ssmith500

some black ice + hard turn really did it for me.

my acura went into a telephone pole at about 25mph. Unfortunately collision wasn't renewed and i dont know what to do with the car. It does start and hold idle fine, the right front is smashed in pretty good and the street sign the car broke in half before the telephone pole smashed the windshield and roof of the car.

the tranny doesn't shift because an axle is broken and the brake pedal goes to the floor and both air bags came out. I believe the car's book value is around 14k and i'm throwing a ballpark of 8-10k of damage.

I'm considering buying a junked acura and removing some parts off of it to fix my wheel well as well as everything else. The panels and painting i'd obviously leave for a body shop to do, i good friend will hook me up for a great price with that. I'm pretty upset this happened because this was also one of the best cars i've ever owned. should i junk it altogether? Any opinions on how i should handle this?

Bearcat94

"Unfortunately collision wasn't renewed ...."

THAT was your first mistake. Hopefully the car is paid off.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the helpful response

I would get your friend to determine EXACTLY what needs to be fixed before you sink any money into it. Unfortunately it might end up costing less to sell it to a junkyard and find another car.

Bearcat94

You're welcome. Somebody was gonna say it. And you know as well as I do that running with out up-to-date insurance is stupid.


To be a bit more "helpful": My first guess is that the car is totaled, but that's just my guess. I hope it was paid off or you'll be stuck with the payoff plus whatever repairs you decide to do.

With any luck, you'll be able to find some of the panels and/or parts you need in salvage. That'll save you some $$.

Sounds like you're OK and no one else was involved; that's a good thing.

ATL_nokio

Damn kick a man while he's down . Jump on the bandwagon

ssmith500

i know not having the insurance up to date was a big mistake, i realize that more then anyone now. I'm just trying to decide what i should do with my situation. maybe posting some pics will be helpful so everyone can see the damage...i'll post after work.

ssmith500

[IMG]C:\Documents and Settings\Son\Desktop\dsc00012[/IMG]

[IMG]C:\Documents and Settings\Son\Desktop\dsc00013[/IMG]

[IMG]C:\Documents and Settings\Son\Desktop\dsc00014[/IMG]

[IMG]C:\Documents and Settings\Son\Desktop\dsc00015[/IMG]

BIGTUFFGUY

both airbags deployed. thats a shiny penny right there. Looks like you have your work cut out for you. call your insurance anyways and explain the situation. They may be willing to help you out.
good luck.

01tl4tl

by collision I am guessing you mean Comprehensive- which covers damage to your own car.
Also guessing the car is paid off because finance company requires full coverage insurance on their propery

Best thing to do now is a small investment in a body shop putting it on the rack and laser check it to see if the ~frame~ is bent. If its just panels and parts- they can tell you.
Both airbags- thats usually expensive to repair right-
there is a new Readers Digest article on airbag accident cars with fix up and retitled/resold as clean, out of state.
Some then crash and the airbag deploys- revealing carboard-old shoe- newspapper and bubble wrap!
But no airbag or the wrong one for the car or another dead one or.......

Call a few body shops and ask for a rack check

01tl4tl

and hope the trans didnt get hurt by the sudden intrusion of the axle

ssmith500

the car was not completely paid off unfortunately. Very stupid on my part, although there isn't a huge outstanding debt. I didn't plan on having this car for too long but at this point i'm trying my best to salvage some some return.

These are the parts i have gathered so far. I would do all the mechanical work and local body shop i used to work at 4 years ago in high school would help with the painting and panels for half price.

Passenger fender: $175
Hood: $310
Passenger HID headlamp: $370
Front Bumper: $250
Suspension assem. (struts and bushings): $160
axle: $45
2 airbags, covers, and control module: $875

Total: Approx $2100 for parts and panels.

Book value: approx. 13k

any constructive opinions? i know its a shitty situation...don't remind me.


edit: tranny and engine are untouched, holds perfect idle

Aman

axles are only $45? wow.

pics arent working.

good luck getting this sorted out and back on the road.

death

Upload your pics to a site like photobucket.com then reference them. Good luck with putting your car back together.

What are the specs on your car? ie. Year, TL/TL-S, number of miles etc.

ssmith500

i guess it looks worse then it is, this is after i removed the split front bumper and front fender. The only damage is to the front right, the rest of the car is untouched.

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC00015.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC00014.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC00013.jpg

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...0/DSC00012.jpg

The majority of the parts are used, perfectly fine parts from hunts point auto wreckers, bronx. Thats why the axle is like half price. Some parts cost just as much as new ones so in that case i'd just buy the new part.

edit: its an 03 TL-p. 64k miles. Never been in an accident. Body shop guy came by and said it was not a total but needed a decent amount of work. I'd like to take care of the mechanical and have the shop only sand and paint the panels.

Never Summer

Damn, that's a lot of damage. Good luck getting it fixed up!

01tl4tl

I will repeat- get it laser checked for frame damage before you spend anything on parts.

Then check the here for good used parts like headlight housings
https://acurazine.com/forums/non-automotive-motorcycle-sales-9/

ssmith500

i believe structurally i'm ok. But before I invest a few thousand into i will take your advice just to make sure. I got more time then money so hopefully i can complete this project within a month or 2. Thanks for the link.

ChampionFiyah

dude, man I'd just get another car, use all that money u r about to spend on a down payment on a 04, 05,or 06 tl, maybe its just me but after getting in a accident with a car I dont want it anymore, it will never be the same :-( I got hit head on in my 92 accord and still was able to drive it home, it held up very well to the car that hit me, the other car had to be towed and the only reason i kept mine is because i got it all fixed for next to nothing

Bearcat94

Embedded the pics for ya. Good Luck with the repairs.

phee

iTrader: (5)

yea, if you arent trying to have the car for too long, look at the blue book value of a car thats been in a wreck and subtract that from the money you paid and see if the value outweights the car. if not, just use it as a down payment for a 3 g, part out the whip and pay off the debt on it and you know we would help you out. good luck either way

AZN.M3NACE

he is right. the car is not totaled. my car was in a worse collision and had about 13K in damage. Airbags did not deploy though. My car had the exact same milage as yours. good thing your okay though

Q1911

good lord. I dont like looking at TL's like that. it disturbs me. but like everyone said. at least ur fine!

S PAW 1

I wouldn't try to fix it, salvage and part it out IMO.

ssmith500

front fender and bumper are removed in these pics, besides that its the axle, control arm and airbags. The majority cost of the parts are for the hood, fender, bumper and air bags.

Razzi

dont give up on her, it's another miracle in the making
besides, it'll be a journey and it never hurts to learn something new about cars

Hines57

I would almost guarantee there is some frame damage. Also don't forget about getting it painted. I honestly don't know if its worth fixing either. For the people that are recommending the guy buy a 3g probably haven't taken in account that he says he doesn't have a lot of money....hence maybe why he cut down on his insurance. I didn't think you could not get full coverage if you owe money on the car but I'm not familiar w/ the state laws where you reside.

death

With that kind of mileage and damage I say fix it! Mind posting closer pictures of the major damage on the right fender/headlight area?

I did something similar (hit a tree) to my Dads Camry back in high school. The frame had to be pulled and I had pay for all the parts but I fixed it. My Dad ended up putting over 200k on the car with no further issues.

ssmith500

I'll take close up pictures of it. Over the weekend I pulled the dented portion of the sheet metal under the fender out to get a better look. The frame will be laser checked this week. I just graduated college and recently began my first job/career only a month ago so I am pretty strapped with bills, student loans, and now my car. After I determine if the frame is ok and one of my friends at the body shop points me in the right direction to get this going, i'll decide then if its worth putting the money in it.

ssmith500

I'm having some trouble finding the corner sheet metal that is basically the structure/frame around the engine compartment for the right front. I see its spot welded from the area front of the strut tower, around the front right bend and is spot welded/connected to the front portion by the radiator. If you remove the front fender, its what you would see wraping the front right corner of the car.

I'm having a little trouble explaining it because its not a specific bolt on piece. Does anyone have any experience with this or know where this can be found?

I have all the necessary mig, stick, spot welders necessary exactly as a body shop would do it.

elproducto

You should check out www.certifit.com and www.car-parts.com for parts. The only problem with certi-fit is that they do not deliver and they are aftermarket parts. If you have someone that has a body shop tell them to register with www.keystone-auto.com they deliver right to the shop and they have the option of aftermarket or reconditioned OEM parts. The prices on the parts you quoted are a little on the high side. I know you can get the complete front airbag setup for $700 shipped. It seem that you are in NYC it is illegal for junkyards to sell you airbags in NY, but they will. Certifit has your fender for $27, it might be worth the drive out to South Jersey. The best thing to do is to put all cost in a spreadsheet and see if it worth it to fix. If you fix it yourself you will end up with a clean title but if you get insurance involved they will salvage your vehicle making the value drop down approximately 20 - 50 %. So make sure your expenses to fix do not greatly surpass the value of the car. Finally if you want to see the true market value of your car go to www.edmunds.com and appraise you car there. Blue Book is an inflated value for your car, blue book is better for insurance and dealer pricing.