Car accident - Totalled or fixable?

[kento16us]

Hey,

So I was recently rear ended on the highway and my back end has a good amount of damage. So far the damage I can see other then the obvious is that the side quarter panels are bent so the trunk doesn't close anymore. Also can tell its bent from where the water drains up top. The bottom of where the trunk closes is bent as well.

Do you think the other guy's insurance will total the car or repair it? I'm asking from a perspective of the insurance side, since they would have to pay for the parts, paint, car rental, whatever else. When the adjuster came out and initially looked at the car he was saying it's totalled but then he looked under the car, he was saying maybe it's repairable.

2000 Camry CE 102,000 4 Cyl

[TRD95]

It looks totally fixable. You're looking at easily $1,500-2,000 worth of damage. I had more damage on my Gen 3.5 (Front left fender, door, left wheel assy, rack and pinion) and they fixed it at $2,400. I'm just speaking from experience.

[projektvertx]

It's borderline, those quarterpanels may or may not be save-able. The deck lid might be save-able, but the brackets that swing it open are gone for sure. Ultimately, I think it's going to be a function of how much damage is under there. Best of luck to you

[LynchburgCSI]

^ +1. VERY borderline. To the point that I wouldn't even make a call until I was able to get underneath the car and remove the rear bumper cover. It's just going to depend. Keep us posted!

[Mister_Perkins]

I would repair it . lol

hopefully you can get it repaired!

Glad your okay bud

[WISHYWASHY]

lets hope they give you a check that will be enough to either repair or replace and let you decide what to do with it.

[projektvertx]

Originally Posted by WISHYWASHY

lets hope they give you a check that will be enough to either repair or replace and let you decide what to do with it.

Quarterpanels are VERY expensive to replace. That's why i'd find out if it's repairable at a decent cost before I would buy it back from insurance.

[Mister_Perkins]

I Paid $78.00 a side for a new rear quarter for my 93 camry

Its over $300.00 at the dealer (I checked) . lol

[SexieWASD]

The part isn't that much, but it is a lot of work to replace one, sanding down the filler and drilling out the welds on the roof, then matching to faded paint.

[Zembonez]

The quarters are quite fixable. Most of that damage would go away when they pulled the rear body panel prior to replacing it. What may well total that car is the rear unibody rails in the floor. The way that bumper is rotated, there is going to be substantial damage behind it. If it were a newer car, that might not be an issue... but this one will probably go away.

It is quite fixable but the insurance company will likely total it.

[projektvertx]

Originally Posted by Mister_Perkins

I Paid $78.00 a side for a new rear quarter for my 93 camry

Its over $300.00 at the dealer (I checked) . lol

Originally Posted by SexieWASD

The part isn't that much, but it is a lot of work to replace one, sanding down the filler and drilling out the welds on the roof, then matching to faded paint.

Originally Posted by Zembonez

The quarters are quite fixable. Most of that damage would go away when they pulled the rear body panel prior to replacing it. What may well total that car is the rear unibody rails in the floor. The way that bumper is rotated, there is going to be substantial damage behind it. If it were a newer car, that might not be an issue... but this one will probably go away.

It is quite fixable but the insurance company will likely total it.

I agree with Zembonez on this one. As SexieWASD pointed out, you are forgetting how much work it is cutting the old quarter off, putting the new one on and making sure it lines up right and making sure the paint matches perfectly with the roof. Labor is a lot of cash for a shop to do that. Make it two quarterpanels and you have a totalled car.

[fenixus]

all depends on how pretty you want it to look AFTER repairs. if you are aiming at a PERFECT OEM look then yeah car is totaled beyond repair and not worth the repair, ... but if you are willing to sacrifice some looks (quarter panels can be cheaply "fixed" with simple tools, some minor dents will be visible) then yeah it's all about bumper and trunk cover (get some nice ones from junk yard and paint).

ask around at local body shops for a "cheap quote", avoid reputable shops if you are looking for cheapest possible quotes though

I wouldn't pay more than $1,000 - $1,500 for everything done at local body shop. if you are mechanically inclined and have a garage then you could probably get away getting it done for a couple hundreds plus your own labor ... if you have time to play around with that

[kento16us]

Thanks for all the replies

Just got a call back from the adjuster and the car has been deemed a total loss. So they will call me back this Tuesday with their first offer on how much the market value of the car is or whatever they use to figure out the value.

At this point I wouldn't pay too much to repair it. Just try to get the trunk closed and see if i can get the bumper straight . Im wondering if i can really push the quarter panels outwards so the trunk can slide down.

I have replaced the front bumper and the bar behind it, but not sure how much more work would be required for the rear.

Hopefully I don't get lowballed on their offer.

Thanks again to everyone!

[Zembonez]

That rear body panel is going to need a frame machine to pull it back close to position (and then likely it is going to need replacement). This is what has the quarter panels pulled down. The rear bumper is not going to be a simple replacement. The structure behind the reinforcement is collapsed. That's why it is rotated upward. This is not a simple fix.

[carsrus]

If you dont care to much how the car looks all youll probally need is a used lind + a new bumper. Then some good old fashioned frame straightening with a 2x4 and a big hammer and it shouldn't be to bad.

If the buy back price isnt ridiculous I would do that or part it out since camry parts sell like hot cakes.

But honestly I think pounding it out carefully will make it look alright.