frame damage its totaled, that pic of the bend near the radiator is part of the frame of the car and any damage to frame= you get a check your car ends up in a graveyard for scrap so take anything good off of it now, if tires are good ask to have them.
Car accident!!!
- Thread starter Myrithel
- Start date
I'm in the same situation. I hit a deer last thursday night. Buckled my cf hood, cracked my msp lip, busted my passenger headlight, both grilles and i know it pushed the radiator support back. After I hit it I still finished my 2 hour ride home with no problems. Insurance co is wanting to total it because current damage is about 3400. I havent opened the hood yet because its stuck and I don't know if it would close back. I am still driving it back and forth to work. Chances are yours is totaled too. I'm still trying to decide what to do with mine. If you get yours turned in let me know what the buy back price is. Insurance company said I had a year to turn it in. I won't wait that long but I wasn't ready to give up this car.
insurance adjuster finally came by.. took a TON of photos and I got the email the next day that they're gonna total it. Waiting on next week for the settlement amount and all that from total loss department (Thanksgiving, erghffe). I'll let you know about the buyback and everything once I know...
I did my own inspection today to check out what's done for.. the disassembly was MUCH easier than I was expecting, everything came off piece by piece and it helps that almost all the bolts were the same size. A lot of stuff was bent but nothing really interfered. 6 bolts for the bumper reinforcement, 6 for the headlights, 4 for the bumper, and a couple plastic push pins.
I'm kind of baffled of how the damage dispersed among the car.. as I recall I got a pretty good dead center hit on the other vehicle. The bumper reinforcement suggests an impact towards the passenger, but the "frame" part of the car looks like it has a bend on the driver's side. I'm heading to a professional wheel alignment & minor frame correction shop once I buy the car back (correction: if I buy the car back, but I think I have a realistic expectation of its cost).
You can really see what took the impact...
Bumper reinforcement
Passenger side
Driver side
The strange thing I noticed.. I should have gotten a pic of it, but I swear the two frame rods going to the front of the car have an angle to them.. that can't be normal? Like this:
Towards the driver's side. But if it was a passenger impact, wouldn't it be the other way around??
Passenger frame:
For the most part, pretty good..
Driver frame:
It's either beat up, or it was suppose to be like that (the left bend)
After eating a bit, I pushed the (halfway sheared) drive belt back on its pulley tracks. Idled the car, ran GREAT. It turns out the belt wasn't sheared off all the way and half of the belt was actually riding over the edge of the pulleys, likely causing the excessive vibration.
I also found the radiator leak:
It only leaks when the car has been on for a few minutes (from the pressure). Kind of lame that the AC rad did that to me, I never did anything to it
she never even saw the warmer months in my hands...
I did my own inspection today to check out what's done for.. the disassembly was MUCH easier than I was expecting, everything came off piece by piece and it helps that almost all the bolts were the same size. A lot of stuff was bent but nothing really interfered. 6 bolts for the bumper reinforcement, 6 for the headlights, 4 for the bumper, and a couple plastic push pins.
I'm kind of baffled of how the damage dispersed among the car.. as I recall I got a pretty good dead center hit on the other vehicle. The bumper reinforcement suggests an impact towards the passenger, but the "frame" part of the car looks like it has a bend on the driver's side. I'm heading to a professional wheel alignment & minor frame correction shop once I buy the car back (correction: if I buy the car back, but I think I have a realistic expectation of its cost).
You can really see what took the impact...
Bumper reinforcement
Passenger side
Driver side
The strange thing I noticed.. I should have gotten a pic of it, but I swear the two frame rods going to the front of the car have an angle to them.. that can't be normal? Like this:
Towards the driver's side. But if it was a passenger impact, wouldn't it be the other way around??
Passenger frame:
For the most part, pretty good..
Driver frame:
It's either beat up, or it was suppose to be like that (the left bend)
After eating a bit, I pushed the (halfway sheared) drive belt back on its pulley tracks. Idled the car, ran GREAT. It turns out the belt wasn't sheared off all the way and half of the belt was actually riding over the edge of the pulleys, likely causing the excessive vibration.
I also found the radiator leak:
It only leaks when the car has been on for a few minutes (from the pressure). Kind of lame that the AC rad did that to me, I never did anything to it
she never even saw the warmer months in my hands...
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tweety2300
Member
- :
- 2001 mazda protege mp3
If the frame is bent leave it. Even if they straighten it out it will never be perfect. And chances are you will never get a good alignment
hornsfan10609
Certified Mazda Tech
- :
- 2003.5 Mazdaspeed Protege x2
As clean as it is, that car is done in the eyes of the insurance provider. My P5 was spotless, garage kept 60k miles and it was totaled with similar damage and that was 3 years ago when they were worth $2k more. It can be fixed but it isn't worth your while.
The frame rails definitely picked up some of the impact, but the question is to what extent? The passenger side of the bumper reinforcement took most of the impact and saved the passenger frame rail.. I'm not too sure what to say about the driver side rail.
I'll be leaving the car with a "profit" one way or the other (due to how cheap I got it). Maybe it would be worth spending a hundred or so to go to a local alignment shop to get a solid answer? They claim to also do frame correction, I could leave it at that if there is any, but they would know best if the car would ever drive right again...
If the frame isn't too bad, the rest of the repair is pretty straightforward. Fenders are all 100% perfect and the bumper & headlights had really good overall fitment at the crash. 30 or so spot welds with a spot weld drill, under $200 for a new ebay radiator support, and with a bit going to the local spot welder gets everything back to normal. I live right next to Philadelphia and salvage yards are everywhere, even if I don't find a MP5/MSP/MP3 I've still got the ugly stock Protege bumpers & ebay to look at..
I'll take measurements of the front end and along the underside of the vehicle tomorrow. Maybe I'll come across some rust spots (caused by bends). Who knows at this point.. I'm hoping it's just at the end of the frame rails right now.
I'll be leaving the car with a "profit" one way or the other (due to how cheap I got it). Maybe it would be worth spending a hundred or so to go to a local alignment shop to get a solid answer? They claim to also do frame correction, I could leave it at that if there is any, but they would know best if the car would ever drive right again...
If the frame isn't too bad, the rest of the repair is pretty straightforward. Fenders are all 100% perfect and the bumper & headlights had really good overall fitment at the crash. 30 or so spot welds with a spot weld drill, under $200 for a new ebay radiator support, and with a bit going to the local spot welder gets everything back to normal. I live right next to Philadelphia and salvage yards are everywhere, even if I don't find a MP5/MSP/MP3 I've still got the ugly stock Protege bumpers & ebay to look at..
I'll take measurements of the front end and along the underside of the vehicle tomorrow. Maybe I'll come across some rust spots (caused by bends). Who knows at this point.. I'm hoping it's just at the end of the frame rails right now.
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hornsfan10609
Certified Mazda Tech
- :
- 2003.5 Mazdaspeed Protege x2
Take the check and find another Protege, that is probably your best bet.
Wow, all those photos are great, and the damage is interesting. The crumple zones seem to have absorbed impact and redirected it to the side causing this off-center frame damage.
You could sell it to a salvage yard and they'll use the parts from the rear and sides to sell.
You could sell it to a salvage yard and they'll use the parts from the rear and sides to sell.
I was gonna say idk if you'll be able to pull parts before the insurance comes to get it. They might get upset.
But if they let you, headlights and fog lights (if they're in good condition) are hard to find, and you could get good money for them. Plus if you plan on retrofitting the headlights you'll have a spare set to do them on so you don't have to have downtime without your car.
But if they let you, headlights and fog lights (if they're in good condition) are hard to find, and you could get good money for them. Plus if you plan on retrofitting the headlights you'll have a spare set to do them on so you don't have to have downtime without your car.
edit:
if anyone was wondering, I ended up finding another P5... same year, same color, but with 30k less miles and almost NO rust at all (spare tire well, fuel pump housing, etc, etc is SPOTLESS). I only miss my sunroof and good shiny paint the old one had - but in the end, I got the car a couple thousand under what insurance gave me so it was insanely cheap considering the first car's cost as well.
if anyone was wondering, I ended up finding another P5... same year, same color, but with 30k less miles and almost NO rust at all (spare tire well, fuel pump housing, etc, etc is SPOTLESS). I only miss my sunroof and good shiny paint the old one had - but in the end, I got the car a couple thousand under what insurance gave me so it was insanely cheap considering the first car's cost as well.
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sleepwalker
Member
- :
- 2010 Mazda CX-7 i Sport
When my first Neon was totalled, I pulled off all my performance parts - intake, muffler, UDP, bored TB, ported intake manifold, my Optima red-top and my aftermarket battery tray, solid motor mounts, etc. - replaced them with the stock parts if I still had them, and then let the wrecker tow it away. A few days later the insurance adjuster called to ask why I had "stripped" the car.
I asked, "Were you going to cover the aftermarket performance parts I had installed?"
"Well, no, we don't-"
"That's why I took them all back off."
"Well, you really aren't supposed to-"
"Were you going to pay me for my aftermarket performance parts?"
"Well, no, we-"
"I'm not just GIVING you the parts you're not paying me for. So I took them off."
He eventually gave up.
NinjaJack247
Member
- :
- Mazda, 2003 Protege5 Sport
I dud my whole rebuild of my front end for 700 bucks! Radiator/ core support, head lights, bumper, AC/ Rad. fans ect.