Over $10K in damage (warning, big pics)
 

Hey guys,

I posted my initial accident story in the West forum (Here), but I thought everyone should see these pics. Repair estimates were $3600 initially when the car was looked at with the body on, once removed the estimate has soared to over $10K and will take over 10 weeks to repair.

Ever wanted to know what our cars look like behind their bumbers. See below:

http://www.csupomona.edu/~msbancroft...dent/Front.jpg

http://www.csupomona.edu/~msbancroft...dent/Rear1.jpg

Youch... $3600 seems really low but 10k seems high. Was there more damage then the obvious cosmetic stuff? Sorry to hear you'll be without your car for so long :(

Besides the cosmetic, all of the outer body panels (a-pillar forward, c-pillar back) are out of shape (including stress in the c-pillars near the top of the rear window), radiator and A/C evaporator are cracked, both headlights are busted (over $200 a piece), trunk floor is buckled, the front cross member in the first pic is twisted and has to be cut out and replaced, on and on and on. Just too much has to be replaced...I can't even comprehend it all...

After reading your story....I would have gotten out of the car and knocked the bitch out behind me!!! lol. Sorry about the car hun!!! Hope everything gets fixed well...and um...if you ever see the guy again...knock him out :)

Wow, the 10k makes sense now. You would have been better off had they they damaged it even more and it was totalled. I just hope it's ok after you get it back after the horror stories you hear about cars never being the same after the accident. Goodluck and just be thankful you were uninjured.

Totaled.
No,really.
It IS.
I wouldn't drive that with A $20k rebuild,or a $30K,either.....

damn... sorry about your luck
wish you speedy repairs!

Damn. Sorry to hear (and see this) Perhaps you could bribe them to dig a little deeper to deem it totalled? The cars I've had that were badly smashed just weren't the same again.

man that sux. id say take it to mazda for a quote, they hike the price of everything. then they may claim it totaled. and then u can get a new RX8!

anyone is insurance higher on Trucks/SUV i feel they should be, those cars tend to do more damage in an accident then say our lil RX8 can and owners should be aware of that.

If the frame and structure is bent they will never get it to protect (weak stress points) and drive right again, ala constant alignments. See if they can claim it as a total loss and use that as and argument! Also check with your insurance Co. and see what max amount of damage constitutes as a total loss.

Total loss is only if the repairs constitute 75% of the car's value. The car is currently at a Mazda dealer for the repairs, but I do need to insure they are using genuine Mazda parts which will cost more. I'd like them to total it, but the cost just isn't that high yet.

My uncle was in a similar situation, where the insurance company(not his own, the other guys) would not total it even though it was like 14 grand in damage. He ended up having the body shop guy call the insurance or something like that and tell them that even after 14 thousand in repairs the car would never drive right again and not be safe because of the specific repairs they did to it and the company ended up totaling it. You might try something like that.

Man I am so sorry. I would try my best to get it totalled and go after the individual for loss and depresiation of vehical. Man it just makes me sick. Glad your safe.

yeah, id really push to get it totaled. short of totally stripping the car and building a new one its never going to be the same. id bitch and bitch and definately bring up the saftey issue (ie, future lawsuits) to show that its a good move by them in the long run

so what kind of rental are you going to be driving around in for the next 3 months?

Oh my gawd Matt what a day :( It sickens my stomach. I truly feel for you man. That just totally friggin sucks big time. Totally.

who the hell is talking about cutting out a structural member out and replacing it?that right there should be enough to total it!

Damm man, feel your pain.. hope they can write it off
as a total loss..

so sorry,

that car is a big cup of done.

beers

agreed.

Luckily I have a nice Mazda 6 4cyl to drive around. I have to say what an awesome little car it is! Can't compare to my RX-8 but still a very nice little car...

You havebeen to hell and back

hey u goto cal poly right? Sorry about what happened. My friends dad owns a body shop and I can tell u this, whenever they replace or weld any quarter panel piece on, the structure of the car will not be as strong as before. So when to get your car back from the body shop, you might notice the car to handle not as well as before. I'd say you call your insurance and tell them to total it and get another 8.

Truly a sad day! That baby should be totaled. :( Good luck!

OW that hurts.