Hi. I need some advice. My son wrecked our 1992 Rally Sport Limited Edition (V8). It has 54,000 miles on it and was in perfect condition until a few weeks ago. My son rear-ended a Ford 250 Pickup Truck. The right side of the hood (passenger side) up to about half way to the windshield is mashed down and the front right panel is shoved in. The body shop is saying repairs will be $3,057.42 which includes a new radiator and body parts and labor. State Farm is going to declare it a total loss. I don't know if the body shop is padding the bill because they want to keep the car or what. I have no idea who to trust. This car is a limited edition and has very low miles, I just can't believe that this car is a total loss! What would you guys do?????

 

You got to realize that even though the car has low mileage it still is 14 years old and regardless of the Limited Edition moniker, it is not a collector's car, maybe in 20 years. The other thing is the cost to fix it. Most shops charge around $80 per hour labor, plus parts and paint. Personally, this being a unit body car, and being bent up as you describe,I would not spend the money to fix it, as it can never be brought back to factory spec. This kills any collector's car value, as collectors would not consider any car once it had major repair done.

 

if you like the car i would get it fixed if it holds a personal value if you were holding it to sell it later then i agree with z28 pete a colecter will find out that it was wrecked and take your price so bad it wont be worth it

 

the car is only 14 years old, it would be different if it was 25 years old then it would be considered a classic, i have a '93 camaro and i got rear-ended and it was gonna cost 1,000 to fix it and it wasnt that bad

 

for $3,000, i would just buy another one. Or buy a cell to lock that kid up in.

 

spend 3000 on a new camaro and with the other $57.42 buy a pair of steel toe boots to stick up the kids @$$

 

you should buy a new camaro and make the kid restore the wrecked camaro, you cant have too many camaros

 

3k is a lot. but if it needs a radiator it propbably is getting a bumper cover, reinforcment bar, header panel, headlights,.....and the list can go on. I had an 84, in primer, that I wrecked and after my deductable and buy back I got $2500 in my pocket and found a nice 91 RS. I had done a lot of work to the 84 also(just never got to the paint). Maybe find out what they will pay and the buy back. Might be a good way to learn for the kid to fix his mistakes. (thats how i got into autobody repair 20 years ago)
Can you post a pic or two of the damage?

 

In most cases where a car is totaled, the insurance company will let you buy your car for the salvage value, and in some cases even let you keep it. You may want to check with them if you are really attached to the car.