DU MECHANICS: advice please!

[Phillycat]

Two nights ago, I was in a car accident. I have a 2001 Toyota Corolla. I drove into the back of someone (duh).

HIS car was fine (Jeep Cherokee). Didn't even look like it was in an accident. MY car, on the other hand...was not fine.

I wish I had pictures to show you, but basically, my hood is crumpled, my bumper is falling off, both headlights are smashed and splayed out from their housings. As far as under-the-hood damage, I don't know, because the hood won't open.

The bar just under the hood (I think the radiator support?) is bent quite a bit. I do not believe i have actual frame damage, though, because his vehicle was much taller than mine and my frame is down below.

All my radiator fluid leaked out, but the car is drivable (only drove it to the auto body place, don't worry!)

Anyway, I paid $3200 for the car, and the guy is estimating $1800-$2000 for complete repair including paint. He mentioned replacing a couple of fans, the radiator support, the hood, the bumper, both headlights. He did say he would have a better idea once he could open the hood and it might be a little more or even a little less.

The car has about 70K miles on it. I think it's worth it to repair, and I think that price is reasonable. What do you think? Would I be better off getting rid of it and getting a new car?

[billyskank]

1. Sorry to hear about your accident

:hug:

[BigMcLargehuge]

2. if you like the car, and it has no frame damage...

2 grand to fix it is way cheaper than gambling on another used car, or saddling yourself with payments for a new one.

[buddhamama]

3. the year and make are a little out of my area of expertise

but all in all i think it IS a fair price and, the car is definitely worth holding onto providing it has a good service record i.e., regular oil changes,etc. 70K miles is nothing on a car nowadays and Toyota's have an excellent reputation for longevity and reliability.

edited: I am sorry about the accident and the damage done to the car but, I am happy you are OK. :hug:

[shawcomm]

4. Sorry to hear about your mishap...

It didn't overheat driving to the shop did it?

If not, and you like the car, 2 grand is a very reasonable estimate for restoration. Unless you manage to find a comparable car for that price, if I were you, I'd get the repair.

Make sure they check the front end so you don't have hidden alignment problems.

[mainegreen]

5. I vote fix it as $2k on a Toyota Corola w/70k on it will save money long term.

Those are well built cars. With repairs you totally can make it to 200k!

[Gold Metal Flake]

6. It's a toss up.

70K on a Toyota is not bad, especially if you have kept up with maintenance. It may be possible to reduce the cost somewhat by using used body parts from a local wrecking yard. Pretty much everything you need for this could be bought used, including the radiator support and fans. Non-OEM parts can be used, too, but used factory will look better in most cases. Do you know if the estimate is based on new or used parts?

You car does not have a separate frame. The body and chassis are of unit construction. It's one large assembly of stamped sheet metal parts welded together. If the suspension support stubs are not kinked it should all work out OK. If they are, then what happens next depends on the severity of the damage. Body shops have large winches that pull chassis into alignment, and this might work.

So, let's see what the body shop's final analysis is.

[PVnRT]

7. If you plan on driving it for a long time, keep it

Otherwise, you have a $5000 one-thousand dollar car that you'll end up taking a bath on.

[Phillycat]

8. I live in the city and drive about 3x a week.

I walk to work and school. It's a great city car. Does that change your thoughts?

[PVnRT]

22. This has to do with depreciation, really

Hence my comment about keeping it around for a while. If you're keeping it for years, it's not going to be worth dick at the end anyway, so you might as well do what you have to to keep it going. Otherwise, it's not worth it, although in it's present state it might not be worth more than scrap anyway.

If you drive it that little, it should be easy to keep running. I'd fix it and just keep it on hand for years.

[trof]

9. Whose $2 grand? Yours, or insurance company's?

I'd find out what the car would bring as is.
The insurance company may "total" it.
Sometimes you can get the money AND the car.
Might be worth checking into.

[Phillycat]

10. Mine. I'm not going through insurance.

I only have liability insurance.

[trof]

11. Sorry. Probably best to repair it.

[Phillycat]

12. Thanks Trof. And thanks to all for advice! I really appreciate it.

I hate being a helpless girl when it comes to cars.

[lildreamer316]

13. Janesez--

a quick way to determine if a car is worth the fix, is to look at the resale value, or some call it the blue book value of the car. I go by word of mouth also. In other words, what do you think you could get for the car as a trade-in, or if you sell it outright? (which are two different prices) For example, I have the same situation as you a bit--husband wrecked our Buick Le Sabre when we only had liability. It was a serious crash--75 mph; but it is repairable. IF the frame is not tweaked, and I repaired the car, I could probably get @$3500 for it--when blue book is @$6500-$7000 if it was NOT involved in such a crash(and with the low mileage it had). However, it would cost about $3000 to fix it..so the car is really not worth fixing for me. I would do better to take what I can get for it wrecked (probably about $800-1000).
Just read up and be knowledgable about your particular car. A good barometer is what cars like yours are selling for on average from private owners in the classifieds and Auto Trader. Toyotas and Hondas of course do have a slightly higher cost to fix, but have a much more consistant resale value depending on the model. I think the above advice is good-go ahead and fix the car for that estimate; just be aware that in any future transactions with the car you will have to admit to a front-end crash; and expect that to devalue your car by @ 30-40 percent.
Good luck!

[jobycom]

14. Ask yourself what kind of car you'd get for $2000, minus the couple hundred

you'd get for selling your current wrecked car. Figure about $2500, look at the market, see what you'd get for that sum. If you like your Corolla better, get it fixed. You might want to factor in a little more cash, though. See if he's replacing tie rods and other front-end stuff. If anything is bent under there, you'll go through tires twice as fast, and add to your cost.

Also, remember, when it's fixed, it will still be a wrecked car, so if you go to sell it later, you'll get less for it. So if you don't plan to drive it the next couple of years, you might want to bail out now. Otherwise, keep it.

[LSK]

15. did you drive it after the accident???

If it overheated then the engine could have been damaged.

[Phillycat]

16. Only about a mile, and under 20mph.

And the radiator was already leaking, so we knew to keep an eye on the temp. Thanks!

[LSK]

17. ok, as long as you kept an eye on the temp, that should be ok

[flvegan]

18. Get a FULL estimate.

Once you agree to $2k, you're in. THEN, he opens the hood. Now the radiator needs to be replaced (the fans are usually on the engine side of the radiator) as do the lower supports and hoses. Also under the hood, come to find out, your air intake box and mass-air (or whatever) sensor are crunched too. Oh, and where the fenders meet the bumper, yeah, that's bent as well. Either labor to fix or parts to replace...

See what I'm saying? Get a FULL written estimate of what the entire cost will be, plus down time (will you need a rental car?), and then get a second opinion.

[pdx_prog]

19. Did you have many problems with it before the accident?

If not, then 2K is worth the money. You will have more in it than it is worth but if it's dependable you can drive it for another few years.

:hi:

[Phillycat]

21. No, no problems.

I think I will get it repaired. I'm really not in the market for a new car, and for as much as I drive (maybe 3x/week) it's reliable cheap transportation - good on gas too.

Thanks! :hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

20. Oh no! I'm so sorry janesez! But happy it was the car, not you.

In my experience. Only one, one car smash (I lost a battle with a yellow pole) and the car was never the same, even after the repairs. Good luck whatever you decide to do. :hug:

[jmowreader]

23. If you're replacing fans, you're changing the radiator too

I'm going to be a contrarian here: put an ad in the paper: "2001 Toyota Corolla. Wrecked, for parts only. Many good parts including engine and transmission. $1000 OBO."

You'll probably get about $750 for the wrecked car. A lot of independent import repair shops will buy wrecks, remove the parts they want--mainly the engine, transmission, steering gear and brakes--then sell the rest of the car to a junkyard.

You could get even more for it if you were to go to Office Depot, buy a shitload of boxes, remove the expensive parts from the car yourself, clean them and sell them. Expensive parts: starter, alternator, engine longblock, transaxle, drive axles, brake calipers. Unless you already have lots of tools, lots of shop space and lots of time and you already know how to take a car apart, sell it intact.

You then take the $2000 you were going to pay to repair the wrecked Corolla, add the $750 you got from selling it, and buy another Corolla in the 1999-2001 model year range--one that hasn't ever been in a front-end collision.

[brentspeak]

24. My mini-van collided into a deer, destroying the front end completely

(also destroying the deer, too -- poor thing decided to skip across the highway at exactly the wrong moment)

Anyway, because I didn't have natural disaster/theft insurance coverage (just basic insurance coverage), I had to pay $3,000 out of my own pocket to have the van fixed.

I should have just bought a decent used car and gotten rid of the van: Even though the van was supposedly "repaired", there were countless leaks, electical problems, you-name-it from there on out.

Bottom line: if a car is sufficiently damaged, it will never be sufficiently fixed, no matter how much money you put into it.