Planning for rebuilding front-wrecked 2004 corolla..Few questions.

[Mack89]

Hey guys I'm a new member of this forum..

Well my friend's got into an accident, at her fault w/o collision coverage. Car has 52k miles, I'm not sure but it had some option stuffs so it's gotta be LE. She bought it for $5k, market value is around $9-10k..So she wants to fix it instead of buying another car.

I went to the autoshop today to take a look at it, front end was totally wrecked. Radiator, bumper, fender, hood etc etc. And some hose goes to A/C compressor was damaged as well. Throttle body cable mount was broken, air intake box was damaged too.

Engine(not sure it's for engine or tranny, it's attached on tranny housing, right below the starter) mount was damaged, and that caused the damage on transmission as well. Bolt holes on tranny housing that hold the mount are broken..A big chunk was missing
We could try welding them since they're just bolt holes, you know.

There was no visible physical damage on engine itself. Just the throttle body, tranny bolts, and A/C hose. Even the intake manifold was fine. She said, she was able to start the car right after the accident but she heard some loud noise in few minutes, so she turned it off. I didn't start the car when I was there, so I can't tell anything about this specifically.

Shop owner qouted her $3k, could be $5k if they decide to replace tranny. I have several years of experience in reparing my car, so I could try that. My friend's a mechanic, so he can help us too.


But here's the question.

a) Frame.
That kind of damage would definitely wrecked the frame, right? And we don't have any tools to fix the frame.
So should we let the shop owner to fix the frame or just cut it, buy an used frame from salvage yard and hire some experienced welder to weld it?

b) Tranny
I've found some used tranny on the internet, 46k miles $300. One is located 10 miles from my place. Should we just try welding or buy a new tested tranny and install it?

Well we can fix everything else once we solve those problems. First thing is frame..Without it fixed, we can't even start fixing anything you know.

Anyway, if anyone lives in Dallas area and willing to spare some time to take a look at it, I'll buy you a lunch
Any inputs will be appreciated as always :bow:

[dorman68]

Regarding the transmission. I would put in a used unit, they are cheap and plentiful for the 9th gen Corolla. It's not worth trying to weld it.

[scarney1988]

If your car is to the point where it is going to have to get frame damage repaired... it might be time to let it go. She got 5k into it already that leaves a cieling of 4 thousand before she is in over the value.

I am not trying to be a downer, however, I would strongly suggest she consider getting a bus pass or something while she saves for another car. I would imagine that car is going to need some serious work. I am assuming the airbags all went off. If so, that is a ton of money right there.

My best advice would be to find another corolla of that generation that maybe has a blown engine or blown trans and fix that. Much less hassle, and the end result would be something worth while.

Again, I do not want to be a downer and I am not trying to rant on either. Your friend is not the first with this idea. I would just hate to see her dump more money into a car when the money/time in removing the frame, engine, trans, all other under hood components and then replacing everything thats damaged (Not mentioning interior if airbags went off) would cost the same for a running driving other car.

Good luck,
I hope your friend is OK