Front end wrecked..insurance total

[240Shwag]

Lots of dumb ideas being said in this thread.

1. Salvage title lowers the value of the car if you want to resell it later.
2. Why do you have full coverage on a 20 year old car?
3. That estimate is high, get another estimate.

Originally Posted by silviaks2nr

The radiator support and likely upper fender support need to be replaced. Not an easy job if you want to do it right. Others might say just do a tube front and kouki front end conversion, but that's not an appropriate fix IMO.

Its easy. Know whats harder? A tube front end.

[simmode1]

If he plans on keeping the car, salvage title doesn't matter. If he plans on selling the car, most 240 buyers will not care that it has a salvage title if the repairs are done correctly. And he'd still come out on top if he took the insurance money, fixed the car & then sold it for even half of its undamaged value, rather than if he just let them junk it.

Having full coverage on an old car like this may not make sense to some, but it comes in handy for cases like this. Getting a check for $4g's to cover it doesn't sound unreasonable based on similar scenarios most of us have seen in the past.

[jorge1190]

You can ask here all day long and get answers from other states that don't apply to you. you could also call you agent and find out what the laws are in your state regarding a total loss retention and valuation.

Most insurance companies go off a valuation that looks at what similar vehicles have sold for in your area. Expanding the search as needed. In the case it is totaled you can bring examples that you feel are comparable to your car and present them.

Again this all depends on state laws. Start there

[97nismo]

Repaired my upper support super easy just measure line back up and reweld

However I can't stress enough get a spot weld drill bit!!!!




Everything fit like a glove after and mine was really banged up
Hood
Bumper
Bumper support
Bumper retainer
Headlight
Fender
Corner light
Radiator

[95se]

97nismo,

Does that upper support bolt on to the frame or how did u get it off? What about the lower support.. i couldn't tell on my pics what everything was connected to on the bottom

[CrimsonRockett]

Your entire front core support is spot welded in place.

It doesn't look like the damage was all that severe on your S14.

Definitely needs to be taken apart and properly inspected though.

[97nismo]

Entire core support is spot welded in and I'll say there are a ton of them

[95se]

Ok so basically as bent as mine is I guess I'm screwed

[97nismo]

No just buy another core and put it on it's not hard and line everything up and get everything else that's bent paint and replace pretty easy

[95se]

To put on the core support it needs to be welded on in several places? So the body shop would need to get someone to do that?

[97nismo]

Body shops can do it....crap if you were closer I could do it...but yea most body guys can do that. If you are not comfortable working it on your own then I would buy it back and part it out or just take the cash and buy another one. It's a shame cause you could easily fix what you have for less than 500 bux. Zenki panels are cheap and only thing you have money in is paint and welding and if panels are off the car then it's even cheaper

[10psitx]

Originally Posted by 95se

Ok so basically as bent as mine is I guess I'm screwed

Its repairable...PM me if you need pointers or advice on what to do...its not that difficult. I've done a few already.

[Agamemnon]

Take a quick look at this How To thread:
http://zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=239722

Pay close attention to this area here:

If the side aprons area bent, this will have to be fixed before a new core support gets put in or you'll never get it to sit right.

[95se]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

Take a quick look at this How To thread:
http://zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=239722

Pay close attention to this area here:

If the side aprons area bent, this will have to be fixed before a new core support gets put in or you'll never get it to sit right.

Yes the side area is bent. The fender and hood on that side is bent.

[95se]

So I looked up the fair market value in DFW area and its not even 2K. I was stunned. The body shops were even saying around 3K. I guess I'm not even going to go through with the claim and figure out some way to pay to have t fixed.

[simmode1]

Geezus, dude... So you're not even gonna let the insurance tell you exactly how much they'd be willing to total it out for & sell it back to you? Do you specialize in giving up or something?

You're in DFW, right? Take that thing to Tay Mann & have him give you a quote. He's the most reputable 240sx specialist in the metroplex. He's fair, got awesome pricing & likely has all the parts you need already. He'll shoot you straight on rather its worth it to take the insurance money to pay for the repair or junk it.

But they're bullshitting you on that fair market value. You're gonna be hard pressed to find any remotely clean Zenki's in DFW for $2g's.

Edit: I just looked on CL and holy shit have 240's taken a dive! It's time to BUY BUY BUY, guys... lol

I still think it might be worth it to use the insurance company's money to fix it rather than your own. I mean, whats the point of having full coverage?

[95se]

Originally Posted by simmode1

Geezus, dude... So you're not even gonna let the insurance tell you exactly how much they'd be willing to total it out for & sell it back to you? Do you specialize in giving up or something?

You're in DFW, right? Take that thing to Tay Mann & have him give you a quote. He's the most reputable 240sx specialist in the metroplex. He's fair, got awesome pricing & likely has all the parts you need already. He'll shoot you straight on rather its worth it to take the insurance money to pay for the repair or junk it.

But they're bullshitting you on that fair market value. You're gonna be hard pressed to find any remotely clean Zenki's in DFW for $2g's.

Edit: I just looked on CL and holy shit have 240's taken a dive! It's time to BUY BUY BUY, guys... lol

I still think it might be worth it to use the insurance company's money to fix it rather than your own. I mean, whats the point of having full coverage?

Yes I know Tay. He has worked on my car several times and his new shop is only a mile from me. He's a nice guy. I wish i knew him long time back. He acted like he had some of the parts but not all of them but he didn't say how much he would give them to me.
Well, the reason I was thinking of not even making an appt with the adjuster is because another adjuster at one of the body shops I went to said as soon as he starts doing the valuation of the damage its too late if he totals it. A notice will be sent to the state that the car is deemed a total loss regardless of whether or not you go through with the claim. I would have to ask him up front at the beginning if he thinks it will be totaled and stop the process right then if I don't want to possibly have to buy it back if it is totaled. If its totaled then I have to buy it back and have to get a salvage title and not be able to have full coverage on it. That's from what I got from the adjuster of some other insurance co.. I know that its a crap shoot if its worth having full coverage on it or not. If I get only $500 out of it from buying it back it seems like it would just be better of not even going through with the adjustment process but then again if its more than $1000 maybe it would be worth it. The structure of my car is real clean and before the wreck my problems were mostly previous bad paint work done for minor things but the clear coat lifted on the top surfaces so it doesn't look good even though there has never been any frame damage and the interior is as clean as any 240 on the road. Huu Tran, the owner of Tran Auto Body here in Arlington, told me that he bought a vehicle that someone had bought back from insurance that was totaled and he has full coverage on it without a salvage title. Just that the state has it down as a totaled vehicle so the value on it would be 20% less. He recommended me buying it back since its such an old car. On a new car he wouldn't. I think I will just call my insurance agent's office tomorrow to get straight info since some things I'm hearing are contradicting.

[simmode1]

Yeah, man it's a tricky process. I just hope it all works out for you. If you do junk it, tell me what salvage yard it's at cuz Imma go strip all yo shit! lol

[CrimsonRockett]

Originally Posted by simmode1

Edit: I just looked on CL and holy shit have 240's taken a dive! It's time to BUY BUY BUY, guys... lol

Keep in mind, it's tax season. Happens every year.

[95se]

Its not going to the salvage yard.. EVER!!!!!

[95se]

I finally called my State Farm agent today and he says the title is determined by the state whether it would be salvaged or not but after the repairs are done I would just need to show them pictures then I could retain full coverage. He also said State Farm doesn't report anything to the state so I am still confused on how the state would know if the car was totaled. Guess it really doesn't matter because its not going to change the value of it that much since the value is so low to begin with. If I can prove the damage didn't affect the frame and chassis then it probably won't matter much other than just for the sake of having a clean title.

[95se]

Ok I finally got the adjuster to look at it. I had two claims, one where I was rear ended 6/2013 and 2nd one for all the front end damage from the ice storm back in march. Estimate for rear was $750 after my 250 deductible. Then he totaled it on front end damage, the 2nd claim. He told me damages were around 4200 but didn't show me any estimate and told me I would get a call from total loss dept. He said state farm goes by nada and I could look it up to get an idea what it was worth but he did not tell me a value. I have been talking to my agents office through the whole process. My agents office called claims dept today and she found out more info. On the first claim they decided I was not at fault, though, other driver said I rolled into her. They have started subjugation process so I possibly won't need to pay deductible on that claim. She said the car was valued at about $4590 and the damages to front end was about 4100 just above 80% threshold. Salvage was 498 so after deductible and salvage I would get about 3954. I had two calls today on each claim but was at work so am wondering how I should proceed to negotiate when I call ttomorrow.

[zombiewolf513]

That's not really that bad, that could be pulled out by a pro.

You could also provide parts to the shop, and your insurance might be able to deduct/reemberse you the cost in the form of what they would cost new. I provided tail lights when I was rear ended, usaa sent me a check for $600. They paid for the kouki tail lights!

Edit
I didn't read that last post, so relevant to you:
That sucks. I say fix it if you care about it