yel76low

Well I was out to lunch a couple of weeks ago and got whacked in the rear end by a co-worker. (I was inside, and as he was in the restaraunt parking lot turning around he caught the rear end with his truck and tore it off the car.) Pictures of before and after are below.

I took it to a Corvette shop for an estimate and it came out to be $5850, so I've got a check in the mail coming for that amount. Now it's decision time - what to do? I can't justify to myself spending $6k in body work on this car just to put it back to where it was, the car just isn't in that great of shape. Non-numbers matching, previously wrecked at some point because there is frame damage and not perfect fiberglass already, and just overall fair-to-good (not great) condition. So I see the following options...

1) Sell the car as-is and get what I can. What do you think it's worth? It is drivable and as-is and I drive it with no problems all the time.
2) Send the car to a auto body tech school and see if they will fix it for the cost of the materials and paint.
3) Hobble the thing back together in a real pathetic kind of way, touch the paint up a bit, and turn the car into an autocross car / ugly driver that I can still have. I've got a lot of parts that I still haven't put on the car yet. (VBP performance suspension, fuel injection, T5 tranny, etc...)

Complicating factors is just my current life situation. My wife (bless her heart) is a little more logical than I am, and knows that the Vette isn't exactly the best use of our finances and time with young children, etc. So if I sell it, I probably won't see another Vette in my garage for another 20 years...

So what do you think? What's the car worth if I were to sell it as-is? Any other suggestions as to what to do?

Thanks! Luke

oldalaskaman

patch it , drive it, keep the money

MrJlr

I vote for fixing it.....

CQRT

Tough decision . . but properly restoring that one- given the concerns you've listed- is probably going to take more than the insurance payment will cover. Any effort to try and repair it on a budget and you're right back where you started.

FWIW, I'd say try and peddle it as-is . . .there's always going to be an optimistic weekend warrior out there for whom it will be the perfect project, the next race car or some other whimsical endeavor.

Stick it on Craig's List for $3-4 grand and take what you can get!

Easy Mike

Take the insurance money; sell the car as is. Move on.

yel76low

LOL... that's what my options 2 and 3 were! It's going to be tough for me to cope with the idea that I won't see another Vette for a long time. But, the kids are probably going to be more interested in four wheelers and go-carts for the next decade anyway...

PhotoVette1

Put the car in the garage and work on it yourself every time you and the Mrs are squabbling.

oldC3guy

I would second the motion to cast around and see if there is a training center or high school skills program that would be interested in taking your car in. They probably don't get too many chances to work with fiberglass and you might get a taker. It's worth taking time to check around for this venue.

KevinG

Then I'd never sell it then...

Go Vette Go

It looks like the OP did a poor job of installing a seamless rear bummer. Search for Stinger12's Rookie Restoration thread - Great detail on installing a seamless bumper.

Do it yourself and learn as you go. Then paint a black stripe around the back end!!!

KTKelly

That check will buy a lot of duct tape....




Honestly, I'd fix it myself (should actually be pretty easy, and I do like the black stripe idea) and put the excess money into a college account for the kids and a nice night out for the wife.


Wife will be happy (you know how that works), the little ones will have some education funds, and you'll still have a Vette that probably won't be any worse off than it was before the event.

chstitans42

And this is why I won't ever consider putting on seamless bumpers. I bet the damage would have been less if it was just bolted on. Either way good luck with what you decide to do

jim-81

EXACTLY!

unless of course the black one in the picture is yours also...

Raphiki

Looks like on Ebay they are going for $8-10K. You have $6K in your pocket. If you can sell it for $3-4K you're money ahead.

irvan

i think maybe you could take the money from the insurance and buy another one and put the money from selling the car into whatever use your wife wants and everbody wins.

keithinspace

Unless I was going to sell the car anyway, I couldn't FATHOM selling the car over this.

If I had a $6k check coming my way for THIS amount of damage, the decision would be very, very, very, very simple. Buy a bumper and figure how to replace it myself.

Heck...for $6k I'd have myself a welder, a new bumper, a new paint job, and make a pretty good dent in putting a supercharger on the engine!!!

But that's the power of doing things yourself. Even if it isn't perfect...as long as it doesn't look like you stuck it on with bubble gum, it'll be fine.

larryg3

fix it yourself little by little.

Snoopysvet

Nice window sticker!

shok

If its covered by insurance and the money is already coming you aren't really out of any money getting it put back to where it was before the co-worker messed it up right? So unless you were struggling and this insurance money is like some blessing in disguise I say fix it and carry on as before.

Jasonb86

Repainting/repairing a car and doing a good job of it is a lot of work. I think you have to really like a car and be committed to it before you take the time/effort to strip it down, take trim off, work through any issues/delays with the painter, and put it back together again after. If you really like the car, go for it and fix it. If not, sell it, keep your best parts, and get another one later.