my friend just got rear ended last night and had his whole rear bumper f'd up, the left rear quarter panel was also bent and the drivers side door doesnt close right now, they got hit so hard that the force knocked the radio out as well as the front bumper, im assuming that because the door doesnt sit right there might be damage to the frame, so what my question is who decides whether to total a car or not or to have it fixed obviusly he would want all new parts anyone been through this, he has an integara i dont thikn that matters though, any help would be appreciated

 

I've never had a wreck where the frame was damage, but I was in a wreck once with a 4Runner. When I did get that Damn SUV fixed up, I learned that for a car to be concerned totaled the frame has to be damaged, not 100% sure though.

 

that is 100% bs
heres the deal on your car....its a unibody.u have some structural frame damage
you getvhit inthe rear and he cars gonna get sucked down....look at the trunk and door gaps get under the car and you will see a buckle in your frame rail...
todays technology repairs cars better than the come off teh assembly line....no bs.cars can be pulled to within 3mm of fatory tolerances..sometiems they come from he factore up to 10mm off.so in actuality sometimes its better when u get it back from an accident.....
and heres how a car i determined a total........
the repair cost has to approach or exceed the replacement value.....
meaning why would u spend 5000 to fix a 3000 car...

 

This is very true. Recently I went into a newly built body shop. It had several cars on some sort of frame device with hanging mirrors and lasers and whatnot. Gauges and measuring devices galore. I'm sure they can do some pretty wild repair work.

As for the issue of totalling a car. It sometimes depends on your insurance. In most cases, if the repair bill comes to within a certain percentage of the total value of the car, then it will be totalled. Otherwise, it'll be repaired. Some insurance companies automatically total it if the airbags go off, etc.

The same body shop I mentioned above was fixing a 2001 Audi A4. It had $22K in damages but the insurance company wanted it repaired. There was literally half a car sitting on the frame machine, and some guy was welding pieces on. Crazy chit.

 

happened to me..i only had the car for 8 months then..the car was in the shop for about 3 weeks cost $3500..rear bumper, rear panel, floor board, and muffler had to replace..I just went through the other guys insurance and almost brand new..expect for the fact that my car was hit again as it was parked overnite at a club..hit and run..oh well..the bumper is scratched and half an inch gap..boo hoo

 

the unfortunate part about not having your car totalled out in a major accident is you are stuck with a repaired car afterwards...if you had a new car before like i did, its just not the same...when my 2000 Si was in a major accident, i prayed to god that they didnt fix it...who the hell wants a BRAND NEW car thats been taken apart, welded, primered, sanded, re-painted...etc. i sure as hell dont...

 

How much does it cost to straighten out the frame?

 

the person who decides that if the car is totaled or not is your friends insurance......


[Modified by SDboost, 1:42 AM 2/18/2002]

 

thanks guys, yeah hes hoping it gets totaled cause i believe that the car has been in 2 accidents prior to when he bought it, so he definately doesnt want it fixed, if they say to get it fixed does he have the choice of getting all new parts or are they going to "fix" it, like cutting of the crap parts and then welding new peices on?

 

i was in a very similar situation with my 01 prelude. I've had it for 3 months when I got rear ended, quite badly. I hit the car infront of me from the impact, nothing i could do... Things that got f****d, my rear bumber, rear side fender, trunk, one rear light, hood, front bumper. Damage was $13k CAD and the car was fixed, the insurance wasnt even thinking about a writeoff even though that's what I wanted. After all the car was fixed and looked like brand new. I know it sux having a brand new car that was in an accident. i know how u feel. 3 months after some dumbass hit me at a parkinglot while i was at the gym. Hit and run, even though i found the guy the insurance company was very reluctant to do anything about it, cuz i had no eye witnesses. They treated me like i was the one at fault. ICBC sux big time. Their service is terrible. It's been 5 weeks since the hit&run and i'm finally gonna take my car in tomorow to get it fixed and have to pay the deductible. Let yr friend know that he's not alone and i know how it feels.

 

lets do some total loss calculations
i totalled out 4 cars today..it sucks *** i would fix everything if i could...
heres the deal for most companies
if the repair cost exceeds 75% of the acv ( actual cash value ,not what u hope or wish its worth)....they will more then likley total out the car
its cheaper to just total it then fix it and if it costs more to fix it.why would you want it repaired?
that assupmtion that if the airbag deploys , its totaled is wrong
most of the time the air bag deployment pushes the repair cost over the threshold..
but not the only reason for totallng it out
i know having your car repaied takes away that new car feeling, but ohh well , you jst have to live with it... i saw a goy who got broad sided in his 01 s2000
when he was pulling out of the driveway at the dealer... without even a mile on it
$hit happens...

 

so how much does it cost to straighten out a frame? like a crx.

 

in your area it 50 per hr
2 hrs setup 1hr per condition
2 hrs for sway