MrNizzles

iTrader: (5)

Thanksgiving is great for turkey & gravy and watching football... and of course the few morons out there who manage to let the excess tryptophan put them to sleep so they can bash into my car and damage the drivers side door including the undercarriage (portion of the unibody). Basically a nice fat vertical gash from the drivers side mirror all the way down to the bottom, past the door. Inside the car, the gas tank and hatch lever have moved about 3 inches inward.

This is obvious damage to the unibody and I'm just wondering if anyone has experience with how well this can be repaired, what the costs and results were? I'm trying to get more info and a few quotes. Insurance should cover and police are looking for a white lowered chevy pickup with tinted windows. Witness saw/heard accident but didn't get a license plate. I guess that's what I get for parking away from other cars, leaving more room for someone to bash into mine ???

stories for Holiday mishaps are appreciated so I don't feel so bad.

BOOSTscoop

idk jack **** about frame damage.. but i think this is something thats going to just have to be patched up, idk if it can actually be fixed.... did you file an insurance claim? i just read an article on the basis for a car being totalled, and id say this is going to cost you a lot more then the "surface" cost you are looking at. mind you im drunk, so my advice probably sucks. can I see pictures tho? please..

RotaryDreamz

iTrader: (29)

Wow, that truely sucks!! Do you have any pictures? I am in the same boat as you. I've got damage to the passenger side all the way to the undercarriage. My door won't even line up. Good Luck!

MrNizzles

iTrader: (5)

what happened RotaryDreamz? Someone hit you too?

OneRotor

iTrader: (3)

If your car was sitting and someone hit it, provided you have comprehensive coverage, the insurance company *should* pay for repairs, provided it can be repaired. TurboJeff did a complete rebuild on a CYM FD a few years back that had substantial damage to it.

RotaryDreamz

iTrader: (29)

Tried to avoid a crash in the rain. My car spun and i hit the center island, my car got a little air in the rear end and landed on the island, messing up the underbody of the passenger side. My car then ended up facing on-coming traffic. Luckily, i didn't hit anybody else. Now my passenger door won't align and my passenger seat will not adjust anymore. I also totally messed up my underpants!!

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

Are you sure it won't be a total?

MrNizzles

iTrader: (5)

Doesn't really matter what the Insurance says, total or not. I will get it fixed either way. If it is a total, I will buy it back and use the money to fix it. I'm keeping this car, especially after all the work I had done to it (gasp!) for driving at the track and auto cross stuff. 6k on new motor, new BNR's and rebuilt tranny !!! ... or maybe I should just pull the goodies and drop them in a another FD that needs a rebuild ?? Another vr with black interior instead of tan? hmmmm but mine has a 5 point roll cage that will be a bizznitch to remove!

Mostly I just want to be more educated about the technical info on the repair work itself, whats involved so that if it is a total and I need to shop around for places to work on it, I know what to ask and don't sound like a newb.

BC-FD3S

iTrader: (2)

Anything is repairable. It comes down to how much money you want to spend. I have a friend who works at Kirmac collision here in BC, and I've seen some PRETTY messed up cars get fixed.

It will most likely need some time on a frame straighter machine, and a few donor parts from another FD (like your door sill) because they are really hard to repair.

Take it in for an estimate. If you were hit by someone else, can't you claim a hit and run?

My word of advice is to do a walk up and down your neighbour hood every day for a week or two and keep an eye out for a car that has damage and paint transfer from your car.

Then call the police... and insurance company can take two cars, do some measuring and voodoo **** and be able to tell you who hit who and from what direction. It's pretty cool (my dad works for ICBC, our one and only insurance company here in BC).

BOOSTscoop

I tried to convince police i was only doing 80.. yea, needless to say they werenty that dumb, forensics is pretty advanced.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

It may look worse than it really is, but getting into the rocker to the extent you've described isn't good. And this is a 15 yr old car. Not sure how they calculate it now, but years ago there was a 70% "rule of thumb". If the repair costs exceeded 70% of the car's value, it was a total.
If it is totaled, I think policy varies on selling the cars to any private party. Some insurance companies as a matter of practice just send them to a salvage auction. Even if you're able to buy the car back it may come with a Salvage title. If it's NOT totaled, or you buy it back to have it repaired, call the local BBB office on any shop your considering. Check with friends...and once in a while you can even ask you agent where they take their personal cars. And a dealership is not necessarily the best choice. In any event, talk with the shop manager and explain your situation. Be honest and just tell him that this is "your baby" and you've never had this extensive of a repair before. Look for a clean, orderly work areas, look for modern equipment. What kind of work do they typically see? Restoration shops can do great custom work and lay paint so shiny you can shave in the reflection...but maybe not the best place to take your FD. Ask questions. Will they be subleting any of the repair out like suspension or (in your case) unibody repair? If so, that's another shop to visit. And at both places ask about what training their techs have. Modern vehicle repair is advanced now. Just as you'd expect Techs to have at least basic certifications before working on expensive and sophisticated drive-trains, Collision Repair Techicians should also come with certifications. "I-CAR" is one of the better known...at least to me. http://www.goldclass.com/index.shtml Good shops spend alot on training their employees and keeping them up to date on newer methods, materials, designs etc. They're usually pretty proud of it. If you don't see it advertised.....?