pestrada38

My brother totaled my car. He hint a brick wall head on. thank god he's ok. The adjuster said its totaled. The engine shifted to the firewall causing some the dash and console to break and crack. People tell me to buy back the car from the insurance company and buy a donor car to use the front end, fenders and supension and cross member ect... Is it worth trying to restore it back to life. i could get pics of the car if you need to see the damage. Thanks for your help.

Slash

pics definitely would help us get a better idea. from just reading the above ^ i don't think it could be saved.

90 camaro cj

if it actully damaged the firewall id say buy it back and use IT as a donor car, i personally wouldnt wanna mess with something with that much damage since its a partial uni body car youll hafta pull it ALOT on a frame machine

iroc-z_23

iTrader: (1)

the amount of money it would take to fix it you can buy a new one for that price.

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

i say use it as a donor car as your first opyion if it damaged the firewall and such i dont think that would easily be fixed, second choice is use as much of it as you can and part whatever else out

pestrada38

Its not a uniframe body, if that helps any. Two pieces of frame connect the car. One for the engine and supension and the other the rear axle.

pestrada38

RIP

pestrada38

dash

90 camaro cj

definetly not gonna be able to fix that without spending a **** load of money, and what i meant by uni body is the thing under fender tattaches to the main body im pretty sure

White'89

iTrader: (8)

All 82-92 third gens are unibody cars, because the 'frame' is welded to the body and is not separate. However that looks pretty bad I would call it a loss.

Pew

They are unibodies and that car is pretty much f"d in the a.

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

unfortunately i agree with the above posts, buy another shell and swap whatever you can, is the engine severely damamged?

White'89

iTrader: (8)

pestrada38

were the engine seats thats whats damage. fenders can be replace but what makes it hard to keep this car is the cross member job . removing all the drive train to do this cost alot of money and work. And I don't know if the engine is broken or the tranny.

tylercamaro

iTrader: (1)

im thinking since the engine was pushed back id be afraid that the driveshaft screwede to rear end and trans and well as anything else in its way depending on if it bend or not

White'89

iTrader: (8)

Seems like you will have a hard time letting go but that car is very much beyond repair. Just steal what you can before insurance gets it and give your brother a good .

pestrada38

Are you all referring the body as a uniframe. Because I have seen a thirdgen being unbolted from the chassis and the drive train gets left behide.

90 camaro cj

Buy it back imo its usually 15-20% of what they pay you out id guess theyd pay you out prolly 4k tops, so thatd be 800 to buy it back, the trany and motor and rear end swaped into a shell u buy with prolly 1-2k of what you got from the payout if you do all the work yourself youll be breaking probably just have a lot of spent time

White'89

iTrader: (8)

You have seen the K-member be unbolted, not the frame.

90 camaro cj

yea unibody means that if you stip it down there is no frame that comes out, fenders and the k member come off but the actual frame of the fenders that absorb the damage are made from HSS or UHSS and are part of the cab of the car and need to be straitghened out or cut and re welded at the factory weld spots

puma1552

iTrader: (1)

Definitely toast. Sorry, looked like a nice car.

How did your brother hit a brick wall head-on, anyway? Drunk?

Dartht33bagger

I was thinking the same thing.

Why was your brother driving your car in the first place?

wwwyzzerdd

this is why i will NEVER let anyone drive my car but me.

that car looks like it was nice too, sucks

Awesome-X

Wow that baby is all kinds of totaled. Sorry man, I hope you get another one. Just remember not to let your brother drive it next time

paulo57509

You car is fubar, IMO. Damn, it looked like it was a good one too. Is the door ajar or did it get shoved back a bit?



Happy to hear that no one was seriously injured.

white gold 88

It can be repaired but in most states when you remove the firewall with the VIN plate, you can't transfer it to another front end. Everyone is right, unless you can do it yourself, find another car. You may find the driveshaft hit the rear of the tranny also. Also if there is any marks on the crank pulley, I wouldn't trust that crank either.

pestrada38

the door was left open. i guess i just look for another third gen. thanks for you alls opinion.

Stock Car Racer

Hello everybody,

I am new here so I will try to keep this as breif as I possibly can, yet try to answer your question.

Let me introduce myself - I am from Pennsylvania and I have been in the auto body business on both sides - working in a junkyard and in the body shop for 30 years.

At one point - I did the estimates for Nationwide Insurance and several other insurance companies in my area. So basically what I am going to say is that they valued my opinion and what I said went.
That is the best working relationship that you can have with an insurance company.

When the economy went down the tubes, many people tried all sorts of things to try to collect on their homeowners and auto insurance policies.
The state of the economy here is so bad that the insurance companies got to the point of where even if it was a 85% loss - they would not total the vehicle as long as there was no structural damage done to the roof - since the roof is a major part of the structure on a UNI BODY Automobile.

Unless a vehicle has a full perimeter frame - such as a pick up truck - it is a UNI BODY type structure.

Now - at some point , we need to forget about sentimental value and dwell on the present.
Without opening up a Kelly Blue Book, my guess is that you car is probably worth somewhere in the neighborhood of about $5500.00 tops.

I will give or take 10% for options.

Now lets look at your car from my perspective.

We need to look at everything on the car, look at everything that is damaged, look at the shop rate for repairs and look at the cost of the replacement parts to repair.

Without getting out the computer based projections of cost, I will say that you need one of everything.

The hard part here is that I do not know if the car has T roofs and I do not know if the car has roof damage - since there is no top views of the vehicle.

Even if I clipped your car in the middle and tried to repair it with a new front clip, I might still have to do body repairs to the left rear qp - which would put the cost of repair to your vehicle somewhere in the neighborhood of about $6000.00 with all used parts - if I could find them.

That isn't even including labor.

To pull your car back straight, replace the sub frame under the front, replace everything in the front end, repair all the mechanical's, attach the clip, transfer all the usable parts off your car onto the repaired car and paint it to match you are looking at $10,000.00

You are talking 4 to 6 weeks of work - just to do all of that.

Now - if you was to take that $5500 that the insurance company might give you. Buy a reasonably priced Camaro with the same options, not have a R on the title, not have the worries of driving around a repaired vehicle that might or might not have more issues down the road - you would be in a better shape both financially and physically.

I don't know - maybe you are filthy rich and money is no object.
Maybe your car is special in some way - where you think that it is a one of a kind or something.

Looking at it from a technical standpoint, I see nothing special about it and I know that just by looking at it that you could find a better car - even wrecked then the one that you presently have.

I don't see 20% of the cars value in parts still in the pictures..
What I see is a car that has hit a brick wall that is smashed so bad that it cannot be repaired with the amount of money that you have to spend.

Junk it!

Move on

Buy something else!

This is what my kid brother bought wrecked for $5500.00


He had to haul it home from New Jersey to Greensburg PA, rent a U Haul trailer - and pay about $5500 to have it repaired back to new.

The picture I posted is not the exact picture of his car, just one like it that is the same color with the same options.

white gold 88

Well said. exactly

One thing, NADA has a classic car section. When I look my car up it comes up nearly 6 grand in it. Other way for regular cars is much less. I'd look your's up and print it out for the adjuster along with any receipts for repairs or mods, wheels, tires etc. in the past. Especially if it looks as good in person as it does in the pics.

Stock Car Racer

It doesn't matter - the adjuster will only give you face book value.

Anytime you try to squeeze the insurance company for more money, all that will do is raise the cost of your policy next year when you go to renew it.

Take your personal possessions out of the vehicle and tell them to come and get it.

If you really want to get some money out of it, once the adjuster has looked at it, you might be able to remove the wheels or tires - as long as you have another set of wheels or tires to put onto it.

I don't see anything else of any value on that car right now - maybe the stereo and that is about it.

Like I said before - I did this off the top of my head - with no vin number and not being able to physically look at the vehicle. I didn't say this is what they will give you for it - I just said in my opinion - this is probably how much it is worth.

It isn't worth $800.00 now that it is smashed!
$900 - $1000.00 is probably the buy back price!

valicswarrior

iTrader: (1)

if you have replaced a motor in the car recenlt they will give you more money i dont know what this guy is talking about or a trans any mayjor repairs like that increase the replacement value of the vehicle my camaro nada's for like 4-5 on a good day but i got 3 grand in the power train so with my insurance company its valued at 7k replacement

Arizona IROC

iTrader: (4)

I think most everything has been said but I would add there is no reason to buy it back because the engine and transmission just have to be damaged. These things break you know. Like aluminum cases and pulleys, intakes ect.

I wouldn't even trust the rear end.......

Dante93GTZ

iTrader: (5)

Not savable - Time to get a donor shell and swap everything over to it. WAAAAAYYY simpler.

white gold 88

I'm with you on that. They should pay replacement value and include something for the extras that have to remain on the car or were damaged. I've seen them many times let the owner replace AM wheels and radio with factory. Premiums will go up anyway so why not try and get what the car is really worth, within reason of course. Also, if your car could be considered a classic, looks like they should pay that value. I don't mean the third gens with rattle can paint and doors sagging with little to no interior but the ones that could be in car shows and look like they belong there. JMO

Apeiron

Does your insurance company know that?

Insurance companies will only pay at most the value that you've been paying the premiums for. If the book value for your car is $5,000, but for whatever reason it's worth $20,000, then the most you'll get for wrecking it is $5,000. Making repairs may improve the condition of the vehicle, but it won't improve the value to the insurance company beyond the value of the best listed condition. To get more coverage, you need a different policy.

You can get a "stated value" policy, which is where you go and tell the company what you think the car is worth, and they'll charge you a premium accordingly. After you make a claim though, they'll still take a long, hard look at the actual value, so you can't tell them your 1982 Chevette is worth $450,000.

Another way is an "agreed value" policy, where you have the value of the car professionally appraised, and the insurance company covers you for the appraised value, again at an appropriate premium. This has you paying the most, but is the most likely to pay the closest to the actual replacement value.

pestrada38

It has t-tops. heres the vin if it helps. 1G2FS23F811205847. THANKS ALL FOR YOUR HELP. My insurance said today they will give me 3,200 dllr for it. I have been doing research to replace my car and it will cost between 5000-7000 to buy a thirdgen thats clean as mine. here are some pics at its prime.

pestrada38

My insurance said to send them the info on how much it would cost me to buy one today. They going to see how much they can give. Hope I get at least 5gs.

//<86TA>\\

iTrader: (14)

if the car is lower milage and in great shape (really great shape, not what 90% of people "think" ius great shape) i mean spotless, you may be able to get more, but dont get your hopes up. Look like it was prett damn clean though from the pics, but they are rather small and the car is wrecked in most of them...

not sure if it was finally cleared up, but here is a good shot of the underside of the car. nothing "unbolts" like a frame except the front k member, and thats little more than a cradle to hold the engine and front suspension



fixing that car would be extremely costly and difficult, if possible, and in the end, it will never be right. Sorry, but its toast.

oldtimer

That kind of damage is way beyond just the front clip sheetmetal and trim. Clearly, the car structure has absorbed all the impact it can handle up front, and the damage was being passed into the cowl and main body structure. Deformation of the door openings, floor pan, firewall, windshield pillars, etc. had clearly started to take place. I would expect the engine, tranny, driveshaft, and rear end all felt the hit, too, with the enigine and tranny being highly suspect. This thing could have been a 2011 Formula, if they made one, and it would have been toast. This Formula is barely a parts car in its current form. Cash the check, and move on to the next car. Thanks, Oldtimer.

DrewsCam

iTrader: (2)

you might wanna think about finding a good roller and swapping what you can from that totalled one... i know my bud bought a 89 formula for 600 only to part her all out because of a bad motor... your situation would have worked great on that car cuz only the motor was bad on the one my friend bought...

86WS6

iTrader: (1)

Like others have said, with the severity of the impact, the drive train is probably damaged. At best you may salvage some small items of the car, however it surely has lots of hidden damage.

I had a similiar experience in 1997. I owned a 1985 Dodge Ramcharger SUV that I had bought new, and babied. The truck was as clean and as nice as a new one, but had 188K miles on it. I hit an 850 LB steer one night, and did $5,600.00 in damage. The truck was not as severely damaged as your car, however the frame was bent. I had a frame shop assess the damage, and it could have been repaired, but it probably would have never been as good as it was before the accident. Due to the age and value of the vehicle it was totaled. My insurance company initally offered me $1,500.00 for the truck, and due to the cleanliness of the vehicle, they assumed that it had 88K miles on it. I found comparables for sale on the Autotrader which set the value of the vehicle between 4 and 6K. We ended up agreeing for them to pay me $3,245.00, and I kept the truck. I put up $2755.00 cash plus the money from the insurance and bought a 1987 one owner Ramcharger with 53K miles on it. I used the wrecked 1985 for parts until we had stripped out everything that was good. I had plans to keep the 85, and really hated that it was wrecked, however sometimes one is best to make a rational decision and let a damaged vehicle go to salvage.