All,

My S2000 (MY 2001) was hit by an 18 wheeler on Tuesday. the front end is smashed pretty good. All the damage is in the front, but interestingly enough the damage happened in such a way that it twisted the frame, and sheetmetal, but seems to have left much of the car intact.

I'm 100% okay.

I got the news yesterday that it will most likely be totalled out as there is 14K visible damage (frame, sheetmetal, radiator, intake, etc).

So the question is how much should I pay for the scrap cost of the car to strip and ebay/s2ki parts.

I want to at least make my money back. Even though there is a chance the engine is okay, I want to assume the engine is toast in this eval.

Also is there advice on the negotiations that are about to happen:
how much money they should give me for totalling the car
how much money they should ask for scrap cost

My car is MY 2001 blk/blk that is stock other than stereo. I'm in Austin, Texas. It has 40,000 miles. It had the 7/100,000 bumper to bumper warranty. Will that count in the negotiations.

I've always wanted to gut a car and this could be my opportunity. I'm not rich like many of you, just getting by.

No apparent damage to (this is all speculative on visual examination):

Engine/Drive Train:
-Anything in front of the engine is toast.
-Radiator is toast
-intake is toast
- engine (will not know for sure) - medium risk that there is damage
- tranny (will not know for sure) - low risk that there is damage
- rear axle okay
- exhaust?

Chassis:
- No damage to 2 week old top (had it replaced under warranty)
- No damage behind front 1/4 panels
- both doors okay
- trunk okay
- bumper okay
- All glass okay

-Wheels/tires
- normal wear/tear
- spare tire okay

Interior
- no accident damage - just normal wear and tear
- airbags did not deploy
- seats are okay
- stereo - JVC MP3/Polk Components/Polk rears/IR link to dask controls.

Thanks,
Dave

 

I'm thinking you're in for a lot of headaches if you go ahead and try to part it out. I don't know if it'd be worth the hassle.

 

if you do..I will take the IR controls for the deck...I also have a JVC....

 

- its only $500 to buy it back right???
- just buy it back, not sure what you going to do once its stripped though...

 

your airbags didn't deploy? how did the collision happen? (sorry, I don't mean to hi-jack your thread, but I am very curious)

 

i think you should part with it, hopefully you can get a new one... seems too much of a hassle to fix it all, and it will cost a lot, not worth it IMO

 

This conversation is meaningless until you find out how much they want for the car...

 

 

The purpose of this thread was so that I could be prepared for the negotiations when they offer the scrap price. I was assuming I didn't have a lot of time to decide, but that may not be the case. I'm wandering into uncharted waters (for me).

I was hoping that people that watch the ebay threads for s2000 parts may know what these working parts would be worth.

As far as the accident, long story short:
- sedan cuts off 18 wheeler
- 18 wheeler locks up his brakes and drifts into my lane
- S2000 drives in the gravel filled shoulder while braking at highway speeds
- S2000 spins left then quickly right once the wheels caught traction again.
- S2000 hits right, into the front rear wheel of the 18 wheeler that was now in the lane where the s2000 was.
- half of s2000 front smashed forward
- 18 wheeler hits other half with tires with forward momentum
- S2000 spins the other way.

- S2000 driver is very lucky to be alive. Split second sooner, 18 wheeler's rear wheels run over driver (that's me - ouch!).

- trucker is at fault for now, but his insurance is going after the sedan that cut him off. The sedan drove off, but a witness gave their license plate to the po-pos.

I was a little confused about the airbags not deploying as well, but after thinking about it, here is my explanation on why the airbags didn't deploy...
- airbags are triggered by accelerometers that are designed to combat frontal impacts. Since I was spinning just before the impact, the accident was in a directon to the right of my overall acceleration (momentum). This is similar to a top moving in one direction, while spinning in another. Physics is not our friend. Woulda been a bit pissed if I got hurt and the airbags diddn't deploy. For now it's just interesting.

 

as long as you're safe and not injured...airbags don't matter