You guys would be proud - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

TVISMR2 · 06-07-2011, 11:03 PM

I work as an estimator at a high flow body shop here in Marin County CA. We work mostly with insurance companies and are on a direct repair program with just about all of the major providers. Fast in fast out is the name of the game and insurance work is where the money is, so when a car like this comes in all the estimators run and hide lol. This is especially when you have to deal with someone paying out of pocket and our off the street labor rate (for customer pay and non-DRP) is $103 an hour, and is non-negotiable. Everything out of pocket ends up being quite expensive. I saw this little gem pull in today not lookin too hot on the right side and volunteered myself to write it up. I figured hey worse case I'll buy the car from them! haha

It's her mothers car who is 93 years old, bought it new in 1985 and still drives it. Loves the car and doesn't want to part with it. 109k miles. 8 out of 10 condition wise in my book. Verbally quoted said daughter roughly $2,500 to fix the car and she said ok (I was surprised). Spent a little bit of time searching for parts and I found a door and fender for $200 for both. I adjusted labor times down and wrote to do some stuff for free and I made it work for just a hair under $2500.

I can't wait to fix this thing.

Totally made my day keeping this thing on the road

***84Cressida*** · 06-07-2011, 11:10 PM

Good to know that she's going to see another day.

Mike Gerber · 06-08-2011, 11:46 AM

I too am glad to see that car will continue to live. The wife and I had an 86 DX 5 speed in that color purchased new in Feb of 86. Drove that car for 12 years and 173,000 miles when rust became too big of an issue and donated the car to a local charity. The 2SE 4 cylidner engine in that car is probably still running today.

Mike

TVISMR2 · 06-08-2011, 10:08 PM

Fender and door came in today. Two tone blue and silver. Poor junkyard 1G. Wonder what was wrong with it.

I'm waaaay stoked to be fixing this car. <3 1G's

***84Cressida*** · 06-08-2011, 10:09 PM

There's one of those two-tone Blue and Silver cars in my town that doesn't look to be in too bad of shape. There's another one I've also seen in the area. That color combo was only available in '86, so we know what year the parts came from. Was the door panel damaged, too?

TVISMR2 · 06-09-2011, 01:19 AM

The trim panel on the inside? It looked to be fine. Donor door has the same trim panel anyways lol. I might snag a couple parts for my car from whatever is leftover. My main concern is the A pillar. I threw a couple hours repair at it. Hopefully it's not too bad and I could just move time around on the estimate accordingly. The door and fender need some clean up time but I don't want to increase the estimate amount at all.

TVISMR2 · 06-10-2011, 11:37 PM

State Farm (one of my accounts) just accepted liability today. Apparently they're going to cover 75% of the cost of repairs and she gets to keep her car without having a salvage title. Never heard of an insurance company doing this before. Kicks ass. Now I get to re-write the estimate at State Farm's rates and will be able to apply the time on the estimate to make the car come out nicer.

atobe · 06-12-2011, 03:23 AM

we demand pics once it's fixed

Kingdom934 · 06-12-2011, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atobe

we demand pics once it's fixed

Ditto

Glad to see it kept on the road. I wish mines looked that good....

TVISMR2 · 06-13-2011, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atobe

we demand pics once it's fixed

But of course. I'll include in repair process photo's as well.

Kingdom934 · 06-13-2011, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TVISMR2

But of course. I'll include in repair process photo's as well.

Dude...

Awesome

. Nothing like seeing the 'process' of a repair for a Gen1

TVISMR2 · 06-15-2011, 11:49 PM

Car is painted, and is to be re-assembled tomorrow. We ended up blending the hood and rear door. lookin pretty good. Photo's coming soon.

Kingdom934 · 06-16-2011, 01:28 AM

Wow the hood was damage too?

***84Cressida*** · 06-16-2011, 04:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingdom934

Wow the hood was damage too?

Blending the paint is a technique body shops use to better match the existing paint. The paint on the car is 25 years old, so the new paint, even if matched to the color code, is going to stick out. Blending it with neighboring body panels helps it match.

TVISMR2 · 06-16-2011, 11:52 PM

She was in tears when she picked up. Was so happy to have her car back the way it was. The first question she asked me (which I know was her main concern) was "does the door work?" I replied smiling "yes dear the door works just fine, and the mirror, and window, and door lock, I've checked everything." We walked out to see the car with her holding on to my arm. I showed her my 1G and we expressed how much we love our cars. Best car delivery after repair I've ever had.

Here's some photo's

The finished product...

Look at that hood!