Rebuild or move on?

G

gearhead291

Active LVC Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2007
Messages
198
Reaction score
4
Location
atl ga.
well folks. my car was involved in a Hit and run. the damage isnt a joke, and unfortunately my insurance doesnt cover this because the other driver cant be found. i got an estimate of about 1000$ to fix and repaint the whole side of the car ( thankfully be rid of the multi color paint).plus i dont like the color so i would have to change the entire color of the car to black. so my question is what do you guys think i should do with the car.pour money into it, or get something thats in better shape. its a 98 base.


NEW damage
IMAG0422.jpg




the cons are

needs headlights
all chrome trim
front bumper
front seats
driver door panel
visor
steering wheel
center console
wood radio bezel
dash ( the plastic edges that hold the radio are broken)
STILL needs suspension work.
center tail light doesnt work


PLUS 1000$ to fix the new damage. now this woudlnt be much of a problem except there are NO marks in any of the yards around here. and i cant find parts for a decent price.


pros are only

116K
its paid off
all new ball joints, control arms, bushings, etc..



so should i just sell it for cheap & cut my losses and get a better mark. or do you guys think its really worth the effort?
 
The damage don't look that bad. What worries me is the damage underneath. You need to pull off the rear wheel, and check the half shaft, upper and lower control arms. Make sure there's no damage there. From the pics, you'll need a new bumper.
 
For the $$ you are going to spend on it plus paint, I'm sure you can find a black one that's in better condition. If you wanted a Gen 1, Check out the thread by Ultimate SVT. His car is black with a custom interior, lower miles than yours, and a rebuilt trans. Take your new front end components and install them in his car. You would have a one of a kind Mark that runs like a bat out of hell!! Miami isn't that far away.
 
id get a few more estiments first for the damage i see a 1000 is not enough to do a good job. i wouldnt even bother fixing it id replace it with a new quarter panel.
 
Buy a different car, IMO. Think of what you could spend $1k on if you didn't need to repair body damage.
 
From the pictures I would say no way they are fixing that the right way for $1000. If it was just a dent and that large I'd want to hang an entire quarter on that side, looking at the door gap something is a little off. Side damage on a unibody car = idk!
Personally I'd find one you want, pull what you want to keep and part the rest; its probably worth more in parts than it is whole. If you were closer I'd be looking to buy it for parts.
That being said I've seen worse fixed, if you are emotionally attached to the car by all means fix it.. but based on your questions I would go with my first statement.
J
 
Yeah $1000 to fix that..it will end up turning out like sh*t, they would probably pull the dents out and lather bondo over he whole 1/4 panel, it'll be wavier than a washboard and guaranteed the paint won't match worth a sh*t, it'll end up looking worse than the mismatched paint that's already on there.how much did you buy it for? I would just try and sell the car for $1000-1500 as just a driver and look for something else. If you wanted a full paint job done right you would spend thousands..not worth it..
 
I have a 97 parts car with a good rear quarter panel and rear bumper. Someone I met once needed the same and the man who does my brothers body work said he would replace the rear quarter and paint it for 1,500. And he would fix it right. And his was a little worse.
 
You'll be better off salvaging what you want/need off that car, and sell the rest. Buy another one
 
I for one can't see car's die especially for something so stupid as such incident where some retard ruined your car. If I had the car & the cash (knowing the car's drive train is solid & also taking into consideration how long you'd be keeping the car) I would fix it. I'd fix it right. If you want to paint the whole car black expect to dump some cash into it though... That's if you want to do it right, door jambs, trunk/hood interiors, etc...

If that's not your cup of tea then sell it to someone willing to fix it & get yourself another one. The damage isn't big at all. You just have to want to do it.
 
I wouldn't spend $1000+(closer to 2k) on something cosmetic esp on a 15 year old car unless you absolutely loved it and had a good bit of dough in it already. Throw in all the other things it needs and it just doesn't make sense to fix it.

Just drive it till it dies. Not worth putting that kinda money into.
 
thats easily a $3000 repair, if you can find a lkq rear cover and quarter panel and then the blends(3 stage paint) on all the adjacent panels. hopefully no suspension damage, although that is the easier to fix. i would check the suspension and drive it the way it is.
 
I think ill just drive it for now until somebody wants to buy it. I did have to replace the upper control arm tho. It was bent
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 110 (members: 0, guests: 110)
Back
Top