Good luck with your Suzuki.

[Kal-El]

Remember that the definition of "totaled" isn't whether or not a car can be fixed or not but rather what the repair cost is vs. the value of the car. With a car like the Yaris, the reletive value is already low so fixing damage from a 20 mph crash may simply not worth it.

But if you have equally severe damage on a $100K Mercedes, then the repair is justified even if that repair costs $25K.

So to mastaofdisasta and his post, would you spend $9,000 to fix a $13,000 car? I would think not. That's what people mean by disposable. We are not relating the Yaris to a cheap product that we throw away every year. In fact, many of us plan on driving it 200,000-300,000 miles which it will do easily.

[mastaofdisasta]

oooo i just got pwned

[lita_g]

This is what happens with little cheap cars, the yaris is a good car but definitely not a tank, that's why I try to be extra careful on the road since I know if I hit something bigger than me, well, it's not going to be pretty.

A couple of weeks ago my husband got rear ended, he was driving his Dodge Ram 3500 (massive thing), he was probably going 15-20mph since he was close to the high school around 3pm, and well, there was this little girl on a honda civic, tailgating him, and when the car in front of him stopped, he stopped (not suddenly or anything), so of course she hit him, he barely felt it but when he got out it wasn't pretty, the truck was fine, the bumper didn't even get scratched, but the civic was unrecognizable, the girl was fine but the car was in really bad shape, the only thing that got hurt in the truck was the receiver for towing, since she got underneath the bumper she tore it out. So yeah, a massive truck won't even feel getting hit at 20mph, but do you need it for everyday driving? no, we rarely take it out, that day he was on his way to get some new furniture.

[Rain]

What was the silly part about getting out alive from a 20mph collision?

[kustom play]

there has to be more to the story

be glad they totaled it out

good luck selling a car thats been involved in a major accident

[facebreaker1212]

I'm not saying I hate the car, I think some of you are getting riled up for no reason.

Just point your yarii in a safe direction is all I am saying.

[Kal-El]

I'm not saying I hate the car, I think some of you are getting riled up for no reason.

Just point your yarii in a safe direction is all I am saying.

Still not getting any details. We'd just like to know where you hit it at 20mph. Front, side, rear? What did you hit/what hit you? Pics would be helpful.

It's like starting a thread entitled "Wow, you gotta see this picture!!!" and when you open it, there's no pic.

[tuckevalastin]

happens anytime anything even semi negative is said about the Yaris, but what do you expect it's a Yaris forum!

[Rich k]

I've been in a few cars (as both driver and passenger) and seen a few other freinds and family members cars after crashes @ 20-30 mph and these cars varied from an 85 Turismo, a 92 ford escape, an 04 chevy impala, an 04 chevy cavilier, a 00 corolla and a 78 plymouth satellite sebring, most of them faired badly, all but the cavilier and the sebring were totalled, the cavi just plain got lucky and the sebring wihch rear ended the car in front of it because it was rear ended from behind had absolutely no damage. The sebring was a tank with body on frame built in the late 70's with honking huge chrome draped iron bumpers and factory installed bull bars front and back with 1.5" of rubber on each. It would take a lot of abuse in an accident and just keep going, though as i understand it the occupant's internal organs, well that was dicey. Best of luck finding a 78 sebring. I don't want to know about your innards after your next 20 mph accident, 'm sure next of kin will like inheriting the barely scratched vehicle though.

[Bella]

To the OP - I'm sure when you purchased your car you would have done at least a little bit of research on the Yaris and its safety, right?

If you had have done so you would have learnt that the Yaris is MADE to be recyclable (in fact, in Australia it says as much in the promotion brochures the dealer hands out) - plastic front and rear bumpers are used to take the abuse of being knocked and hit - paint transfers from other surfaces rather than scratching on plastic. They are also made out of plastic to make it cheaper for you if you do have a minor accident to replace body panels. Imagine the cost had your car not been totalled yet your bumpers were made from metal?

It is a lower-level economy car. The Yaris' crumple zone is designed to do exactly that .. Crumple. No matter what car you're driving I would just be thankful to walk from an accident unscathed. If you can walk out unharmed and you're responsible enough to have insurance I wouldn't be stressing about the apparent 'disposable' car you were driving.

Yeah you are right about DISPOSABLE...I hit a deer going 50 mph and the deer ran away. I was left with 4k damage.
The car should never have been totaled in a 20 mph accident.
There is NOTHING in the front of these cars but a small amount of plastic. My body shop guy said that he would never drive one of these cars for safety reasons and that they are dangerous in an accident.
I like the yaris, but there are some things that I wish were made a little better in a 13k car.


Good thing the deer was gone, I probably would of kicked and beat the snot out of the thing.

Mate that's not a small collision - I would be thankful for just a $4k repair bill! From what I've seen deer aren't the smallest animals out! Out here if you hit a kangaroo in any car (without a bull bar, no matter what safety rating etc it has) it's near on guaranteed to be a write-off! Good thing Australian Yaris' have ABS and all the other awesome stock standard stuff! =)

[SilverBack]

Yaris, owned for 16,000 and one year and loved every minute. Until I was in a 20 mph collision and now the car is going to the salvage yard.

Loved it but not buying another. I was not harmed but come on, that's silly.

Aren't all cars technically disposable? I mean, most people don't keep their cars around for the rest of their lives anyway. Those who do are usually the stubborn types who unwelcome changes.

Besides, we're all gonna get into an accident sooner or later, no matter who's at fault. That's the way life is. The important thing here is that you're okay, even if the Yaris isn't. Think of it this way: it sacrificed its' life to save yours. Give it some credit, man.

So with that said, wouldn't you want to get another one? You said it yourself that you loved yours, which means you're just as likely to love your next Yaris the same, if not more. If mine got thrashed, I would replace it with another LB the same week my insurance pays off the car, no question about it.

I would sleep on this decision of what my next car's gonna be. I would even weigh-out the pros and cons of what I had and what I now need in a car.

I'm sure you'll make the right decision:smile:

[nsmitchell]

Remember that the definition of "totaled" isn't whether or not a car can be fixed or not but rather what the repair cost is vs. the value of the car. With a car like the Yaris, the reletive value is already low so fixing damage from a 20 mph crash may simply not worth it.

But if you have equally severe damage on a $100K Mercedes, then the repair is justified even if that repair costs $25K.

So to mastaofdisasta and his post, would you spend $9,000 to fix a $13,000 car? I would think not. That's what people mean by disposable. We are not relating the Yaris to a cheap product that we throw away every year. In fact, many of us plan on driving it 200,000-300,000 miles which it will do easily.
:clap: Exactly.

Also, the car protects you by crumpling up like an aluminum can by design, this causes more damage to the car, but protects the people inside.

In the old days the car would not be damaged much in an accident. They would just spray it out and get it ready for the next victim.:biggrin:

[Mead]

you can do what my friend did and bought a BMW 535i because it was 'safer'

well during stop and go on the fwy he got rear ended at 25mph (he was going 5mph). the rear quarter fender rcrumpled perfectly exactly at the rear door, the back end was jacked up ( but I don't even think the tail lights cracked)... all the doors were unharmed and opened normally, there was no paint damaged... total cost: $15,000

another time I witness a Ford Explorer rear end a Camry, at 5 MPH... because the Explorer bumper is higher it took out all the Toyota's tail lights, smashed in the trunk and drop the rear bumper (but it was still hanger off hinges) right there it was prolly $7.5K and that's at 5MPH. Most of today's cars have the trunk opening mechanism at the bumper... any hit and all that needs to be replaced

[1stToyota]

We live in a disposable society. Why would a new car be any diferent? Because it cost 13,000 dollars, thats why. I just expected more from a car.

:bellyroll:

I'd have to go back and revisit 1983 to find a new car that I spent less money for than I did for my '08 Yaris. I don't expect it to take the punishment that my last ride ('05 GTO) could probably take, but I actually feel a lot safer in the Yaris...less power and quick, nimble handling, compared to the nearly 4,000 lb pig GTO.

[SMALLNUMBERS]

If only they built em like the American cars of the 1950s lol. No plastic on those babies. All steel frames and thick sheet metal panels.

i own a 65 chevelle as well as my Yaris, and although steel frames and sheet metal are good for up to 40 mph crashes, after that... it's bad news for you.

I drove like a demon in that car, but was always thinking of a high speed crash aftermath.

Head- All metal steering wheel, no air bags. No special glass with adhesives in it to prevent shattering out.

Passenger- All metal dash.

Everyone in the car- Only lap belts, no side curtain air bags.

Basically, its a cage of death if you take a bad one! Don't get me wrong, i LOVE my muscle car, but when it comes to safety, i'd take one of these "disposable" cars ANY day.

Glad you weren't hurt homie!

[gid]

KOU , nice rims :smoking: . Don't mean to sound like a perve :biggrin: .

[gid]

Sorry to hear of your accident . We've been rearended 3 times . The '99 PRIZM was totaled . The '93 FESTIVA was as well ( rearended twice , 1st time minor ) . The times these cars were totaled was when hit by vehicles over 3,000 lbs. The PRIZM by a JIMMY while we were waiting for oncoming traffic to turn left and the FESTIVA by an old TOWN and COUNTRY station wagon at a red light . The impact of the wagon bent the drivers seat all the way back . The 1st thing the young driver said was that he'd like to settle this without the police or insurance companies . Not , are you o.k. or a sorry :mad: . Therefore , I said no way and called the police . So , I feel for yeh . As for the SUZUKI , I'd skip it . They depreciate badly and have a poor track record . For safety , reliability , fuel economy , and resale you may want to consider these . A SCION XD , XB , or a '09 PONTIAC Vibe ( TOYOTA Matrix with the PONTIAC badge ) . GOOD LUCK

[gid]

oh , the SCION XB and '09 VIBE come with VEHICLE STABILITY CONTROL and TRACTION CONTROL standard . The SCION XD has it optional for $250 . The '09 COROLLA is loaded with safety features and V.S.C. with Traction Control is optional on certain models .

[kou]

thanks Gid.the 18 year old that drove into the back of me said she didnt realize people were stopped in traffic,she was in a dodge caravan doing around 40mph i must have hit the car in front of me at 20mph or more.i have some ligament damage in the left elbow and some herniated disc's. and my seat rails bent in the impact.

[gid]

thanks Gid.the 18 year old that drove into the back of me said she didnt realize people were stopped in traffic,she was in a dodge caravan doing around 40mph i must have hit the car in front of me at 20mph or more.i have some ligament damage in the left elbow and some herniated disc's. and my seat rails bent in the impact. for your pain . My mother had herniated disks and seen the suffering it causes . Wish you better days . TAKE CARE

[Thirty-Nine]

Well, it sounds like the Yaris did its job, and you didn't get hurt, which is obviously the most important part.

I love the SX4; if Toyota won't offer a manual transmission in the five door, the SX4 will probably be our next vehicle. It also got very high safety marks just last week. However, I doubt it'd fare any better in a 20 MPH crash. Regardless, it's a good choice if you're looking for a small AWD vehicle. Heck, it's the only AWD subcompact on the U.S. market.

[ChinoCharles]

This is the tradeoff you have to decide upon when buying an economy car. Generally the safer you are, the worse your mileage is going to be. Frame strength = more weight = less MPG. Plain and simple.

Also keep in mind that when an insurance company makes the decision to total a car it is based on the disparity between the price of repairs and the estimated worth of the vehicle. If you were driving a VW Rabbit, it would have been scrapped too, because that new radiator would have cost 50% more than one for the Yaris. There is more to vehicle longevity and accident survival than how "safe" it is. You got hit from both ends, so it doesn't surprise me the car was totalled. I would argue that most if not all of the cars in this segment would have been in the same boat.

Having said that, enjoy your Suzuki. :smile: