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Front End Damage. Repair?

16K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  guapoman2000 
#1 ·
96 Camry 284,000 mi got kissed by a Ram truck.
Wife was driving it and is in pain but ok. She was stopped when the Ram rammed her. Find out next week what the Ram's insurance is going to do about the damage.

If they cut me a check, does it look like the damage can be fixed or would I be better off getting rid of the Camry and find a replacement? Its my wife's and daughters car. If its totaled out the replacement car will have to cost what ever insurance gives us. I am hopping to just get a check and I will try and fix it myself.

There is no damage to motor. Radiator is not leaking but the cross beam is pushing on it. Headlight housing are busted. Looks like I could pull out the cross beam back and jump on hood to make it drivable.

 
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#2 · (Edited)
My son's '94 was in a similar accident. The hood was not quite as bad as yours and so I took it off and put it on the lawn and stood on it, bouncing to bend it back. It does not bend back in shape perfectly. A lot of the damage on my son's car was very similar to yours (the A/C condenser was damaged and leaked and needs to be replaced). I took it to this body guy out in the country and he pulled the front cross beam out for super cheap, maybe $25, I can't remember. I watched him do it and if I'm in a similar situation again, I can do that myself. He used something that he called a....."pogo stick". I'm not sure if that's what he said, but basically you hook up a chain to the top of this metal "stick" and bolt it to the cross beam and put the bottom of the stick on the ground (preferably behind something solid, like a curb, or whatever). Use it as a fulcrum and just pull it out. I then went to the junkyard and bought a replacement grill and headlight assembly and some other little things. The front is still cosmetically out of alignment, but I was able to force all the parts on with a little persuasion. It looks.....decent, and much better than before the accident. The hood does not close perfectly, but the rest looks OK from a distance. I paid very little money to do all that. The body guy told me not to bother trying to fix the hood, but to just get one from the junkyard. Keep looking and you might eventually find an undamaged hood in the right color. Sorry, my son's car isn't here to take photos so you could see the makeshift "repair" I did, forcing all the parts on.
 
#3 ·
From what I can tell in the photos (and I'm not an expert) but you just need a hood and a radiator support. Maybe a new radiator, but they aren't expensive. The bumper looks fine, and the headlights and grille are just pushed in - but don't look broken. Although, if you've ever thought about upgrading the headlights now looks like the time to do it :)
Good luck, and keep us posted.
 
#4 ·
Both headlights were replaced last year and both of the mounting brackets are broken. Should of keep the original headlights, I threw them away when I moved.

The bad part of this is my daughter 18 needs car to go to work. She is too young to drive rental car. I have to shuttle her around now (takes away from my couch holding down duties). Wife will have to shutter her around when I am at work ( if she feels better).

I assume I shouldn't try and fixing car till the insurance company looks at it. A pull with the HiLift jack and a roll of duct tape should make it drivable.
 
#5 ·
Wait for insurance. They might total it out. I hate accidents, sometimes the damage looks minor but when you see what shops quote you'll be wow'd. My Lexus got dented and scratched from someone backing up in the parking lot yesterday. $2300 to fix!

Definitely drive-able if you stomp on the hood.

I've DIY'd much worse damage on a Corolla. We tied a rope to a pole and put the car in reverse to pull out the radiator support. Then put the hood on the lawn and stepped on it. Bumper strapped on with duct tape. Looked really rough but a few months later we replaced it with a new front end.

All the best to your wife in her recovery.
 
#7 ·
That will definitely be totaled. They'll probably give you around 2000 for it.

Cheapest thing to do would be to buy it back from them and just pull out the core support. Tie it with a chain around a tree and put it in reverse. Then find a hood and head lights and you'll be back in business.
 
#8 ·
VG advice.
Look for the hood here, you more than likely will find it in the correct colour.
www.car-part.com

You can search locally, or nationwide.

I took it to this body guy out in the country and he pulled the front cross beam out for super cheap, maybe $25, I can't remember. I watched him do it and if I'm in a similar situation again, I can do that myself. He used something that he called a....."pogo stick". I'm not sure if that's what he said, but basically you hook up a chain to the top of this metal "stick" and bolt it to the cross beam and put the bottom of the stick on the ground (preferably behind something solid, like a curb, or whatever). Use it as a fulcrum and just pull it out. I then went to the junkyard and bought a replacement grill and headlight assembly and some other little things.
Good advice.
I have a fellow like this, though not certain about the pogo stick. He has a puller that he attaches to chains in the cement floor. He ties the car to the anchored chains in the floor so he can pull the dented piece out opposite to the force that dented it in the first place.
He is super skilled and can accomplish huge improvements in an hour.

I was once rear ended by a young lady with a cell phone surgically attached to her ear. The damage was $3500 according to a bodyshop recommended by the insurance company , anything to boost premiums.The insurance gave me $1300 because that said that was the value of my car they said . With Gilles fixing it, and another shop doing a touch up on the rear quarter that Gilles (pronounced like Gille Villeneuve) pulled out, (bumper purchased at www.car-part.com in the correct colour) I was still able to put $800 in my pocket.....yah baby:)!

Good luck with it and wishing your wife a speedy recovery.
 
#11 ·
Insurance had a contractor look at car and he says $2774. He forgot to add new headlight so its $2800 :) He says its a total loss.
Now have to see what insurance says.

I think we might be screwed if they total out the car as it has little value. We cant get a loan as my wife and I are between jobs right now and daughter needs car for work. Dont want a loan cause you need to have full coverage with insurance. Too costly with an 18 year old on policy. So that will limit us to what we can buy in the Denver area market. There is emission testing here so most of the older cars get auctioned off outside of the emission testing area.

If they gave us the price to fix we could buy a 99 ES300. There are a couple at dealers here. All the Camry's if found were 4 cylinders so far. They were the same price as the ES300. Wife likes her V6. Probably end up with enough $$ to buy an old Corolla or Tercel.

I start new very demanding job in a week and will not have any time to work on wrecked Camry if we keep it. Need to find a back yard body shop that will fix it so its drivable if we have to keep the Camry. Anyone know of a shop that will fix just enough to make it drivable in Denver or Ft Collins area.
 
#13 ·
front end damage

After driving into a semi, the front end was a mess.
3000 for the estimate.
I had to pay the body shop 1000 to take take the dents out of the hood and respray, and replace the hood latch, 69 for an aftermarket fender cover, 139 to get painted to match. 69? for a headlight or two. The car really looks good now, you don't even know.
I'd give it a try.
Rich
2000 Camry LE
"Champagne"
 
#14 · (Edited)
The cross member is spot welded in. I dont have spot welder so if I get to to keep the Camry I will try and pulling it back in place.

It looks like I could mount a new headlight but it will be crude. I would like to use some sort of driving light as a primary light. The new aftermarket lights I got last year are not the greatest and planned on getting a driving light so I can see the road.
 
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