Damage questions, and a possible what car...

for my Dad. Fortunately he wasn't injured (and now has his own CG-Lock testimony!)

So my Dad was in a fender bender last night (his first ever and he is 62). He was crawling in a construction zone on I-95 N on his way home from BWI. Someone not paying attention ran into the back of him and pushed him into a pickup in front. The car is a '01 BMW 325Ci Sport Package w/ about 120K miles. We've done the maintenance on it to get it up to snuff and its a pretty good car.

The damage? F&R bumpers, hood, misaligned trunk, under trunk panels, and some misc. lights, paint, etc. Damage estimate by the insurance adjuster was about $4500. Car value is $10500 retail, $7500 ish trade in. From the pictures, I'm thinking there is some frame damage in the rear and possibly radiator support damage that wasn't in the quote, along with the bumper supports and attachments. Airbags are fine.

Pics:

(if hotlink doesn't work: http://www.flickr.com/photos/51317257@N07/5190374409/ )

So question: From the description, does the damage estimate seem low? About right? High?

Does it sound like the car is worth fixing?

If not worth fixing, what can he replace it with? Uses: CG-Lock demo car, commuting, occasional track day/autox, back road burner. Must be a 4 seater and be able to haul some stuff (as much as a packed 325Ci can that is.)

Thanks!

In reply to CGLockRacer:

Are they going to use genuine BMW parts? It looks to be all cosmetic, but it still seems low to me. Also, it is possible that the estimate will go up once they start taking the car apart and find more things wrong.

If he decides to keep it, get it inspected after the repair by a third party to ensure nothing was missed. Do not sign off on the repair until this is done.

Sounds like a good excuse to get an m3.

As for the damage it's hard to say without seeing it in person but to me, frankly, it doesn't look that bad at all. If the airbags didn't even go off there's a good chance the car is structurally undamaged.

I agree, estimate looks low value wise. I bet they are using a TON of used parts to keep from totaling it. I also agree most of the damage is cosmetic. Little things here and there maybe tweaked, but it isn't really enough to drive up the cost to the 60-70% totaling value.

BTW, there isn't anything wrong with used parts, but there are PLENTY of things wrong with AM "new" parts.

Brian

I'm an insurance adjuster, I think their estimate is pretty reasonable given what I see...though once the bumpers come off, there may be more, but really it doesn't look that bad. I can't see lots of details like if the headlight mounting tabs are hit or if anything under the hood was damaged.

There is nothing wrong with using used parts in the repair, they are at least as good as what was on there when it was hit...not sure why people have a problem with it. If they write for aftermarket parts, which they can probably can do, it is in your policy and you agreed to it, just tell the shop you will pay the difference for LKQ (junkyard) or OEM parts.

It looks completely fixable to me, with no issues after a proper repair. Silver is a hard color to match, so hopefully they are blending the paint, or at least paying for color tint and spray cards.

I learned this the hard way, but the best thing to do is to have a body shop look at it before the insurance guy. Get estimates if possible from the body shops. It will help you negotiate with the insurance company.

My civic got hit and as much as I kept telling the insurance guy, he denied that the car had frame damage.

Insurance guy wrote the car for $1800.

Total bill was $6700 after it was all said and done. A full 3 times the price I paid for the car.

Thanks for the help, everyone! I'll pass the info onto my Dad.

Big ego wrote: I learned this the hard way, but the best thing to do is to have a body shop look at it before the insurance guy. Get estimates if possible from the body shops. It will help you negotiate with the insurance company.

After some careful shopping, there's only one body shop that I'm comfortable dealing with and he gave me the best suggestion:

Have the insurance adjuster meet you at the body shop and let the guy from the shop deal with him.