Parking Lot Carnage

[silver2k2]

So I came out to discover this last night

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From Accident</td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From Accident</td></tr></table>

Will be talking to the guys insurance tomorrow. Current value of the car is 2400 private party blue book so I am guessing I coming close to total loss on this.

[maxnix]

I doubt it and you can always talk value up by supplying records.

[silver2k2]

I have 26k in records since 1998 (previous owner did and kept everything) how far back counts?

I priced the parts800 for the door120 for the moulding600 paint300 labor?

~1500 - 1800

[Q451990]

Bastards!

I know it's a long shot, but is there a possibility of buffing out the scratches and having a paintless dent repair person push the dent out? The scratches seem to be mostly scuffs of paint from the car that hit you...

Like I said, a long shot, but it might be worth checking.

Heath

[silver2k2]

I have sent a picture to my PDR guy we will see. It pretty bad though, I dont want to buff until insurance sees it.

[Raxephon]

Sorry to see another Q damaged. The sheet metal can be worked back into place fairly easy since there are no sharp edges.Sharp edges are the coupe de grace in dent repair, the drop of the guillotine if you will.

Moulding will have to be replaced, even if straightened will not secure to the door properly/evenly ever again.

The worst part is you'll never be able to re-achieve the factory quality paint job.

[heywier427]

toilet plunger and light compound will do the trick!

get the 1800.00 from the ins. company and call it fixed.

spend the money on having a merry frickin christmas

[Romeo5k]

toilet plunger and light compound will do the trick!

get the 1800.00 from the ins. company and call it fixed.

spend the money on having a merry frickin christmas

ROFLMFAO ... And da bad part about it is, you have a point.. id be the one to do it seriously.. and pocket the rest.!

[silver2k2]

I may replace with a junkyard door. that way I keep the finish. I did that with my spoiler and looks perfect

The moulding is painted If I was going to get that painted I might as well paint the whole door

[Q451990]

I may replace with a junkyard door. that way I keep the finish. I did that with my spoiler and looks perfect

I wouldn't give up on the PDR guy yet, but if he doesn't think it will work, I think getting a junkyard door is worth a try. It's something you can do in your garage, and if it doesn't work, you're already ahead of the game and can take it in to get it painted without paying for the markup on the door and labor to install it.

I actually replaced the left front door and fender on my truck after it got hit by a moving truck - backed in to the door while open... folding it to a full 45 degrees open and bent up the door and fender.

Of course, it's a truck with a one stage white paint job - but it looks pretty good! I don't think it's visible - but it wouldn't be perfect if just that part of the truck had been painted either. I drove about 4 hours one way to pick up the door and fender, but it was the closest yard I could find with a white door and fender off of another '97 truck. http://www.car-part.com will help with your search. I would try to get the same year - since you'll have a better chance at getting paint out of the same "can" that way.

Heath

[qship96]

I may replace with a junkyard door. that way I keep the finish. I did that with my spoiler and looks perfect

The moulding is painted If I was going to get that painted I might as well paint the whole door

New molding from Infiniti comes prepainted in your color from the factory.

[silver2k2]

New molding from Infiniti comes prepainted in your color from the factory.

Wow thats good to know.

PDR guy wants 350 to do it plus 115 for the moulding

looks like junk yard door is the way to go if it can be found. I will need to make some type of jig I bet the door is heavy

plus I will probably have to swap internals

good times...

[silver2k2]

Got an Estimate for $3044. Its totalled for sure

[paranoidjack]

Very sorry to hear it man. Good news; gas has dropped in price, and Q's are cheap! Time to upgrade!

Also, it might be worth investigating surrounding retail outlets to determine if the accident was caught on tape. Depending on your state, hit and runs can have VERY nasty repercussions.

[silver2k2]

I found the guy and he accepted liability. His note blew away. So getting it fixed is not the problem my car being totalled is. I cant replace my car for 3k maint records from new every Q quirk fixed (hoses, valve cover gaskets, AC redone etc etc)

Retail value is 4300 maybe I will safe?

[slybydesignq45t]

You would do good to either fix it, or buy a used one with the money your getting back and swap parts. Thats what I might do. Q's are so cheap retail these days even for some one tight on cash. I would most likely look locally for something as close to yours if you can and take every little thing off yours, like shocks, rotors, electronics, fuses, alternator, belts, you name it, and put it on the used one you would buy. Might take some time, but the buy back from insurance should only be like $800 max and the strip the crap out of it, or fix it with the $2,000 difference left over. I would buy another one with the difference.

[silver2k2]

I settled for 2500, anymore and he would total it. The most I could do was show recent receipts. to get it over 5k then they would give me 3000, and not total it. Not worth the hassle and who knows if they would even play ball. I coulnt find a Q anywhere within 500 miles that cost more then 2500 bucks. Not even everyone here understands what a well sorted Q is worth. No way to get an insurance guy to.

To home and buff lets see what we have to work with

[oldmako]

Fix it. Find him. Kill him. Have your way with his wife. Have a holly -jolly.

[Q451990]

Like you said, I would buff it out good and then go from there. I gather your PDR guy said that the outcome wasn't going to be very good? That estimate doesn't sound too bad vs. a junk yard door cost, time to put it on, and inevitable fading difference and slight mismatch between it and the rest of your car.

$2500 in minus $465 sounds like good math. You can buy a lot of beer with $2K!

Heath

[silver2k2]

I buffed it, most everything came out, I took the door panel off and popped it. looks ok

I dont see a problem with a junkyard door for 400 even, and half days work

[unknown007]

so no total?

[silver2k2]

noe I had tp reduce to keep from total. but now I added up bills and have spent 4400 in the last 20 months so I think it should be worth more

[goody90q45]

I buffed it, most everything came out, I took the door panel off and popped it. looks ok........

Post up a pic of your repair. Sounds like you you just found some extra $$ for Christmas presents. Congrats.

I've had two parking lot fender benders in the 94Q, one on the right side and one on the left, and have had the entire car painted as a result. These were a couple of years ago and both repairs were at AAA's 85% of value limit- about $3300-$3700 as I recall. On the first repair I let the body shop get a used door rather than new to keep from getting a salvage title.

I couldn't find a Q anywhere within 500 miles that cost more then 2500 bucks. Not even everyone here understands what a well sorted Q is worth. No way to get an insurance guy to.

You're right about the 94-96 Q's being cheap. Most have 120k-160k mileage but will require a lot maintenance. Yours happens to be a gem in the rough and you still had to put $4000 into her.

I'm still interested in your wheels if they're just gathering dust.

[silver2k2]

Hey Mike,

I will post picks later it cold and foggy out now. Q45 resale has dropped since your accidents. The sorry thing is (as you know) these things are good for parts. So you have the combination of low resale and high parts value. If I did go the salvaged route the Ins company wanted 1500 to buy it back, thats what they said they would get at auction. I am still rolling the BBS Forged wheels I never upgraded though I intended to

[maxnix]

I added up bills and have spent 4400 in the last 20 months so I think it should be worth more

It is, you just have to beat on them. Your "comparables" cannot show the same level of restoration.

[silver2k2]

Well I am not looking forward to this. Any advice on what I can use for leverage? Whats them from saying, well you can take 2500 or we are going to total and take your car?

[bullittandy]

While i know that you don't have "Pull a Part" junk yards out in Cali I should offer that they want $28.71 for a door and there are always several Q45's in the yards near my house.

So... You can find a junked door pretty easy for $100-200-maybe even an entire car for a couple hundred more. Paint is expensive but waiting on the same color junked door may be worth it.

Good luck!

[silver2k2]

They actually do have Pick and Pulls, Mike suggested it. I will have to check it out. There is a pearl q on Ebay and he wants 200 for the door. I asked him to check on shipping

[Q451990]

Well I am not looking forward to this. Any advice on what I can use for leverage? Whats them from saying, well you can take 2500 or we are going to total and take your car?

They will not take your car. What they will do is offer it to you for the salvage value. So say they settle for $4000, and they can sell your car to a salvage yard for $500, then they would give you a check for $3500 and you keep the car. Check with them on if a salvage title would actually be attached to the car, since technically title would not transfer.

See my thread on the subject. zerothread?id=153122

Be forewarned... if you're going this route, it's a war, and it will take some time. So if you're not the haggling type, this may not be for you. I will argue for hours with no hope of getting money - so it wasn't a problem for me

Heath
Modified by Q451990 at 1:05 PM 12/8/2008

[silver2k2]

Thanks for tip. They said salvage value was 1500 because parts are worth alot. I can haggle, as long as I know what my rights are. I have not done this before so I dont want to end up worse off then I already am