I got tboned couple days ago. This lady didnt watch for incoming cars before she entered the intersection. I'm pissed because my car is worth nothing. But maybe its fixable as a diy? I dont know. What do you guys think?


[ATTACH=CONFIG]204075[/ATTACH]

 

Almost everything is fixable.
Insurance companies total out a car and pay someone off because it costs more
to fix some cars that "the book" says a car is worth.

A cars value is the replacement cost, not the book value.
On paper a car may be 25 years old, and not be worth fixing, insurance-wise,
but if someone got the car free, they might put less into fixing it.

I would take some measurements to see if it was hit high enough that the bottom
floor pan did not get severely bent. I would measure the door post area to see
how far (if any at all) that the car might have been pushed in below the windows.

If a person wants a show car repair, it costs more.
A transportation-only car will cost less to fix.
A race car repair is cheapest.

 

Does it drive straight, going down the road?

 

I just need the car for transportation only. Unfortunately I don't know were or how to begin taking measurements. Is there tutorial online that I can read to brush me up on this process?

When insurance does total out the car and if i do decided to repair it, does a shop have to certify the car so I can get a salvage title? Im not to sure how this works but my intent was to never sell this car. Everything works in the vehicle and it gets 40mpg. Best part about it is low cost maintenance and dirt cheap insurance. Those are my reasons for wanting to fix the car. If its not to much trouble.

I bend the metal outward as much as i can in the back with a crow bar so it can stop cutting the tire and yes it still drive straight surprisingly. Ive only driven it around my block though at low speed. I didnt take it on the highway or went above 40mph yet..

 

Sometime back I was asked to look at a car that was front end hit. The owner
was paying $600 a month for storage. I fixed the radiator and they said it was
driving straight. I said if it was driving straight, we could drive it to their house
and get out from under the storage fee, or we could drive to a junkyard and
buy the parts to fix it.

We fixed it.....when they took it in to check the alignment, the people there could
not tell that the car had been wrecked. .......and they now had plenty of money to
get it repainted.

Avoid salvage titles. Ins. co.s don't want to insure you.
If it is fixed by traditional means, it goes into the Carfax data base.

 

Don't know of a tutorial. You should look anyway.
There are a lot of things to measure on a car, but not everything applies to your car.
What city are you in?
Are you willing to do some of the work yourself?-Bob