ouch sorry to hear that...how many miles on your tires

 

i posted this in the bay area owner forum, but since not all bay area folks check that forum, i'm going to repost it here:



hey folks. i spunout in my s2k in the rain a few days ago and hit a wall on the side of the freeway with my front end. the details of the accident at this point is irrelevant but basically, my rear tires were too worn out for the rain, so as i accelerated through an onramp to build enough speed to merge into traffic, the rear tires hit a slick spot, lost traction and spun the car without warning. i tried correcting the spin, but since all i could see out of the windshield was rain and darkness, i lost orientation of the direction i was spinning and failed to recover before my front end smacked a wall.

anyway, the car is currently at a bodyshop. the damage as far as the shop and insurance appraiser can tell at this point is mainly cosmetic, and slight structural up front. basically, the front bumpers, fenders, lights, and hood need to be replaced. also, the radiator and AC condensors also need to be replaced. structurally, the frame surrounding the radiator has been bent and damaged. the damage ended inches before the front strut towers so the front suspension was not affected. inside the car, both airbags deployed, so they will need to be replaced. in the rear, i either clipped the wall or another car clipped me while i was spinning, but basically on the passenger side, the rear bumper was scraped and the taillight broken. also, 3 of the 4 wheels were scraped in the accident and will be replaced. the estimated damage total as of now summed up to a bit above $16,000 using new OEM parts.

anything and everything else concerning the car that i had not mentioned above appear to be fine. in fact, i was able to drive the car from the second lane (where my car stopped after the spin) to the right shoulder of the freeway without noticing anything apparently wrong with the way the car drove. under the hood, the radiator, and airbox were displaced in the direction of the firewall, but the engine does not seem to have been affected. overall, the car does not qualified to be totaled (due to the fact that the cost of damage is nowhere near the value of the car) and so the title of the car will not be "salvaged".

so right now, i'm confronted with the dilemma of whether to have the car fixed or to "cash out" the $16K+ insurance money and sell the car in its wrecked condtion to a bodyshop or anyone who may be interested in it. but before i can make and finalize that decision, i need to find out what the car is worth in the condition it is in right now. i guess this is where i need some help. i was wondering if anyone out there know of anyone or any place in the bay area who can provide me with an estimated fair value of the car. also, i was wondering if anyone out there know of anyone or business in the bay area who are interested in purchasing wrecked vehicles. again, the car is completely reparable. the suspension and the drivetrain of the car have not been damaged from the accident, the interior and rest of the exterior of the car minus the damaged parts are in excellent condition, and the title of the car will not be "salvaged". also, the car is MY02 and has a little over 10,000 miles on the odo. so if anyone can advise me and/or direct me in a direction where i can obtain the info i need to resolve my dilemma, i'd greatly appreciate it.

btw, no other vehicles were involved in the accident, there were no passengers in my car, and i was not hurt from the accident...

 

10,000 miles.

 

Thanks for reposting here.
It is amazing how worn the SO-2 tires are at 10,000 miles. They're often deceptively fine on dry roads, but even a puddle results in a spin.

I'm glad there were no injuries. I can't help with your "value of the wreck" question.

 

Sorry, I don't of any local places that purchase wrecked cars, but I think this place is well known for doing it:

http://www.erzcar.com/

They're in New York but seem to get cars from all over. Not sure how they would estimate the value of a car in California, though.

Good luck...

 

Hey Junkie,

Let me put it this way...my origional estimate for a very similar wreck was 12,500. I asked the agency to total the car at that point..telling them, "hey, this is not just a regular car, it is a car to be driven at high speeds around corners..to do that, DETAILS count The final cost will be much more once they tear it down." That's nice sir, but we are not going to total it.

14k later, totaling $26,524...the origional claims person no longer working there, taking nearly 3.5 months to finalize (I took it back 4-times) I can honestly say...THANKS for NOT totaling it. I planned on keeping it anyway, and they bought be a new nearly everything.

One thing to be sure and check is the entire drive train...it you hit the wall in gear...bounced backwards....in gear...guess what, the tranny or at least the in-shaft is bent or damaged...mine happended so quick I didn't even get a chance to push clutch ir hit breaks....

The final word...our car is a precision car....while I'd challenge most people to tell mine has had 26K work done on it...I think I'm lucky and don't reccomend it as a rule. If it even looks like it's going to make an extra noise or handle differently, keep taking it back till they get it right.