Crashed my car a week ago
Boy this place is a bit barren. Might as well post an update.
A little over a week ago I was going to an outdoor screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show at an outdoor festival. I should have known better, it was raining and there was lightning. I got there, found out it was cancelled. So I decided to find some place to hang out that was open 24/7 and had wifi.
The simple way to explain it was that I saw a guy and stopped car in the road, and I swerved around them. I was paying more attention to the guy and ended up hitting a post with my bumper. It turned out that the guy was warning people of a downed tree right behind him. Plus, visibility was limited with the rain.
I only hit the post about 10-15mph (at least no faster than 20), and my airbags did not deploy. However, cars are flimsy and designed to buckle at the slightest impact. The front hood was buckled and the steel part of the bumper pushed back into the radiator and condenser. I went to go get something to eat to soothe my nerves after verifying nothing was leaking.
I've been to half the body shops around here so far, and they're all asking at least $1400. Around $900 of that is labor and frame bending as the front fender rails are bent a bit and the steering feels a bit off. And every body shop I've been to keeps upping the price, up to $3000, by adding things I don't need, like a radiator (it's not leaking), an AC condenser (who needs AC?), headlights (work fine!), a new plastic bumper (old one can be duct taped on), and a paint job (who needs paint?!). And they refuse to just straighten the frame and insist on fixing all these other things (to make it street legal I guess).
The car just recently passed 200k but runs well and is rust-free so I'd like to save it if possible, but not spend $1400. I know I can get parts for cheaper, like a hood for $60-100 at a junk yard instead of $250. An upper radiator support for $70, and a steel bumper bar for $35, from an online retailer (junkyards are options too). It's just the straightening of the frame I can't do and some of these parts might not fit unless that happens.
The least I'd like to do is bend the bumper bar back forward as it's pushing the radiator against the engine but no body shop will do that without fixing everything else. I'm talking an ex-car mechanic out of town and sending pics and he'll be giving me ideas soon. I'll figure this out.
I mean I just got the cooling fans to work again after some very hairy spots where my car almost overheated. I can do this.
A little over a week ago I was going to an outdoor screening of Rocky Horror Picture Show at an outdoor festival. I should have known better, it was raining and there was lightning. I got there, found out it was cancelled. So I decided to find some place to hang out that was open 24/7 and had wifi.
The simple way to explain it was that I saw a guy and stopped car in the road, and I swerved around them. I was paying more attention to the guy and ended up hitting a post with my bumper. It turned out that the guy was warning people of a downed tree right behind him. Plus, visibility was limited with the rain.
I only hit the post about 10-15mph (at least no faster than 20), and my airbags did not deploy. However, cars are flimsy and designed to buckle at the slightest impact. The front hood was buckled and the steel part of the bumper pushed back into the radiator and condenser. I went to go get something to eat to soothe my nerves after verifying nothing was leaking.
I've been to half the body shops around here so far, and they're all asking at least $1400. Around $900 of that is labor and frame bending as the front fender rails are bent a bit and the steering feels a bit off. And every body shop I've been to keeps upping the price, up to $3000, by adding things I don't need, like a radiator (it's not leaking), an AC condenser (who needs AC?), headlights (work fine!), a new plastic bumper (old one can be duct taped on), and a paint job (who needs paint?!). And they refuse to just straighten the frame and insist on fixing all these other things (to make it street legal I guess).
The car just recently passed 200k but runs well and is rust-free so I'd like to save it if possible, but not spend $1400. I know I can get parts for cheaper, like a hood for $60-100 at a junk yard instead of $250. An upper radiator support for $70, and a steel bumper bar for $35, from an online retailer (junkyards are options too). It's just the straightening of the frame I can't do and some of these parts might not fit unless that happens.
The least I'd like to do is bend the bumper bar back forward as it's pushing the radiator against the engine but no body shop will do that without fixing everything else. I'm talking an ex-car mechanic out of town and sending pics and he'll be giving me ideas soon. I'll figure this out.
I mean I just got the cooling fans to work again after some very hairy spots where my car almost overheated. I can do this.