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Thank You everyone for the support, this has been a rough few weeks going back and forth between the body shop and the insurance company.
Here's the current status:
Settlement: $2950 for the car or $2750 and keep the car.
Needless to day the car is totaled as the estimate to repair is $4800, this brokedown as $3000 in parts and $1800 in labor. I have to talk with the bodyshop again because I think I can find a donor V6 car for all the needed parts: Front clip, windshield, hood, radiator, radiator support, and heater box etc. If I can find a cheap V6 donor car, I might be able to save the RS.
The damage is extensive, the body shop said the car would need to have it's body panels hung while on the frame machine or there was a very good change even with all the "check points perfect" there would be problems fitting the body panels back together. The car will have to be cut at the windshield pillars and have a new front welded back on. The car is damaged far worse than it looked with the sheet metal still attacted. I kept saying, could we just make the car drivable again and skip the paint and air bag and stuff like that, I'd do that later. He was like, look I'm slow and could use the work, but this car is totalled you need to see for yourself. I looked at the car with owner the shop and he said,"I just want to make sure you know how bad off this car really is."
I know I should take the money and run, but this happened three weeks ago and I still get tears in my eyes thinking about it.
Take a picture but don't get too attached. If it's so bad that even the shop guy says that after a frame pull body panels might not fit right.....it's time to look elsewhere. Look for another car. I know if my car got into an accident I wouldn't keep the body. It would turn into my parts car. When my car got totalled it was from the interior damage alone. The only exterior damage was the door locks. My car was an obvious buy back from insurance company. If my car had to get a frame pull then you can bet I wouldn't be driving it, just using parts from it.
and get the 2750 and the car, im sure u could part it for more than 200 anyways... speaking of which.. i need a drivers side door ground effect... hook me up.
Or you could find a $200 camaro that has been left for dead but has a good frame and use your good parts on it and use a small portion of the insurance money to fix it up. Then put the rest in the bank. Depends on how many parts you got left, and if you want to peice a car together. Oh yeah and if that was your only car.
i woudl prolly taek the car and the money. you woudl have a whoel parts car around with an extra tranny and rear and stuff that you can build up really strong to put into your next thirdgen.
Were it me, I would take the money and keep the car. Find a good donor body and swap my stuff. It sounds as if you have too much sentimental value to just throw it away. Last, the wife doesn't drive it again EVER. Next time her car goes into the shop Enterprise shows up with a rental car. The title on the car will show "salvaged", but that won't matter since you aren't planning to sell it. You won't be happy until this tragedy is corrected. Good luck, Lon.
I would talk to this guy (NicksL98)! He is only asking $3000 or offer! I paid WAY more than that for my RS which is basically identical except for the color and I have leather seats.
I strongly considered a GTP or TEA heads and cam package for the T/A, this would easily put my T/A in the 420 rear wheel horse power range or higher. The T/A is currently at 323 rear wheel horse power and 335 rear wheel torque. Problem is the T/A would always be the daily driver. However, after talking with my wife, I'd made the decision to take the settlement money and buy an LS1 driveline for my 72 Vette. I went to bed Friday at peace with the decision or so I thought. I woke up 6 times dreaming about junkyards and white camaros from hell in a cold sweat the next morning (Saturday) Every time the white RS comes up at meal time I can't swallow. I'm been less productive in the last 4 weeks because this issue is always present in my thoughts. I thought about going for couseling but I know the bottom line is I don't want the RS being cut up as some one else's parts car and that's exactly what will happen because it's in far worse shape than most 3rd Gen's I've seen junkyards over the years.
The revised price from the body shop was $3500 without fixing the air bag and heater box. This trimmed $1300 off of the repair bill. That would be $1700 for parts and $1800 labor. I found a front clip for $1000 with all the parts I need and the body shop said we could use those parts BUT revised their labor estimate up to $2200 so that plus the clip I supplied ($1000) would make it $3200 plus shipping for the parts or about $3300 to $3400. I decided to use the body shops front clip and pay the extra $$$$ because I don't want to get caught in the middle and I feel their is a risk if I supply the parts. So with that said here's the deal.
$3500 for the right front 3/4 replacement and I provide the air bag and heater box. I have the air bag and heater box for $200 so I'm about about $1000 of my money to fix the car.
Getting other estimates would mean hauling the car to other body shops, most of the other shops I talked to said, $5000 to $6000 would be on the mark for this type of repair.
I will also ask and see what getting the entire car painted will cost and the wore out door hings replaced.
Thanks everyone for the help. I'm tired of having nightmares about my wrecked RS for the last 4 weeks and other issues. I want to fix the RS and it's only money after all.
Last night was the first time I didn't dream about white camaros and junkyards. I feel at peace for the first time since this occured and I'm ready to deal with the consequences of salvaging a totaled car.
I hoped that you would eventually come to this decision. Too much sentimental value is wrapped up in this car for it to be done otherwise. You would have always thought, "I should have saved her" and always blamed your wife for losing your cherished RS. Good luck with the restoration. I still advise against ever loaning her the car again. Lon
I hoped that you would eventually come to this decision. Too much sentimental value is wrapped up in this car for it to be done otherwise. You would have always thought, "I should have saved her" and always blamed your wife for losing your cherished RS. Good luck with the restoration. I still advise against ever loaning her the car again. Lon
Your right and saving the car was the right decision for me.
I was posting in the high mileage thread and wanted to update this old threat from back in 2002 when my wife totaled the RS. The car was fixed by late April of 2002 and returned to being my daily driver except in winter. I have a honda that subjected to the winter time snow and salt. The RS still makes routine 1300 mile trips. The engine and transmission are original and have never been rebuilt. While the RS shows some wear and tear from the many ordeals over the last 22 years, the car has always been very well maintained.
A few months ago the valve cover gaskets were replaced because they leaked.
Today the car is at the body shop getting the black out trim around the rear window & t-tops repainted.
Hopefully, the Mod's will forgive this thread necro.
Best Regards
Last edited by Arctic White 91 RS; Sep 24, 2012 at 06:02 PM.
Wanted to share an update to this 15+ year old thread.
Full Restoration completed in 2016 by Hawks Motorsports.
This is the same Arctic White 91 RS Camaro today. No regrets fixing the RS when she was totaled thlse many years ago. No regrets with the LS Resto-Mod for the RS either.
Yes, the car is very fun to drive and drive hard. I was surprised how much the handling improved with the weight reduction, LS, fiberglass hood, chrome moly K & a-arms, AC deleted and so even on the same tires and rims. Curvy roads are a true joy to drive. Definitely a blast pulling the typical 5.0's, 5th Gen SS and so on.
My only regret is it took 14 years to get the swap & restoration done...but it was worth the wait
Last edited by Arctic White 91 RS; Jan 25, 2017 at 06:59 PM.
