Salvage?

[Krispy]

i just posted this in the general chat forums but figured this might be a better place for it

hi there fellow nissan owners. I was recently ran off the road by an oncomming driver and damaged the front right corner of my car pretty badly. i had it towed to a nearby shop and they said it would be too expensive to repair, since i had liability only insurance. my question to you is, what can i do from here? it is a 96 nissan maxima gle. black with black heated leather seats. everything is in excellent shape, 90k very soft miles (put on by my friends mom whom i bought it off of). i hate to hand it over to a local salvage yard who told me they would give me a couple hundred bucks for it, without seeing it, when the engine and transmission were completely untouched and in prestine condition. if anyone here has any helpful suggestions they would be much appreciated during these sad times. ty, krispysome pics: http://s153.photobucket.com/al...issan/
Modified by Krispy at 5:57 PM 5/27/2008

[jltibbs]

I would keep it and pick up another just like it and have all the spare parts. Just my opinion.

[Gman8990]

Part it out on the .org... Am i allowed to say that?

[DevonD]

Well how much was the quote to get it fixed? If the quote is less than the cost of what another used Max or whatever car you would get is going to be then i would just fix it. If the frame is at all bent i would get that straightened out at a shop but the rest you can really do yourself without much hassle. The same thing happened to me in my pathfinder and I just had the frame straightened and fenders painted. I did the rest myself and you would never know it if i didnt tell you. And it was pretty bad... a semi actually smashed it aganst the concrete median and kept crunching it..

At least you know the Max was a good car before and its been treated well. if you go to buy something else then you really dont know the history at all and how its been driven..

[allensteiner]

looks like a cool diy project. like DevonD said, get the frame starightened if it needs it and do the rest yourself. the summer's comming so you can even paint a new fender yourself. few hundred $ and she'll be back on the road

[Mike G]

I take it that the oncoming driver did not stop to chat with you about this and you were not able to gain any of their information. Even if you have liability insurance, the vehicle causing damage covers the cost of the repairs, unless you were at fault...--Mike

[DevonD]

That is true, if it wasnt your fault the other driver has to pay for everything no matter what insurance coverage plan you have. On my Pathfinder i had the same basic package and i paid for nothing. Was it your fault or no?