crashed into a tree... is it fixable??

[Zarjulius]

Hi,

I just crashed my Camry into a tree in Vermont. Somehow I just stepped out and walked away from it unharmed, but clearly that is more than I can say for the car. My question is, is the car really not worth to fix, as the mechanics in town are telling me (without looking at it carefully and itemizing, just by taking an outside look)? I would love to get it fixed if I could, rather than spending the same money on another car... The big problem is that the airbags were deployed and I understand they are expensive but I don't know how expensive because I have conflicting opinions on that. This is a 1999 Camry LE V6 with only 70K on it and a nice clean used engine that I put in there due to sludge in the old one. I don't know if there's damage to the engine or the transmission. I'm attaching pics so if anyone can tell me if this looks hopeless or not, and how to deal with the body shop guys that seem not to want to even bother with this, that would be helpful. Also, is it possible to get the body work done without fixing the airbags? will the car be drivable with the airbags deployed? I'm just curious.

Thanks so much.

[Nervous]

Thank God you are fine!
I'd just open the hood and observe the damage. Besides the body work and air bags, you definitely will need to replace radiator, fans, A/C condenser. I don't think engine is damaged severely, since the damage is not very deep, but only when you open the hood you'll be able to say for sure. Post here pics of the engine bay.

[Bdub215]

stick a fork in it

[Nervous]

Another question is what happened to the frame and will it be able to restore it to the specs....

[73sport]

Glad you're OK!

I'd start by removing the tree and then you can assess the damage.

Tell tale signs that things are NOT OK;
Doors bite the fenders = unibody structure damage => totalled
Buckles in the roof = totalled
Buckles in the inner frame rail = totalled
Sub-frame bends, buckles = totalled

Minus the loss of Freon and Anti-freeze, does it run and drive OK?

Hard to say until you get it out and look. Minor core support damage can be repaired, but the cost to replace the bags of air could easily total the car.

[oldfirebird]

To have a shop do it? Yeah, it's probably totaled. If YOU plan to do it and don't put a value on your time, I'm sure you could drive it again. ANYthing can be fixed. I've saved two cars that should have gone to the salvage yard and drove each for three or four more years.
I've often heard it said that if it's more than eight years old and the air bags go off, it's totaled.
Maybe you could find a deal on one that needs some of the parts that are still good on yours? I doubt you harmed the engine or trans. Just about everything in the interior aside from the dash is probably fine.
In other words, if you liked the car, you may want to shop for another and use that one for parts.
If the air bags hadn't gone off, I'd say it's a cheap fix, the fenders don't even look to have moved.

[Drewfuspx]

My parents had an expedition when I was a youngin that I may or may not have accidentally jumped a small ditch with whilst offroading with some friends (I was 16 come on!) and we bent the frame on it to the point where you couldnt' open the front driver door because the fender was so pushed back. We did manage to fix it, but it was 2600 dollars to straighten the frame alone. That being said it was a ladder frame not a unibody. But I guess my point is that your looking at a lot of deneiro if you get a shop to fix any kind of frame damage.

[oldfirebird]

Sorry, I just re-read the last sentence of your original post.

It's a liability issue for a shop if they let it leave with safety equipment not functioning. They wouldn't delete your seat belts for example.
NOW if you pulled it into your own garage, cut the bags off and glued the covers shut, the car will function without that system.
It's not as safe as it could be, but I wear a helmet on the motorcycle even though I don't have to in PA. I realize some people aren't as worried about pain.
I wouldn't let it drive out of our shop, but if you signed some work orders stating they were only to repair the front end damage and YOU would repair the air bags before the car were used again, AND the car left the shop on a roll back, some places might let it go.

[LynchburgCSI]

Nut shell:
Shop does the work : TOTALED.
You do the work and the frame ISN'T bent : Do-able.
Bent frame : TOTALED.

By the way... airbags run about $40 a pop at junkyards. They're not that expensive.

[haux]

To comment on the "are airbags expensive" question: Based on searches I've done on eBay, airbags for old cars are dirt cheap. One might have difficulty finding a good deal on a newer import's airbags... like a 2007 BMW of any kind, because there will be few to none listed on eBay. But there are lots of airbags for these Camry's listed, and it should be easy to find a *pair* for under $50.

I've also heard that the ECU must be replaced after the airbags deploy. Luckily, the same I just mentioned above also applies for the ECU. There's lots of them listed, and they're cheap. But I think a dealership can also reset the software (for probably a high fee), rather than replacing the entire unit - assuming it has to be replaced in the first place.

[Zarjulius]

thanks for all the replies... i guess i can still try to see if the shop here in town will be willing to at least assess the damage more accurately and see if i can supply them with my own parts or something. the guy there said the airbags are something on the order of 3 to 4,000 bucks, which sounds insane to me especially considering what u guys are saying about getting them dirt cheap off ebay.

regarding doing it myself... i'm not a mechanic, and i dont have my own shop... nor the time. i'd love to do it myself if i could but... people train for this kind of thing... i believe.

thanks again

[LynchburgCSI]

^ Just don't let them touch your baby unless your 100% sure theyre not overcharging you and theyre doing things right.

[Zarjulius]

Originally Posted by LynchburgCSI

^ Just don't let them touch your baby unless your 100% sure theyre not overcharging you and theyre doing things right.

^ hmmm... and how exactly can i be sure of this? this is the only body shop in town and this is rural vermont where i dont have many choices. i also cant afford to tow it from place to place... i would just need to negotiate but he really seemed adamant on this whole thing costing more than the value of the car, which is about 7K. i just dont know how that can be true, tho.

[LynchburgCSI]

That's why we're here. For example... Talk to him about sourcing your own parts. He HAS to know he can get airbags for cheaper than what he's telling you.

[ricamryman]

That thing is TOAST!