Hey Gang,

My Maxima was hit while parked by a lady driving a rental minivan. Why was she in a rental? Because she'd crashed her own car the week before and it was in the shop!

Anyway, it's a little fender swipe that scraped my front bumper cover, sidemarker, and headlight:



Her insurance is covering all the repairs, which come to over $1300. That includes new Nissan headlight and sidemarker, and a repaint of the bumper. I'm taking it to a "friendly" shop, which means that I can potentially use the $400-odd allowance for parts, and use it for aftermarket goodies if I want. I can also bring in additional items on my own dime if I want, and take advantage of the 3-stage prep & paint that Mrs. Crashalot is paying for. Unfortunately she didn't total the bumper cover, otherwise I'd have a boatload of cash allowance for a custom nose kit.

So the question is: What should I be doing with this opportunity? I was thinking of purchasing a Stillen / knockoff lip spoiler, since the paint would be covered. I think I could get clear side markers for about the same price as the OEMs, too. Do you have to get different bulbs for the clear markers (How do you get clears to still blink amber)? Is there a different headlight assembly I should be considering?

Thanks for your opinions. I've done a couple performance upgrades (intake, cat-back), but I have no experience with exterior mods (as you can tell by my noob Q's) so I would appreciate experienced input.

Regards,
Doc Hawk

 

Your side markers do not blink. Go with hyperwhite bulbs in the sides for the best appearence. Also, go with the stillen front lip and rear vallence right now, you will not be disappointed.

 

This just a thought but how does the other headlight look? Is it all scuffed up like mine are? If you get the one side replaced it's going to look odd. You will have a nice shiny lamp on one side and a scuffed up one on the other. So maybe a getting two new headlights is something to consider.

 

just be careful about whitish lights in ur sidemarkers, i got a $75 dollar ticket for mine , now i have no lights in mine, which is still illegal to have but i havent been stopped yet

 

you could always do what i did.............

BEFORE


AFTER


minus the headlights because those are too expensive and i got them before my accident

 

I would really stick with a stillen kit. Maybe the maxx tuning lip for a more aggressive look in the front, but definitely the stillen rear. It will be around $400-450 and then free paint...winner in my book. Maybe also the mirror covers from paradox systems, the ones with the turn signal LEDs...

 

Buff the headlight and keep it. I had the same problem a few weeks ago. My body shop put down new headlights and I'm going to buff out the scratches and keep the money for mods and other body work.

 

Thanks for the feedback, guys. jkayca - yes, I'd replace both headlights of course; the stock headlight assembly is almost $300 for a single lens (in insurance dollars - I'd never pay that much if it was my own dime). That's a good chunk of change and I'd use it for a new pair if there were other options, but I don't see anyone mentioning any aftermarket lenses. I have been thinking of going HID, but the FAQ on automotive lighting states that halogen lenses aren't good for HID bulbs. So, are there HID lenses for the Maxima, or do you just ignore the FAQ and put a HID kit into stock lenses?


I found a Stillen-style front and rear lip spoiler set for $100 each, so I'll probably go that route.

I am still unclear (excuse the pun) on sidemarkers. I typo'ed when I said blink - what I mean is, how do you get them to LIGHT amber with a clear lens? As ColdSHO mentioned, it's illegal to have white lights there. Is everyone just ignoring that and using white lights behind clear sidemarkers, or is there a colored bulb or colored filter?

Thanks,
Doc

 

Man, another reason for me too hate minivans. Sorry to hear about that. One question though. Was the lady backing up or moving foward towards your car?

 

What do you mean by 3-stage prep and paint? I'm getting my front end repainted next week and I want to be sure that I get the best bang for my buck. thx

 

what would u use to buff it with? my oem headlight covers aren't exactly scratched, they're a little 'hazy' if u know what i mean. i wasn't sure if the only solution was new headlights

 

get the lip and rear valance from Stillen but buy it form SWO or whatever the name is.... and clear markers..etc.....

 

Pearlescent paint (I believe you have it as well) isn't a simple process and CANNOT be paint matched at a discount spray-n-pray shop. You have the base coat, the pearlescent coat, and the clearcoat. It is much more expensive to do because it's more labor intensive. Also, it requires more expertise because it's the combination of two coats to match, rather than just matching one coat of paint.

Also for you bladerunr: I'm interested in the answer to Vrod's question. What would you use to buff the headlight?

AcerX: She was moving past my car, from rear to front. I was parallel parked on the street and she tried pulling straight into the space in front of me but cut it too close and chopped my front corner.


Lontar: Is "SWO" a discount source? Nothing for him/them comes up on Google. Please give me a link and I'll check it out.

- Doc

 

http://www.sportcompactonly.com

http://www.sportcompactonly.com/products.aspx?c=129&l=2
http://www.sportcompactonly.com/prod...=2223&c=98&l=2

Give them a call and see if you can get them to lower the price . I know they will give you a 5% discount for been a Maxima.org member.....

 

Plastic polish. AutoZone, Advance and PepBoys carry it.