Well, we got sandwiched between an Explorer (sp) and a mercury marquis today. Hitch on Explorer went into the hood when we were slammed into from behind by the mercury. Mercury ended up about 2 ft under our rearend, bent exhaust and hit the spare. Hope we can get it fixed, will slowly drive the half mile to the shop tomorrow and see what happens. Keep uor fingers crossed. #$^^%*

 

That sucks.. Good luck

 

Sucks

 

Didn't you say your neck was sore too?

 

Is it Fixable? To answer your question, Highly unlikely.

My first "89" C4 Vette was hit similar to yours, the insurance company (21st Century) totaled it because the repair costs was well over $8000.

The adjuster said, they will repair the vehicle if the damage doesn't exceed 80% of the vehicles value. I hope everything works out for you.

 

If they total it, buy it back and bring it down here. I can fix that. It's not hard to lay fiberglass. The rear bumper cover can be repaired also. You'll need a new honeycomb, though. When I did my Dad's Corvette, there was a large section of the hood missing by the driver's headlight. You can't even tell, now. Body shop's want a ridiculous amount of money to fix stuff anymore and they don't even fix the stuff. They replace the whole panel. Good luck with the insurance company. My offer is real. Think about it.

 

...and 80% of the value is probably all the insurance company will pay when they total it! Good luck however this goes!

 

That's def. a wreck when it comes to the insurance company. In your case, I hope you own it, because it can definetly be fixed.

I'd say about 5 thousand dollars for a new hood, bumper, re-paint. I'm speaking on experience.

Of course your insurance company wont see it like that.

If you go to any CORVETTE shop they will rape you up the ying yang. I suggest you find a reputable body shop and you should be good to go.

 

Man, that's terrible, hate to see that. Good luck, and let us know how it works out!

 

I agree with this guy. Go through the insurance BS and let them total it. Then buy it back and use the remaining cash to repair it.

 

 

Its what I would do but keep in mind you will most likely have a Salvage title.If you keep it,no problem.When you try to sell there will be a large hit on the price.

 

 

I think the insurance company will fix it. It's a '96 CE, right? worth more that an aveage C4.

 

I think it's fixable good luck

 

Sometimes you can negotiate with the adjuster if the numbers are close. That happened to me a year ago when I hit a deer with my 99 Chrysler LHS. They wanted to total the car but I had just spent $1700 on it the dealership having all the 100k mile maintenance done (timing belt, water pump, trans service, power steering service, complete brake job, tune up, the works). The car was like brand new. I mentioned that to the body shop guy and he told me to bring him copies of the receipts. He showed those to the adjuster and talked her into fixing the car. The difference between totalled and repaired was about $500, so she authorized the extra money. Point being, if you have receipts for things that you've done which may enhance the value of your car it may be worth a try. In my case, there was no way I could have bought another car as good as that one for what they were going to pay me for it. I guess it helped that I took it to a really good body shop where the guy has a long standing relationship with the insurance adjusters. Anyway, I got my car fixed and it actually looks better than it did before it was wrecked.

 

Your going to get screwed, they won't give you anything near what it takes to cover your loss of resale now. Go to the doctor, you have internal trauma that needs looking at. Then you might get a fair shake from Ins. Inc. It is amazing how quickly they want to settle when spinal injury is a possibility, if you try to just get your car fixed, good luck even getting them to pay a real body shop to do it.

 

They are going give you about $3,500-$4,000 to fix the car.

They will not give you new parts in most scenarios and if you don't believe me, read the fine print in your policy. Unless your car is almost new, they reserve the right to give you used parts. You DEFINITELY need a new hood or a perfect used hood, don't let them repair the hood.

Try to get them to paint the entire car but they are probably going to want to blend the doors onto the paint and only do half the car.

Don't be too upset it will look good, just don't accept it back until it looks great to you.

Make sure that the gap between the bumper and hood are correct and it lines up good when you drop the hood. Typically, its hard to do that and that is how I can tell a car that has been in an accident.

Also if you have good insurance like State Farm etc, a good body shop will work on your car and the work is guaranteed. You will have to negotiate with the adjuster and usually if you are nice and do your research you will get a supplement. For example, I had a cut up bumper and the adjuster said they were going take some 3m rubber sticks and melt them in the rips and then repaint. I told them that was not acceptable and by the time they bought a used bumper, did all the prep work etc, the difference between that and a new bumper was negligible and I wanted the right job done with the car, even if it meant I paid some $ into it.

I have alot of experience with how to get your car repaired correctly and how the insurance process works if you want to pm me.

Good Luck.

 

Cashed. Totalled. Gone.

 

That car is not totaled or gone.

Those parts are about $2500-$3,000 - less if you shop around, plus the car needs paint and it will be like new.

They will agree to paint the front 50% and blend the doors and paint the back bumper. I'd try to get them to paint the entire car but they won't go for that. However, I'd come out of pocket and pay the additional $ to spray out the entire car and then you would have a new paint job on the car. Not all things always end in a bad way. Granted, you would prefer to not have a hit car but sometimes if your paint was in bad shape its not all that bad.

Also, depending on your state, you can get a diminished value claim as a result of the accident.

Go to a really good body shop, if you don't you will be disappointed. By the way, high priced does not always mean good quality work.

Good Luck!