Car Hit From Rear - Now A Total

[Peabody]

HELLO, Christmas Eve some idiot ran into my car from behind and forced me into another car. His insurance has totaled my car. They said I could buy it back if I wanted to. I am not sure of the money I will get yet and the cost to buy iy back. I am the original owner of this 1990 240sx and it was in prestine condition. The interior looked brand new and the paint did not have a chip, ding or any dents. I installed a few aftermarket goodies over the last 14 years. It has a header, short shifter, HKS exhaust, Ram air intake, performance chip, and I just installed a ACT Clutch. Should I buy the car back and fix the damage or should I just sell it? I had a body man look at the car and he said it would cost at least $3400 to fix it right. I will try to post some pictures THANKS, Michael

[Peabody]

THE QUARTER DAMAGE

[Peabody]

Close UP

[Peabody]

THE WAY THE OTHER SIDED LOOKED

[97240via]

I would say buy it back (depends on how much you get parid and how much they are selling it for), then start modifying it yourself (body kit, wide fenders, blah blah blah), or just part the whole car, then you will have some money to but another car.

[nissandrift]

My mom bought a car from insurance a while ago, and they wanted 20% of the blue book value. I'd probably buy it back and fix it.

[BuudWeizErr]

Buy it back, and buy another one, swap all your old parts over, then part the other one out.

I need a passenger mirror assembly. Got one for me?

[Slider]

I'd buy it back, it's still driveable too. So you can atleast drive it till you can get another car or whatever you want to do.

[Altiman94]

I agree with Buud

[Rockenreno]

how much is insurance offering you for it?Keep in mind you could buy a s13 in really good shape for $3400 before you dump money into repairing it. If you can buy it back super cheap though, you may want to just to salvage off some of your old stuff.

Good luck man!

[Philsnotfalling]

whats the estimates bottom line say? do you have an estimate done on it from a quality body shop? Could you get one to me I can tell you for sure if the car is worth buying back to fix or to use as a donor car. Either way... Buy It Back!!

[Peabody]

I am still waiting on Met Life. It took them 2 weeks to send someone out. When he came out to look at the car it was over 125% and he said someone will call me. I got a message Friday and they just said it was a total and they would call back. I will post the numbers ASAP. THANKS EVERYBODY

[SeVa-S13]

$3400 seems pretty steep in my experience....and you can buy a WHOLE LOT of S13 for 3400. Strip yer mods off it and take the money they give you.

[Peabody]

You cannot tell from the pictures but it looks like the exhaust hit the right rear wheel and caused it to bend out. I did not drive it home. Also, the door can open but will not close all the way because the quarter panel went forward. THANKS AGAIN

[240sxGT]

I bought my 97 240 back from insurance for $600 bucks!!!!!

[C-Kwik]

It would cost quite a bit to fix that. There is likely some frame damage. The left 1/4 panel shows buckling which suggests a lot of movement in the frame. The rear floor pan is probably toast as well. Just the 1/4 panel and rear floor pan alone is probably enough to total it. Replacing those parts requires a clot of cutting and welding. And a lot of labor hours. Not to mention the frame pull.

[Peabody]

The right side has a little buckle also. It is about 15% the damage of the left side. Not that bad I guess. I just had a local body man come over and look at the car and he said at least $3500 to fix it. Once I find out how much I will get from the insurance I will decide what to do. I just got a new set of mats that I had made 2 days before the hit. They make the interior look brand new.

[Silent Drifter]

How much for the floor mats!!!

[Peabody]

I got them made from GG Bailey and they cost $115 for all four. If I do not buy the car back I will take them out and sell them.

[Camel]

Buy it back, part it out, buy another s13 to put your goodies on. I wouldn't bother fixing this one. the repairs will far out weigh the cost of the car and you will never be able to sell it b/c of the frame damage.

[Philsnotfalling]

the frame pull should only be a few hours. usually I get 1.5 tie down and at the most seven or eight hours frame time to straighten a unibody hit that lightly. Thats what you should expect, and no its not that hard if you know what you're doing. I would like to see an estimate from a qualified body shop

[240sxgirl]

I just bought a 240 with damage similar to your car except the rear quarter isnt bent. The damage is such an easy fix anyone can do it. On my car jsut the trunk pan got dented which doesnt affect anything at all but I am oging to cut it out with a plasma cutter and then weld in a different trunk pan. Then all it needs is a new rear bumper assembly. It is alot easier fix than my other 240 which I bought with major front end damage.

[Philsnotfalling]

240sxgirla plasma cutter isn't nessecary to cut out a floor pan unless its done wrong. take the time and grind or drill out all of the spot welds. And then reweld all of those spot welds once you put the new floor pan in. This is part of the structure on a unibody car, if you do this wrong then the structure is very weak. If the floor is buckled then look at your door gaps also look for any small buckles at all in the quarters. If you have any they could be pulled and hammered out with a body pull. What about the rear body panel? Is that bent in? It does go between the rear bumper and the floor pan. And front end damage is always easier than rearend damage. Give me a core support rather than a rear body panel anyday.

[Tweaky_Tom]

Hey bro, at least the guy has insurance. AND you didn't get hurt.Now you can have a cool avatar like me. SEE <-----------

[240sxgirl]

Actually I think my 240 wit the front end was more work as we had to cut out the damage on the core support and reweld in a new part of a core support of a donor car and then have the car all straightened out which cost me a grand. The new 240 with back end damage is very minimal it wouldnt even need to be fixed at all but I woul rather make my own new trunk pan and then put in a fuel cell while I am at it. If there wasnt a spare tire in the 240 when it got hit i nthe rear the damage would have been real bad but the damage only affected the rear bumper and not the hatch or anything else.

[Philsnotfalling]

ok but I only do this for a living... core support is easy... floor pan done CORRECTLY, not butchered, is hard.

[Peabody]

Hey Everybody, I had to get a new computer so I have been away.Anyway, I am now getting $3150 for the car and will fix it. I am the original owner and want to keep my car. I found a nice body man that loves 240's and he will work with me to get the repair cost down. I have a HKS exhaust that I got back in 93 that is damaged and needs to be replaced. It looked like the stock exhaust with the chrome split tips. Everything from the header to the resonater is fine, I just need the last section with the muffler. Can I get just that part or do I need a new exhaust system. I cannot find it anywhere. I checked some prices and it seems like all new systems are over $500. I really do not want to spend that much money. Does anybody have any suggestions or maybe an exhaust they want to sell.THANKS, PEABODY

[BoyWonder]

Sorry to thread hijack, but..Philsnotfalling, could you send me an email? I have a question for you. My Email address is [email protected]