'99 Civic Repair?

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

A friend was driving me back and got into an accident last night.
It's a '99 Civic DX Hatchback with low mileage (34K) and was in excellent condition.

What do you guys think from the pics (totaled, repairable, etc.)?

http://jinwei.bluesonic.net/misc/civic/civic.htm

 

[swtethan]

repair

 

[RCN]

totaled.

Repairable sure but insurance will total it........

 

[AmdEmAll]

Looks repairable unless the engine is fubared

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Forgot to add, engine runs just fine and doesn't overheat (driven back home from the accident scene). After leaving the car parked for a couple of hours, we didn't notice a puddle of coolant on the floor, which I guess means that the radiator is alright.

Friend rear-ended a 2004 Dodge Neon and only has 3rd party insurance, though that is hardly important as no one was hurt and the Neon only got a slight paint scratch. He paid ~$5K for the car back in July.

Disclaimer : I'm fine with 'puters but am a car n00b

 

[LS20]

totalled

try framing photos so that we can see wtf is going on. extreme closeups are for porno

 

[Xionide]

Airbags go off?

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: Xionide
Airbags go off?

Nope. We barely felt anything in the car.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: LS20
totalled
try framing photos so that we can see wtf is going on. extreme closeups are for porno

Sorry, was kinda cramped in his garage

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

*Bump*

 

[PAB]

Originally posted by: WhoBeDaPlaya
*Bump*

Ok, lets see here.

Note: I'm not an expert, but I go to salvage auctions every month

Why is there rear end damage when it was a front end collision?

Theres a lot of front end damage - that could be repairable/rebuildable. Looks like the bumpers and the crumple zones did their job. Under the car, is there any frame damage? If there is, since the collision dosen't look TOO bad, it could go clean or salvage -rebuildable.

What's the body shop say?

 

[PAB]

Oh, and to all those saying TOTAL LOSS - you're not entirely correct.

An insurer can total loss a car and you can still have a clean title.

I've seen cars that were a LOT worse that were rebuildable salvage.

2005 Civic

That'll buff right out. The bumper was in the backseat if you look close enough. If you can rebuild that, you can rebuild that '99.

 

[Colt45]

404

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: Colt45
404

Fixed

 

[halik]

I would be willing to bet money they'll fix that. Honda parts are dirt cheap and the shopping list is pretty short:
- both headlights
- bumper possibly with shocks, but I would doubt it seeing as the skind didn't even break
- hood + hood hinges
- core support

* there's obviously no frame damage because the bumper is intact and the frame rails are about the same height as the drive axles. The core support on the driver's side caught most of the damage along with the headlight.

I could fix it for less than 1K in used parts... people that say its totalled most likely never seen a car with a bumper off...

 

[placebo139]

I got my 99 Accord into a similar accident. The resulting damage looks identical to yours except my radiator leaked coolant. Engine runs fine but I don't dare run it without coolant. Mine might have been a little worse and I've gotten a few friends (who work at body shops) say it's perfectly repairable.

 

[jumpr]

Originally posted by: halik
I would be willing to bet money they'll fix that. Honda parts are dirt cheap and the shopping list is pretty short:
- both headlights
- bumper possibly with shocks, but I would doubt it seeing as the skind didn't even break
- hood + hood hinges
- core support

* there's obviously no frame damage because the bumper is intact and the frame rails are about the same height as the drive axles. The core support on the driver's side caught most of the damage along with the headlight.

I could fix it for less than 1K in used parts... people that say its totalled most likely never seen a car with a bumper off...

You might be able to fix it for $1k, but a mechanic might charge an insurance company $4k - 5k to fix it, leading to the insurance company totalling the car.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: jumpr

Originally posted by: halik
I would be willing to bet money they'll fix that. Honda parts are dirt cheap and the shopping list is pretty short:
- both headlights
- bumper possibly with shocks, but I would doubt it seeing as the skind didn't even break
- hood + hood hinges
- core support

* there's obviously no frame damage because the bumper is intact and the frame rails are about the same height as the drive axles. The core support on the driver's side caught most of the damage along with the headlight.

I could fix it for less than 1K in used parts... people that say its totalled most likely never seen a car with a bumper off...

You might be able to fix it for $1k, but a mechanic might charge an insurance company $4k - 5k to fix it, leading to the insurance company totalling the car.

When I got backed into last winter, I had similar damage to my audi and the total came out to ~750 total with painting. That included new OEM bumper, core support, bumper mounts and other random crap. And we're talking about audi parts here.

I really don't think the estimate will be more than 2500 written up.

 

[allanon1965]

there is a difference between repairable and totalled.....repairable to an insurance company means its going to cost less to fix than it is worth, totalled means it will cost more to repair than its worth, not that it is unrepairable! simply put the insurance companies use a NADA program to determine a cars base value then they add on the options it has, then take away the depreciation figures and come up with the market value. I know this because I have just had to deal with this due to a lady running a stop sign and me t-boning her car, totaled both cars, mine being a 92 chevy caprice and hers a 94 dodge shadow...she had no insurance, I had full coverage with UM and UIM, so it boils down to what the insurance company says its market value is, versus the cost of repair. Heres another little tidbit, it dont matter how much work you just put into the car either, you dont get anymore value out of it, I just had done 1800 in repairs to my caprice, getting it ready for towing my boat this year...they said that it is all considered routine upkeep on the car and does not make it worth more. see the caprice here http://www.freewebs.com/mistyblu/index.htm scroll to bottom of the page...

 

[markgm]

That'll buff right out.

3-4k in repairs I'd guess.

 

[LordUnum]

I haven't the slightest idea how much the damage will cost to repair, but that bent rad support and other front-end damage for some reason immediately reminded me of a similar accident my father had a little over a year ago. I'll post a couple of pics from the accident my father had in his '96 Hyundai Elantra as reference. Car was smacked head-on by a Mitsubishi Galant going at a fairly good clip while my father was stopped at a signal. Short of the rad/AC fans and radiator, there wasn't any other damage within the engine compartment other than a disfigured (exhaust) heat shield. The airbags didn't go off somehow, but the car was still declared totalled (worth about the same as the repairs came out to: ~$2500). Car was repaired with the check AAA sent them. Receiving a salvage title didn't matter as the car wasn't worth much to begin with, and the car was and still is running flawlessly (deemed good investment for reliable transport)--those oil drip pans at the bottom of the pics below were for another car they are now likely soon to be rid of.

Check for yourself to see how the damage compares:

Front
Side

 

[wasssup]

I'm surprised you got the car that cheap...aren't the 99-00 hatchbacks popular with typeR wanna-be's?

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: LordUnum
I haven't the slightest idea how much the damage will cost to repair, but that bent rad support and other front-end damage for some reason immediately reminded me of a similar accident my father had a little over a year ago. I'll post a couple of pics from the accident my father had in his '96 Hyundai Elantra as reference. Car was smacked head-on by a Mitsubishi Galant going at a fairly good clip while my father was stopped at a signal. Short of the rad/AC fans and radiator, there wasn't any other damage within the engine compartment other than a disfigured (exhaust) heat shield. The airbags didn't go off somehow, but the car was still declared totalled (worth about the same as the repairs came out to: ~$2500). Car was repaired with the check AAA sent them. Receiving a salvage title didn't matter as the car wasn't worth much to begin with, and the car was and still is running flawlessly (deemed good investment for reliable transport)--those oil drip pans at the bottom of the pics below were for another car they are now likely soon to be rid of.

Check for yourself to see how the damage compares:

Front
Side

Umm both lower frame rails got crumpled and pushed up by at least 4cm. The front axle is off by about 1-2cm too.... im surprised the car even drives straight.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: wasssup
I'm surprised you got the car that cheap...aren't the 99-00 hatchbacks popular with typeR wanna-be's?

Yup, that's why I was kinda surprised. Low-mileage, strict maintenance, heck even comes with a "Type R" sticker

 

[Asthmaboy]

Originally posted by: PAB
Oh, and to all those saying TOTAL LOSS - you're not entirely correct.

An insurer can total loss a car and you can still have a clean title.

I've seen cars that were a LOT worse that were rebuildable salvage.

2005 Civic

That'll buff right out. The bumper was in the backseat if you look close enough. If you can rebuild that, you can rebuild that '99.

That's not a Civic...
That's an Accord, right?