I’m a little old lady who doesn’t know what to do. My little baby girl with only 11,000 miles was almost totaled on Easter Sunday. A big old Chevy truck towing a big old boat slammed into the back of me, pushing me into a car that pushed into another car. Two different body shops confirm damage in front and back, and a bent frame. But both shops also say this can be fixed because this car is a “uni-body” and they can weld it together as good as new. The car would retail at $22,500 and the repairs are $13,900.
Do you believe them?
Signed: Bruised by the Belt.
If the two body shops offer the repair solution in the form of a written quote then there may not be the need to question the integrity of the idea of repair. What other choices do you have on the table?
total it?
Take the insurance money…total it. If it were “fixed” it may never be the same, or as safe. By “the same” I mean it may have weird alignment issues, noises, leaks, electrical issues etc etc.
You don’t get to make the choice, your insurance company will decide. For sure, the car will never be the same. It’s like trying to fix a crushed beer can. If they repair the car, I would trade it off the next day…
Here in Oklahoma if the repair costs meet or exceed 60% of the vehicle value they total the car out.
There is no way on Earth I would want to own and drive a vehicle that required 13 grand plus of repairs unless it was a 100 grand worth of Mercedes.
“Weld it together as good as new”. They say. I’ve worked for a car dealer who took several cars in trade and discovered after the fact they were “welded together good as new”.
Neither one of these cars were ever really right again.