She's Totaled - What I learned about having an electric car when you get in an accident

[Pmullin7]

When we bought ours, the other contender was a Hyundai ioniq 5, and the tiebreaker ended up being the lack of rear windshield wiper on the Hyundai. But that problem they've now fixed so I would check it out in comparison shopping. I didn't really love the outside but the interior was quite good...

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[tpsfoto]

Glad you are OK….this is why I leased my MME….the gap insurance takes care of the difference.. But the car that hit you should be responsible for getting you back into a new MME …after the collision pays you, sue her for the difference plus pain and suffering.

 

[SWO]

That is an amazingly low amount of damage for what is a 25 mph hit.

Agree. The rear quarter panels don't even look damaged.

I'm guessing that any frame straightening on an EV means dropping the battery which adds considerable cost to the repairs.

 

[david_quick]

Glad to hear you are OK! Wow, a 25 mph collision and that is all the damage? I would have expected to see more crumple. These things are tanks.

 

[RickMachE]

Glad you are OK….this is why I leased my MME….the gap insurance takes care of the difference.. But the car that hit you should be responsible for getting you back into a new MME …after the collision pays you, sue her for the difference plus pain and suffering.

My son got hit in a parking lot in CA. His car was declared a total, and he had gap insurance for the loan - but could not recover any other value due to CA law.

 

[HuntingPudel]

Glad you and your brother are OK. We are seeing that these MMEs are very safe for their occupants. Sorry that you had to go through this. ??

 

[fkyct]

Melissa,

First, glad you and you brother are fine.

Hopefully State Farm will treat you as well as they did us when our one year old Nissan Leaf EV was totaled also in Florida. I was hit by a Meth head with no insurance, expired tags and suspended Driver License. I had to claim it as a collision claim since the other driver was uninsured.

State Fam paid us enough to buy a new Leaf and after the $7,500 tax credit we actually came out ahead. About 1 year later they were able to collect money from the at fault driver and they even reimbursed us for our deductible. Our insurance premium did not go up and we still have retained the accident free discounts. Our car was not financed and was lien free when we got totaled.

We had State Farm tow it to one of their approved shops which was in Sebring FL, about 80 miles away from where it got hit . A State Farm adjuster never looked at the car and after they looked at pictures and they talked to the body shop they agreed to total it. 30 minutes later they gave me a very realistic value offer, they sent me form to e-sign and the next day I had a deposit in my bank account,

 

[stoopid]

I chose my '24 MME over the other options in February 2025. It came down to price and decent performance. If you can get something cheaper with similar acceleration and features, then do it. At the time I was looking late 2024/early 2025, the MME was the best compromise.

Note that I picked the select with the standard battery because I only needed something for around town, zero (or very few) road trips expected. I know at the top end (GT) there's more competitive options from the other EV makers, but for the 'entry level' EV segment the MME is compelling.

 

[johnnycombo]

I lost my 2021 to a dealership dropping it off a lift! Even though the other driver s at fault, have your own insurance company handle this appraisal . Don’t take the first offer from the insurance company, have them get prices from local dealers for the same model and year.
Myself, model year is only a number, you can find good deals on left over brand new cars. I got my 23 premium extended range 0 miles, last June for $47K out the door!

 

[Pipefitter52]

Melissa, thanks for your post and all the pictures. As others have written, I'm glad no one was injured.

I don't have a Mach-e, but I do have State Farm. My wife's car insurance, on her Acura, has dropped as the car has gotten older. In contrast, the insurance on my EV has gradually gone up. I had a close encounter of the potentially bad kind last February this year. The Lexus ahead of me had to stop quickly. The GMC pickup behind me almost slammed into my vehicle. Fortunately the driver was able to swerve and miss my car. The cameras on my car recorded the entire incident. I have combined the videos into one with the front camera, side camera, and finally the rear camera.

The incident made me realize how much I love my EV and really do not want to have to replace it. Good luck on your search for a new EV.

Are the cameras after market add-ons or the OEM cameras?

 

[azerik]

Aftermarket, there’s no way to use the cars cameras for our own use.

 

[ipca204]

Melissa,

First, glad you and you brother are fine.

Hopefully State Farm will treat you as well as they did us when our one year old Nissan Leaf EV was totaled also in Florida. I was hit by a Meth head with no insurance, expired tags and suspended Driver License. I had to claim it as a collision claim since the other driver was uninsured.

State Fam paid us enough to buy a new Leaf and after the $7,500 tax credit we actually came out ahead. About 1 year later they were able to collect money from the at fault driver and they even reimbursed us for our deductible. Our insurance premium did not go up and we still have retained the accident free discounts. Our car was not financed and was lien free when we got totaled.

We had State Farm tow it to one of their approved shops which was in Sebring FL, about 80 miles away from where it got hit . A State Farm adjuster never looked at the car and after they looked at pictures and they talked to the body shop they agreed to total it. 30 minutes later they gave me a very realistic value offer, they sent me form to e-sign and the next day I had a deposit in my bank account,

Wait? What??? How does one get "hit by a Meth head with no insurance, expired tags and suspended Driver License" and then get restitution?? You have solvd the age old question of how to get blood from a stone if this is true!

 

[DaleL]

Are the cameras after market add-ons or the OEM cameras?

They are the standard OEM cameras of my Model Y. The video files are written to a USB fob (drive) in the glove box. The files are overwritten after 60 minutes of operation. I removed the fob and saved the video files before they could be overwritten/deleted.

 

[Mach1E]

Wait? What??? How does one get "hit by a Meth head with no insurance, expired tags and suspended Driver License" and then get restitution?? You have solvd the age old question of how to get blood from a stone if this is true!

Your own insurance pays.

 

[MillerPaints]

So sorry for your accident, but certainly glad you both are unhurt. The MachE seems to excel at keeping its passengers safe.

As for what to consider..my husband and I had a 2023 Premium RWD Standard range. At the time, we didn't think we needed the extended range and frankly, that was out of our price range. When we bought in Feb 23, MSRP was $52,000....at the time California had some excellent rebates so with those and the $7500 fed tax credit we ended up paying $39,000 plus tax/lic We have loved our Mach E...zero issues. However, we now realized that it would be nice to have a bit more range. (the stated range on our Mach E was 246) Price was a consideration...it had to make sense financially. We are not speedsters, so while the Mach E has incredible pick-up speed we really didn't take advantage of it. We ended up buying a 2025 Equinox RS RWD. It has a range of 319. We liked the way it drove, and the interior was very nice and comfortable. The 21" tires make it seem like a bigger car although it is technically slightly smaller. Also liked that it had an extended sunroof vs a moon roof. MSRP was $48,002....the dealer tookf 6K off the top, then there was another $2,750 in other rebates PLUS the instant $7,500 fed tax credit so it was $31,752 before tax/lic.

CarMax gave us a $32k offer on our car and we took it. It also got reserved online at Carmax the day they put it on. (for $36K I think) The Equinox isn't for everyone, but it was a deal that worked out well for us. Fingers crossed that the EQ is as reliable for us as the Mach E.

I can also say that I LOVE this forum....everyone is very helpful. The jury is still out on the Equinox EV forum.

As a side note, if anyone is still looking/waiting for a Ford Adapter we have one that has only been used once. (and a super nice dash mat, but I know most folks don't use those anymore)

Thanks again to everyone! Please don't feel like I'm at the airport announcing my departure.

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