DrewAnsel

Got in a small accident about a month ago. Two women in SUV's driving ahead of me got into a fender bender and were stopped in the middle of a road that is usually 55 with no stopping. I almost managed to stop before joining in.

The woman I hit had a giant trailer hitch. She took no visible damage, but my car got ripped up by the hitch which punctured my bumper, my grill, my hood, and was causing clear fluid to leak.

I have good insurance and they sent it to an ABRA body shop. About $5k-$6k in repairs. Things were proceeding normally and I was due to get my car back tomorrow.

Then ABRA calls today and says "We were putting the finishing touches like new battery cases and filters in your car when our mechanic thinks he found a crack in the engine block. We had it towed to the Acura dealer across the street for a second opinion."

Does engine block damage = automatic total?

Since they already did so much work on it will they try to replace the engine block? How is that done if there aren't new '03 Acura engines sitting around?

Is it possible that the damage happened during the repairs and not during the accident? Neither of the two initial appraisals discovered this problem....

Thank you.

Rpappi

doesnt mean totaled most likely not because they already started to work on it so they are in the hole alittle already. and to replace the rest of the engine wont put you that high.

KonCept

I don't think they will total it. As stated by ^ poster, work has already been done. Even with the additional expense of a replacement engine, the total parts and labor is probably still going to be less than the actual cash value of your vehicle.

fsttyms1

you could really cut the cost down if you went with a low mileage used motor as well. There is no need to go new