Wrecked the 1996 Camaro SS
 

Hey gang...it happened after owning the car for 8 years. I've had a few little mishaps that weren't my fault (lady backing into me at Walmart, someone sideswiping me, lady backing into me at a gas station, brother backing into me), but this one is finally mine.

Long story short, my buddy and I were coming home and driving down a two lane freeway. The freeway came to a stoplight and when we tried to stop, the brakes stopped working. We were going freeway speeds unable to stop so to keep from rear ending cars at the light, we had to swerve and go over several curbs before spining through the intersection and jumping a few more curves. Luckily neither one of us had any injuries or no other cars were involved.

I'm almost certain that she will be totaled out...14 year old car with 150,000 miles on it. The engine still starts. Not sure about the transmission though.

From what I can see, the damage is pretty much this:

-All 4 tires and wheels are gone
-Right rear tire has broken off the axle
-Rear axle will need replacement
-Probably all four corners need complete new suspension
-Passenger window busted out
-Severe exhaust damage (pretty much gone)
-Severe quarter panel damage to passenger side
-Bad quarter panel damage to drivers side
-Bad wheel well damage to front drivers side
-Front and rear bumpers will need either replacement or repair


I really can't tell if the frame has been tweaked or not. The doors seem to be misaligned but that may be due to the quarter panels being bent into them.

I just can't see myself letting this car go. It was my first car and I've taken such great care of it...can't even tell you how many hours I've spent washing and Zainoing it....how many hours of general maintenance, countless passes down the track.

I'm still waiting on the insurance company to give an estimate, but I can't imagine that it would be worth more than $5k to 6k.

Anyone had any experience with running over curbs at highways speeds? I want to rebuild it. Am I being nuts right now? I know it would end up being a salvage title, but I would never consider reselling anyways...just to have her maybe as a track or weekend car. I just can not see her sitting in a field somewhere, rotting away, parts being taken off of her.:cry:

As long as the frame isn't screwed, she's fixable, but you are right about insurance. They'll total it out, but if you want, you can buy back and at the worst, part it out for another car. But IMO it really doesn't look that bad.

so sorry about your loss, I would have cried :bang:

I would have just just yanked the e-brake and wished for the best.. but, it doesn't look to bad.. and if you want a track car your good.. if the frame is not all bent

It doesn't look that bad at all given what you described, holy cow. From what I can tell in the pics, the body lines are still straight (looking at the hatch and quarter lines in particular), the popped t-top on the driver side is a little concern though.

I'd honestly look into trying to fix it too. And not as just a drag car, but back driving again.

If I had to guess, you lost a brake line possibly... My 98 has 159k on it now, but I recently replaced the rear line as it was all rotted out and about ready to give out.

That is beyond totaled man. Keep in mind the body panels looked messed up (and the suspension is what took the hits anyways, so image the damage under the car...)

Glad you are OK.

sorry for that :( but honestly its not that bad! you should see what my friend did to his v6 and he got it back factory looking..good luck with yours.

EDIT: sorry i just read the damages..your better off it lol just get another one. gd luck again and glad ur not injured :)

That might have worked if he'd done it slowly, not yanking it, but he didn't have time to think.

I don't think it would have done much. It was pulled but there just wasn't enough time.

Still waiting to hear from the insurance.

shes totaled, the suspension needs repair, that counts for mechanical work witch cost alot more then body work.

Now that being said, the driver 1/4 panel can probably be repaired, the passenger side 1/4 and rocker panel need to be replaced.

Buy it back and use the money to upgrade/replace your broken suspension, send your wheels off to wheels of America for repair.. they can fix just about anything.

And take the hit for the body work, if the frames got a little tweak id still fix it..

Its a Original 96 SS, shes a keeper no matter what.

But thats IMO.

good luck, I hope you keep it.

Wow very sorry to hear this happen. If you can keep it, keep it. You can restore it easy.

you could probably save it if the floor pans and the rest of the undercarriage, e.g. sills aren't completely mangled. You can buy all the replacement mechanical things on here. I'd say do it!

I had a toyota mr2 back in college that my brother drove over some boulders. destroyed the front suspension and the floor boards. we were young then so we fixed it all our selves and drove the car 12 more years :)

if they total it, you can always buy it back and part it out.
and sell me that spoiler of course. :D

sorry about the loss though man, i know how you feel.

i dunno where my post went but here i go again,
what kind of insurance do you have, statefarm uses NADA book value, the rst use kelly blue book, and ill say it again if the frame rails are bent of swayed over doesnt always mean its totaled

we can and do fix frame rails, section in new rails, its the cost of parts and the labor that will totale a car not frame damage, so many shops use, chief computerized measuring system, car-o-liner, the list goes on we can and do fix damaged frames

this also depends on the mileage of your the cost of parts and labor, and also when the car is torn down there is always more damage which can sometimes total out a car due to more parts more labor

please stop deleting my posts i did nothing wrong but tried to respond with a technical answer

Hmm..I have not deleted anyones post??

I have State Farm insurance.

I'll take the hood but i hope this car can be saved.

I wish you the same luck that I had with my insurance.. its in the shop right now. Theyre estimating 12,000 USD all said and done. I know how you feel, its like somebody died..

Nobody in here can delete posts except mods... my guess is there was a glitch and it didn't post, or you hit the post button and then either went to another webpage or closed the browser too quickly.

It is totaled...they claim they will give $6500 for it and $1400 salvage value. What to do now...

You going to buy it back?