Is this damage fixable ?

[dietsprite]

Yesterday my Qx4 was invlolved in a collision with a school bus, a school bus ram into the rear left and central part of the car when he was turning from a nearby school to the street road. It was clearly the school bus driver's fault. Now, the damage was significant I'll save the descripiton of the damage and post few pictures (if i can figure out how)

I live inToronto, Canada and I just purchased the infiniti Qx4(1999.5 model) on February 21,2012 it had 218,000 km on it as of yesterday and in very good mechanical condition,with some visible wear and tear on the exterior paint in some places. I estimated that my car's market value is from $4200-$5000. I'm concerned that the insurance company would declare a total loss on the car and reimburse me on the car's worth. I bought the care at a discount from my mechanic friend for $3500. I prefer that the car will get fixed and not for total loss because I really got good deal on that car(I really liked it too) and wouldn't likely find anything good for $4000+.

Does anyone here had a similiar experience before, I need some advice about what to do now...How bad is the damage ? and what could it cost me to repair it with a reasonable quality and if not how can I get the most out of the insurance total loss claim.

[Ron Burgundy]

Meh, it doesn't look terrible.

You'll need a new rear window, possibly a new rear hatch all together, a new rear bumper cover (and possibly a rear bumper if its damaged) a new rear drivers side tail light, some paint and body work and you should be up and running!

Your biggest concern would be whether or not there is any frame damage. A little tough to tell from the pics, but it seems as though your bumper and body did their job.

Glad no one was hurt!

[Innovazn]

Buy my pathfinder and put your engine into it XD just kidding...

[Towncivilian]

I had very similar damage, but not as severe.



New rear door from junkyard for $50, repainted with a couple buddies, a Bondo job at MAACO and it looks decent now. Just needs some more paint.

[dietsprite]

Wow $50 is dirty chip for a major body part I don't think I can find anything close to that price...not in Canada anyway. So what would be a probable cost to repair it, over / under $4000 in a quality body shop. Is it the insurer adjuster who determines it?

[Densetsu]

For this accident, I was initially quoted at $1700 for replacing the bumper and small plastic piece that holds the mudflap, and a repaint of the new parts. After the initial quote, they added on repairs and a repaint of the rear hatch, which brought it up to $2700. I thought it was unnecessary -- I didn't see any damage to the hatch, and it worked fine. I'm sure they added it on because (a) it'd be nice to have some feathering on the hatch to help the new bumper paint blend in and (b) the other guy's insurance was paying for everything anyways.

In the end, it was $900 for parts, $500 for parts installation, and $1100 for paint and painting labour. A detail job and taxes made up the rest.

In your case, though, there is also damage to the hatch and the rear quarter panel. Having a shop replace the hatch, repair the rear quarter panel, and paint won't be cheap. You can try and scout out parts yourself to reduce the cost... but here in Alberta, the $4k mark would seem easy to hit IMO.

I'll also mention that in Alberta, the oilfield jobs in Alberta give people lots of money, and services here inflate their prices because of it. Most members will probably think my shop's charges are insane, but that's consistent with other body shops here in Edmonton. On the flip side, auto shops in the U.S. are cheap compared to the average Canadian shop. Repairs in Ontario will probably cost more than what the U.S. members will quote, but less than my Albertan experience.

Or, you could pull a Towncivilian and acquire the parts yourself and paint too. Most people -- myself included -- aren't that adventurous. Parts I can handle, but I've screwed up paint before, so I won't try that again.

[zach7685]

It Should be fix able . Mine was totaled a while ago but the damage was more sever.