i totaled my Trans Am yesterday. Need Advice. (pics)
01-05-2009, 09:31 PM
#61
Looks totally fixable man. However, the insurance company will probably total the car just because it's an 11 year old car and to be honest not worth much money to start with. These cars aren't exactly valuable these days. I would most definitely buy it back and take care of the repairs yourself. Shouldn't be too bad from the looks of it unless there is something that we can't see there.
Also, the insurance company will not replace that car for you. They will give you market value, which probably won't be too much. You'll be spending more than a couple thousand to pick up a vette or a newer low mile T/A.
Also, the insurance company will not replace that car for you. They will give you market value, which probably won't be too much. You'll be spending more than a couple thousand to pick up a vette or a newer low mile T/A.
01-06-2009, 02:55 AM
#63
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Update: More pics here and at the first post so we went to the storage place today to get our personal belongings that were in the car and snapped some more for you all to investigate. however, sorry we brought a digital camera to snap better **** than this iphone quality, but we can't find the chord that connects the camera to the laptop. so whatever. hope this helps fellas. and thanks so far. im going to take more pics in the morning when the adjuster goes over to check her out. my gf took these from my iphone and i was using the digital camera. as you can see in the last photo me on the right with a pink digital camera, i was on a mission to snap some photos under the hood. i took plenty, but we dont got the chord! im gonna use my iphone camera this time.
Last edited by transamsrock; 01-06-2009 at 03:11 AM.
01-06-2009, 12:00 PM
#67
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A buddy of mine rear ended a truck in his Z28 a long while back, damage looked similar, insurance called it totaled (motor was almost a complete loss) what did he go and do? buy all the body parts that where damaged, found a junk yard Vette and dropped that LS1 in it -_- now his Z is faster than my T/a for some reason.
01-06-2009, 12:36 PM
#68
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A lot of the cost is labor, so unless you can do bunch of the work yourself or have a friend etc. who can do the work for you really cheap, it could still get quite expensive.
I had a 95 TA a few years ago with similar damage (a bit more towards the passenger side) and just a preliminary estimate was more than $8K at the local GM body shop. Mostly due to airbags.
01-07-2009, 01:32 PM
#73
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if i part it out, what parts would get me the most money and how much are they? or how much could i sell her as a whole as is? (new pics at the first post btw)
guys, wanna make me some offers?
guys, wanna make me some offers?
01-07-2009, 01:42 PM
#74
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I would definitely buy it back for $800 no reason not to if the motor is solid thats an easy $1200-1500 and the trans is an extra 3-500 and at the worst possible and parting everything out you should still be able to make around 2K extra
01-07-2009, 02:01 PM
#75
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You will definetely get more money by parting it out, but if you don't have the time or the place to do that and decide to sell it as is, you should still get 3K+ out of it.
01-07-2009, 02:06 PM
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I guess I see two routes. You can take the $10k net after getting the car back, and I would imagine for about $5k on the high side, you could get it back into shape, plus maybe even with a WS6 hood. Or you can take the $10k then part it out. I see about $3-3.5k for the drivetrain, maybe $1500 for the interior if it's in very good shape, plus about $2k for misc body parts. So that would leave you with at least $15-17k towards another car.
And no real hurry... I just said what I did because that's not a bad deal at all... no need to really think about it, take the money, and the car. Can't lose.
And no real hurry... I just said what I did because that's not a bad deal at all... no need to really think about it, take the money, and the car. Can't lose.
01-07-2009, 02:12 PM
#77
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This is a no brainer. After buying it back you could sell it has a whole for say 2 grand and go shopping. You should have close to 13,000 to buy another one. Unless you have the place and knowledge and value of each part just sell it has a whole. I have parted out a few cars and it is a pain in the butt.
01-07-2009, 02:21 PM
#78
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Exactly! 
I have parted out one car (not a wrecked one) and removing parts, keeping inventory of what is available, finding buyers, agreeing on deals, keeping track of payments, packing parts, shipping them, tracking shipments, dealing with people who supposedly didn't receive what was agreed etc. etc. etc. is quite time consuming.
Hence the last time I dealt with a totalled car (my 95 TA three years ago), I sold it on Ebay and was done with it.
Like mentioned here already, though, you should get more money by parting out, but be prepared to work for it.
I have parted out one car (not a wrecked one) and removing parts, keeping inventory of what is available, finding buyers, agreeing on deals, keeping track of payments, packing parts, shipping them, tracking shipments, dealing with people who supposedly didn't receive what was agreed etc. etc. etc. is quite time consuming.Hence the last time I dealt with a totalled car (my 95 TA three years ago), I sold it on Ebay and was done with it.
Like mentioned here already, though, you should get more money by parting out, but be prepared to work for it.
01-07-2009, 03:19 PM
#79
BUY IT BACK NOW
for $8xx that's stupid NOT to. As sit's you could sell it to a salvage yard for around $5k that car is still worth alot in parts. OR you could take the car back. use your check to fix it(find the best deals you can) and have a shop paint it. Then take the other $7k and do what you want with it
for $8xx that's stupid NOT to. As sit's you could sell it to a salvage yard for around $5k that car is still worth alot in parts. OR you could take the car back. use your check to fix it(find the best deals you can) and have a shop paint it. Then take the other $7k and do what you want with it
01-07-2009, 03:56 PM
#80
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Damn man thats more then I got for mine!!! Buy it back and part it out. Wasn't really fixable like yours is tho. I got Less then 10K for mine and buy back was $1870. I did my first round of parts and made $2340, but that is because I had alot of aftermarket stuff on it. Its a no brainer at least buy it back, then you have time to think about what you want to do with it. PS. For everyday it sits there at the body shop most charge a storage fee.