mydecember1985

iTrader: (1)

Fender bender last month and car is being totaled. Hit a tree avoiding old lady. Slid into ditch and thumped into a tree at maybe 8-10mph. Pay-out is a lousy $4,300. Mostly because the headlamp housing is quoted at $1,300 for a new one! I could pull parts from junkyard for <$300 and install them myself after a shop paints them for $300-400. I already have a headlight and a bumper reinforcer. Need a fender and bumper skin.

If I were to buy it back, I get the car and $3,400.

What have some of you gotten out of your part-out cars? This thing is bone-stock.
Brand new tires on it with less that 2,500 miles on them.

Pics:
HOSTED ON IMGUR <<<< FOLLOW LINK
(wife's car that transports her back and forth to school, so don't mind the clutter.)
Any thoughts on what you might do in this situation?

That car has tons of life left in it. Consumes no oil at all. Has a semi-bad ring on back cylinder closest to timing chain. Seats properly within a few seconds of starting and is a total non-issue. Have sent off oil analysis to confirm it's not scoring the walls. Been this way for 20k miles with no issue.

Would some of you take this back on as a salvage title and sink the <$1,000 to repair it and get it back on the road? And pocket $2,500? How do you feel about salvage titles and how does that affect your insurance policy?
State of Florida requires inspection of repaired cars before title can be released, so I'm a little concerned I might run into an issue with my driveway-quality workmanship.

Thanks.
I'll add an additional pictures of close-up of damage tomorrow morning. There is a very minor tweak to the radiator support, but fender and bumper support took most of the impact.



Update 3 days later 11/7: (copied from below)

LINKY LINKY HERE TO IMGUR

^^^^ Captions on the photos. Anything that I did out of direct sight, I touched up the mangled/scratched parts with a little spritz of rustoleum that was a very close paint match. Should keep anything from rusting where I scraped the paint.

Cost to repair so far:
$46 headlight (technically bought 2 to be sure they look similar.) $92 total
$40 fender
$50 bumper support (didn't even use it)
$9 in fuel to junkyard
$20 foglight

Going to buy:
Prepainted bumper $~350
Can/pen/brush of touch-up $15

Reselling:
$80 after fees for the one headlight spare I have
$40 for ballast and bulb after fees.
Bumper support? Maybe get $20 back out of it?


Total payout $4,281 minus buyback at salvage price puts me at $3,346 coming to me on Monday when we turn the title over to State Farm.

Spent $220 to fix it like it is. Optional buy a new bumper cover at some point in time. I'll probably spend about $100 for "rebuild" title inspection and tag transfer.

So right now I'm sitting right at $3,000 cash in my hand with the optional bumper cover bringing me down to $2,650 I walk away with.

scotty64

i would buy it back, its an easy fix.

User1

Just goes to show what the market value of these cars is these days.

I could fix that for $500. And that would include a reconditioned headlamp and painting the entire front clip. Work done myself, of course. I picked up a brand new OEM front bumper cover for my 03 Max for $140 from the dealer. Screw fixing my current bumper cover

Do NOT sell that thing if you like it.

User1

I posted after looking at pics and before reading your post

Salvage title means nothing with a car this age. You're fine there. As far as inspection, a quick repair and they would never notice. Insurance, who cares (negligible)? That is a beautiful car still. I would keep it, fix it, and have $2k for my next visit to the strip club.

Donkeypunch

what cars are just as nice for 4,300?
that's an actual question. these cars are just so comfortable for 4,300 what cars could compare you think?
i would buy it back unless i find something sweet on offerup or something for 4k.

mydecember1985

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to strip the front end tomorrow to have a look at that upper radiator support. (will add pictures around noonish and add an additional link in OP.)
I'll probably just pop the bumper cover dent back out for now, put on the spare fender I have with a minor dent on the bottom and replace the headlight. Then after a week of scrounging better parts from junkyard, etc, I'll call State Farm and accept their total/buy-back offer at $3,500 and fix it up.

Looks like I'll be learning how to paint this week.

I was thinking about upgrading to a 2002-2005ish Lexus LS430 or RX330 since my wife loves those cars.

We JUST went through 2 months of car shopping getting that white Jetta Wagon in the background and I REALLY wasn't looking forward to doing it all over again to replace her car. My twin '00 is going up for sale soon once all this blows over.

mydecember1985

iTrader: (1)

Change of plans. Will strip car tomorrow. Running to LKQ Pick Your Part. 3 hours round trip and I don't work til late this evening. Might as well get the parts I'll need.

Skicrazer

I hear ya about buying another car. I had the same situation 10 years ago with an Infiniti G20 - rear ended, bent the frame a little in the trunk area. $3300 for totaled and $2700 to keep the car. I kept the car, had a body-guy friend of a friend do the work (including a frame straightener) for $1k and it turned out amazing. Drove the car for another few years, thankful for having connections.

One piece of info you didn't provide - how many miles on the car/engine?

It can work out for your benefit!

Donkeypunch

oh dang. i'd probably get that 05 LS430

krismax

iTrader: (15)

I wouldn't fix it at all, drive it and take the $3400.

mydecember1985

iTrader: (1)

Sorry I missed that!
Only 106K!

If that compression ring ever does go, I'd sink part of the $3,000+ I pocketed into an HR swap like that car DudeInBlue drove on YouTube. Looks hella fun.

I'm trying to find a connection that does body work locally. Asking around work tomorrow who might know someone.

03_GLE

Unless the frame was terribly damaged from the tree hit, I would definitely keep the car plus the cash. Plenty of life left on the car, and the damage looks mainly cosmetic. Check RockAuto.com too for parts junkyards may not have available.

MadMax07SL

That is a really good payout, Trade in for that car without a hit is likely $1500-2000 max. If it were me, I'd take the money, let the insurance company have the car. It will likely suck your wallet dry of everything they gave you, even if you do the work yourself. And did I see you were considering painting this yourself, first time you ever painted...dude, at least get some quotes so you know to weigh options. If you get one of those spray bombs with the perfect color match, first off, it won't match because the car has aged, second, only one can will barely spray a single panel. So if you have bumper and fender to paint, you'll need at least 3 cans of color and probably 2 cans of clear. That by itself is probably $120 in materials. Then you gotta get your used parts, good luck finding them the same color. And just repair the hood, but don't paint the whole thing, just that corner, and try your hand at a blend. but it will look mickey mouse. And in the end, even if you make it all look like new, the car is still only worth $700 trade in now because of the salvage title

Too much hassle, take the money and run.

03_GLE

I agree with your post, but if OP then has to parlay the insurance funds into another car, the costs would most certainly exceed the insurance payout. If OP's going used, the mixed bag of tricks a used car comes with is a 50/50 chance of unicorn or lemon.

I would take the insurance money, keep the car, and fix it up to keep it driving as long as possible. OP has knowledge of the car's history for quite some time, so the unexpected repair a newer used car would bring with it is an uncertainty I myself would not want to bargain with. Unless frame damage is present, the current state of the vehicle doesn't look terrible for a car that struck a tree.

mydecember1985

iTrader: (1)

Car is finished. Pictures of the work below:

LINKY LINKY HERE TO IMGUR

^^^^ Captions on the photos. Anything that I did out of direct sight, I touched up the mangled/scratched parts with a little spritz of rustoleum that was a very close paint match. Should keep anything from rusting where I scraped the paint.

Cost to repair so far:
$46 headlight (technically bought 2 to be sure they look similar.) $92 total
$40 fender
$50 bumper support (didn't even use it)
$9 in fuel to junkyard
$20 foglight

Going to buy:
Prepainted bumper $~350
Can/pen/brush of touch-up $15

Reselling:
$80 after fees for the one headlight spare I have
$40 for ballast and bulb after fees.
Bumper support? Maybe get $20 back out of it?




Total payout $4,281 minus buyback at salvage price puts me at $3,346 coming to me on Monday when we turn the title over to State Farm.

Spent $220 to fix it like it is. Optional buy a new bumper cover at some point in time. I'll probably spend about $100 for "rebuild" title inspection and tag transfer.

So right now I'm sitting right at $3,000 cash in my hand with the optional bumper cover bringing me down to $2,650 I walk away with.

scotty64

nice easy repair,minimal radiator support damage.if support is not in its original shape you will probably have to re align your headlight beam. easy done with the plastic adjusters on the rear. you probably did what most body shops would have done with the small amount of damage.the gap around the headlight is due to the bumper cover being distorted, not worth the hassle of trying to heat it and reshape it. new or good used bumper cover and minor straightening on bonnet edge bingo repair complete.... well done.

MadMax07SL

You did good! That much cash in hand is well worth it! I had no idea the fender and headlights could be gotten so cheap at the yard...I stand corrected. Don't replace the bumper, don't paint it, it just looks a little roughed up, but fully functional. You're ahead of the game, once you delve into the bumper and some paint it will eat at your profit.

pastaben

Looks really good. An inspiration.

mydecember1985

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, everyone. Now comes the fun part of getting the salvage title worked out.

Here's a gist of how it is supposed to go:
Turn title over to State Farm
Fix it (kinda done already)
Take it to DMV inspector (have to find one)
$40 for inspection
Inspector sends OK to DMV
DMV tells state farm to release title to me.
Pay ~$70 for tag transfer fee and the car is back in my name.

Supposedly, the paperwork process can take 2-4 weeks on average, so my wife is driving my old 2000 in the meantime. Cross your fingers it goes pretty quick

mydecember1985

iTrader: (1)

only shop that had lots of cars to choose from




prices of bumper components. Couldn't find a good used bumper on the 2 cars in inventory that were paint matched




headlight price X2



$40 fender with core charge

Donkeypunch

ya there are sooooo many 5 gens at the junk yards right now.
i was tempted do get an infinity rear window shade. meh

DizzyEdge

I'm jealous, here salvage inspections are $300+!!

03_GLE

Awesome result! You basically have your car, plus cash in the bank. Great work as well with the condition you were able to restore your car back to. Good luck with it all

jaypyles

Get your mind right!!

You are damn right going to fix your car. I broke mine and paid dearly to have it fixed and am glad I did.

Maxima's are good for over 300,000 miles and I just rolled to 101,000 and I need exhaust(complete) and have some rust issues, however, my baby does the hanky-panky and we have miles to go before we sleep the deep sleep.

Gaki

man, such an easy fix--good work on keeping it and with that payout. I got this car for free and have a buddy that owns a shop. Like what you did, I got my parts from a junkyard as well.

03_GLE

That blue color, and 5.5gen front end conversion came out looking proper bro!
How many miles does that car have? Looks like a GLE

Gaki

Thanks brother! Correct--01 GLE with 165k miles