Whappeh

My first ever accident. It had to come with this car. Of all things....

I'm actually here looking for experiences of anyone else that have had accidents with their RX8s. Part of the major reason for buying the car is its performance, and I'm worried that body shops (especially Insurance linked body shops) will skip out on bringing the car back up to factory spec. (50/50 weight distro, etc)

Has anyone else had any positive, or negative, experiences dealing with repairing their damaged RX8s? I'm worried insurance will only look at the fact the rear bumper has been removed, and there is apparent damage to the Muffler/Exhaust system... but what about that hard to tell damage? Body compression, etc?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

RxGr8t

if there's only damage to your bumper you definatley weren't hit hard enough to cause "body compression". Basically you will have to watch them like a hawk and make sure everythings 100%. The body shop will try and find as many small details as possible because they bill the insurance hence they will make more money with more damage. Just check it over 20x before you accept it, nit pick over every little thing.

eug

iTrader: (2)

Sorry to hear about your accident, it really stings, I know.

My 8 was at the receiving end of a chain collision last fall. The original shop that did my repair did some ok bodywork and paint, but everything else was pretty **** poor. If anything behind the bumper was involved, there are so many individual panels in the unibody construction that need to be welded properly, and a lot of areas are prone to water leaking (which is what I have).

For instance, if your repair requires removal of the rear windshield (to straighten out the rear 3/4's), and the rubber seal around the rear windshield is nicked, it will leak there. You will see tell-tale signs of water stains coming down the metal frame behind the rear seats, and soaked foam in the rear seat cushion itself. This seal cannot be purchased separately, it only comes with the rear window (a $700 cdn part!).

As for mechanicals, I was lucky and only had a bent control arm. You should insist that the shop send your car to a Mazda dealership to have the suspension and exhaust checked, and not try to do it themselves (most won't with newer cars).

I found I had the opposite impression. The original place cut costs on a lot of things (urethaned in trunk release, interior plastic panel mounts glued on instead of welded, not replacing a trunk lid seal, etc.), probably thinking it would make the insurance company happy. Although in the end, it's costing them more because now they're covering the costs of repairing it again to make it right.

volk

What color is/was your 8?

DaveCM203

The same thing happened to me a year ago. Idiot on a cell phone running 100 mph in an 87 S-10 p/u never hit his brakes. I was doing 45.

Anyway, make sure you settle with the insurance company for "depreciated value". I was given $3,000 after a lot of arguing with the insurance company. It realy is not enough, but something is better than nothing. If it did more than 25% damage (as in my case) your resale dropped to nothing. I know resale is a major point of debate for the 8, but with that amount of damage you can, in reality, about cut it in half. Even if the damage was not 25%of the value of the car, paint work will reduce the resale. And no matter how good a job the shop does, you will always be able to tell. Don't let the insurance company BS you. There is court oders for depraciated value. Insist on it. You will often times have to get your own appraiser. If you do, make them pay for that too.

Whappeh

White.

A few pics:

DaveCM203

Not too bad. Does not look like any real frame damage. I was afraid that yours looked like mine. The trunk was crushed all the way up to the window. I had $9,000 in damage. I am glad it is not that bad and you are ok. I would still hit them up for depreciated value though. Good luck.

Whappeh

Yeah. I'm actually quite amazed at how well the car handled the crash. Everyone in my family told me I'd be in a lot of paint his morning (neck/headaches, lower back) and I feel fine. I really think that seat (and the fact I was wearing my seatbelt) did their job. I realized I had been hit, but I didn't think it was as bad as it was. I thought they hit me going about 5 or so, but its evident they didn't.

New Yorker

A popular misconception is that you have to use a shop recommended by the insurance company. If I'm not mistaken, you can use any body shop you like. There is a wide range in the quality of work out there, so why not take your car to the best place in town? I always call local Ferrari, Porsche or Bentley dealers and ask them where they go for body work, and that's where I take my car. Works for me.

foo77

seem we both got the same prob here:

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...2&page=1&pp=15

Whappeh

Thanks for pointing out that thread. I'll check into it and read it.

jubez

surprised to see you still trolling the forums after you ripped me off. How can you give people advice when you're such a dishonest person yourself?? I'm surprised you haven't been banned from here yet.

for anyone who's interested, you can read all about "mr. helpful" here:

https://www.rx8club.com/good-guy-bad-guy-74/bad-guy-rxgr8t-106937/

apparently i'm not the first guy he screwed over.

User24

iTrader: (1)

If you're going to nitpick over every detail, you're going to be nitpicking for a long, long time. The vehicle is not going to be painted perfect and the sooner that is accepted, the better off you are. It's not your fault, it sucks, and you also get stuck with a rental. Raw deal all around.

In case of a screwup bring it back one time to get it fixed, but 2 or 3 or 4 times I'm not at all sure about doing. Set your expectation at about 95% and go in knowing it won't be 100% when you get the call, but that it should still look darn good after a week of driving a rental.

I'm down to about 70% original factory paint, 30% repaint. All it takes now is a hit to the right side, or something to fall on the hood or roof or trunk and I'm down to 100% non-original factory paint.

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The RX8 transmits collision impact to the driver so efficiently, I'm surprised you found the experience painless.

I took a rear-end hit while stopped on the freeway and sustained superficial damage. No metal frame parts deformed as in your photo, yet immediately after impact I was sure the entire rear quarter was gone and my trunk goodies sprewed all over the freeway. Very surprised to see nothing broken when I got out and walked to the back. My neck and head were throbbing from the impact with the headrest.

Dang it all cars should have good brakes like the RX8. I stopped in time, but the 1995 Honda Accord behind me didn't.
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PDXMazdafan

If insurance is footing the bill and you can go anywhere you like, why not take it to a reputable Mazda dealer's service center? At least that way you know they will put the car back together properly and if not you can complain to Mazda corporate.

My wife got in a little fender bender with my Nissan about a year ago and I took it to the dealer. The work they did was great except they had to order an exhaust bracket and that part took forever to come in. I drove it in the meantime and the car made a god awful racket whenever you hit the accelerator. So I called Nissan corporate, I calmly explained that I wasn't yelling at the poor customer service gal on the phone but I basically chewed them a new one about the delays and so on. Suffice it to say, the part I needed came in the next day and the dealership about fell all over themselves trying to make me happy when I came in to have them install it.