hey everyone,,i wanted to post and say, recently i was in an accident with my 2k1 gxe... (i'll post pics as soon as i get them) the estimated speed of the crash was 70 mph.. and that car held up great..
i was hit on the front driver side, hard enough to bend the rim and tire into the suspension, when all is said and done i will have a new front clip. the most suprising thing is the engine block and transmission are perfectly in tact.. the only engine damage is to the computer and a few hoses.. the insurance gave me the option to total, i chose to repair...(what? and give up my 5-spd max,,,NEVER)... God for bid anyone should get into an accident,, the car holds up great.. the seat belts locked immediatly..I'm going to be sending pics to Nissan Motor Corp also,, they deserve to know how well their car held up..

 

Woah.. 70mph crash? No damage to tranny or Engine? Thats crazy. What about frame damage?

 

Wow! Consider yourself very lucky!

On a different note. I'd personally just have considered the car totaled. A car, any car, after a freak accident - will never ride the same. If anything you could've probably gotten yourself into a 6spd.

 

this is true...

 

My 2k2 GLE has a frontal hit...engine is all pushed in, you can't recognize it's a Maxima from the front, the car was parked when a truck driver going the wrong way on a one way hit it when avoiding another car coming down the right way.

I personally hope they total the car, I wouldn't wanna get in it after seeing all that damage.

If it's totaled, Goodbye GLE and welcome will be my new SE 6spd fully loaded except for navi.

 

Glad you are ok, sounds to me that the Maxima has great integrity!! Looking foward for the pictures. Sorry about your car

 

to answer some questions

yes there was frame damage and motor mount damage..
the engine and tranni are perfectly fine and the rest of the frame is fine too,, its just the front clip..i was given the option to total it but i owe NMAC 15K and the insurance offered 15,500 to total.. to keep my payments around 300 i would have to put at least 5K down.. which i dont have,, i originally got my max for 19k...as a left over..the car is now at Jackie's Auto Body here in Port Charlotte.FL. i have been reassured that they wouldnt have taken the job if they didnt think i would get it back as good as showroom.. i could have totalled it out and gotten a sentra,(not an ser or ser spec v) downgrading didnt seem like a good idea... the car has also lost the stock steel wheels and is getting 2k1 SE 16" rims.. besides i've wanted a maxima since 1990 now i finally have one.. its being guaranteed I get itm back as good as new so.....NMAC also praised me for fixing it when i was given the option to total...

 

All things considered, you did the right thing.

 

Glad to hear you're alright. Hopefully your Max will be good as new too!

 

If you think the $15,500 the insurance company offered you was bad, just wait until you try to sell it or trade it in.

I would seriously reconsider that. Buy a used 2001 Max. But your best bet would be to dump that car. Salvage titles sit on the market FOREVER.

I know it sucks, but it is the truth.... Regardless of how perfect they say they can get it.......

1. It will never be the same.
2. Other related problems could potentially spring up down the road that would not be covered by this accident.
3. It will never be worth the same.

Right now, you are essentially spending $15,500 on a salvage vehicle.....Not a great deal.

 

I agree. You will take a big hit in value when you go to trade it in. If you try and sell it yourself, more than likely anybody considering buying it is going to find out it was in a major accident and not even consider buying it. I would look for a good used Max.

Glad you are OK though.

 

Not exactly. He's paying $15,500 on a salvage vehicle he owes $15,000 on. You have a good point about totalling and going used, but when you do that you never know what the deal was with that car. Plus, its got someother guys a$$ hairs all over it, while he knows whose a$$ hairs are on his car. And it won't have a salvage title if he doesn't salvage it? Consumer Reports did an article a few months back on how hard it is to tell if a used car has really been totalled or not. And ask any good body shop, they really can bring back the dead sometimes. If they couldn't his insurance wouldn't have let him, b/c they are still liable for his car.

Of course this is all worse-case scenario - you still owe $15k after two years!

 

I meant "restored title". To a general consumer they both mean one thing- an accident. The car's resale value just took a dump.

I'll concede on the good body shop point. But problems will occur down the road that will always make you wonder, "Hmmm. I wonder if part x went out 20,000 miles prematurely because of that accident."

I got hit in a small parking lot fender bender. Small dent and some paint- no biggie. Two weeks later (after the insurance settled), the spedometer and odometer went out completely. Apparently the cable had broken apart. Insurance wouldn't cover it, but it was quite obvious that it was a result of the accident.

I'll take someone's a$$ hairs over a restored vehicle any day of the week.