My first accident... How bad does it look?

It drives okay but drifts to the right. Engine vibration is about the same so I don't think the engine mounts are bottomed out. The crack in the windshield wasn't affected at all. Headlight and resonator box are in a million pieces. But it looks like the whole front is skewed to the right.

 

That is an expensive fix, and then some, most likely more than the value of the car. If you're going through your insurance, the odds on bet is they total the car.

 

not gonna lie; if you dont have previous body work experience it's gonna be hard as hell to do this yourself. tis why it's important to have full coverage insurance

 

That's 100% totalled.

 

whatcha hit? a tree? a trucks bumper?
more importantly, are you okay??

had to be going more than 35mph

 

It was a truck, I was pulling out of a parking lot onto a 4 lane road.

 

Truck was stopped? taking a left out of the parking lot?

or was trucking on coming and you pulled into traffic? this scenario happens a lot.

 

The truck was coming. I did look, but I probably misjudged the speed and pulled out too late due to being distracted by people talking in the car. It could be he was coming much faster than expected since this is the busiest road I have to deal with.

 

it happens. the most important thing is that you and your occupants are safe.

 

Everyone is fine luckily.

 

Tough luck, glad no one got hurt. From my experience, it's a total loss. Pocket the insurance and part it out. You can probably get a near identical TL for cheap if you want.
Maybe even pick up a $500 non-op with a busted transmission/engine and swap yours in. Would prob be easier than that frame/body fix.
Good Luck

 

Well, it might be better just to drive this one around as long as it's legal rather than dump money into another one, given this is my first accident and (realistically) not the last.

It would be nice to get another TL and use this as a parts car, but this 99 model doesn't seem very compatible with the 2000+ models. As for parting it out, how fast will the parts sell?

Is there any point in taking it to a collision shop, or will I end up paying money just for them to look at it?

 

You have insurance right?

 

Yes, full coverage I believe.

 

Then take it in, pay the deductible and get it fixed

 

Hopefully it can be aligned, and then the worst that can happen is the new headlight looks bug-eyed on the left side along with the bent up body.

There is an 03 TL-S with a bad transmission available, is it possible that will cost less than getting this one running? But then I will have to live with the 03 transmission...

 

There is no way an insurance company will pay to get that repaired - this is almost guaranteed to be a write-off.

It's been a couple of years since I've gotten a body shop quote, but up here it's a standardized practice, so you would get very similar looking forms. And quotes are free. But if I were you OP, I would start trying to arrange a replacement vehicle.

 

Dang, glad to hear you and your occupants are okay!

They're totally going to total your car. No way I can see insurance and a body shop wanting to fix that. Not sure if this is a local thing or across the board, but here if you have 3 or more body panels damaged it's almost certainly gonna be totalled.

 

it's going to cost the insurance company more than $5k to get your car up and running, correctly. there is no way an insurance company is going to spend more than $5k when the car is only worth a few grand.

also, the insurance company would want to fix it correctly and not just hobbled together. the insurance company will not take liability for a hobbled incorrectly fixed car. they are going to fix it up to OEM standards. which will cost more than what the car is worth

 

We've been trying to spell this out for you and apparently you are not wanting to accept what we're telling you. I'll try one more time; that car is toast; it will never legally be back on the road again. Take the insurance settlement and buy something else.

 

Yeah, I would look at why you would want to keep that car; if it's for sentimental reasons that's a very hefty price to pay.

You could get the payout of the cars value from your insurance company and apply that to the purchase of another similar vehicle; though most people look at this as an opportunity to get a different car.

Honestly; I am quite surprised that you had full coverage as the additional premium surely would surpass the cars value if you've had it more than 5 years.

 

I was just telling the guy what he wanted to hear, not needed to

 

No one said it would be illegal to drive. I have another car in mind, hopefully it will work out.

 

Even with the replaced headlight, which is most likely not aimed correctly, I cannot think of any state where that car would pass inspection. Said another way, driving that wreck on a public road would be illegal.

 

how about unsafe.

that shit aint safe to drive in it's current state. as you stated, everything is tweaked to one side...most likely subframe is tweaked, which means your suspension would be tweaked. which means you cant safely drive at speed.

 

In a more free state like GA, we don't have to worry about emissions
As long as you have tail and headlights (but not too many headlights) and pass emissions if your car is young enough, you're good to go here! The stuff you get to see on the road here is hilarious at times.

 

1. Take the insurance payout.
2. Buy the '03 TL-S with bad transmission.
3. Buy an AV6 transmission from an '06-'07 3.0L Accord.
4. AV6 SWAP!
5. Better car than you had.

 

I'm looking at a 99 TL with working transmission and in better condition than the first one. Would it make more sense to get it and use the old TL as a parts car? The transmission work on the TL-S would probably bring it's cost above the new 99 TL, and then I would be left with worse interior and exterior and slightly higher mileage. It looks like it has had a rougher life.

 

If you got the room to keep a parts car, go for it. That would give you more time to part it out as well (if you want).

When it comes to an older car, the life it had will determine it's future. Party like it's 1999, dude.

 

Well, I looked at the 99 TL today.

Badly done full paint job, rippling green window tint, and the timing belt tensioner is knocking like mad. Trim kit applied inside, which just looks bad. Engine compartment is sprayed all over with tire wet. The power steering was overfull, then when running it went empty and the pump made a zipper noise. Then when the car was off the reservoir was full again! Coolant reservoir tank was empty. A bit of air out of the oil cap, which means either the PCV valve is bad or it's in the beginning stages of blow-by. Absolutely no problems, they said!

Rear fender was replaced, all the mudflaps are gone. The seats are the only thing that was in better condition than the old TL. And the old one has 90k more miles! Carfax report showed 3 owners with regular service. Then it goes silent for 3 years and gets bought at an auction.

They wanted >$3000 for this total junker. Since I have a parts car, I could fix it up pretty good, but that is a lot of work. I would need to talk them down quite a bit.

Will have to look at the 03 TL-S now.