AC415

so my brother was driving our 01 TL and got hit on the side by an 83 year old lady because the lady (probably) ran a stop. the car's door is completely damaged along with the wheel because the tire is now tilted at an angle. also, the trunk is misaligned because of the collision and the driver's side airbag was deployed. i'm pretty sure the insurance will cover everything and so i'm wondering approximately how much an autoshop would quote to fix everything and whether i should repair it or use the money towards another car. ideas? any help is appreciate. merry christmas!!


ouch

TLin401

See how much it will cost to get repaired and then go from there.

If it isn't too much then you could even buy it back from the insurance company and then use that money to fix it and even pocket some if you can.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

I was thinking easy door skin and control arm until you said the trunk was off... that worries me that the car will never be the same.

Get a couple of good body shops to look at it.

AC415

sorry i'm a noob with insurance stuff but from what i'm reading the insurance company will buy the car from me? any idea around how much $ we're talking about here? haha thanks for the advice though!

hANDYcaptd

iTrader: (5)

Wow...that sucks. Almost the same exact type of accident happened to me before Thanksgiving. Less damage though.

A dealer body shop quoted me for about $3100 for new door and repaired quarter panel. That doesn't include any mechanical work though. But since you said the wheel is at an angle, it may be a lot more.

TLin401

Something like that.

My parents have gotten in a few accidents and what they did with a couple cars was, they got the money from the insurance company for the car and then bought it back.

After they bought it back, they used some of the money to fix the car and then they got a couple/few hundred bucks in their pockets.

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

almost positive its a total. insurance will give u what the car stands at right now. mileage, body condition, year all play a role.

air bag, srs computer, paint are gonna be the expensive ones. dont know how sever the suspension is.

AC415

so on top of what the car stands at right now they are also going to add in the price of fixing other problems such as airbag, srs computer, paint, etc?

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

no. they give u what the cars value is at if u were to buy one at a dealership, everything in working and good condition.

AC415

ohhh i get it. hmm... an 01'er with 165,xxx miles on the odometer, i wonder how much i can get for that. haha

TLin401

Probably $3000-$4000.

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

5k would be my guess

JterrorC

iTrader: (1)

wth....anyone seen the southpark show ...lol...when they try to ban old ppl license....they need a new test at age 70 80 n 90....or somshyt like that

fsttyms1

WHY DO PEOPLE SAY THIS CRAP? If its a good body shop NO ONE would ever know and the car would be just like it was before it.

JDM Inspired

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

yup. couldnt tell that my tl or cl were ever in a accident. have no problems with any of them

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

even a really good body shop will not be able to get a totally smashed up car to "like new" condition,

but for the most part on his car, it looks to be mostly just bolt on parts, except for the rear quarter panel/wheelweel, which does not seem to be that smashed in, so the damage would not be that deep (basically isolated to that panel or so)

fsttyms1

Bull shit.
What is with this mentality?


Have you ever gone thru a auto body class? I have. I spent 4 years taking different various levels of welding, frame, paint/body classes. If the shop is a reputable shop the work will be flawless and every bit as good as new (and in some cases better. The unit body panels on todays cars are designed to be replaced and replaced easily.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

so what happens when the whole body is tweaked/twisted???

yes there is a frame rack, but then that will just be twisting the body again, and even some panels may not even go straight again

and some panel are not so easy to replace ethier, there is alot of work to even get to them (like front framerails with the engine more then likely having to come out), or what happens when the firewall gets tweaked (engine plus whole dashboard and such)
like i have seen a 2-3 year old FJ Cruiser totaled out before, cause when it got hit, it was in the driver side A-piller/firewall, and i am pretty sure the other car did not even touch the frame ethier, but may have been bent just from the sheer impact hitting the firewall, idk

and are you saying you should fix a hyandai (sp?) or kia, where they are basically through away cars

and yes given enough time and money, you can get a car to like new, but you could easily exceed the value of the car 2-3 times or more, so not really worth it

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

that why ppl buy parts cars, i do that. cheaper that way. i know many ppl that buy a wrecked car, and then buy a completely f'ed up car but, so it has what they need. cheaper that way. and im not talking about cutting the frame in half and welding it onto another car.

fsttyms1

It wont be twisting the body again, it will be pulling things into alignment to replace panels.(hence why they are called unit bodies, every panel is designed to be replaced with simple spot weld drill bits. New body panels can be re-spot welded or even stronger now panel adhesive (glued) on. Dont say other wise till you have. Sure some things are easier to just "throw" away, and a accident where the motor was pushed back into the firewall with major structural damage, BUT remember increased body shop costs and ins companies are the reason for increased ins premiums from doing this to accidents like above. Peoples perception like YOURS is why every one says "oh it will never be the same" A accident like above is VERY minor and could and should be fixed to keep perfect cars from going to the salvage yards.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

and yes some sections can easily be replaced, but when you are getting into multiple panels (and more then skin deep) having to be replaced, that is where i start saying that the car won't be the same when repaired, not when it is basically isolated to a panel or two

also what can happen to the glue holding the panels together when the car is twisted back straight, it can easily put undue stress on it, and cause the glue to break and crack (so basically fail) which may not be visible or detectable at all while being repaired
also spot welds can get undue stress (fatigle) on them and such, and fail (alot less likely then glue, but has the possability)
and that is kinda the reason why i dont like any cars that have ever been on a frame rack at anypoint unless it was only for minor damage

and as i was saying before (not very clear though) is that his car should easily be fixable, with the damage itself not being too deep into the quarter panel and being isolated to that section

fsttyms1

And with this, this is your lack of knowledge on the subject. That glue is stronger than weld. the metal around it will tear before the glue cracks or lets go. Also if the car were to have damage to a section that was repaired before that is what the uni body is about. The panels get replaced. It IS easy to replace and once again NO reason why the car wont be the same after being replaced.

totaledTL

.... Seems to me it would have to judged on a per case basis, so nobody is going to be correct on this one 100% of the time- and opinions are naturally going to vary sometimes even then.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

never said i was a bodyman <(in red),
ethier way a joint failure would be bad; also what would happen if that glue joint was repaired before, and was not done properly, then the glue could easily fail then

and if only one section is damaged, then i have no problem having it repaired, it is when it starts to get into multiple sections, and where it starts getting into the "frame/structure" of the car that i have problems

btw: "uni body" means uni-tised (sp?) body, so as ONE, where the body and frame are "ONE", with no seperate frame:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocoque#Automobiles

acutee

Sure any good body shop can do it, but unless the owner is fixing his own car, and unless you are willing to pay extra out of your pocket to make it perfect. Any body shop will give you a competitive quote, and they will cut every corner to make a fat profit out of it. No body shop has the mentality in mind to make it perfect. In that business, 90% of them are greedy, and greedy can make things perfect. They will cover up anything to make it look good, once you take the car, anything you found aftward is your problem.

So, don't count on it unless it is your family's body shop.

fsttyms1

And with no knowledge of body repair then i wouldnt be going off of what ifs. What if a spot welding machine broke down and missed a few welds on a car coming off the assembly line. Same caould be said for a new car I have seen and used that glue. It would be a cold day in hell even if repaired wrong that that glue would crack and fail. I have seen it a 3 inch bead applied to 1/4 inch steel plates and the plates tore before the glue let go I know what uni-body is. Its all one, BUT all sections are "Designed" to be repaired unlike actual "frame" cars that you dont just replace a section of.


Just like every Dealer is a "Stealership" huh

dave_ramkumar

iTrader: (5)

after my accident last year i gotback 25k from my inscurance company and bought back the car for 2500 and fix it for 6500 so see if the salvage ur car and keep the rest after u get it fix i pocketd like 18000k i only paid 19k for my car..good luck man they will charge u 10% of the value if u want it back

artistotle

iTrader: (3)

^wow dude that is amazing! you got 18k plus your car back? lucky guy..most people dont get off that lucky.

so how about an update from ac415? what are they doing to your car? it seems like you already replaced it with a new tsx?

harminder247

iTrader: (1)

My car was hit same spot but worse. Since then ive got it back up and put about 7k miles on it and car is same as it was before the accident.

AC415

sorry for the late reply!

the tsx is actually the car i usually drive and the tl is my brother's (hand-me-down because he's a new driver). so an insurance guy game and checked out the car and told us to get a quote for repairing the whole car at a body shop. the repair costs are 7,000 or so whch is more than the value of the car ($5000) and because of that, we're going to let them total it and probably buy it back ASSUMING it really is going to cost 10% to buy the car back.

i'll keep you guys posted. thanks for the help.

artistotle

iTrader: (3)

You are making a big mistake...PLEASE listen to my advice, I speak from experience here.

This past summer my 01 accord was in an accident and while I find it amusing that state farm gave me a check for 6K (minus 1k deductable, meaning 5k in reality) for my accord WITHOUT totalling it, I really regret having gotten it repaired. I could have kept the 5k, parted out the car down to its nuts and bolts and made at least another 500 that way, plus parted out the mods, thats like 1k, and for 6.5k that's enough money to get yourself into a type S, or a BMW from a similar model year.

You are proposing to spend 500 bucks to buy back the totaled car, then put in your 5 grand insurance money, than another 2k cuz the labor is 7k...and all you are going to end up with is a "looks good as new" TL that still has 100,000 miles on the rest of all its other parts, and has a salvage title, which WILL make it worthless if you ever try selling it in say a few years or so. not to mention, the car will have to be in the shop for some time. for that 7.5K you can put yourself into many other cars that are the same age and with similar or better mileage on them, but with better features, depending on what traits you need. I understand your brother is a new driver but if he is into performance, or he wants to have a good platform for modding a car during high school, you could def get something like an IS300 for 7.5k.

please excuse me if the tl has a 5k-10k motor or turbo build in it, which i'm assuming it doesn't from the look and sound of things. even so you can get a used 01 tl-p for like 4k, and swap the motor back into it, and that would still be the smarter move and save you a grand or two. also my advice doesn't apply as much if your totalled 01 TL has 30,000 mileage or less. also it depends if your insurance company is okay with letting you do whatever you want with your money..you have to look into this. some companies like the one that my insurance is from, state farm, if you got in a fender bender and they gave you 2k for you to replace the bumper and hood, and you just drove around with them dented and spent 2k on a weekend in vegas, they could care less.

and yes it's possible that the true repair won't cost that much, and perhaps you could get it done for 4 grand (just saying a "what if") and break for near-even. even then, for 5 grand you can jump right into something else that's used with no downtime.

Hope you see what I'm saying. my car wasn't even totaled and I heavily regret not replacing it with something else. I was uninformed of my options at the time.

How exactly did you get your hands on a 2010 TSX? so lucky! I'm not that much older than you and I can't pull that off. I must be doing something wrong haha..

AC415

yeah you are definitely right. turns out they're giving us 8.2k and so we're in the market for another acura.

'03TL-S

iTrader: (10)

Use that money and get a 3G.