RIP Camry! (Formerly Camry Crunch)

[thewizard16]

As I mentioned in chat, I had my first accident where I had fault yesterday. A red SUV rear ended the car in front of them and I rear ended the SUV after that. Unfortunately my car got the worst of it, and to top things off the SUV had a hitch sticking out so it did a bit more damage than it might have otherwise.

Pictures:








For those of you with any knowledge on the subject, any ballpark ideas on what I'm looking at for the repair if things go that way? I'll call and ask them to get an estimate worked up tomorrow morning before my insurance adjuster calls back, but I thought a few of you might have some ideas about this. Mechanically everything appears fine except the radiator, which took the aforementioned trailer hitch to the gut and started gushing fluid out the bottom. The engine never turned off and the crash was straight on, so I'm optimistic that everything else is pretty much okay. I may be wrong, but for now assume I'm correct. If there's anything specific I should look out for, advice on that would be appreciated too.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Looks totalled.

[thewizard16]

Looks totalled.

Entirely possible. A shame since mechanically it is in great shape and has had a crap ton of maintenance work done in the past 12 months, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if the estimate comes back too high to be worthwhile.

[280Z Turbo]

Way too old to not be totaled.

[Soup DeVille]

Total loss.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Take the insurance money, add junkyard hood, bumper, and radiator. Leave the frame bent.

[280Z Turbo]

Just wrap a rope around the radiator crossmember and tie it to a big oak tree. Back the car up. A few tugs should get 'er close enough.

[Cookie Monster]

Nice Olympics badge.

Also, tape radiator to bumper and remove hood.

[thewizard16]

Nice Olympics badge.

Also, tape radiator to bumper and remove hood.

Thanks, it's been on there for 20 years . It gets positive comments every four years.

No ghetto fixing, the old Camry was supposed to be stately in its old age. Like it was a few weeks ago:


I highly suspected it would be a total loss being that it takes very little for repairs to hit about the value of the car (although the exact valuation is a number I'll work out with the adjuster shortly, I have a pretty good idea of the window it will be in) and body work is funny expensive, but I'm still curious what you all think it would cost to fix the damage.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Just to throw a number out there? $3571.18

[Soup DeVille]

Thanks, it's been on there for 20 years . It gets positive comments every four years.

No ghetto fixing, the old Camry was supposed to be stately in its old age. Like it was a few weeks ago:


I highly suspected it would be a total loss being that it takes very little for repairs to hit about the value of the car (although the exact valuation is a number I'll work out with the adjuster shortly, I have a pretty good idea of the window it will be in) and body work is funny expensive, but I'm still curious what you all think it would cost to fix the damage.

Most policies will total a car out after the repairs hit about 60% of the car's value.

[thewizard16]

Most policies will total a car out after the repairs hit about 605 of the car's value.

Yeah, I've heard some are as aggressive as 51%, some may let it get up to 70-80%. I don't know what makes a company decide what percentage they use. I feared this was the route it would go, I think I just wanted to hear it from some others with knowledge on the subject (to push me past denial and help me begin the grieving process ). I've had the car for 9 years and it's been very good to me so I'll be sad to see it go, but I don't have the time, space, or interest in buying it back at salvage price and trying to fix it.

[Onslaught]

She's dead Jim.

That's a very easy fix. I could have it done in a day.  But the cost of parts and labor will kill a car that old.

[GoCougs]

I'm guessing $3,000, and that's presuming all body damage (i.e., no subframe damage). Sucks, as that's sure to be totaled.

[Laconian]

Looks totalled to me. Sorry.

[Secret Chimp]

Hood, bumper, radiator, pull the front support straight. Perhaps if you get a quote on just the body labor it won't be a total loss? I hate when things are totalled when the damage is fairly straightforward...

[Onslaught]

Hood,Hood latch, hood latch support, Bumper, Bumper reinforcement, absorber, grille, A/C condenser, Radiator, Lower engine cover, upper cover from bumper to radiator support, Upper tie bar ( could be repaired but not made perfect), set up time for pull, Pull time, Repair time after pull and I can't tell in the pictures but it's very possible that one if not both headlamps.

Just the parts and paint alone will kill this thing.

[thewizard16]

Hood,Hood latch, hood latch support, Bumper, Bumper reinforcement, absorber, grille, A/C condenser, Radiator, Lower engine cover, upper cover from bumper to radiator support, Upper tie bar ( could be repaired but not made perfect), set up time for pull, Pull time, Repair time after pull and I can't tell in the pictures but it's very possible that on if not both headlamps.

Just the parts and paint alone will kill this thing.

Any idea on what that would cost with used parts? The inspection by agents are beginning today and we'll haggle out some valuation numbers Monday. The numbers are better so far on valuation than I'd have guessed, but it'll still likely be totaled just based off whatever percentage value my insurance company uses. At any rate, I may elect to have it fixed even if they do total it purely because I know how much money I've put into keeping the mechanical crap in high form and I know that the rest of the vehicle has a lot of life in it. (Plus there's custom crap I won't get any money for and would have to pull and replace if I agree to total it out.) It's not my most likely course of action, but I am keeping it on the table until some firm numbers are out, at this point I'm trying to ballpark and collect any information that'll help me make a decision next week. At any rate I'm just curious, I'm keeping all options open at this point since the negotiations won't really begin until Monday.

EDIT: Ignore that, estimates are coming in sooner than I'd expected.

[thewizard16]

First estimate back a few minutes ago: $4092 before anything that might be hiding under the damage they can see without moving the beat up parts. Getting a second opinion from a smaller shop run by an acquaintance that has done some good work for a few people I work with, but I don't think it can possibly be enough lower to save it, even with the surprisingly high replacement values that have been found and will be discussed in the valuation talks. 

[AutobahnSHO]

Will you file a claim with your insurance for your car?? 
--If so your rates can go waaaay up. Check to see what it might be, might be worth just ebaying it then scrapping it yourself.

But if you do, send them receipts for recent repairs- anything the last year or two can increase your payout.

[thewizard16]

Will you file a claim with your insurance for your car?? 
--If so your rates can go waaaay up. Check to see what it might be, might be worth just ebaying it then scrapping it yourself.

But if you do, send them receipts for recent repairs- anything the last year or two can increase your payout.

There had to be a claim, it was a multi car accident on a busy city street (police) and I'm at least partially liable for damage to two other vehicles. I'm not worried about the rate issue, it is what it is and there was no real way to avoid that, now it's just dealing with the hassle afterwards. 

[AutobahnSHO]

But you could exempt your own car from the claim- not sure how the insurance would raise/lower your rates based on the $$$ of damage...

[TurboDan]

Yeah, I've heard some are as aggressive as 51%, some may let it get up to 70-80%. I don't know what makes a company decide what percentage they use.

I've heard this before as well and it never made sense to me. Why would an insurance company want to give someone 100% of the value of a car when they could get away with paying for damage worth only 60%?

[Madman]

Just wrap a rope around the radiator crossmember and tie it to a big oak tree. Back the car up. A few tugs should get 'er close enough.

I like your way of thinking! 

Total loss.

Yeah, given the age of the car the insurance company will write it off, hand you some money and send you on your merry way.  Of course, the way I see it, it's a golden opportunity to go shed shopping! 

[2o6]

I've heard this before as well and it never made sense to me. Why would an insurance company want to give someone 100% of the value of a car when they could get away with paying for damage worth only 60%?

Liability?

[Madman]

Nice Olympics badge.

If I remember correctly, that was some sort of special edition to commemorate the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, wasn't it?  I seem to recall Buick doing some special Olympic editions in either 1984 or 1988 (maybe both?).  Perhaps you can convince your insurance company your car's super rare collectable status?  Hey, it's worth a shot! 

[hotrodalex]

First estimate back a few minutes ago: $4092 before anything that might be hiding under the damage they can see without moving the beat up parts. Getting a second opinion from a smaller shop run by an acquaintance that has done some good work for a few people I work with, but I don't think it can possibly be enough lower to save it, even with the surprisingly high replacement values that have been found and will be discussed in the valuation talks.

That's about 120% the value of the car.

While the devil you know is better than the devil you don't, I'm thinking a new car is the only option here.

[Soup DeVille]

I've heard this before as well and it never made sense to me. Why would an insurance company want to give someone 100% of the value of a car when they could get away with paying for damage worth only 60%?

I don't know the why of it, but it is absolutely true. Perhaps they've seen that the chance of a claim being made goes up substantially after such repairs?

[thewizard16]

UPDATE:
The estimate from an acquaintance to fix came back at $1500. Monday I deal with the adjuster on what value the insurance company places on the car, but since they're going to come up with a repair estimate closer to the $4000+ figure that the original body shop threw out there than the private $1500 estimate, it's still going to be a total loss. That leaves me with two options:

1: Take the money and hope I can find a different car that will be as reliable as the Camry has been (I am skeptical of this) while dealing with the added time not having a vehicle, or
2: Take the money, buy the Camry back at salvage value and fix it within the next week, and keep the car I've spent over $3000 on maintenance and repairs on over the past two and a half years that I know is in great shape and ready to go for another 50,000+ miles, but take on the risk of having a nearly worthless car in the event of a future accident (I'm not concerned with resale or trade in specifically, just being able to replace it in an accident).

The problem with the first option is the risk of expensive maintenance on an unfamiliar car, and let's face it, most cars I will be looking at price range wise are likely to be risky financial propositions from a mechanical standpoint.

The problem with the second option is that the Camry would come out of it with a rebuilt title and be almost totally un-insurable, so I'd be putting $1500+ into a car that although mechanically solid, is now valued at 30-50% of it's original value and is impossible to replace (financially) in the event of a future accident, my fault or otherwise.

I'm risk averse and time poor, so I don't like the idea of buying a car with an unknown maintenance history and I really don't have the time to deal with the mess of car shopping and test driving and such in the next few weeks. By the same token, even though I know the Camry will treat me well for years to come if I have the work done, my risk averse nature says that taking the chance of having another wreck after putting money into repairing the car I've spent years pouring money into to keep it in top shape is a big gamble since I would be that much poorer and that much less insured if a future accident were to occur.

What would you do? Keep in mind I really don't want to go car shopping, but I also really don't want to be out of luck in the event of a future accident... I haven't reached a decision yet but I'm curious what you all would do. Regardless of what happens now, I'll probably be getting a newer car in 2-3 years, so I won't be spending big bucks right now no matter what the decision is. With all that said, what do you guys think the proper decision is?

[MX793]

I don't know the why of it, but it is absolutely true. Perhaps they've seen that the chance of a claim being made goes up substantially after such repairs?

Well, you have the physical damage to the vehicle, plus the loss in the resale value of the vehicle even after repairs due to it having sustained substantial damage in an accident.