Unbeliveabe day! As some of you my have seen my post from last Friday, I t-boned a lady who turned left in front of me, damaging the front fascia only., (so we thought!) Hood, fender all ok. Mercury adjuster called me Tuesday to tell me he looked at the car, between 1500-2000 in damages. OK, fine. Went to pick my friend up at the body shop to give him a ride home since he drove the Vett to his shop. Ask him how it's looking, he said not good. WHAT? He goes on to tell me they had a C5 in the shop last year that was hit from the rear, and had smashed the rear cross member, they had called GM at the time to see if they could order the part, GM said no, not repairable...total the car! That was on the rear. Mine has a dent in the front cross member, the member is straight as can be, except the front face is dented in maybe an inch or so for about 10 inches. The edges of the cross member are fine and straight. Sorry, no pics, thought about it after we left. Easily straighened, but if GM says no, not repairable, then Mercury will total the car!! You have to be joking! My friend/body shop guy says he can repair it, and will do so, if Mercury decides to "total" the car. Car is in beuatiful shape, only about 48K miles, and runs/looks great, up until the accident.

Question is, if the car is written off as a total, how do the insursance compaines decide how much to offer? I would buy the car back from Mercury, and take whatever money they give me and fix the small amount of damage. I mean small amount of damage! Car drives fine after the accident, frame was measured, and is not bent, its just this damn cross member that may be the determining factor if car will be total write off by insurance company. Thanks!

 

I think they take in a variety of prices, blue book and current prices of similar vehicles that are for sale etc. Usually they won't total it out unless it's over a certain amount of damage (money wise) I know years ago we had a 00 Celica GTS we bought it for $24K and we got into an accident, it had $18K in damage and they still wanted to fix it. I had to argue and threaten to get a lawyer involved as I wanted it totalled. No way I was keeping a car with that much damage. Anyway they totalled it and gave me $24K for the car after it was already a year old with 17K miles, they said because it was in such great shape. Anyway good luck

 

Hey Pete, understand about the dollars, if the dollars to repair are over a certain percentage of what he vehicle is currently worth, insurance will want to total many times, but in my case, it's this front cross member, which may be deemed a non-repairable part, they will want to total the car. Something to do with the frame being hydro-formed or something like that. The side frame rails, rear frame rails, even the front cross member , that has a dent in the face, all measure in spec, but because of this darn dent on the front of the cross member, it may be decided to total the car.

 

I've been a licensed adjuster in Florida for over 25 years. I can't imagine any insurer wanting to total the car because of the minor amount of damage you describe. Choose a reputable shop and let them handle the repair. Chris

 

Hope that the little bit of damage done to your car can be fixed and the car isn't totalled. If the insurance company does decide to total it though, do your homework on similar cars in similar condition and make them give you a good offer.

 

If they do total it, demand at least enough money to buy one in your region in the same shape as yours before she pulled out in front of you.

 

Hey Chris, I don't think it's the adjuster/insurer that wants to total the car, if this is indeed what happens. I have been going to this shop for 25+ years, (friend is lead tech). The shop dosen't want to total the car, nor Mercury, the repairs are cheap I think, but because of this front cross member being slighty dented, and the fact that GM may come back and say that particular part cannot be replaced/repaired because it is a structural member of the frame and could cause future failure in another front end collsion, they may say to total the car. I agree with you, as does my shop, and I have had way worse damage on my crew cab frame that was repaired. In the case of the example I mentioned in my origianl post above, the guy that was rear-ended in his C5, GM said to replace the whole frame, which would of cost way more than the car was worth in that example. (parts/labor to move entire body, tranny/motor over to new frame). The fact that GM had stated once before that the C5 frame cannot be repaired, no matter how minor the damage, that frame replacement is recommended. If not replacing the frame, then total the car. If GM comes back and states replace frame or total, the shop will in the end fix the Vett, with either me buying the car back from Mecury if totaled, or in the end going ahead and repairing it. If OK, I may PM you later if things get out of control. Thanks!

 

I don't want another Vett! I got mine just about where I want it as far as mods, at least this month anyways! Searched for months to find a low mileage 6spd Z51 vert in Sebring Silver.

 

The frames are repairable, the shop is full of ****. Gm sells the frame pieces. You just have to find the right shop.

 

I hope your right! I would think that would be the case.

 

I'm searching frame repairs here on the site, and looks like it has been done, and with WAY more damage than what I have. Some say some shops will, some shops won't. Maybe my friend and his shop have lost their minds! We'll see.

 

It's done all of the time. Yours sounds minor. They cut off the old front bar and replace with a new one.

If you were in my neck of the woods, there are several places that could do the job.

 

Hey Anthony, I totally agree. I know of many shops in the area that can do this repair. Only went to this shop, as I have been going there forever, and the body guy, (friends since high school), also agrees it is a super easy repair, but he is bound by what the shop owners say, based on what they hear back from GM, which sound like BS to me. I will push back hard if the adjuster wants to total it for such minor damage, (< $2000), I will demand they approve of the repairs no matter what GM says. I may have to take out the laptop and show him these threads I have seen on the subject and call BS on this! I'm not lying when I tell you I could literally pull out the dents in the front of the crossmember face in my driveway! Just because GM may say it's a strutural member is nonsense for such minor damage. I could maybe understand if the frame was really tweaked bad, but this is so minor, I can't believe the shop, adjuster , GM could make such a big fuss. If it were April 1st, I'd be waiting for someone to yell April fools!

 

Depends on the insurance company. I have heard Geiko forces a repair on any frame damage at less than a 45 degree angle.

I have StateFarm and any frame damage at all and they total it. Period.

You'll probably make out well, you'll just have a salvage title. Sorry to hear about the car.

 

I got hit back in 2007 and the impact was low, I got hit by a transit bus, but the bus was only going 5MPH and my right rear wheel and suspension took at the impact. had it towed to County Corvette Inc. and once they looked it over with my insurance adjuster they came away with a repairable situation. The aluminum suspension parts were crushed, and it needed a passenger side door and quarter panel. But there wasn't a scratch on the frame or any of the supports. Most important is having a Corvette knowledgeable shop. But all being aside, the Corvette C5 has a pretty tough steel frame. My insurance adjuster called me with the new that the car will be repaired, and that "I had picked one hell of a good body shop !" His exact words. Today the car was so well repaired, I bet $100.00 to a really heavy into Corvettes NCRS friend to tell me if this car had any damage to know of ? Said I was interested in buying this Corvette, he looked it over top to bottom and front bumper to back and came away saying the car had never been hit ?

You can't put a price on excellent service !

 

It's a shame that the "OP" doesn't live nearby as I was going to recommend County Corvettes to him as a possible repair shop but it looks like he's out in California.

 

Yeah he's out in California, but there must be a good quality Corvette shop somewhere nearby. Now I'm not so sure of C6 with the aluminum frames, but County Corvette has done a lot of work all the Corvettes going back 13 years. But I'm also sure if he had a good savvy shop and an adjuster who knows the owner "Doesn't want to just walk away from his Vette, he might be able to work the numbers around so the car doesn't get trashed instead of fixed.

Jim Ward

 

Called the adjuster and claims reps this AM, had to leave voicemails. Looking for update. On the upside, I just heard a couple of radio news reports that KBB states used car prices have increased 16%/year on average since 2008. Maybe take the money and run and buy a chromed bumpered C3 vert! Checked KBB, states clean private party retail on my year model/miles is just over 20k. Autotrader sellers are asking 21-22Kish, some more. Haven't checked NADA guides yet.

 

Photos would be very helpful.
First - It is your car - you can repair or replace what ever you decide.
I would consult the OEM guidelines and tech bullentins
they are down loadable on a GM website - if you need help locating it let me know
What car? C5
Yes the frames are repairable - but depending on the severity of the damage.
Post some photos

As far as total loss guidelines - depends on what that insurer uses to determine total loss values.
There are many vendors, CCC, Mitchell, Autosource.....etc....
NADA and KBB are guidelines - but remember to look at private passenger - private owner prices
most people look at the dealer retail price - not real world
that is the price a dealer would "ASK" - including over head, profit, reconditioning, etc....

I would review the damage first.
Is the shop equiped to do the work and skilled enough to do the work?

 

Something here just doesn't sound right. First of all it isn't up to GM to dictate repair procedures. Heck, if they had the say, every car would get all new GM parts and nothing would get repaired. The collision repair industry has it's own standards. The manufacturers may reccomend but they are not in the collision repair bussiness.

As far as this member and frame pieces, I looked at one of the on line listings. My parts guy is real busy & I hate to call him unless I really need something. Yes the frt & rear frame crossmembers are listed as N/A. But they sell the side rails and a bunch of other pieces. I checked under bumper and the impact bar is available at 332.83 list. Are you sure that isn't what you need. From the illustrations it would seem the first to get hit hence the name.

It's # 11 in the illustration

http://www.gm-partscenter.com/partlo...layCatalogid=0


Worst case if they do want to total it which I can't believe, try to get them to agree to a contracted repair price instead. Say you agree to settle for X amount to repair your car. No supplements or add ons just cut you a check. That way you keep the title. If they total it and you buy it back you will have a salvage certificate and have to retitle as a reconstructed.

I just have to say that I have been trying to buy a totaled C5 for several months now. I buy direct from auction and have been watching. I'm sure not seeing any total losses selling with the knid of damage you describe.