I’ve learned from you guys recently, the rear fender damage would appear to be what puts this over the edge toward a total.
I’ve learned from you guys recently, the rear fender damage would appear to be what puts this over the edge toward a total.
Just found out the rear fender damage was from last year...
I would be at least as concerned by the front damage and what bits of the superstructure might be bent. I don't think you can fully evaluate it without taking it apart.
YM&M determines value and that will have a impact on what totals the car
if the A pillar is bent it is probably done.
I would be looking for wrinkles in the roof
the crease over the front wheel is interesting. If it missed the suspension and the front sub structures then it would be a relatively easy fix.
door gap at top of the b pillar looks very tight making me think the a pillar is bent or at very least the door got knocked back on the hing mounts.
That one is going to have to come apart some to know for sure.
It’s a 2016 Forester. 23,000 miles. Few options FWIW.
I'm guessing not based on this one picture. I'd be interested to see how bad she's folded up once the sheet metal is off.
Dean - I think the door hinges are just pushed back, notice how the top line along the A pillar/roof is completely even, and the gap is fairly consistent even down the door (except for the gotta-have-it-for-some-reason ugly subaru tupperware at the bottom).
If you can get the hood open, look for distress around the strut tower. That will tell a tale.
Not an adjuster in any way, but from this side of that picture, the car is going to be borderline given its relatively young age and low mileage. Edmunds values a base XT in clean condition around $23,000. So take 75% of that and you get $17,250 in damage before they almost certainly total. For a normal car with normal body damage, that covers quite a bit of bolt-on sheet metal and paint. If that's all it is, the car should be very fixable.
It all depends on how badly the unibody is tweaked.
Did the air bags deploy ?
That and similar door post damage did it for my '11 Fiesta.
iceracer said:Did the air bags deploy ?
That and similar door post damage did it for my '11 Fiesta.
Checking now... no they didn’t.
Let it total. Then buy it back, and have a 4x4 tug the frame back out. Bring it to the challenge when they (someday) do rallycross.
If it's surface, I would say not totaled. A shop would likely just buy a cutoff from LKQ, hack off the damaged corner, and weld on a used one. They did that when my ex wife's E300TD got sideswiped. The pillars were toast so LKQ provided an entire right side. Cut off the old, weld on the new. I was very impressed with the shop's work.
It is hard to think that there isn't structural damage to strut towers, A pillar, and floor though. That would total it.
In reply to Curtis :
I’ll reply as soon as my friend knows what’s up. Worst case it’s just under the limit.
Hard to tell from the one picture. Which direction is the left front wheel pointing?
It'll need a tear down to fully expose the unibody structure. I'd want to see the A pillar and apron, as well as suspension. My instinct says repairable, with around $9k-$11k in damage, but that will totally depend on how bad it is underneath.
Fixable, but not likely worth as much as the repair bill. A pillar is probably damaged.
If paint isn't an issue, it can be made functional and straight, but paint has gotten very pricey.
Last statement from friend:
”So, the rear quarter is scraped up pretty good and the top of the front door actually overlaps the rear now.”
ebonyandivory said:Last statement from friend: ”... the top of the front door actually overlaps the rear now.”
<Spongebob> Not good, Patrick, not good. </Spongebob>
I used to do this for a living.
As Duke and Dean pointed out, it's all going to hinge on whether the A pillar and the apron/firewall/strut tower are damaged.
Bear in mind, frame damage != vehicle is totaled. Totaling a vehicle out is purely a financial affair. A talented PDR tech can probably fix the passenger quarter panel.
Based on one photo and knowing that the airbags didn't deploy, my guesstimate is that it won't be enough to total it out
calteg said:Bear in mind, frame damage != vehicle is totaled.
That isn't true. Unibodies are repaired all of the time.
But I do agree that from the one picture the car is not a total loss.
I believe “!=“ is meant as “not equal”
so you two agree.
No Time said:I believe “!=“ is meant as “not equal”
so you two agree.
Oh, then nothing to see here...carry on.
Depends where you live. Around here Subarus command big dollars.
Aftermarket fender, LKQ front door and mirror, maybe LKQ rear door depending on damage.
A pillar is the key. If no buckles or cracked paint the damage is probably contained within the door.
Front strut or lower control arm are usually what bends on those. Insurance may not write used suspension but I'd use it on my own repair. My gut tells me that one is repairable.
calteg said:I used to do this for a living.
As Duke and Dean pointed out, it's all going to hinge on whether the A pillar and the apron/firewall/strut tower are damaged.
Bear in mind, frame damage != vehicle is totaled. Totaling a vehicle out is purely a financial affair. A talented PDR tech can probably fix the passenger quarter panel.
Based on one photo and knowing that the airbags didn't deploy, my guesstimate is that it won't be enough to total it out
Might I ask, as someone who watched Fight Club and thought, "I want that job!" - how do you get into that? I have wanted to do that or buying from auction for a long time.
P3PPY said:calteg said:I used to do this for a living.
As Duke and Dean pointed out, it's all going to hinge on whether the A pillar and the apron/firewall/strut tower are damaged.
Bear in mind, frame damage != vehicle is totaled. Totaling a vehicle out is purely a financial affair. A talented PDR tech can probably fix the passenger quarter panel.
Based on one photo and knowing that the airbags didn't deploy, my guesstimate is that it won't be enough to total it out
Might I ask, as someone who watched Fight Club and thought, "I want that job!" - how do you get into that? I have wanted to do that or buying from auction for a long time.
You'd want to go to an appraisal class such as what Vale offers... http://www.valetrainingsolutions.com/our-auto-courses/ That's the minimum that would be required for you to get started in appraising cars for insurance companies. See if larger IA firms such as PDA or SCA are willing to hire without prior experience, and some insurance companies will too. Some of them may send you to a school like that for training.
In reply to AnthonyGS :
Exactly.
AnthonyGS said:I’ve found in my experience very few insurance appraisers or even body shops are very good. I can guarantee from the way modern cars are designed and this one photo the front subframe is tweaked to the driver’s side. The A pillar is likely out of alignment too. Appraisers and bad body shops will take car of the sheet metal, dents, do a semi poor job painting and then align the hood and doors so they open and close as good as possible without fixing the frame damage. This car SHOULD be totaled and scrapped or a lot of money spent on a quality frame rack. In all likelihood, that will not happen. The insurance company wants to pay as little as possible and the reseller wants to make as much money as possible.
The best outcome for your friend is to get this car totalled and off to auction. The 2nd best is to find a great body shop in your area get the entire front end and passenger side stripped and have it pulled back into spec on a quality frame machine. The worst outcome will be when they lie to you tell you it’s all cosmetic and do a shoddy repair and then align the suspension to compensate for your twisted unibody.
If it were a full frame vehicle built 30 years ago, no frame damage. This is a modern unibody with crush, crumple zones; it’s no longer straight.
Dude, what kind of establishments have you been hanging around? Yeah, there are shady a$$ shops around, but if you bring your car to one of them that's on you. Any shop worth its' salt will be able to fix that car properly.
The car may or may not be economically repairable, would need more info to say for sure. But if it is, not a big deal.
If you think a full frame car built 30 years ago would not have frame damage, you're sadly mistaken. Unibody cars are far superior from the collision/safety aspect.
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