r1stknight

Hi All ... my wife was recently in a bad accident in her RX-8. Somebody ran a light and T-boned her at 50 mph right at the driver side front wheel. Good news is the car did awesome and she is ok, big time sore, but still ok. Thank you side airbags!

The bad news, the insurance company is claiming the car can be fixed rather than totaled. We are obtaining a copy of the estimate with an itemized list of parts they feel need replace. I want to verify their list and add everything they have forgotten.

Does anybody have a technical diagram with a parts list showing everything located along the driver side fender and engine compartment? I saw the car very briefly and noted the front wheel & rotor were completely ripped off, the hood was folded under, fender gone, bumper barely hanging on, and fluid leaking (oil?). I'm curious what major electronic components are located along that side of the engine bay. The adjuster couldn't get the hood open enough to look at the engine compartment but still did his estimate anyway ... what kind of BS is that?

Some background, this was a yellow RX-8 pre-ordered and picked up that first July, so we were one of the early owners. My wife even appeared in the Mazda magazine with her car. Since that time, the car has been hit three times. Once while shopping in Lowes, somebody clipped the corner of the car trashing the rear bumper, tail light, and exhaust trim. Of course it was a hit & run, no witness, and security cameras were not working. After that was fixed, somebody rear-ended my wife ... very light tap that bent the license plate. On the way to the body shop to have it looked at, somebody ran a light and creamed her. You'd think yellow would be the safest color as everybody would see it ... however, we have found that it just improves their aim! haha

Any help with technical info would be greatly appreciated. I can post a pic if it would help anybody. Thanks!

Ron & Jamie

snap-on

Most top of the line body shops have software that can break down each part of the car and the labor time to repair them. Make sure the person that did your estimate is aware of every concern you have and it is listed on the estimate.

Good luck...I know some cars are never the same.

r1stknight

Darn, so no PDF diagrams out there? I have one for my 3rd gen so I figured there would already be one available for the 8. Oh well ... guess I'll have to trust the body shop then. =o(

r1stknight

Good news ... the car is officially totaled. The body shop did a darn a good job tearing the car completely apart to determine everything that needed to be replaced and got it up to the value needed for a total.

Bad news is we no longer have an RX-8 hmmm ... mazda speed version should be out next year

snap-on

Good for you and bad for you.

From my experience any car with a "hard hit" is never really quite the same. The car bounces from the service dept to the body shop chasing water leaks/squeeks etc.