TeesLS460

I plucked a number out of the air for my 'estimate' but as I have also said before, I am not looking for anything more than is fair. I have no intention of exaggerating the impact that the accident has had on me (I work for the Police and despite the pain I have continued to go into work every day, and am surrounded by senior Police officers who can see how I am affected throughout the day). I had no previous idea of what would be a reasonable amount - I will leave that to the courts to decide. As regards disabled access, whilst it is true that buses and trains have vastly better disabled accessibility than before, the truth is that unless you have tried to get around in a wheelchair yourself, you cannot properly understand just how hard it is. For example, just to get to work, I cannot take the tube from the 2 nearest stations to my home as they are not wheelchair accessible - there are 4 flights of stairs from the ticket hall to the platform. Nor can I easily get to the nearest wheelchair accessible station without a lift from my family - it would take 3 buses just to get there and then I'd have another tube journey and bus journey to get to work. Add to that, my electric wheelchair is not designed to work reliably in the rain so I can only use it in good weather, and I'm not strong enough to self-propel a manual wheelchair for more than maybe 30 metres, even before the accident. So my options are to rely on friends and family to get me to a wheelchair accessible station and hope that the station at my destination is also wheelchair accessible (luckily my workplace destination is), or take a taxi. In the end it doesn't matter - I've spoken to solicitors and will see what happens next.

Thanks for your good luck wishes, Melanie. I do hope to get only what's fair - being my car repaired properly and compensation for my actual injuries. We'll see what the final figure comes to. I'm mostly concerned with my car being properly repaired. If you are having trouble affording your insurance, I can assure you it has nothing to do with me personally as prior to this incident, I have not had an injury caused by an accident, let alone one in which I was the innocent party. Oh, and it's not people like me who cause insurance prices to rise, it's the idiots who cause the accidents. I suspect you've been stung by high insurance costs after causing an accident or two? Or maybe you're running around without insurance? Either way, I have one piece of advice for you - GET A JOB.

Thanks for the advice, Adam. The figure of £22,000 was based on my estimate of around £16,000 to get hold of a decent equivalent of my car including any fault fixing, another £3000 for courtesy car costs and compensation for loss of car until this is sorted, and £3000 for my injuries, pain and suffering, along with a quick settlement premium. Of course, if the insurance company don't want to go down that route, then I would accept the other options of a properly repaired car with acceptable courtesy car, or an equivalent replacement vehicle bought and checked to ensure it was fault free. I would understand that the insurance company will probably want to get away as lightly as possible, but as I am not at fault, I will press the third party insurers to the maximum and am prepared to go to court if necessary. I will of course keep you all updated as to what happens.

Thanks for all the replies so far - any links to how to guide regarding getting a fair deal would be welcome, though I have done some google searching. I'm thinking along the lines of: 1. I want my car repaired properly at a Lexus authorised repair centre using genuine Lexus parts. 2. I want another LS460 SE-L as a courtesy car, but I would settle for a Mercedes S500, BMW 750i, Jaguar XJ or Audi A8 4.2 tdi so long as it has radar cruise control (a major reason why I bought my current car) 3. I want compensation for the time I am without a car (as I am a wheelchair user, I am effectively housebound without my car, and totally dependent on family and friends to get me out of the house) 4. I want compensation for my injuries and pain and suffering (I suffered neck and back pain which led to a trip by ambulance to hospital, and which is stll ongoing) 5. I want compensation to cover any increase in my future insurance premiums as a result of this non-fault accident being on my records for the next 5 years. In the event of my car being written off, 1. I want an another car of the same make and model, of roughly comparable age or newer, with the same mileage or less, and with the same option (heated steering wheel) 2. I want it to have a thorough examination by a Lexus technician to be sure it is free of faults (I spent a lot of money on my car to make sure it was fault free) and any faults found put right. 3. It must have new tyres and brakes discs and pads (I replaced mine only in February) 4. I still want the compensation for the loss of car until an acceptable courtesy car is provided. 5. I still want compensation for my injury and pain and suffering. 6. I still want compensation to cover any increase in my future insurance premiums as a result of this non-fault accident being on my records for the next 5 years. Alternatively I would settle for a certain figure which I think is fair and would cover everything allowing me to source an alternative vehicle and allow the whole thing to be put to rest. I'm thinking of around £22,000

I bought a new electric folding wheelchair a couple of weeks ago which fits even more easily into the boot of my LS460, after collapsing down like a pushchair. It was fantastic, at least until my car accident on Wednesday (separate thread about that). I had to import it from Malaysia, but it was worth every penny as it meant I could go back to work in my job at the Police... http://wheelchair88.com/product/pw-999ul/

My insurance company have traced the other vehicle and confirmed that it is insured. They have sent the photos along with my statement to the other insurance company, and I'm waiting for them to accept liability. I'm afraid that the damage to the car will mean that it's a write-off especially as there's the rear radar detector for whiplash detection, the camera, the side panels are all buckled, and one of the exhausts was deformed.

The vehicle that hit me: And the driver of the vehicle:

So I was involved in an accident on my way to work on Wednesday morning. Stopped at traffic lights and someone in a minibus crashed into the back of my car :( I hurt my neck and back and called the Police and Ambulance, but the driver left the scene before they arrived - without exchanging details... However, I got good photos of his vehicle and him, which I've passed onto my insurance company. Here is the damage done to my poor LS460 :(

This might seem like a silly question, but is your A/C on or off? I found the same small vibration after having my LS460 serviced, and it was bugging me a lot. It turned out that I had turned off the A/C (had the windows open on the way back) and with the A/C off the idle speed was down to 500rpm which was just too low for comfort and caused the vibration. With the A/C on again, the idle lifted to 700rpm and the vibration was completely gone.

Due to a longstanding disability which has just gotten worse over time, I got a wheelchair today. It's a folding self-propelled one, and I was afraid it wouldn't fit into the boot of my LS460. So with my girlfriend's help, we folded it up, and... it didn't fit :( The rear air-con bulge was just too much in the way... I was getting disheartened and considering swapping my LS460 for an RX450 or similar just to get the chair in, and thinking of how much I would miss it. Then found that my chair had quick release big wheels too. With them removed, the chair fits! The wheels also fit in the boot once separated So the LS460 SE-L does take a folding wheelchair, certainly if it's this one... http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003G9LR8G/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you have a laptop already, you can get the MVCI cable and Toyota Techstream software for about the same price on eBay (less than £30) - that's what I did.

Whereabouts in Greater London are you? Anywhere near Ealing? If so, I'm happy to plug my Toyota Techstream in and see/clear the error codes for you.

I doubt there is any way to move the hybrid battery placement safely that isn't cheaper than just buying the newer GS 450h. If you're concerned about boot space, haven't yet been for a test drive, and are not too worried about fuel consumption, then take a look at the LS460 instead. Comfort and ride quality is in a different league, and the boot, while still small, is more usable day to day.

Thanks - but I'm waiting for the post 2010 facelift ones to be under £20K... Until then I'm perfectly happy with my LS460 :D