Hey guys,

So I had my car parked on the street over the weekend and one of my elderly neighbors slammed into my car. The rear bumper is completely damaged (looks like it's about to be folded in half), as well as the tail lights and rear side panel on one side. The hatch still works and locks, but air and water is getting in the trunk now. I might be forgetting something and can upload a couple photos later. The car still drives okay, although I've only driven it twice since it's happened so maybe I'll notice something as I continue to drive it. Fortunately the driver left her information and lives right around the corner so we're going to go through her insurance company to handle things, especially since I don't have collision.

So right now I'm debating whether or not it's worth using the insurance money to repair body or if I should use that money, sell the car as is for $1500 or so, and then get something else. I'm leaning towards just repairing the car since I enjoy driving it, have recently upgraded the speakers, changed the distributor cap/rotor and plugs, changed the alternator so I know what's been done on it recently maintenance-wise. Plus, we're not sure if her insurance company will set a cap amount due to the age/wrecked condition of the car. They might declare it a total and just give me $3000 for the value of the car.

Thoughts anyone? What would you guys do?

Personally, I'd pull the upgraded speakers and, if you kept the old parts to replace them, the things you just replaced (dizzy cap/rotor, alternator, and plugs) then I'd just take the money you'll get, sell the car as-is, and then buy another Celica. Heck, if that happened to my Celica I'd let the neighbor's insurance total the car out, take the check they would provide, and put that towards a down payment for a BRZ.

From the sound of it, they'll probably total the car because of the rear panel damage would necessitate a costly cut and weld repair job depending on the amount of damage.

Either way, good luck and keep us updated on what happens.

Do all other panels still line up perfectly? Doors, fenders, hood, etc.? If the gap is no longer consistent you could have frame damage, which I wouldn't fix if it was mine. Otherwise let her insurance company fix it up and continue on your way to 1,000,000 miles.

No, the panels aren't lined up at all on the one side. It's pretty bad. I have a hard time imagining 25mph did that damage. I'm going to go out on my break in a few and will snap a couple photos.

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This post has been edited by marblesmike: Sep 23, 2013 - 5:24 PM

Odds are they'll want to total it. If it were me I'd see what they'd pay for taking the car, and what they'll pay for letting you keep it. If it's within $1,000 I'd keep it and fix the damage the best I could myself. I've fixed similar damage with just a porta-power and you could never tell the car was hit. Then either keep it or sell it off for $1,500-2,000 and buy something else.

This post has been edited by Box: Sep 23, 2013 - 2:06 PM

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I don't have any experience with body work so it'll all be done in a shop.

So they give you different amounts for a total depending on whether you keep it or if you have it towed away?

Is there any way they'll give me money and let me keep it so I can sell it and combine the funds to put towards another vehicle?

I am no expert, but why do I have a feeling a bit of hammering, new bumper, crash bar, license plate panel and it may be a success.

Generally what happens is once they total it out you have the chance to buy it back with a salvaged title. That's if they don't pay to have it repaired anyway. I just have a feeling what it'd cost for a shop to repair it will be more than their book value. I had never done any bodywork outside of painting before, and it wasn't as hard as you're thinking. All it takes is some common sense and patience.

I don't see where any body work will be done. Everything will be thrown, replaced and painted to match the car.

From what he said and by the looks of it the back side of the body is dented in, and would need pushed back out. Even just replacing the damaged panels and painting to match will cost a sizable amount for a body shop to do.

This post has been edited by Box: Sep 23, 2013 - 3:20 PM

Going to get an estimate in a little bit so I'll update the thread when I know what's going on.

It's depressing to see my car like that :-( so I hope it can be repaired. However, if not, I'll use the insurance money towards an E36. This Celica has helped me become more mechanically inclined so that I feel comfortable working on cars.

Yup, estimated at $4000-5000 worth of damage. There's structural damage underneath the body. Looks like I'll be getting a new car :-(

So, if you were me, would you buy it back with the salvage title and try to sell it for cheap to someone on here or elsewhere? Think there would be much interest?

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Depending on how much they are willing to pay you out for and what they want to buy it back, I'd do that and then either sell it for scrap to a junkyard after parting it out or sell it as-is to someone who wants it.

Just depends on the buyback cost. Being there's structural damage(from pics I don't see how), anything over $500 just let them take it. Remove your sound system and any other small things you can use in your next car first though.

Look at the positive though, odds are they'll be paying you more than what you could've ever sold it for. Now you can get an E36 or what have you instead, and never ever park it out on the street.

thats a shame, but if you cant fix it, just give it to insurance.

Its a hassle to part out cars, believe me. unless parts are hot, like for a rare car, selling that car for parts will mean time youll spend doing shipping quotes, for shipments that will never leave your house. Especially in this site. Unless you have a dollar sale, trust me, you wont make much...

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Any tips on getting the most from the insurance company? I guess I should mention the spark plugs, distributor cap/rotor, alternator (which is upgraded to 160amps output) are less than 2 months old, as well as my subwoofer amp that was damaged in the crash, and the premium speakers/headunit in it?

And then after all is said and done I can strip out the speakers and aftermarket head unit before they tow it away? Sorry, I'm new at this. I've never had it happen before.

This post has been edited by marblesmike: Sep 25, 2013 - 10:12 AM

This is where documentation of any work and parts for it would come in handy. Without any receipts it's kind of hard to prove what was replaced and new before the incident. I would just go ahead and remove what you want to keep for it, as soon as they take it it's going to a junk yard. Another thing that'd help is to find dealer listings of Celicas in similar year range and condition to show what it'll actually cost to replace it. Being the accident happened the way it did I don't think you should have too much trouble.

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Still waiting to hear from the claims adjuster. Not sure if he/she will be coming out to look at it again since the body shop took extensive photos of the car including the odometer. And here's the kicker: one of my friends said he or his brother would easily buy the car as is (including the salvage title) for $1000. I might put an ad out there asking for $1300 or something to see if there's any other interest but that doesn't seem too bad. I guess it all depends on how much the salvage title costs to buy back. The car is still in my dad's name so he'll be handling any communication with the insurance company (not his insurance company but the driver's since we don't have collision on the Celica) and he thinks he'll be able to negotiate a pretty good deal including the salvage title coming back to us.

Does $1000 sound fair in regards to selling the car as-is?

As long as it still runs and drives you should be able to get around $1,000 or so. People that're desperate for a car and only have $1,000 or so to work with won't care about the damage.

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Yeah, but won't it have a salvage title on it that means they can't legally drive it until they fix it?

no you can drive the car on a salvage title. salvage titles are stupid in my book. lets say your car was stolen. you report it and then its found just a few hours later. BOOM it now has a salvage title. there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, but because it was reported stolen, its salvaged.

The insurance company only wanted to give Amy 1500 or so for her car. keep fighting them. they finally settled on 4000. DO NOT give in. insurance companies have a said amount of days to close a claim. keep fighting them for what you want. they will cave in eventually.

Yeah, the initial offer was around $3900 including the car. It didn't include title and tags and had everything standard in the car (4 speaker AM/FM cassette rather than 6 speakers aftermarket with aftermarket head unit, etc). The cost of keeping the car is around $450 and if I can't sell it elsewhere within 30 days I can have them pick it up and give me back the $450. Not a bad deal but we'll keep working with them. My dad is a lawyer and wants to get closer to $5000 when all is said and done.

That's surprisingly fair for a first offer, obviously try and get the most you can though. Eh, not sure how it is in NJ but down in AL there aren't inspections so it doesn't matter what kind of title it has so long that it has one. I still say you should be able to sell it for around $1,000 or so. If not sell it for anything over $500 and it'll go to a much better home than where the insurance company would send it.

This post has been edited by Box: Oct 1, 2013 - 10:03 AM

Sorry to hear that, man. Hope you get it all figured out!

My little brother had his Celica that he's had for a just a couple months totaled ($4300 in damage) in a hit and run accident on the 13th last month. He got these guys' license number AND we found the car the next morning and the police won't do anything about it because these guys are "really dangerous individuals", I guess. Turns out now that the insurance can't do anything about it either because these guys' Dad turned himself in for it, and because that doesn't match the police report or something, their insurance won't do anything about it if they cops don't, which they won't, and my little brother only had liability on his insurance. Now he owes $3k on his car AND is trying to figure out what to do with it now that it has $4300 in damage.

SO.. the situation could always be worse, I guess is what I'm saying here. Who knows. Look on the bright side of things! Maybe you'll get that $5k and find a deal on another Celica that is ****ing sick in comparison!

Ha, yeah I'm actually looking into getting a BMW E36. Thanks to the Celica I learned how to do some of my own work on the car so I'll be using that knowledge plenty if I get a Bimmer!

working on a BMW is NOTHING like working on a celica

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yeah...they're easier to work on.

*Large resounding laugh* BMW's are a pain, especially on the E36 and later. Not the worst car out there in terms of ease to work on, but certainly not the best. Small things like needing BMW specialty tools for removing the fan clutch is stupid. Lots of other places that you need those specialty tools as well, Germans seem to have control issues or something. The Celica is easy compared to the bulk majority of cars, especially those of its time period. Now the 318 may not be that bad just for the sake it's a longitudinal I4, but any with the I6 it's a pretty tight fit.

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I've heard the E36 is very easy to work on aside from a few specific things (as it is with any car) but hey I could be wrong. I'm looking for an upgrade in power and control and I've always wanted one so that's where I'll be looking.

Trust me, I've loved my Celica and have really enjoyed driving it. It's the fastest non-turbo 4 cylinder I've ever driven. Driving in my 5-speed Celica and then switching to my sister's 2005 Corolla was painful.

I'd own an E36 myself, just make sure you get one that has documented maintenance.