Recently my father got into a minor fender bender in this leased Toyota Corolla. As he was driving along on the right-most lane of a multi-lane road, a car to the right merged onto the roadway without checking the blindspot. A severely mangled front-end was the result, though thankfully the car was still able to drive straight. No injuries to the persons, which is ultimately what you want any time you’re unlucky to be in a car crash.
As modern cars get more and more expensive (average transaction price is well over $40,000 in the United States), it seems so have the cost to repair them. My father’s Corolla sustained damage to the bumper, headlamps, bits of the front fenders, and radiator core support. Rather minor in the grand scheme of things (no frame or suspension damage), but those items alone amounted to some $14,000 in cost from the body shop. That’s more than half the price of the car brand new!
A portion of that cost is the relatively expensive radar cruise sensor up front. Not only a new part is needed, but the car also has to be sent to a Toyota dealer to recalibrate the entire system. Hooray complexity, all in the service of ease and comfort whilst driving.
And because we’re still in the midst of global supply chain shortage of many things, it took a solid month from start to finish to fix the Corolla - for a minor fender-bender! We’re lucky because my father was able to get a rental car, so the extended repair length was not that bothersome. I’d imagine others aren’t so fortunate. That’s the true hassle of getting into an accident: dealing with the lack of a car or finding a temporary replacement while your own car is getting fixed. And also taking time from work to deal with the body shop, most of which are typically not open on weekends.
We’re just glad it’s over with now.
Pachinko.