Wife was rear ended in our 2006 Pilot

[1proudDad28]

Well, just yesterday I posted my first post as a new pilot owner. One of the main reasons I purchased this vehicle was because I felt it would be safe for my wife and 4 month old son to travel around in.
Call it a premonition, but we bought the Pilot on Sunday, Monday I purchased full coverage insurance, and tonight (Tuesday) a lady rear ends my wife and pushes her into the car in front of her.
The car that hit ours was a later model toyota camary, the whole front end of that car was smashed in and rendered that car undriveable (is that a proper word? inoperable might have been a better choice :-P) The car in front of ours was scuffed up but not too bad.
Our Pilot had no visible damage, other than the front and back bumper being scuffed and the muffler seemed a bit pushed forward. However though, our pilot would no longer start nor could we get it out of park, so we had to get it towed and will let the insurance deal with it.

Thank GOD that I chose this vehicle for my wife's and son's safety, even though it wasn't a huge crash, it still is reassuring to know that they are safe.

[1YESfan]

Happy your wife ( and child- in vehicle at the time?) is safe and unhurt. Imagine if she was driving one of those itty-bitty Mitsubishi electrics they are now showing on t.v..

[1proudDad28]

Originally Posted by 1YESfan

Happy your wife ( and child- in vehicle at the time?) is safe and unhurt. Imagine if she was driving one of those itty-bitty Mitsubishi electrics they are now showing on t.v..

Yes my son was in the pilot with my wife, in the back seat, in the center in a rear facing car seat.
Funny enough you say that because I was looking to buy something cheaper and smaller for driving around town in and my wife says to me as we are driving home after the incident (in my mustang) that she is glad I opted for the Pilot. I could only imagine what a little mitsubishi would have looked like after that kind of an impact.

Thankfully the Pilot is such a tank! I think because of it height, the vehicle that hit ours must have gotten snagged up in the towing bar as there was no damage to the bumper, just some scuffing and one piece of molding flew off, and the muffler pushed in a bit.

Has anyone else had an accident in their Pilot?

[pilot_man_dan]

Originally Posted by 1proudDad28

Has anyone else had an accident in their Pilot?

First: GLAD TO HEAR EVERYONE IS OK!

I have a very similar story to yours.. my wife was also involved in a rear impact collision with our (since traded in) '05 Pilot. My wife was waiting to turn left at an intersection with her turn signal on, and the other driver was on his cell phone and didn't notice her until it was too late. He swerved right to try to avoid impact, but it was too late. It was about a 30 mph impact, and his vehicle was inoperable, but the Pilot only suffered minor damage - bumper cover, tailgate, right rear taillight, muffler, minor bodywork on right rear quarter panel. My son was also in the vehicle (12 months old at the time). No injuries to my wife or son thankfully!

You might want to check with your insurance company on your car seat - when my wife was hit, I was told I needed to replace the car sear in case the protection of the car seat was compromised. My insurance company sent me a check for the price of an exact replacement!

EDIT: apparently picasa doesn't let me use img tags?? click links for pics

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

[1proudDad28]

Dan, my wife was talking to one of her friend who also had a accident in a Honda Odyssey and they also mentioned something about the car seat needing to be replaced. So I will have to further investigate. Looking at the car seat, there isn't much on there that can be compromised in an accident but if they say so...

It looks like your car took more of a beating than ours, probably because your wife was at a dead stop, where my wife was actually moving when she was hit.
Did your insurance total yours or repair it?
Ours wouldn't start any more after the initial impact, which I find kind of strange as there was no engine damage... or body damage at all, just some scuffing and molding popped off...

[xGS]

Originally Posted by 1proudDad28

my wife was talking to one of her friend who also had a accident in a Honda Odyssey and they also mentioned something about the car seat needing to be replaced. So I will have to further investigate. Looking at the car seat, there isn't much on there that can be compromised in an accident but if they say so...

As in most bicycle helmets, many carseats use a non-resilient polystyrene foam for cushioning in the head (and torso) areas.
It's good for one impact and must be replaced thereafter.
Check with the manufacturer regarding your specific seat.

[N_Jay]

Ask your insurance company to cover it.

They will not question it because there is no way they will say it is OK and risk the liability.

Also any seat-belt that was being worn during an accident should be replaced.

[1proudDad28]

Thank you for the confirmation. I contacted the manufacturer, Graco and the said that it has to be replaced no matter how minor the accident was. The car seat may have unseen structural damage which may prevent it from being safe in future accidents....
Now I have to talk to my insurance adjuster and make sure that they take care of this for us...
This sucks... not having our Pilot.. we were just getting used to it.. hopefully they will get it back to us soon and hopefully it will be just like we remembered it....

[pilot_man_dan]

Originally Posted by 1proudDad28

Did your insurance total yours or repair it?
Ours wouldn't start any more after the initial impact, which I find kind of strange as there was no engine damage... or body damage at all, just some scuffing and molding popped off...

they repaired it. $3700 repair bill. my muffler had to be replaced also, i think you can see why in the pics. that may be why yours isn't starting right now - if your muffler was hit, it could have put a bend in the exhaust pipe which is restricting exhaust flow and won't allow your engine to run.

[macphanatic]

Originally Posted by N_Jay

Ask your insurance company to cover it.

They will not question it because there is no way they will say it is OK and risk the liability.

Also any seat-belt that was being worn during an accident should be replaced.

Exactly. All you need to do is tell them that your child was in the seat at the time of the accident. That should be more than enough to get them to agree to replacement.

[Makdc]

Originally Posted by 1proudDad28

Well, just yesterday I posted my first post as a new pilot owner. One of the main reasons I purchased this vehicle was because I felt it would be safe for my wife and 4 month old son to travel around in.
Call it a premonition, but we bought the Pilot on Sunday, Monday I purchased full coverage insurance, and tonight (Tuesday) a lady rear ends my wife and pushes her into the car in front of her.
The car that hit ours was a later model toyota camary, the whole front end of that car was smashed in and rendered that car undriveable (is that a proper word? inoperable might have been a better choice :-P) The car in front of ours was scuffed up but not too bad.
Our Pilot had no visible damage, other than the front and back bumper being scuffed and the muffler seemed a bit pushed forward. However though, our pilot would no longer start nor could we get it out of park, so we had to get it towed and will let the insurance deal with it.

Thank GOD that I chose this vehicle for my wife's and son's safety, even though it wasn't a huge crash, it still is reassuring to know that they are safe.

Glad to hear all are OK. We just traded in a 2001 Isuzu trooper. Our insurance actually went down. Possibly related to either the known safety history or the safety features of the Pilot. One of my reasons for updating was the safety - ACE body structure, full air bags, and electronic stability features.

[pilot_man_dan]

Originally Posted by macphanatic

Exactly. All you need to do is tell them that your child was in the seat at the time of the accident. That should be more than enough to get them to agree to replacement.

won't the police report show the only vehicle occupant as his wife?

[N_Jay]

Originally Posted by pilot_man_dan

won't the police report show the only vehicle occupant as his wife?

Post #3

[1proudDad28]

Originally Posted by pilot_man_dan

won't the police report show the only vehicle occupant as his wife?

The officer actually noted that there were two occupants and took his name and birthday down..
I've spoken with the car seat manufacturer and they stated that both the car seat and car seat base need to be replaced.
I've spoken with the insurance adjuster and he just said to send them the model #'s and the price to replace them.
So hopefully they can expedite the process and get us a check so we can get new ones...
I went to the towing yard today to remove some personal effects from the vehicle and one of the guys there that I was talking to said that there should be a reset button, as the vehicle automatically shuts off the fuel in an accident and thats why it wont start again...
I'm just hoping this gets resolved soon so we can have our awesome pilot back.

[SilWho]

Wow! Glad to hear your family is okay!!

I was rear ended in 09 and although my 06 Pilot looked like it had minor damage it was deemed a total loss . I was hit by a flat bed tow truck towing two USPS mail delivery vehicles while I had stopped at a stop sign. The Pilot wouldn't start and had to be towed. The police said that it was an emergency fuel shutoff because I was rear ended and that the reset button was somewhere in the back seat but couldn't exactly remember where it was to reset it. It was early and dark. I was taking my daughter to school and we were also very lucky and were not hurt at all! So I had to get another Pilot because I knew I would feel safe!