I'm in a horrible mood. I had just bought a 1994 Q45 for $3,500. I had it a whole week and then rear-ended a guy on the interstate (I could list excuses but I rear-ended him). Now, I have a car that the repairs are going to be more than the cars worth, I only had liability coverage, and I'm not sure what I should do. Have any of you had any experience in this? I'm thinking about some of my options and I have:
repair the car and basically double the cost.sell to a junk yard post it online and sell the parts myself.
I'm not particularly car savvy so the last option could be tricky.
Suggestions?
Chrisco
Totaled my Car, now what?
Re: Totaled my Car, now what? (chrisco)
Unfortunately, there is no good option.
Depending on how bad the damage is, you could find a donor car and strip the sheet metal off. Then you gotta worry about paint, and structural repairs, etc. Expensive, as you noted, even if you have a parts car available.
Junkyards aren't gonna buy it. Your area may be different, but around here they will haul it for free or maybe give you fifty bucks if you bring it to them, no matter what it is. They got plenty of sources for cars. They're not sitting around waiting for someone to sell them a car.
Parting is a mistake generally, in my opinion. There will be a half dozen pieces that are worth some money, and then you'll have a car that's torn apart and you'll never get rid of the rest of it.
If it were me, depending on how bad the damamge is, I'd start looking for body panels and plan on fixing it. Find a tech school that has a body shop program, or find a body guy who does side jobs. Its not a good option, just the lesser of three evils.
Good luck.
Depending on how bad the damage is, you could find a donor car and strip the sheet metal off. Then you gotta worry about paint, and structural repairs, etc. Expensive, as you noted, even if you have a parts car available.
Junkyards aren't gonna buy it. Your area may be different, but around here they will haul it for free or maybe give you fifty bucks if you bring it to them, no matter what it is. They got plenty of sources for cars. They're not sitting around waiting for someone to sell them a car.
Parting is a mistake generally, in my opinion. There will be a half dozen pieces that are worth some money, and then you'll have a car that's torn apart and you'll never get rid of the rest of it.
If it were me, depending on how bad the damamge is, I'd start looking for body panels and plan on fixing it. Find a tech school that has a body shop program, or find a body guy who does side jobs. Its not a good option, just the lesser of three evils.
Good luck.
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VJ1
- Posts: 75
- Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:07 pm
- Car: 1994 Q45 Ivory Quartz 1994 Q45 Beige Sand 2009 Nissan Sentra White
- Location: West Palm Beach, Fl
Re: Totaled my Car, now what? (chrisco)
More info please. Extent of damage? Is the damage isolated to body parts which can unbolted or is the damage structural? Pics would be great.What was the mileage and condition of the car before the collision? Did it require any major work i.e. engine, transmission, suspension etc....?
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johngalt
- Posts: 131
- Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2005 10:20 am
- Car: '99 Altima (transmission dead - second time in 16 months)
- Location: Warner Robins, GA
- Contact:
Re: Totaled my Car, now what? (VJ1)
Glad you asked this question - I am going though the same dilemma with my '99 - I want to ransack it for parts, but at the same time I want the car back....
Structural damage is the key, like bmwkiller said. If there is little to none, you might as well fix it as buy another.
I am going to probably part mine out but I may take a stab at finding someone willing to work on it on the side to fix it.
Structural damage is the key, like bmwkiller said. If there is little to none, you might as well fix it as buy another.
I am going to probably part mine out but I may take a stab at finding someone willing to work on it on the side to fix it.
Re: Totaled my Car, now what? (chrisco)
Do you have pics of the damage? Don't sell to a junk yard. You'd get 5 cents a pound ($200) if you scrapped it. Scrap Metal yards are paying good money for your car, but why do that when you can make more parting her out, then scrap what's left. Sell it at an auction house and make maybe $600 if you're lucky after fees. Part her out!
Re: Totaled my Car, now what? (redmanfx)
The post doesn't give enough info.. a few pictures would be nice. I fix salvage all the time and am on my 4th Q, but it depends on how badly hurt the car is.
Go to http://car-part.com/ and do a pull for the parts you need, that will tell you alot in a hurry about what you want to do!! Hint, try to find parts in the same color as your car, putting on a hood and a fender is not that difficult to do yourself, and if you find the parts in your color, even if you have to pay some shipping.. its not that expensive to fix.
Blair
Go to http://car-part.com/ and do a pull for the parts you need, that will tell you alot in a hurry about what you want to do!! Hint, try to find parts in the same color as your car, putting on a hood and a fender is not that difficult to do yourself, and if you find the parts in your color, even if you have to pay some shipping.. its not that expensive to fix.
Blair