Nice Winter Crash In My 1996 (annoyed)

[crazymjb]

Well I finally did it, my very first accident... I don't know how we are going to pay this yet, or what method we will use to repair it, so I am looking for some input. I was taking a left after a stop sign, I over-corrected as there was some under-steer, and at the same time feathered the throttle to get the front wheels to pull me... Well they pulled me, and the rear slid out the other direction. Figures it happens after that 70 degree Thursday I spent cleaning it. Ironically I had just dropped off a friend who crashed his car into a tree and couldn't get home.

 

Before:

 

After:

 

I am running through a few scenarios

A. Have a shop do everything: Bumper, Hood, Fender, Headlight, Fascia (shop does everything)

B. Getting all the parts for the shop to use and just bending the bumper back as well as I can for the time being (junk yard cost + installation and paint prep and paint)

C. Getting and prepping everything, and having a shop match and paint only (used parts cost + paint match and application cost)

 

What do you guys recommend, and what would you estimate the cost would be? My father is away on business and when he gets back we will have it assessed and see what we want to do with insurance.

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[CapitalTruck]

Take the whole thing into the bodyshop and have them do it. Make sure they only use OEM GM parts. Lucky for you the wreck isn't so bad to keep you from driving the thing. Now you can start saving for the repair. Due to the age of the truck I wouldn't be too upset with a decent hammer/bond/paint job. Especially if you can get a guarantee on it. Don't sweat the bumper.

[crazymjb]

It is my daily driver, and my first car, so I would like it looking nice. As you can sorta see from the first picture, I take good care of it.

 

I am not too worried about the bumper as my friends neighbor(down the street) said he would teach us to weld, and I was thinking of making something relatively heavy duty out of C channel, but for now, I don't care to much, as long as its bent out of the way of that plastic grill fascia.

 

If I were to get everything prepped (pulled off cars at salvage yards, sanded, and prepped on my car) and were to bring it in just to paint, how much does a paint job usually cost? Also, if I found something the same color is it likely to match?

 

Mike

[svensk]

Last winter I slid down a small (nasty) icy hill near my house after an storm and went into a snowbank and plowed OVER a small tree (7 inch diameter)...yeah nice 500 deductable for 6 grand in damage. Mine didn't look much worse than your's except mine had more of a tree indentation on the bumper/grill I backed her out and drove home to inspect it.

She spent over 2 weeks on the frame machine, I got it back after nearly a month in the body shop. All in all she came back better than new with sparkling new front end work, and that led me to my purchase of Michelin LTX M/S tires shortly after.

[crazymjb]

You think there is a possibility of frame damage? It just impacted in that corner, relatively slowly as well.

 

Mike

[svensk]

You think there is a possibility of frame damage? It just impacted in that corner, relatively slowly as well.

 

Mike

I dunno possibly, in mine the frame took the majority of the hit. Your not going to know until you start pulling stuff off

[crazymjb]

Did you actually go over the tree? From the looks of it my bumper and fender took the majority of the hit. My bumper seems to have buckled on one side and my fender to have crumpled...

 

Mike

[superbee]

That looks like a light tap dude. I would be surprised to find you tweeked the frame. Try to find a guy who does bodywork that's not an insurance shop, it will cut your cost by probably half.

[crazymjb]

Thanks. My father is emailing the insurance agency to check on rate changes... His estimate was 3-4K... ROFL... I can buy the parts for a few hundred most, painting is only a few hundred more...

 

I'll keep you guys posted, and keep the suggestions coming.

 

Mike

[Rolandd]

Mike,

 

Check JP Carrol's in Lexington just northeast of Rt.-2 at the Waltham exit as you are headed outbound (it is inside of 128). They have several of these trucks and are usually faily reasonable in price. It should be warm enough by the end of the week that you could comfortably pull what you need yourself as long as you take some plastic and blankets to stay on top of the mud. It does not look like a hard enough hit to bend the frame enough to matter. However, if you are having steering issues you may want to measure things out first.

 

Good luck,

 

--Roland

[ZZ327]

WWW.LMCTRUCK.COM you can order the mag online for free. out the new fener on yourself and just have the body shop match paint. Their parts are pretty cheap

[crazymjb]

Thanks guys.

 

I will check out that salvage yard (first by phone), as my friend needs some stuff too.

 

I don't know about LMC truck, but a lot of sites have CAPA certified parts cheap, it is the shipping that is killing me. If everything was only 200 total shipped brand new I'd definitely consider that more strongly. I am going to take a look around that site for now.

 

Mike

[thecraft]

WWW.LMCTRUCK.COM you can order the mag online for free. out the new fener on yourself and just have the body shop match paint. Their parts are pretty cheap

 

Made in China = JUNK

[crazymjb]

Update: My dad is fighting the insurance company over 50 dollars (basically the difference between walking away with 500 and no rate change and paying them 2K to get 1500 in a check (in which case we would pay out of pocket).

 

I hooked a tow strap up to the front bumper and slowly backed up in reverse, the bumper is perfectly lined up now. I know it is not as structurally sound as it was before, but for the time being that is fine. The local auto parts shop has CAPA certified parts, so if I can't find a painted truck at a salvage yard, I could get everything on and painted for about 500, breaking even if the insurance company caves.

 

My question to you guys at this immediate time is, I need to replace the headlight assembly for the drivers side headlight. Should I look for used OEM headlights on ebay or at a salvage yard, or will a 30 dollar (shipped) headlight from an ebay auto vendor be just fine? I mean, the only problem I could think of would be leaking, and these headlights seemed simple enough that worst case I pull off the lens and put a bead of silicon around it.

 

I am more rushed on the headlight as I need it to pass inspection. Let me know what you guys think, thanks

 

Mike

[asilverblazer]

I liked option "C" originally. I would try to get out as cheaply as possible and leave the insurance company out of it. Save cash for the "next" truck. If you can find a green truck in a salvage it would like match close enough for a daily driver. I spent a lot of money rebuilding my first car when I should have cut my losses. Keep in mind the trucks market value and not get carried away fixing it to the point you won't get the money back. If it were newer had very low miles, or was in some other way special it might be worth putting a little more in to fixing it. No offense but sometimes it's just not worth the cost to fix them.