yak

iTrader: (15)

Well I hate to sound like a ******** ere but I had my formula in the shop today getting an estimate. I was hit on saturday by a pickup moving about 15 mph the truck smacked my passanger fender and door. One shop told me it was gonna be 4k and the other shop (the one I ended up using because one of their guys has a TA with 400rwhp and i trust this guy) said that its 4k + allignment stuff and a whole new front suspension cuz one of my wheels is tilted in now. plus all the reinforcing bars in the front and the door. so he says im looking at almost 6k in repairs. Hope everyhting works out for you, just giving you the heads up on how much it sux to fix these cars.

Clipper

More than likely it's totaled. In a crash such as this, where theres rotation involved, and an impact at both ends, your frame is most likely tweaked. Often, the best course of action in this situation (if you have the means) is to buy it back, and part it out. A buddy of mine had an incident nearly identical to yours, but only smashed the rear (spun around and collided with a guard rail *** first). The car was totaled, but he did buy it back and is now entering the long, tedious process of putting her back into shape. If you buy it back, there are a couple of things to be aware of. First, it's only economically feasible to fix the car if you're going to do it yourself. Second, with a salvage title, it will never be worth anything for resale, even restored to perfect condition. Might be a good opportunity to build a ground up race car though.

Frosty

iTrader: (17)

No offense to some people but stop getting him all worked up that his car might be totaled. Even if the frame IS tweaked it doesn't automatically total the damn thing.

WS6 Kid

iTrader: (1)

Clipper

Most insurance companies don't even bother with the rest of the estimate if the frame is bent, even if it's only a few hundred bucks to straighten (I was an adjuster for 5 years). I know there's some more members here in the insurance industry, perhaps they'll chime in.

Frosty

iTrader: (17)

I work in the industry and I've NEVER come across that, EVER. You know how easy it is to "tweek" the frame? Hell, damage to the core support can require time on the frame rack. Not sure what fucked up insurance company you worked for(no offense) but they obviously don't have the first clue on what it takes to repair a vehicle. People get all worried when they hear frame damage but in reality a good shop will fix the car and get her back to normal. This car doesn't sound BLASTED as if it took a shot from an 18-wheeler or something..

Also, we have no pics...it sounds like his rad support is toast but that's no big deal at all. Ever see the lower rails on our cars? They're ******* huge and beefy.

Frosty

iTrader: (17)

Sucks you're up there, I would've looked at the car for you down here since I live right outside the city

IrateTA

iTrader: (4)

Oh well - I figured my insurance company would have given me more gruff if the car was in a higher-rate area than my permanent address.

Anyways - thanks for the kind (and not so kind) words. I'm hoping to hell that its not totalled. The front hit pretty hard at an angle, so frame damage is a big concern of mine. It seems like whenever people have cars w/ past frame damage, its never the same again...

Ant's-WS6

That sucks!! Sorry to hear it man! Hope it turns out okay.

Ant

WS6T/A98

I dont think it will be totaled from the way you describe the damage. If the engine is intact, then i say the frame is okay. By the way Rob, did this happen with the traction on or off?

IrateTA

iTrader: (4)

It doesn't have traction control and I let off the gas about half way when it started sliding... thinking back, I think if I had let off all the way and just hit the brakes to spin the back end around, maybe I could have had just one end damaged and not both... meh.

IrateTA

iTrader: (4)

Well, I just heard from the adjuster from Geico (man they were quick)...

The car is NOT totalled... its going to cost about $9500 to fix, to include but not limited to a little "frame sway". The good news: the affected part of the frame is in front of the radiator support only. Now starts the process...

97bowtie

iTrader: (1)

Good to hear. To bring some optimism to this thread, my '97 Z28 was rearended while parked. The guy hit the car going ~ 40 mph. My car flew ~ 25 feet and landed sideways in the middle of the street. Pretty much the whole back half of the car had to be replaced, including cutting the frame rails and welding new sections of the frame in. The frame was tweaked pretty good. I was surprised how well the car drove when I got it back. Actually drove better than before it was wrecked. The frame/suspension was in perfect alignment when I got the car back. Hope you have a similar experience.

SLP CARS '98

iTrader: (1)

I agree with you 100%, Frosty. It doesn't take much at all to damage the frame on an F-body. You have to remember it is a unit body structure. Depending on insurance companies each total vehicles at different standards. Some will total a car if it costs 100% of the vehicles value to repair and some are 80%. Some are 120%. Some have other standards. Frame damage is not a big deal. If you bring your car to a shop that knows what they're doing they will put the car on a frame rack and pull it so it is back into factory specs. Frame straightening is required on cars all the time. Most people don't even know there car was on a frame rack after getting it back from a body shop. Sometimes you'll see clamp marks from the frame rack clamping onto the frame rails but that can easily be covered up with undercoating.

IrateTA

iTrader: (4)

I'm pretty confident this place will live up to their good name. I just spent about an hour on the phone with the manager of the body shop. They happen to have one of the best reputations in the greater area... They use a laser rack and often get the frame back to better-than factory specs. When the process is done, they make a printout of every spec for your reference (to keep with the car).

2kt/a

iTrader: (1)

Glad to hear your car will be getting fixed. I just got mine back from an incedent with a tree( N.E Roads) 12k later you wouldn't even know it was in an accident. I think you'll be alright. Be forewarned, it's liable to be a while. Being a Firehawk, I had problems getting a hood, and headlights are a little scarce right now, from what I understand. But be patient and in the long run, you'll be alright.

SLP CARS '98

iTrader: (1)

Laser racks are real nice. I haven't worked with them to much but I know how perfect they are. Don't worry about anything. I'm sure the car will look very good when it's done. Anyone that says it might feel different after having frame damage is wrong. If the car is repaired properly you'll never know the frame was repaired.

ONLY 231

iTrader: (5)

If your frame is ok, they won't total your car.

Frosty

iTrader: (17)

Glad to hear it man!!! If you need anything just PM me

I ran a quick estimate on my system today "assuming" the lower rail and quarter panel had to be replaced(big ticket items) and still only came to around 12K. Your car is worth around 22-23K(give or take) so it's gonna take A LOT to total it.

DrivenWS6

iTrader: (1)

Hey sorry to hear about your car and i know and have worked around the whole rebuilding process before and one of my good friends owns a shop that rebuilds wrecked cars and sells them. Anyways by the way it sounds you might just be better off buying a front clip which will have all of your front parts for you. It will have your bumper, all of your radiator parts and hood and so on. You can usually get a whole clip for like 3-4k. But by the way it sounds you have a really nice car and im sure your gonna want to use all new parts. And im sure whoever you have fixing your car knows a lot more than I do. But i just thought id throw it out there for ya. -Ben-