What's going on people? I've been stalk reading this site for the past four years now. lol I know, Lurk. Ive been a fan of the Rx-8 for sometime and in upstate NY they are very hard ro find. well I finally found one, 2004 base, Nordic green, Manual. Named her Cato. as fate would later have it, this ridiculous blizzard hit and long story short, she tailspun into a guardrail . Bounced and hit the front. (Pictures worth a thousand words.) I took a look everything seemed to work fine, and left, figured I could go to a body shop. Or, so I thought. The next time i drove the fuse blew. Had it towed and the mechanic claims that he couldnt find the source. Also said that my air intake was messed up. Insurance wants to total it. Opinions? Advice?

Sorry I know this is a horrible way to meet a new owner, but who else better to turn to than other RX-8 owners?

 

Ouch.

Would be good to know which fuse blew. We could help.

For the body work, you have damage on both ends of the car and hood. that is a hefty paint bill even without additional repairs. I would check the estimates and check with other body shops. Again, with out much data, we cannot help a lot.

 

Well they can't figure out the cause, but it was suggested that it was a broken ECU. As for the paintjob, a company actually said they could do it and repair the bumpers for 350.

 

Just make sure everything is checked out, my initial estimate for hitting a curb was $3700. By the time it was done his insurance company had over $7000 in fixing it and there was no body damage.
Did you figure out which fuse blew?
Any airbags deploy? They aren't cheap.
Good luck I know it sucks I was sad when I wrecked mine(with help).

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

 

No, thankfully no airbags deployed. Personally I don't mind cracks. If they could just bang out the gigantic dent and the replace the headlight that would be fine for now... And obviously fix the fuses and air intake. I mean I've seen some crazy things on wheels before. I can tolerate a crack or two. And I haven't figured the fuse issue out, but I have collect many theories. One is the ECU being busted. Another is the air intake blowing fuses.(considering if I don't double check the heat, it could be blasting cold air. Read about that here,) and as the mechanic put it, "something rubbing against it". That statement makes me question his credentials.

 

I am questioning the mechanic as well.

ECU is not even where you hit stuff. however the main fuse and relay box is right behind that headlight. List the fuses that blew and look under that box form messed up stuff. A picture of the area might help as well.

 

I'll see what I can do for pictures. I'm getting a second opinion though, because the mechanic claims he can't find the source. He told me he tried them all one by one and the car would instantly blow them when started. But never specified as to which. The more I think about it, the more it annoys me.

 

It blows all the fuses???

Time to look under that fuse box if that is the case, there are only a few screws holding it down.

 

WHICH fuse blows is pretty important to proper resolution of the problem. It's a completely different problem if your AC compression fuse is blowing vs your Room fuse.

"The fuse" is not helpful to you, us, or your mechanic.

 

You're absolutely right. I guess that its a silent agreement that I should take it somewhere else for a more professional opinion. The part I find the strangest, is the fact they could declare it a total loss even though they only worked on it for 3 hours. Mind you, they had it Feb. 10-16 not including Sunday.

 

Ok, quick update. The damage estimate from my insurance adjuster came up to be 5781.01.(minus 500 deductible).using my own research i dropped that amount to 3973.64. Is there anyway I can prevent them from totaling it out? Also someont told me that a damaged air intake means damaged engine. How true is this?

 

It's not true. Damage intake just means damage intake.

 

I figured. Well My insurance company went ahead and totaled it out. Ignored my phone calls and/or did not return them. Basically bullied. Moral of this story: don't get bullied by your insurance company. Get Direct-TV.

Not too bummed though, mistakes are a necessity of life. Now I know what not to do.
Thanks for the input.

 

I think it is better off totaled. There was no way you were going to fix it, and no-one else was willing or able to fix it.

 

op if you want to get it fixed and save some money i have a hood, rear bumper, and intake ill sell you but you would have to pick it up in pa