Seems like the actual bumper . . . visible in the 2nd to last picture . . . really did a good job. Looks like the condenser and radiator are undamaged. The core support looks to be in reasonable shape, too, considering this happened at freeway speed
I also have a cdl, and just maintaining it can be a pain. If you get āthe wrong guyā at the medical exam, he can make life difficult for you based on very minor findings. Not to mention all the stuff you have to bring to the dmv when you renew.
I donāt think your carās even close to being totaled
Hope you find a good body shop
Iām a mechanic, not a crash investigator, but judging by the pics you posted it appears to me that airbag deployment wasnāt called for. The airbags are there to save your life, not prevent minor injuries. Looking at the pictures the passenger compartment was never in danger of being breached or intruded upon, the car was never going to roll or flip, no glass was broken, and the occupants were never in danger of serious harm.
It looks to me that the SRS system didnāt deploy because it wasnāt needed. The bags blowing may have caused more harm than good in this case.
In addition, driver can receive broken bones from air bag deployment. Another good reason to be glad the air bags didnāt deploy.
+1
Which is why I stated earlier that the body damage was relatively small.
The car would definitely be totaled if all the bags went off. Iād be glad they didnāt if I walked away and my car was likely repairable from such a high speed impactā¦
Yes, in hindsight Iām VERY glad they didnt deploy. None of yall were in the car at the time and felt that impact, it seems like there were a few different impacts, it all happened so fast yet slowly if that makes sense. It was an extremely hard impact into the car and the guardrail. I could have EASILY died in that wreckā¦ I probably should haveā¦ all the first responders said none of us should have came out alive. Everyone keeps saying minimal damageā¦ thatās EASILY 20-25K in damage.
The point Iām trying to make isā¦ I got extremely lucky Iām able to type this post and read your commentsā¦ I donāt want to have someone else pull out in front of me like that again and if the airbags are defective me not be able to question the fact because Iām DEAD!!! My kids donāt want to have some 3rd party company pull the info off the black box and find out their mother would still be here if her $60,000 car had worked the way it was supposed toā¦ I DONāT want to die the next timeā¦
So please stop saying how little damage there isā¦ my BRAND new car could be totaled and I COULD be dead. By the GRACE OF GOD, I am still here and my bone will heal, the bruises will go away, I will be able to breathe with out my chest hurting, the swelling will go down in my knee, and maybeā¦ just maybe I will quit seeing all 3 of those kids screaming and getting cut out of that crumpled pile of metal EVERY TIME I close my eyes!
That was the WORST wreck I have EVER been in, and it seems yāall are acting like I swapped paint with another car.
I ask that you please do not take this the wrong way but your emotions are running a bit high right now; and understandably so.
As mentioned, the passenger compartment was not breached and thereās a strong possibility that if the bags had gone off you might have suffered even worse injuries. Most of the damage there is sheet metal and it doesnāt look like the A/C condenser suffered much. The condenser should have been one of the first things to go in a real serious crash.
My sympathy to your car.
No one is down playing the crash and your injuries . This is a Forum and not all replies will be just exactly what a person wants . Your vehicle sensors may have done just what they were programed to do or not . That is for the insurance companies to find out .
As said your emotions are at a high level so donāt take every post here as a personal affront. Real damage assessment can not be done over the web by pictures .
Because some of us have been in worse. Itās been 43 years since my worst, I can still hear the impact noise in my mind. If I showed you pics of the car, you would have a hard time telling front from back or what kind of car it was. Weāre not doing comparisons but donāt assume youāre the only one that knows what itās like. Iāve been in a few and so have family members. Itās traumatic and many understand what you went/are going through. Nobody is saying it doesnāt have serious damage. It sustained surprisingly little damage considering the circumstances.
The car looks bad, no argument there
But in my professional experience, itās not close to being totaled, even with all of the pictures you posted later on
Iām sure your hand and knee will eventually be fine
Iāve been in accidents like yours . . . and yes, during the accident itself, it seems like time is elapsing very slowly. Every single detail is etched in your brain
The amount of adrenaline going through your system right afterwards . . . and sometimes for a long time after that . . . can be amazing. Emotions are literally running high, and you can act in ways that are not typical for you. At least for me, it was the case
There certainly were at least 2 . . . when you t-boned the Prizm, and then when you got the guardrail
I believe they are being empathetic/sympathetic. I get the 2 confused. In any case, I think they were saying those things to make you feel better about the whole situation. And also to acknowledge that this was a serious event for you
I donāt recall anybody saying it like that.
You have a modern and safe car . . . thatās the major factor, in my opinion. But luck also played a role, in my opinion
And please donāt think Iām criticizing you . . . Iām just offering my own observations and opinions
When I was a callowāand inattentiveāyouth, I hit the back of an 18-wheeler (due to inattention in city traffic) at ~10-15 mph. As a result of that impact, my fatherās '63 Plymouth suffered about the same amount of sheet metal damage as the OPās car. That is why I am of the opinion that there was relatively little body damage, especially when one considers that it took place at high speed.
Out in the LA area back in the 70s I broadsided a Chevy pickup with my 59 Corvette at 50 MPH. Didnāt even have time to go for the brake at all as the pickup driver darted across all 4 lanes of Garden Grove Blvd.
Not even a shoulder harness in those days; just lap belts which of course were not being used by me or my buddy. There was what could be called a gray/white fiberglass explosion and next thing we know weāre sideways in the road expecting the worst. Amazingly and for lap belts not being used, neither of us got even the smallest scratch or bruise out of that wreck.
The car was wiped to oblivion and at the last minute before being hauled off some guy walked up with the right front headlight assembly which was trailing 5 or 6 feet of wire and wanted to know if it was mine. Yep. Said he found it a block down the street and like us, both seal beams were still intact. How that lamp assembly could pop out and skid that far without getting broken I have no idea.
In the case of the OP I wonder what that Geo looked like. Very lucky someone in that car did not die.
Not the same year but one of many similar complaints from Challenger owners
" 
Air Bag Not Deploy problem of the 2014 Dodge Challenger 21
Failure Date: 05/26/2015
I was involved in a car crash where I did not have time to apply the breaks before hitting another car. The car made a sudden left turn in front of me and I t-boned the car at a rate of about 45mph. At he time of the crash my airbags did not deploy, so I contacted Chrysler about this, and the sent a investigator to look at my car. In a letter they said, the conclusion of the investigation is that the rate of deceleration necessary to activate the air bag system was not present during the accident. How much damage do you have to do to the front of a Challenger in a crash for the airbags to work. There is over $12000 in damage to my car, not to mention the thousands of dollars in medical bills I have along with thousands of dollars in lost wages. I no longer feel safe driving this car once it is repaired, and no longer want to own a Chrysler product."
A 4200 lb car colliding with the soft side of a 2300 lb compact Toyota, that seems to be the reason the airbags were not needed. The obstruction did not provide the amount of deceleration necessary needed to deploy the airbags.
Locally there are a few fatal collisions each month. When a motorist collides with a parked truck, even at city speeds, it can result in fatalities, airbags donāt save everybody.
Preliminary estimate on my car is 15kā¦ Iāll have completed estimate for repairs emailed tomorrow and it starts to get fixed!!!
Airbags are not intended to reduce the damage to a vehicle, but to minimize the damage to the driver and occupants.
Nowhere close to totaled. Even with a 6-cyl it would not be totaled. Now, make sure itās done right. Your insurer is a big company and should have professional shops to do the work. Also get a rental at their expense while your car is fixed. Donāt expect an equivalent car, unless you are thinking of the Geo.
Indeed, I picked the shop and got a rental last week, they actually were going to get me a Charger, but the rental place didnāt have it for the amput of time I needed it.