Got a 1995 mercury tracer
1.9 liter sefi engine.
rear ended a truck last week and the hood buckled up, crunched up the front part of the fenders, busted out all the lights, grille and mangeled the radiator core support.
how hard will it be to fix?
i am on limited funds and only
have liability insurance so i am trying
to keep the cost down as much as possible.
one more question,
how good is pull-a-part to get parts?
Thanks
Cost of most body work = (Amount man on the street thinks it will cost) X 10. If you do it yourself you could still be up against a brick wall depending on how bad the unibody (body) is tweaked or crushed/distorted. U-Pull-it junk yards are ok if you can find what you need and get it off the car in question w/o ripping your hair out. Their prices are cheap but what if you do all this work, spend $, and front wheels
are hopelessly out of alignment, headlights can’t be aimed, etc, maybe you might not even be able to steer vehicle properly. If you know unibody is ok, that could be a different story- do you have the right tools; done much work on cars? Post back and let us know what’s up-and goood luck to you.
The unibody is ok.
The only damage was above the front bumper.
I hit a dodge ram so it miraculously missed the front bumper.
The worst damage is the radiator core support.
I have been working on a cars a few.
I take auto mechanics at my local trade school
and we have the right tools for the job.
OK. Sounds doable. Try to plan in advance if it’d be cheaper to buy a car in the condition yours would be in after the work. Somehow I doubt it would. You say “we”, so I guess you won’t be all alone, plus you’ve got the tools, and- it’d be an educational experience. This is starting to make more and more sense with every passing minute! Go for it and post back. How about “before” and “after” fotos? Good luck!
Ok.
the only thing that kind of scares me
is the part the fender bolts onto
on the drivers side.
it got a little tweaked in the wreck.
is that nothing a hammer can fix? haha
and parts off a 95 escort will work correct?
they are virtually the same car
I can’t see the car so I don’t know if you can modify it enough to accept the fender. Something tells me you’ll be able to solve this problem w/ingenuity, though. Still your call. Call dealer parts dept and say, gee wiz, I know you guys are probably real busy, but can you tell me if 95 Escort fender fits a 95 Tracer? Tell’em you’d be happy to call back later for the answer if they’re busy.
Yes the Escort’s fenders will definitely fit the Mercury Tracer. About the only thing that’s different are the emblems in the center of the grille and side of the trunk.
Go to www.car-part.com to check for used parts in your area. New parts will be too expensive to make the repair worth doing. With a little luck, you can find what you need that’s already the right color. If you’re near me, I have a gold right fender, but the rest of my wreck’s front end is lunched.
Note to lovers of Carfax: Had this accident been covered by insurance, the car would have been totalled and issued a salvage title. It’s definitely hit hard enought to qualify. It doesn’t take much damage at all to “total” a car over seven years old. Since the owner is doing the repair himself, no such record will exist.