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It was just one of those things that happen. Got clipped in the passenger side rear of my 85 Z51. No one speeding, tailgating or anything else. Looks to be about were the mufflers sit. Body damage minimal but not so much for the undercarriage. Might just be the bumper needs to be replaced. Exhaust is bent slightly. Could have been worst. No one hurt. I've already spoke with his insurance company. I haven't gotten an estimate yet. Just by the pics have a ball park figure? Just want the minimum to get everything aligned. Body looks ok just needs some reattachment maybe. Haven't googled yet so I'll ask you. Have an exploded view of all of the parts under the tail section of the body? Here are some pics. TIA
Joe K
Looking at the muffler hanger you can see how far it has been pushed back.
Picture below is of the gap where the body popped off.
It was just one of those things that happen. Got clipped in the passenger side rear of my 85 Z51. No one speeding, tailgating or anything else. Looks to be about were the mufflers sit. Body damage minimal but not so much for the undercarriage. Might just be the bumper needs to be replaced. Exhaust is bent slightly. Could have been worst. No one hurt. I've already spoke with his insurance company. I haven't gotten an estimate yet. Just by the pics have a ball park figure? Just want the minimum to get everything aligned. Body looks ok just needs some reattachment maybe. Haven't googled yet so I'll ask you. Have an exploded view of all of the parts under the tail section of the body? Here are some pics. TIA
Joe K
Looking at the muffler hanger you can see how far it has been pushed back.
Picture below is of the gap where the body popped off.
That suckoth mightily. I hope they give you a good settlement and get it fixed like new.
So State Farm called and left me a message. Seems there is no policy in force for the person that hit me. Before I found this out he text me and ask if we could settle this without insurance involvement. Could I get a couple of estimates. So I run around and get some estimates, 3 to be exact. $1700+, $2500+ and $2700+. Knew he would reconsider and let insurance handle it. Well no insurance. I text him this am and told him we could work something out. No response yet.
The shop that said $1700 was the only shop that was even interested in doing the job. Took it to a total of 4, 1 absolute said no, and I was fine with that. I don't want anyone working on anything if they don't want to. One of the other ones just didn't have a clue as to what they were even looking at. Other shop didn't know where to get parts from. didn't want it sitting around while waiting.
I'm not a body man and I don't know any right off. I found some of the major parts on ebay for well under $800 so at least I know they are available. Tried to get in contact with the first shop to see how he would handle parts and go ahead and do the job. The $1700 had a lot of painting charges and I said I could maybe live without paint for now. I'll just have to see what they say.
Really bummed right now. My $2300 project is heading well over $6000. And I've not made any improvement just replacements and repairs. I could just leave damage the way it is but I really don't want to. Not sure if I'm going to sell it and pick up something else.
That does suck out loud. It's amazing how few people actually have insurance. Hopefully you will hear some good news, but it sounds doubtful.
As far as this project costing way more than you expected. It seems that is common for our cars. Might want to sell and get into something you feel better about.
I guess we have to realize it takes as many hours to repair a 1984 as it does a 2018. Most of the costs are labor or labor related. I'm amazed at how quickly they "total" damaged cars these days.
So State Farm called and left me a message. Seems there is no policy in force for the person that hit me. Before I found this out he text me and ask if we could settle this without insurance involvement. Could I get a couple of estimates. So I run around and get some estimates, 3 to be exact. $1700+, $2500+ and $2700+. Knew he would reconsider and let insurance handle it. Well no insurance. I text him this am and told him we could work something out. No response yet.
The shop that said $1700 was the only shop that was even interested in doing the job. Took it to a total of 4, 1 absolute said no, and I was fine with that. I don't want anyone working on anything if they don't want to. One of the other ones just didn't have a clue as to what they were even looking at. Other shop didn't know where to get parts from. didn't want it sitting around while waiting.
I'm not a body man and I don't know any right off. I found some of the major parts on ebay for well under $800 so at least I know they are available. Tried to get in contact with the first shop to see how he would handle parts and go ahead and do the job. The $1700 had a lot of painting charges and I said I could maybe live without paint for now. I'll just have to see what they say.
Really bummed right now. My $2300 project is heading well over $6000. And I've not made any improvement just replacements and repairs. I could just leave damage the way it is but I really don't want to. Not sure if I'm going to sell it and pick up something else.
Without even considering the exhaust issue, I would have figured 2k for the repair and paint. The main issue being you are dealing with now matching the new paint to the old. Lucky neither of your colors are mettalic.
Your insurance should be handling this. You need to file a police report, especially since this is an uninsured motorist.
Even if you had collision you'd probably get screwed by the adjuster due to the age of the car and it is easier for them to just total it. I had a similar issue with an 88 5.0 5 speed Mustang hatchback. I bought it new and about 10 years ago it was rear ended while parked in front of my house. The adjuster felt bad for me because of how nice it was maintained. Although he had no choice but to total it he increased to value.
that really bites. If you do sell it and want to get another C-4, I hope you saved the old tires and rims.
Sold them already. On top of that I used that money on unexpected repairs to my truck. If I do get another I'll just switch out the wheels if I don't like what is on it.
About eight years ago this guy rear ended my wife in her Subaru on the way to work. The car was down in value being a 2004 Legacy so she only had liability also. This guy was driving a full size Dodge Ram 4X4. Driving on suspended license and the vehicle was in his girlfriends name and her insurance. The insurance company said they were not paying because of his suspended license. The wife used her free legal advice provided by work. They told her she could sue the girlfriend. My wife called her all the time and told her that she was left with no recourse but to take her to court and sue. She coughed up the money and we had it in a couple weeks. It certainly is a pain people driving without insurance. I hope it works out for you. This is one reason you should always call the police. I know many times they don't want to get involved if there are no personal injuries. It really sucks.
Even if you had collision you'd probably get screwed by the adjuster due to the age of the car and it is easier for them to just total it. I had a similar issue with an 88 5.0 5 speed Mustang hatchback. I bought it new and about 10 years ago it was rear ended while parked in front of my house. The adjuster felt bad for me because of how nice it was maintained. Although he had no choice but to total it he increased to value.
Why would they total it for $2500 damage? I don't think so
Why would they total it for $2500 damage? I don't think so
Because the book value of his car will be very low and the cost to repair is probably over 50% or more of that value. In OP's case he will never find out since he only has liability. I do recommend the OP take the small claims court direction if the other driver won't pay out of pocket..
These cars are "modular" for the most part - frame damage NOT WITHSTANDING, of course!
Talk to Jason at Vette2Vette (or another Corvette dismantler if J can't help ya) and see what parts will cost. Then there's painting, but $1700 -2200 doesn't sound far off for parts and labor, unless you need to have the frame tweaked too. (But, even that shouldn't be a lot - prolly not damaged, would be my guess). AND, if you can do the prep work - sanding and priming, you will be $$ ahead, because the less work the shop has to do (at $100+/hour), the better off you'll be.
I'm speaking from experience... I replaced the bumper and hood and opted to go ahead and paint it too "while I was at it". Myself and a dear friend installed the "new" parts and prepped the car for painting. One of the bumper support "horns" (on the frame) needed to be tweaked about half an inch, but all included it was well under $5k - looks better than ever!
My point is, don't let some insurance adjuster scare you. If you can do most of the work yourself, AND you have a good insurance man, chances are you can work out a deal.
BTW, just my opinion, but if you have liability ONLY on an older Vette, you're just playing Russian Roulette with the insurance company.
Being my 86 is a summer cruiser and old enough, I got collectors insurance on it. Full coverage, declared value and only costs a couple hundred $$ a year.
You need to insure what you don't or can't afford to lose.
It certainly is a pain people driving without insurance. I hope it works out for you. This is one reason you should always call the police. I know many times they don't want to get involved if there are no personal injuries. It really sucks.
Thanks. Yes it's so true. No one lives in a bubble. Everything we do 99.9% of the time has some kind of effect, negative or positive, on others. Last little bender I had (my fault) I called the police, but it was mostly because this guy was from out of town and I wanted to make sure he had what he need. So yes, if there is a next time I will be calling the police and getting a report no matter.
02-13-2019, 01:43 PM
Sounded Worse Than It Appears
