aks8586

Hello guys,

Owning a corvette has been my dream since I was a kid. I am thinking of fulfilling this dream. I have set my budget at $12,000, preferably for a convertible (wife wants this). I know with my budget I will get a clean C5 with higher miles (greater than 50,000 miles) or rebuilt/salvage C5 with lower miles.

I am looking at this C5 with about 33,xxx miles and rebuildable salvage title. The damage was to driver's front side headlight (Picture attached). The seller fixed it up using OEM parts (Pictures attached) and now there is minor frame damage remaining to be fixed. The hood of the car does not line properly with the rest of the car.

My questions are:
1) Should I buy this car in light of everything above?
2) Per seller, pulling the frame and fixing the frame would cost between $1,200-$1,600. Is this true?
3) How much does pulling a frame really cost? Including removing the engine and putting it back in?

If anybody could reply, it will help me make my decision. BTW, I am based in southern Ohio and plan to get the car fixed here. Also, I plan to keep this car for a long time and will not be selling it.

Thanks.
-Akshat

warlock007

not sure why he didn't fix the frame first before putting all the parts on unless he intended to hide something.

Salvage is no big deal, if you know anyone that does repairs take hi to the car or car to him, he should be able to give you a real estaminet, most of the cost is the removal and re installing all the parts.

If its done right no worries.

aks8586

bump

martysauto

That doesn't look like a hit that would cause frame damage. As advised already, get an estimate for repairs and weigh it against the cost of the car. Then decide.

k24556

It looks repairable,but more like 4000 to5000 to fix it. If it is an 01 or newer it might be worth a shot are the air bags,radiator and a condenser coil ok. It will cost you 1200 to get it on a frame machine, 2500 in parts and the rest will be paint. The itchy part will be the abs module which is right where the damage is. If the car is 2000 or older, those modules are 100k if you can find one

In the end you will have a 12000 car though

Evil-Twin

Probably not!
Many people Hope a bent frame and a salvage title goes smoothly. I would never personally, go blindly into the unknown with a Totaled car. Chances are much higher that it will be a bad move. with the unknown the total cost to repair could be (XX,XXX) you fill in the numbers. Right now you don't know what that number is.

lionelhutz

No-one here can tell you because we have no idea what this frame damage is. But, if you're talking fixing part of a front frame rail then it's a rather large undertaking and will cost way over $1600. The basic steps are as follows. Take the front clip all off. Pull the motor and front sub frame. Cut the inner fender well off. Section the frame and install the replacement piece. Reverse all the other work.

You need a good shop to evaluate it. It could go from requiring a few hours on a frame machine to tweak it straight to major work to replace a section of the frame rail.

strand rider

I wouldn't do it, don't dig the price.

If I understand correctly, this car already has a salvaged title before the hit. Salvaged titles are forever, you can not build your way out of this legal paperwork. You don't get them from minor frame damage that is rebuildable.

Additionally, it reasons I don't get the rebuildable/salvage you typed, I consider the terms incompatible with cars, in strict english construction. So if the price reflects some path towards a rebuildable car, it can't rebuild the title, effecting insurance and selling costs, perhaps the honesty of the transaction , and should be priced accordingly.

Frame straightening is accomplished by hooks and chains stretching the steel enough to allow it to spring back within the measurements allowed when tension is released. A big problem is hooking in the direction needing to be pulled when the body is on. Typically the Us measurements are within one quarter of an inch tolerances. Euro cars are tighter specs. I prefer repairs that require no higher skills than normal assembly. Steel can be cold worked multiple times, but crash sections have to be cut out and replaced. You might be looking beyond a couple of stretches and a guys talent with a machine.

I would rather get involved with low skill repair costs than the other. Talent in car repairs is hard to find, expensive, and gets more expensive if the talent is lacking in the first repair. Frame straightening is a skill deal, but not tough. Some guys like to cut corners with the amount of measuring required for best results, since some error is considered unavoidable.

Without a locked down cost estimate, it makes no sense to consider , since the final costs are unknown.
I bought my used 03 for cheap because it needed mechanical work. If it had needed any cosmetic work, no deal , that stuff gets expensive fast. And, in the pictures before the hit, the hood has easily seen fitment problems on that same corner. Bumper covers and fenders have to be painted, although black probably won't have to be blended in.

I have the same car as pictured and your wife is again, infallibly, correct, the convertible is the highest expression of the corvette, others must be shunned.

ericdwong

No way. First I don't know the quality of the existing repair, and if they destroy the glued-on inner fender liner (aka wheelhouse) taking it off, that alone is a pricey and somewhat difficult repair. My friend backed into me lightly and only cracked my fender and wheel house. That repair ALONE was just over $3000 (granted, it was insurance dollars, so full price on the parts, billable hours etc), no frame or other damage at all.

Plenty of other C5s out there. Personally I'd rather get a non-wrecked higher mileage car that was well maintained and stored.

dtorc4

I was involved in an accident two months ago in my previous car - a G35 coupe - with the impact occurring in the exact same location on the car as the one you are considering.

Long story short, the frame was slightly bent, but the suspension was also pushed back a little. There is a reason the insurance company totalled it out, and it's because it will cost more to repair it than what the car is worth. Unless you can do the work yourself, I'm sorry to say that I would stay away from this one.

2003RedVette

I am not affiliated with this site, but I would ask for you to check it out and see what you can get a decent C5 convertible for that is non-salvage in your area.
Cargurus.com or local auto trader, etc. They are all a bit more than $12k but by the time you factor in the repair cost, and also the unknowns as suggested in previous posts, you'd be much better off, and a lot less headaches. I wouldn't do it unless I could get the car for ~$7-8k but that is me.

Whatever you decide to do, it will be your choice and there is nothing wrong with that. Bottom line, once you buy your C5, I wish you luck and welcome to the C5 family!

lionelhutz

Last summer, my friend bought a Harley Sportster at the smashed auction with about 30 miles on it that was branded as irreparable. It could easily have been fixed for well under $1000 in parts and labor. So, insurance companies don't only write off when the fixing cost is more than that payout.

Tim Dorsch

I bought a C5 "Z" salvage title last October...it was a great winter project and I have driven it all summer and tracked it once (so far)
with little to no issues. A new frame "header bar was required and I was able to find all the body parts in the correct color and didn't even need to do paint work.

That being said...this wasn't my first project.

That car doesn't look hit hard enough to damage the frame, although the inner fender is broken and they are a chore to replace. Accurate
placement (with urethane adhesive) will determine future body panel alignment. Unless your like me & just like tinkering, it may not be worth the savings. There will be alot of time involved.
People on this forum are an invaluable resource. Parts are abundant.

If you want further discussion Pm me and we'll talk.

Good Luck

lionelhutz

It's simply amazing how few people have read the part about the owner already fixing the body damage....

strand rider

Thank you for pointing out my error. I would never want erroneous advice from me to go uncorrected, it's shaky enough just working with facts.

I always read the questions, but I guess I spent so much time looking at the pictures, I then assumed they were before and after shots. THe reason being that type of repair nonsensical in my eyes, I would never put body panels on a damaged car , much less try to sell the thing that way, and I guess I just got lost in the crafting of my in accurate reply. Typing is still an education at this point.

Given the correct facts, I still wouldn't buy. Putting bodywork over damage is not a correct repair. Used cars with no repairs are the best to buy, correct repairs are a fact of life, incorrect repairs are not the kind of used cars to buy, as it shows a possible pattern of care you would not want to continue, perhaps that is the reason for the sale, These is always a reason. If the reason is a messed up car, I don't need it. MY available time interest and skill level don't fit the deal.

strand rider

I have heard insurance advertised that replaces new vehicles within the first year , no repairs. Perhaps the scooter mentioned was insured in that way. Perhaps it was an error. Perhaps the skill of the estimator did not match your friends skill. It could be the estimator saw a safety liability in the repaired front end that could go badly for a deep pockets company, or perhaps, and I hope this so, your friend got lucky. Perhaps enough people bought these policies that they can still make money wring off new stuff, but that wastes a lot of recoverable money.

Taking multi-thousand dollar losses on a policy is not a sustainable business model. I certainly would not base a buying decision on a damaged corvette on the reasoning that the insurance company could be wrong about the costs. That also means the repair men generating the estimate were also wrong , not just a guy looking at reports from his desk. And both do it for a living, at the appropriate skill level.

I can assure you, with insurance you will get only what you pay for. You pay them money to avoid catastrophic loss, they spread the risk cost among many and charge for the service. They make money when nothing happens to you, the desired situation for both. Once they send you money, they check the situation closely, they hate sending money the wrong way.

Reminds this old man of a story.

I used to know a hard core harley guy from my sailor days. He was a top hand and I benefited in skills sailing with him. I think someone told me it was shotgun blast to the chest that cashed him in the end. He never bought insurance and lost his dream of a lifetime motorcycle shop from that decision. Or it could have just been results from his life, he was a killer of men long before a rival gang burnt his shop to the ground.

JeremyMalin

My .02, for what its worth.

Unless you can get the car cheap, and I mean $6k cheap, I would avoid it like the plague. all the mentioning of how much of a PITA it is to straighten a frame is spot on. It takes, skill, time, patience and more skill to get it right. Thats not to say its going to fall apart while you drive it. But none of the lines that are incorrect now will be straight.

On the insurance side of this. Most insurance companies (claim adjusters) total over 60% repair cost to value. Diminished Value dollars dont factor in to this generally.

lionelhutz

The only thing you can buy here is a "what you paid" policy if it's written off. And it's a complete joke because they won't pay your invoice amount but only the cheapest quote they can find from every dealer across this province.

I saw the bike myself. No front wheel or frame damage. It just had some small cosmetic damage. So small I wouldn't have hesitated to drive it without being repaired.

2003RedVette

motoman250f

There's something here that's not really clear. Are we sure that the actual steel frame is damaged? sure looks like just the fiberglass frame under the fender. that stuff breaks up pretty bad and looks bad but all pretty easy to repair. I wouldn't be afraid of that car if after the accident the owner didn't even need an alignment. I think without more extensive information people are assuming the worst