I guess my first mistake was driving near Texas Stadium on a day when the Cowboys were playing this Sunday, because traffic has a really bad habit of going highway speeds one second and then grinding to a halt the next. Thus, as the car in front of me slammed his brakes, I had to slam mine to go from maybe 50 MPH to a stop in a very short distance. I was able to stop just barely in time to avoid rear-ending the car in front of me; but the '56 Bel-Air behind me didn't have enough stopping power and ended up slamming into me.

Of course, the rear bumper cover is ruined, as well as the taillights, rear spoiler, and mufflers. I know all of that can be replaced, but what really worries me is that it also (somehow) bent down the whole rear-end on the passenger's side and there is very noticable crumpling above the right-rear tire which radiates from the bumper-cover all the way to the passenger's side door. I'm sure this is probably a common occurance on these cars when they get rear-ended like that.

So, to those of you who know what I'm talking about: Is this likely to be fixable, or is it more likely that the car will have to be deemed "totaled"?

Thanks for any info

 

That just all-around sucks.

His insurance co will probably want to total your car; that'll cost them less than fixing it. You could either fight it (you'll probably lose), or take their money and keep your car (probably cost you no more than a couple hundred for that) and go get another similar car, and make one car out of 2.

Any way you slice it though, you're in for some work. This is one of the prime reasons why a car that's driven on the street, is never an "investment".... not even if it's a 56 BelAir.

I bet that guy is feeling mighty sick right about now. Rule 1 of driving around a car with too little brakes for modern roads, has got to be, leave lots of room to the car in front of you. Too bad that guy had to learn it the hard way.

 

Yeah, RB, I know what you mean... I actually kinda felt bad for the guy who rear-ended me because I was just thinking in what good condition the BelAir was in when I passed him a few miles back. I was able to drive back home, but he had to be toed since he lost his radiator (as well as his front bumper, hood, grille, etc. ).

And you're right--there's definitely a lesson for him to lean about stopping one of those things... More mass + narrower tires + 4-wheel drums = loooong stopping distance.

I know the bottom line here is going to be whatever the insurance adjuster says--but, I just want to go into it having some "homework" done so I don't get screwed (as I can only guess how many things are damaged that both myself and the adjuster *CAN'T* see...).

 

yeah i haev the same probalmes. just that my corner of the sub frame is bent in i think i might be able to bend that out and the rest of my parts are repalceable. lol i was told to cut a car in half then wled it on to the back of myn to fix it but hopefully that was a joke

 

If it's wrinkled up the quarter sail panels, you're in for some frame shop work to get the carcass straight, then a lot of sheet metal work to get the body looking straight. Then you need to sell it fast, unless the frame shop does excellent and very thorough work which will be costly (why the insurance adjuster is very likely to total the car). If the car is in otherwise good condition, you could find a straight rolling chassis, transfer the good parts, cosmetically repair the original, and sell it off. If you're not into a lot of work, push and hold out for for the biggest settlement you can get. I fought one insurance adjuster/company for eight months before settling at over double the original total loss settlement offer. I made it as painful as possible for them, including bills for rental cars, loss of earnings, all the B.S. I could muster to force their hand. It was all legitimate, but certainly wasn't what I would consider fun.

 

Uggg. I'll vent since you seem to have gotten your answer (pics would be worthwhile). This is what absolutely drives me nuts driving on the highway.
/rant on
All my cars are 4 wheel discs, and some have some decent brakes on 'em. They will stop much shorter than most of the crap on the roads, yet no one realizes this possibility and they all LOVE to cram on up and tailgate. Probably why I hate rush-hour traffic, but something to keep in mind when driving our cars.
At least some dingdongs get the picture when I lightly double tap, or 'clean' my windshield. :shrug:
/rant off
That is all, carry on.

 

Well, after many calls and delays, the insurance adjuster finally came around. The latest news is that his company does indeed want to toal the car. Now I'm just waiting on some figures (as well as preparing copies of reciepts so that I can fight to get those figures increased ).

Also, after driving this Rent-A-Car Chevy Malibu around the past week, I started to get really bad torque withdrawal and took my Camaro out for a spin, paying special attention to how it drove. As I'm sure most of you can relate, I have a pretty accurate "feel" of how my car drives and, honestly, I didn't notice any difference. It still drives as straight as it did before the accident (not perfect, but that's a front-end alignment issue), it handles great, and doesn't really have any new noises.

Plus, something else I just thought of: My Camaro has some Spohn SFCs installed on it. Shouldn't those have helped keep the body straight during the collision? Just a thought.

 

BTW -- I plan to get some pics posted within the next day or so.

 

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No way I'd let them total that car!!!! Be sure you buy it back as salvage if they do. But having gone thru that on my daughters 92 Exploder, then they stick you with a Salvage Repaired Title so all future owners will know it was wrecked and totalled.

I'd make them fix it. Go get a couple fo estimates on that yourself before they throw you any numbers.

And remember - in Texas - the insurance companies have a lot of "wiggle room" on what they can and will pay. The other guy's insurance will certainly try to get by as cheap as they can the 1st time around, probably even with their 2nd offer - BUT DON'T GIVE UP!!!!

Screw 'em. You've got a restored classic collector's item car too!!!!

You've got to check us out at NTTGA as well. Monthly gatherings, etc. Good Bunch of folks.

 

you know, this is really insane. I always tell my friends when I'm driving in the car, and someone's riding my ***.. "damnit, I gotta pull over or get in the other lane or something, this *** is gunna fender bender me, if they scratch my paint the insurance company will total my car out."

Sad thing is... it's true! All that needs replaced is the driver's side light fixture, rear bumper, and painting for the new rear bumper (or even fix the old one), and possibly a quarter panel... that couldnt POSSIBLY total his car out. What are our cars worth anyways, 2,000 in pristine shape (like Sancho's) with very low miles?

Oh well, now is the time to buy them, in 10 years or so these cars will be the 1st gen camaros of today!

 

you know that damage does not look so bad.

it is defatinly bent down but i would take a spin to a local body shop with a frame machine and ask for a check or est to just straighten. the sfc must of saved that car since the damage stops at the wheel well. it should be up the pillar to for a car that heavy hitting you. hell its an iroc they are getting harder to find.

jeff

oh and ps don;t let them total it just accept a repair payoff so you can avoid the salvage title if it is indead a simple fix on the frame machine. not sure if that is doable but it may be. fight like it was collectable. as it will be any day now.

 

A bit more, but that's the thing. They go by fair market value, which really doesn't place them really as high. If damage is more than that, its total time to them, no matter how minor the damage may look.

 

It's this kind of accident that scares the living sh*t outa me. How in the heck do I replace a car like mine in the shape that's it's in now (near perfect)?

I don't want another car. I want a '91 Firebird. I will not drive anything under 6 cylinders and I would prefer not to drive an import. That's just me. So here is what I have done to prevent against this from happening:

• Saved all receipts on work I've done lately to get car "right.
• Painted car, had insurance agent re-evaluate coverage parameters (no longer worth book value really).
• I'm in the process of getting the GM history report on the car -- preparing it for "collector" status?
• Drive a an old man.

I hope your situations works out to your satisfaction.

 

if the fenders that bad then the subframes taken some damage, hold out for as much as you can

 

a friend of mine slid sideways into a poll in his 00 Z28. the poll went about a foot in. and at the time i worked at a dealership with a body shop and all the guys sed they've fixed worse...it was maybe $8-9000 of work but they totaled it out for 16 grand. so u never know what those idiots will do. hope u can keep it.

 

i just had the same thing happen to me in june, i just got the car primed now, but i did massively tons of work, anyways, you can fix that for under 12-1500 if you do it yourself.
first pull the bumper cover and take it to your favorite body shop with a frame stretcher and jerk it out thatll be 200-300 unless its way more expensive there than in nebraska, then you can either buy a cheap hammer and dolly and get a ton of experience out of that(don't worry too bad, the frame stretcher will pull 65-70% of that out then bondo and shoot it, or you can order a 1/2 skin from next generation for i tink around 100 aftermarket, then you just got to remember the number of your bud who can braze. then call up brock's camaro and firebird in south carolina, dont remember exact stuff but i think they got some site or something their paypal deal is brockscambird@wmconnect.com i got a rear bumper for a 92 from them for like 75 + 35 bux shipping, and 92 bumpers are as common as hens teeth, then coat with your favorite paint, so.... itll be 300 for the frame ~150 for the fender ~150 for the skin and 2x$75 for the taillights plus around 250 for decent paint so theres 1000 plus about 5 cases of your favorite brew and probably 2 months worth of weekends in the garage


also, hold out for all you can get, allstate totaled mine out for 6000 and i bought it back for 2600 and mine isn't that amazing, its nice but... i dunno, getting mine totalled was the best thing that happened to me, i got a free 6 speed with the extra money, hopefully itll work that well for ou, also see about the salvage title thing, they didnt give me a different title cuz they said they didnt have to it the original owner was keeping the vehicle

good luck!
-parker

 

That isn't hard with an L03, right? Oh, who am I kidding, I have an LB9.

Kidding aside, you can drive like an old man and still get f-ed by someone who has no clue on how to drive, isn't paying attention, some old lady who can barely see anymore, etc.

Yes, I worry about my car too, probbaly as much as you do. However, I won't let that stop me from driving the way I should be.