Mr.37

After driving 4 years on snowy roads in winter season today unfortunately I hit my car into a pole. I love my TL, this car never gave me any big issues other than random RPM spikes once a while. Everything was good in it ... till today.
I wasn't very far from my house so I drove it back after the accident and it seemed like it was running fine.

Now my question is ... What would be the best thing to do !
Should I take to a body shop and let them take care of it or buy the parts and let them paint and install them ? I found few parts on e-bay but I have NO IDEA if they are legit and would be okay to install !!!

The thing is since this car has 176K miles on it, I don't wanna spend a lot of money, as I was saving for a 07-08 TL.

Please throw any ideas, thanks.

cdn_rider

no better time than to look for an 02-03 front clip.

Es617

if you want the 3g tl claim it to the insurance let them pay you for it. and buy the new one. Or just sell this one as is and put your money together. Ive learned sometimes no matter how much we love a car . If your already thinking of another its best to just let it go. This could be a blessing in disguise

Mr.37

I wish I could do that ... since it's an old car I only had liability on it. So I will have to fix everything now out of pocket. I just wanna fix, drive it a year and then sell it and get a 3G.

Mr.37

Okay I just talked with a shop and the guy said that the parts that I found on e-bay aren't good by looking at the pictures. He said he will replace and paint better quality Fender, Bumper and light for about 1000-1200 bucks ... What do you guys think ?

Stephen00TL

Looks like your going to need a new front bumper, headlight passenger, hood and fender. If you keep it I would switch to the 02-03 front end if you like it better. I would take it to a shop but it really depends in if your going to pay for it out of pocket or through insurance. If you can do the work I would do as much of it as I can.

Mr.37

It's out of Pocket and I just want it to be fixed enough to look Okay so I can drive it for a year an then sell it.

Stephen00TL

Start checking junkyards and eBay then

ArthurL

iTrader: (4)

+1 on the 02-03 front clip.

03tLsNBP

iTrader: (9)

I would honestly go through insurance. I have made a few different claims in the past and my insurance hasn't increased. I have Liberty Mutual and I think accident forgiveness as well.

3.2TLc

Hey Mr.37, it appears as though your hood is repairable according to your shop guy ? If he were to sweeten the pot.....and put on an '02>'03 front clip, I'd say go with it !

But, if you were to be able to find '99>'01 parts at a reasonable package price at your local salvage yard....say $300, then just put them on yourself and pay someone $400 to paint the fender, hood and bumper. Maybe take it to Maaco for a quickie PJ !!!

Tuggernaut

I dont know where you are, but theres a place in Toronto, ON called JDM Engine Land and they are basically a salvage yard that gets old busted up hondas from Japan sent here to sell the parts. That's where I got my 02-03 headlights. Anyway, you're porbably in the US like most people on here, but maybe check around for a place like this near you? Or just a regular salvage yard. This place I'm talking about sells a JDM front end (99-01 or 02-03) for around $500-700. Which is obv cheaper than what you were quoted. If you can find something like this in wdp then your golden.

The other thing is, what about whats behind the plastic? chances are your washer fluid tank is probably destroyed, no?

All in all, parts are cheap. Labor and PAINT is expensive. So try to minimize those as much as possible.

Mahusay3g

Lets call the repair 1200 bucks if that shop did that work. Strong possibility there's some frame damage. If there is then the price seems about right, steep, but right. Take off the fender, bumper and headlight and then post pics. It's literally 300 bucks in parts here in california. A reputable shop can do the work half what you're being told.

AcraAdi93

Your car your call. It did you good and for an Acura thats good. My TL-S was in an accident before and was fixed up and drives like new