Sad Day - What a hinge can do - Hurt my mint baby!

[Drewfuspx]

Well it was a bad day at work, I work for a dealership and I get ribbed about my 95 Camry occasionally but I always laugh and say why would I upgrade. Air, tilt, cruise, fantastic stereo installed, v6 power, and as quiet if not quieter than the new cars. Plus my Camry only has 102,000 km's on it, and is pretty minty. Starting to get a few minor imperfections here and there, but something that I fully intend to drive for the next 5 years. Well today the parts van driver came in and said that she had bad news and asked me to come out to look with her and this is what I saw:





Our parts van is an e350 15 passenger with all the seats removed. The HINGE on the two side doors is what caused the majority of the damage, looks like I got in a scrap with a bear.

Sad right. But shouldn't have been a big deal the GM of the dealership said that they would take care of the costs, don't worry about insurance or claiming it. So we got the quote, and they want 2575 to fix the car, and I'm thinking great, new hood, fender, bumper, and maybe I can get the cash instead of them doing the headlight/corners and invest in a pair of projector retrofits and clear corners. BUT today they sat me down and said:

"So, obviously your car is not worth 2500 dollars and so we were thinking that we'd just get you a pre-owned vehicle on the lot below cost and we'll run your car through the auction for you"

Back The HELL up. First of all you cannot tell me this car is worth less than 2500 dollars as I regularly see vehicles with 2 times the km's and less upgrades selling for $4000 on Kijiji. 2nd of all I don't want another vehicle, and below cost or not I'm not really looking to spend a few thousand dollars right now. 3rd I'm a bloody employee and you are going to try to smoke and mirrors me like this.

I'm pretty frustrated at the moment, I just want my s#!% back the way it was monday before your parts person buggered it up and I'll be happy. It's not like I'm asking for a million dollars. Anyway to make matters worse I'm absolutely fine draggint this out for a week or two to get what's mine BUT I'm planning on giving my resignation on Monday as I'll be finding out tomorrow whether I've gotten a much better position with another company - WHICH requires me to have my own car that I can reliably put tons of miles on = perfect role for the Camry.

Lol - when it rains it pours. Anyway hope all your days are going better than mine, and hopefully if all goes well and the new job works out and they don't auction my car (which I'd buy that mother back in a heartbeat) I'll be having a little more opportunity to be on here for mod's and upgrades soon!

[BrightExplorer]

I'm sad to see that....


I wouldn't let it rest.. Its their fault, no matter what the cost, I would force them to fix it.

I had to guess on a few things from your pictures, such as body style...
I chose a Coupe LE... Because from the front angle picture, I can see the start of the rear wheel, and it didn't appear to be that much room for a back door.
But according to KBB... The value of a 95 Coupe LE, with 102k (yes I converted it into 63k miles) is roughly 3,500 in "Good" condition...

Not to mention they're trying to offer you a car at below cost... Which is STILL a couple thousand dollars more expensive than FREE....
That and I wouldn't trust a GM car for anything. They look nice, but my buddy just bought a brand new Cadillac-CTS a month ago, and already had to take it in to get serviced...

I would get a few quotes from local Toyota dealerships, or repair shops and see what they have to say about cost of repairs...


Hell, get your insurance involved, they'll make them pay it.

[astatcamry956]

That happened to me recently i had gotten in a carcrash and the total amount to fix y car was $1350 it was just the driver side fender and the bumper and a lil of the frame was bent, for $1350 they wanted to call it a total loss and just give me the money instead of fixing it, after i can drive it around like nothing happened to it, it was just cosmetic repair, i never got the money to fix my car so i fixed it on my own.

[hill8570]

Do you have insurance that would cover the damage? If so, I'd at least have their adjuster take a look at it. Then if the dealership continues to be a pain, just file a claim with your insurance and have them subrogate it. Or you might just want to mention that you'll be doing that unless you get a reasonable offer. Otherwise you'll just have to ask them to pretty-please use a little vaseline while they screw you.

[MASTER YOTA]

Ouch i know how it is to have something you like, and i work just the way you want, then they want to give you an amount that doesnt add up to money, trouble/time to find something that falls in all the correct categories ( dependable, mileage, looks etc)

I wouldnt let it go. if they dont do the right thing you might as well hit up their insurance, and see what they say

Dont most dealerships have a collision dept or a shop that does work on their cars? Cant they run it through there?

[reidcc]

Yikes-
That just sux...

I wonder if their price of $2250 or whatever is a full retail repair to a customer? That doesn't look like a lot of damage. Heck- if they bought you used parts and repainted- their actual repair "cost" should be under a Grand!!! The part tht would cost the most is obviously the hood-

Chris

[DM616]

Don't let them take you for a ride. They are looking for the easy way out and it's bullshit.

Their fault, your call on what you want to do. You want it fixed? Tell them these are the estimates, and you want them to fix it. Otherwise if they refuse, go through your insurance and let them handle it.

I wouldn't let a dealership choose a random car that is worth less than your current one. Besides, Camrys are awesome .

But I wonder, is it really $2500? I'm guessing the fender is the high coster.

[Zembonez]

They could total it and make you settle depending on the ACV and damage estimate. I'm not sure of the laws in Canada.

[slavie]

I don't know how the shop that quoted you quoted you, but that estimate seems way, way too high.

Getting used hood, bumper cover, and fender should cost no more than $800, and re-spraying them should cost about the same. Throw in another $100 for misc. parts (fender support and corner light), and another $100-200 for labor, and that's the absolute max it could cost.

If you scout around, you'll find parts for cheaper. But in either case, there is no was you can let them total the car or screw you over. Their fault. They promised to repair the car; if not, get their insurance company. You're leaving the place either way, so do what's best for you.

[Zembonez]

Nobody (shop or insurance company) is obligated to fix the car if it is a total loss $$$ wise. Sentimental value or not.

[bolink654]

The wife had backed our 98 into a pole while cutting hard and put a good dent in the passenger fender.

A year later a guy in a full size pickup backed into the drivers side fender - hard enough to gash a hole in it, break the corner lamp, and tweak the mounting points.

The insurance from the guy in the pickup gave us $2200.

Now, her brother is a auto body guy. He paints cars - that's his daily job. He works on the side at a shop at his house. He got us 2 fenders, painted them, and a new corner lamp (perhaps it was used... not sure), for under $300. They were the thinner- china made fenders, but whatever. The lines between the door and fender aren't 100% perfect since then (since it tweaked the inner fender)

But you get what I'm going towards. We used the $1900 left to buy my Toyota pickup, AND go on a short vacation.

And this only happened about 18 months ago.

[bolink654]

Sorry to double post but...

The guy in the pickup also tweaked the hood a tiny bit - he was able to just fix that instead of replace it.

In the states when a car is totaled they often will give you the value of the vehicle, but also give you the option to buy it back (usually cheap). If you can work that with them, that's what I'd do. You should then, have enough to have a small time guy fix it, and probably have some cash left over. Maybe he wont be able to make it PERFECT, but very close - as was our case.

If it comes down to it, you can get painted fenders on eBay - they would have been $60 each on our 98. They claim they use age and how you've kept the car, to match the paint - but I kinda doubt they would match 100% But hey, I'd rather have my car with slightly mismatched fenders, than some car I didn't really want.

[bigbird]

sad to see man, but Id keep it! fix those issues as best ya can and keep her runnin, especially if you are gonna have a job that wil put miles on it. If I end up getting anotehr job that requiers teh same...im looking for anotehr third gen v6 with low miles. Likely one of the BEST travel cars ever! sorry to see, but she is still cherry.

[Zembonez]

Originally Posted by bigbird

sad to see man, but Id keep it! fix those issues as best ya can and keep her runnin, especially if you are gonna have a job that wil put miles on it. If I end up getting anotehr job that requiers teh same...im looking for anotehr third gen v6 with low miles. Likely one of the BEST travel cars ever! sorry to see, but she is still cherry.

What the hell is wrong with your typing skills?

[timekiller]

Ouch, that sucks. What they're trying to get you to do is total bull. It was the driver's fault. He hit your car while in the company vehicle, on company time. I'm sure they have insurance for just this sort of thing. What would they be doing if it was a customer's car that he hit? If they keep running you around you just need to report it to your insurance so they can contact the company's insurance and make them pay up. You're leaving them soon anyway, do you really need to stay in their good graces at this point?

Tough situation, hope it works out for you!