Well then have at it. Your time is free. Might want to check a body book out of the library if they are open there. The only other thing is maybe there is a body guy working out of his garage that could be useful. I used one of the best that worked during the day at a shop and did work at night in his garage. He was temperamental is all and slow but cheap.
That’s for **** sure. Talk about jumping from the skillet into the fire. I would not accept a Fiesta or Focus with the dual-clutch transmission as a gift, let alone PAY money for one.
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It seems that the decision to accept the insurance offer of settlement or keeping the vehicle with a salvage title should be made soon . Having work done or trying to solve the tire rubbing problem yourself might cause problems with the insurance.
I still have reservations about a mold problem if the vehicle is kept plus other unseen repairs showing up later.
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I did not realize keeping the car would mean it would be listed as salvage on the title. That is a new wrinkle.
Anyway, I pushed the wheel well using the bottle jack. The metal did not offer much resistance. It took 10 minutes and six pushes with the jack. The mechanic who put the vehicle on an alignment rack after the accident had said it was still straight, and I believe because wheel well metal moved easily that the car is still in alignment. The rear door is still stuck closed
I drove the car for an hour to verify the tire was no longer rubbing, including 72 mph highway driving. It drives the same as it did prior to the accident.
We got rain last night and more is forecast for today, which is helpful so I can check for the water intrusion potential for mold that someone had mentioned earlier.
Since I have to buy a low cost used car, and it most likely will take some time to find a decent vehicle for not much money - like it did to find this one a couple of years ago, I am going to take the $3500 settlement and drive this car while I look for a replacement. That way I am not rushing into another car to meet a deadline. I am reasonably confident I will be able to sell the damaged car myself or trade it in for at least $1000.
Thanks again for the advice. I will look into the salvage title angle that VOLVO-V70 mentioned, because that would change my thinking on what I do next.
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What ever trade in you get will be a imaginary number and selling yourself will be nowhere near 1000.00
You should be able to have Liability insurance but it would be best to contact your insurance just to make sure .
A salvage title will only be detrimental to someone who is considering buying a car that is branded that way. The reason being that the buyer has will have no idea how bad the damage was that caused a salvage title to be issued. Salvage branded cars are usually only worth about 50 to 60% of a non-branded title car.
The last Subaru I owned was on a salvage title after I wrecked it. Once I fixed it the car went another 10 years and 170k miles; being scrapped right at the 300k miles mark.
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I agree with this 100%. Salvage title cars are very hard to finance with many reputable lenders refusing to accept their titles as security. You should understand you are probably the last owner-operator of this car and that you will use it until it’s used up or sold for parts. So long as the front end is in good shape it will be worth something to a parts dealer. Meanwhile you have a very useful car that may last for years and years, and it cost you very little money. Isn’t that enough?
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I suppose it depends on where you live but was not a problem in Minnesota. My son’s car was a salvage and we never had any problem with the credit union or insurance. When I wrecked mine and bought it back, I never got a branded title. All I had to do was take it down to the agent after it was fixed so that he could see the car was restored. What do you care though of the value is diminished at this point?
If there is any water intrusion, I’d just go buy some silicone caulking /sealant and seal it up.
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If you got the dog leg half-way straight, I really think you can straighten that door a little once you get it open and can pull the door panel off. A little banging with a 2x4 etc. from the inside, and a clamp and 2x4 on the edge to bend it back a little and it can look almost presentable. You should be able to get most of it out except for that long stretch at the bottom. Huh? Whattaya got to lose. It can be fun and rewarding.
Just wanted to add my two cents, as nobody here really seems to be adequately considering the way that the safety of this car has been compromised.
Does this car have side airbags? Did any of them deploy in the crash? If it has side airbags, you’ve got no way of knowing whether this damage would compromise the supplemental restraint system for either the driver or the rear passenger.
Besides this, there is some mention in this discussion of “crumple zones” without the recognition that they’re only designed to work once. This damage has compromised the structural integrity of the rear passenger side of the car…at the absolute very best, you’ve reduced the ability of the door itself to absorb crash forces. More worse case, you’ve hobbled the ability of those crash forces to be absorbed through the quarter panel and overall frame of the vehicle. Personally, I would refuse a ride in this car, if it meant sitting anywhere on the driver side of the vehicle or the middle back.
I say take the buyout and move on.
I would first the the $3,500. Then I would cut the metal that rubs the wheel off with a sawsall. Then I would drive it like I stole it with a big grin on my face.
Don’t be silly. A running, drivable car with minor cosmetic damage can certainly fetch $1000 as a private party sale. A year ago, the local Craigslist was flooded with good, running used cars under $2k. Now, people are asking more than that, even for a junker that needs major mechanical repairs, has over a quarter of a million miles, etc. I would happily pay $1k for that car, as it sits, and it’s not even a model that I like, or equipped with the features that I like.
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You probably can get it into a driveable condition and find out if there is any concealed damage but it will get a little more police attention as they assume cars with that much body damage have an uninsured driver. Even a new door is unlikely to fit the frame and repairing the frame is a difficult job. You might check with a body shop saying it’s not being paid for by insurance and they might have a number of shortcuts they would not use if it was paid for by insurance.
I did that today. Met with a semi-retired autobody shop owner who works out of his home garage. He is not necessarily going to shortcut it, but he does not have the overhead and will charge considerably less, including patching in new metal to replace the damaged “dog leg” portion of the quarter panel. He never mentioned any concerns about the door not fitting in the frame. I hope that does not turn out to be an unexpected problem.
Don’t worry about the door, a body man can straighten the door and dog leg.
One of the contributing factors in the total loss is that there is more than $1000 in damaged plastic parts, some of these parts can be reused.
My suggestion is going to be different than everybody else, but it still depends on where she’s going to be for two or three years and what she really wants to drive. I’d say shipping another one or two thousand for down payment and get a lease on a small brand new Econo box a lot of them run 149 a month or so which adds up to about 5400 / 3 years plus the down payment. She gets a brand new car with all the new safety airbags and abs etcetera Etc I haven’t really looked at the lease deals especially because you were States very different than my state probably something like a Corolla or a Hyundai should be pretty cheap.
Making the door opening is not an easy task. I doubt if this home garage has the equipment to really make this repair correctly. This is your daughter , do you really want her in a vehicle that may not have the ability to absorb a crash if it happens ?
Also it could take a long time for this person to put this vehicle back on the road .
The only thing I can see that would fail in a safety inspection is the fender. This can easily be resoled with a large pipe-wrench. Just fold it out of the way and drive on.
Let’s try to keep fear generated by theoretical dangers under control here. I see nothing to indicate that this damage makes the car a safety threat, with the exception of the real possibility that the door latch is prone to failure. That’s why I said have it welded shut.