So, my husband fell asleep driving bc he’s been working close to 90 hours a week.so long story short about 3 houses down from ours he ended up running over our neighbors mailboxes and he knocked down a electric cement pole. the top half of the pole was broken off from impact. now where he actually hit the pole the only damage i was able to find was the fender, the control arm, the rim, the strut is bent, my car is rear wheel drive and the drive shaft fell out. When i looked under the car and under the hood, my transmission and my engine have shifted about 2 inches forward. the body work isn’t all that much but my brother and every other mechanic i have spoken to have told me it’s not worth fixing. some tell me if there is no damage to those components i could just have new motor mounts rewelded and that i can fix the rest of the vehicle. only the drivers side airbag went off the hood isn’t bent or out of alignment, the door is fine, the radiator is fine. i will need a new washer fluid reservoir. this car has EXTREME sentimental value to me and i just purchased it last year. i don’t know what to do. i really don’t want to get rid of my car but if it really is hopeless i don’t know what else to do.
No insurance? What year? Miles? Model?
Agreed on asking your insurance company what to do next. Also take it to a mechanic and/or body shop for a “hand on” estimate of the repair cost.
You don’t provide a lot of details on the car make/model…but I see mention of “Suzuki”. Generally speaking, Suzukis don’t hold their value well. Which, to me, would be a strike against spending a lot of money to repair it.
I can appreciate sentimental value…but sometimes we have to separate that from true financial value.
Good luck.
Suzuki… no longer sold in the US, whacked so hard the engine moved 2 inches forward and the driveshaft fell out. A pro that has actually seen the car told you it isn’t worth fixing…
I gotta agree the car isn’t worth fixing. Hard or impossible to find parts, lots of serious damage, not worth a whole lot to begin with. Scrap it.
As far as sentimental value, there is no price tag on that. If you are rich enough to afford to fix it, go ahead and fix it but expect to spend more than it is worth.
I’m trying to figure out what Suzuki had rear wheel drive - a pickup?
Suzuki launched its compact 4-wheel-drive sport-utility vehicle in 1989, adding a 2-wheel-drive companion for 1990. Geo also sold a version called Tracker. Sidekicks were powered by a 1.6-liter engine that made 80 horsepower. The lineup included a base JS, available only as a soft-top convertible with 2WD; plus more expensive JX and JLX editions, equipped with on-demand 4WD and either a soft top or hardtop. A 5-speed manual transmission was standard, and a 3-speed automatic transmission was optional.
2006 suzuki grand vitara
parts are available online and they aren’t all that expensive
i can do most of them myself yes, as well as i have tons of friends who are mechanics who would help me out if i needed it.
A 15 year old vehicle that needs to have the airbag replaced, and that probably needs significant mechanical repairs, is rarely worth fixing. When the vehicle is of a brand that hasn’t been sold in The US for 9 years, it definitely isn’t worth fixing.
As Mustangman stated…
I would say the amount of money you are going to spend in parts and labor you could by another one or something better.
Looking around some car valuation pages, I’d guess this vehicle is worth maybe $2000 in useable condition. Sounds like yours won’t even drive at this point.
It’s your call…but even if the parts are “affordable” and you have mechanic friends for “beer” labor, this is going to be a money pit. You’re going to fix one problem only to discover another. Not to mention being without a vehicle for a period of time.
Personally I don’t think it’s worth fixing.
i was planning to purchase another and rebuild it when i have time and extra $ but i guess we’ll see what happens
Just the air bag replacement probably costs more than this SUV in good shape costs. IIRC, it can’t be a used airbag without violating the law. Check that out before you think further about repairing it.
Also, I hope your husband is OK. Based on the damage and deployed airbag, that isn’t clear.
i can actually replace the airbag for 200$ and the cars are still worth about 8k i have the luxury model
What country are you in?
The “luxury” models had 4WD. If your 2WD Suzuki hadn’t suffered this type of accident damage, it might have been worth somewhere between $3k-$5k.
I expect the repair is going to be quite expensive, assuming you are being charged the typical per hour labor fee by most mechanics, $100/hr + these days. But this definitely can be fixed. I think the next step is to tow it to some shops & get 2 or 3 professional assessments of how much in time and labor fees it’s going to cost. If the problem turns out to be just reposition the engine and transmission and repairing the driveshaft, that’s good news. If the engine or transmission or rear differential has been damaged, not so good. But no way to know without getting the damage assessed.
My unseen assessment is that this vehicle is going to have more damage than you realize. The control arm and bent strut could mean a bent strut tower, subframe, and even floor pan buckling.
I’ve done a lot of chassis work due to curbs, collisions with vehicles, ditches, etc, and there was always something cropping up.
When my son wrecked his Camaro, from 30 feet away it looked very good other than a slightly negative cambered right front wheel. Close inspection a week later showed a bent subframe, buckled floor pan, buckled firewall, and so on. In other words, not worth fixing. A pro body man bought it but after a week of thought decided it was not worth it and parted it out. Shame; great car until a Crown Vic made a left across 3 lanes of traffic…
The front valance, radiator, headlamps, everything was fine but the hidden stuff was the repair killer.