Hi, I really want to know if my Car is fixable. I got into an accident. I was on the highway and someone in a pick up truck cut me off. They was trying to get into my lane and the person was already so close to me and swerving into my lane so I pressed my brakes and the person started to slow down too. So I ended up hitting the metal railing that’s on the highway. My front bumper came off and the wheel on the driver side is bent out. I was driving a 2008 Honda Accord. Everything under the hood is fine. My dad is telling me the car is totaled. And to be honest, I feel like it’s really not totaled. My airbags didn’t go off. I will have pictures soon.
Only a ‘hands on’ inspection by a body shop could tell you for sure.
Chances are it can be repaired but the cost would exceed the value of the car.
4 Likes
Short answer, Yes.
It will probably be cheaper to buy another car, but any thing is fixable.
Even this is fixable
I heard it said once that any car can be “fixed”…given enough time and money. Especially money. 
Let your insurance company determine whether the car is totaled or not. That’s why you have insurance.
Who is at fault, as per your insurance . . . ?!
A 2008 Accord typically sells for $6-14k. Figure $10k as a midpoint. Good bodywork isn’t cheap. Depending on the damage your insurance company may well declare it totaled.
A couple years ago my 1999 Civic got hit near the right front wheel at an uncontrolled intersection. It needed a fender, bumper cover, steering knuckle, headlight assembly, and more. The ins co totaled it but I took a smaller payout from them and kept it and fixed it myself. It was a big project and took weeks, in winter in Minnesota, in a garage.
My work was not professional grade, which any careful observer can see, but the car continues to work well and is still fun to drive.
Good luck and please keep us informed.
2 Likes
If it was my 2008 Accord I wouldn’t be carrying collision insurance anymore. Unless there was contact with the other vehicle and a police report this will be treated by an insurance company as a collision claim.
Your way out of this depends on (1) your insurance coverage or, if the other driver can be considered at fault, that insurance coverage; (2) your own skills at auto repair; and (3) what a body shop says needs to be done. If the repairs are going to be paid by you to a pro, I’m inclined to think you’d be better off looking for another car.
1 Like
Chances are good you will be able to get it back on the road in a safe road worthy condition for well under the cost of an equivalent replacement vehicle. Perhaps there will still be some cosmetic issues though.
You’re both right. Your car is fixable. But it’s probably gonna be totaled because it’s an old car, it’s not worth that much to begin with, and insurance companies will total the car if the damages reach a given percentage of the car’s value - usually somewhere between 70 and 80 percent.