The S2000 might be gone. Hit by school bus. Estimate damage ??

[kaerflog]

UPDATED:::
Well, I finally got the car fixed.
As I was saying before, the bus insurance gave me an estimate of $4,5xx.
The best quote I got was at an dealer for $3,200 but there might be inside damages.
I was going to get it fixed right away and have the bus insurance pay them directly just because it might be more than $4,500 but as before they were a FPITA. i had to jump through hoops just to get a rental car.
I said fuck it and took the $4500.
6 months later I decided to get it fixed.
The dealership that I went to the first time had another location closer to my house. Went there for an estimate and it was $3100. If the frame inside bumper was bent beyond repair, it would be another ~$500.
The guy called me a few days later and said the frame was indeed bent and the total would be more like $4100-$4200.
I told him that he told me it would only be another $500 so he promised to keep it under $4000. The total came to $3972.
They did a fantastic job. Looks brand new.
Loving the car again and thinking about keeping it although the wife is telling me to sell it.

Its a 2001 S2000 with around 100K miles.
I was thinking about waiting till the summer to sell it but this will seal the deal.
I was stationary on a left turning lane about 6 car deep when a school bus pulled up.
I felt that he stopped but then it seemed like he hit the gas by mistake and the bus jerked forward and did quite a bit of damage to the car..
The bumper is gone. Trunk is gone. Lights gone.
The 2 side panels are also damaged.
The experts out there, whats the damage ??

UPDATED:
These guys got back to me and the damages is $4500.
From their estimate, I see the trunk lid, bumper and left panel being replaced.
I went to a certified Honda repair shop and I got $6200 with the same parts being replaced.
I went to another certified shop and they quoted me $3200 without either qtr. panel being replaced.
I got my lawyer to see if they can up their estimate(basically I want them to send me a check higher than $4500).
The answer I got was that they will only sent out $4500 and the repair shop can sent them a bill for the difference.
So here are my choices:
1) Accept the $4500. I can get my car fixed for $3200 and keep the car(keeping the $1300 difference.
2) Get it fixed at the other shop for a much higher price. Make them pay for my rental. I gain nothing from this except a new qtr panel and make these assholes pay more money.
3) Accept the $4500 and sell the car for at least $4500 AS-IS. I was planning to sell the car for at least $9000 this summer. The book has gone up to ~$11000. Car is 2001 but in great condition with 100K miles.
4) Waiting to see if we can get them to offer a payout and take the car.
Any suggestion ???
If I wanted to keep the car I can probably get it fixed cheaper elsewhere.
I bought another car already. A 2010 Accord Coupe.
Me and the wife would have 3 cars if I keep it.

 

[Railgun]

I wouldln't think there's any underlying damage. Get a side shot to see how far in it actually went. Without pulling some panels...hard to tell, but I've seen worse that have been recovered without issue.

 

[WT]

What a shame, these things are getting very hard to find now. Would be lousy news to hear it isn't repairable. I'm with Railgun - seems like its worth the repair to someone who wants to invest the effort.

 

[DownTheSky]

Remove the bumper plastic panel and pop-up the trunk to see if there's any underlying damage as said. To me it looks very mild from here.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

darn shame, hope you can get that awesome ride back on the road. If you were stationary then the insurance company won't have much wiggle room trying to play the blame game.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Is there any room to see how the gas tank and gas tank filler hose look? That's right around the area where I would be concerned. If they are majorly out of place, there might be a significant amount of underlying damage.

If they're still where they are supposed to be, then hopefully the damage is all on the surface.

 

[halik]

Probably totaled, are there any waves in the rear quarter panels?

Might be worth buying back from the ins co and just have a track beater.

 

[Imported]

Agree with turning it into a track beater if it gets totaled.

 

[tweakmonkey]

Let's see some pics of the quarter panels. But if they're significantly damaged, it'll be a huge repair bill for this car.

You'll have to remove the rear bumper cover to see what damage lies underneath, it's probably a foam thing that's easily replaced though, and the cover should only be about $200+paint. I sold a set of those lights a few months ago for $165. So I'm guessing if the quarter panels are fine you can fix this pretty cheaply.

 

[Mermaidman]

Nice car - What a shame. My vehicle with similar, but slightly less damage, cost ~$5,000 to repair. Yours has possible frame damage, so . . . ?

It's February, and your elliptical has already been banished to the garage? :awe:

 

[imagoon]

darn shame, hope you can get that awesome ride back on the road. If you were stationary then the insurance company won't have much wiggle room trying to play the blame game.

Good luck. Took many many months to finally get the public transit company to pay out when the bus driver dragged the bus mirror down the side of my mother's van. She was sitting to the left of a 1 lane to 2 lane split at a red light stopped. The bus driver tried to squeeze past to get in to the right lane and didn't make it. Left etch marks in the glass / paint etc.

They tried to claim that my mother was a significant cause of the accident.

I am not quite sure how they though that since she was stopped at the time and it was obvious from the damage the bus driver dragged the metal bar from the mirror down the side of the van while trying to creep past to get it the right lane when there wasn't enough room. The civil court agreed.

 

[Arkaign]

That's obviously repairable. Who knows with insurance companies though. If it were me, I'd take the opportunity to replace the rear bumper with a better one with diffuser. Same thing with rear trunk, replace with CF : Track rat time!

 

[Jimzz]

Looks repairable from those pictures.

Make sure to ask for deprecated value though. Will hurt resell a good deal.

 

[tailes151]

Looks repairable from those pictures.

Make sure to ask for deprecated value though. Will hurt resell a good deal.

Agree, this is repairable.

On the second part, I'd give a heads up that a) not all insurance policies have coverage for depreciated loss and b) not all states require insurance co's to pay this out (even if coverage does exist)

 

[kaerflog]

I forgot to mention that I don't have collision on this car as I hardly drive it.
Its will be up to the bus insurance and I hope they don't try to fuck with me.
I was talking to the adjuster for the bus and she mentioned that the bus driver said in the police report that he saw me pulling some strings from my bumper as I got out of the car.
As in my car already has damages before.
That got me fired up and my voice became louder.
Anyway, I emailed the adjuster some before and after shot of the car when it was intact. i.e no damage before.

The quarter panels you guys talked about are the 2 side panels right ??
They looked intact but where the trunk meets the 2 side panels, the grooves are bent so the trunk won't shut tight if the side panels are not replaced. It needs to be replaced.
My feelings is that it won't be totaled.
I hope I can get around $5K for the damages then sell the car as is to someone who knows how to fix it for cheap.
Car is still in great shape. Best part is that the leather seats is still in mint condition.
We all know how expensive the seats are.
I'll post more pictures when I get the chance.

 

[Doppel]

I think the bus will cover it. The guy's notion that you had damage before, if entirely unprovable (which it likely is) will take a back seat to the fact that he unequivocally hit you.

No idea why busses don't have dash cams, though.

 

[bruceb]

The big question before attempting to repair it is: "Do both doors still open and close correctly ? " .. If they do, then the quarter panels can likely be ok and the unibody is probably very close to straight.

 

[kaerflog]

Check original post for PICTURES.
UPDATED:
These guys got back to me and the damages is $4500.
From their estimate, I see the trunk lid, bumper and left panel being replaced.
I went to a certified Honda repair shop and I got $6200 with the same parts being replaced.
I went to another certified shop and they quoted me $3200 without either qtr. panel being replaced.
I got my lawyer to see if they can up their estimate(basically I want them to send me a check higher than $4500).
The answer I got was that they will only sent out $4500 and the repair shop can sent them a bill for the difference.
So here are my choices:
1) Accept the $4500. I can get my car fixed for $3200 and keep the car(keeping the $1300 difference.
2) Get it fixed at the other shop for a much higher price. Make them pay for my rental. I gain nothing from this except a new qtr panel and make these assholes pay more money.
3) Accept the $4500 and sell the car for at least $4500 AS-IS. I was planning to sell the car for at least $9000 this summer. The book has gone up to ~$11000. Car is 2001 but in great condition with 100K miles.
4) Waiting to see if we can get them to offer a payout and take the car.
Any suggestion ???
If I wanted to keep the car I can probably get it fixed cheaper elsewhere.
I bought another car already. A 2010 Accord Coupe.
Me and the wife would have 3 cars if I keep it.

 

[NutBucket]

I like having 3 cars especially since one is basically a weekend toy. Makes it easy when one is out of commission.

 

[SearchMaster]

It'll be a much harder sell at $4500 if it has that damage. You might be able to find a shadetree mechanic who feels like he can do the work for $1500 in parts + his own labor, but that market will be much smaller than the market for a well-repaired, nice looking car.

You were damaged by someone else's negligence and deserve to be made whole. That includes "dimunition of value" - the difference between what a repaired S2000 is worth and a never wrecked S2000 is worth (this could be four figures). I say get it fixed then make a decision about whether you want to keep it or not.

 

[Jimzz]

As I said before...

Make sure to ask for deprecated value though. Will hurt resell a good deal.

Have you asked for that yet?

 

[JulesMaximus]

I would take it to the Honda certified place and have them fix it properly and then bill the insurance co for the difference.

Nice car BTW... I love those S2000s.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

^^ this

 

[zylander]

Check original post for PICTURES.
UPDATED:
These guys got back to me and the damages is $4500.
From their estimate, I see the trunk lid, bumper and left panel being replaced.
I went to a certified Honda repair shop and I got $6200 with the same parts being replaced.
I went to another certified shop and they quoted me $3200 without either qtr. panel being replaced.
I got my lawyer to see if they can up their estimate(basically I want them to send me a check higher than $4500).
The answer I got was that they will only sent out $4500 and the repair shop can sent them a bill for the difference.
So here are my choices:
1) Accept the $4500. I can get my car fixed for $3200 and keep the car(keeping the $1300 difference.
2) Get it fixed at the other shop for a much higher price. Make them pay for my rental. I gain nothing from this except a new qtr panel and make these assholes pay more money.
3) Accept the $4500 and sell the car for at least $4500 AS-IS. I was planning to sell the car for at least $9000 this summer. The book has gone up to ~$11000. Car is 2001 but in great condition with 100K miles.
4) Waiting to see if we can get them to offer a payout and take the car.
Any suggestion ???
If I wanted to keep the car I can probably get it fixed cheaper elsewhere.
I bought another car already. A 2010 Accord Coupe.
Me and the wife would have 3 cars if I keep it.

Who wrote the estimate for $4500? The bus insurance company? If so than $4500 is what you get unless there is additional hidden damage, which can be added to the estimate later on by the body shop repairing the car. That quarter panel does not need to be replaced from what I can see in the pictures. If you tell another body shop to write an estimate to replace the panel, the insurance companies response will be "fuck you, no it doesn't".

The insurance company will not pay you out and take the car if it is not a total, which it is not. You have two options, take the $4500 and sell the car as is, which is a mistake or fix completely. Do not take the pay out and then just pay some hack shop $3000 to fix it. There is most likely additional damage underneath which you will want to get fixed. Take the car to a reputable shop, give them the estimate and the $4500 check and have them fix everything, if they are a quality shop they will take care of you and your car.

Don't worry about taking it to a 'Certified Honda Shop', its incredibly easy to get a Honda certification. Being a 'Honda Certified Shop' means absolutely nothing with regards the shops quality or credibility.

As for the comments about asking for compensation because of "depreciated value"; in my opinion this is a waste of time. Most insurance companies will tell you to get fucked leaving you to have to dealing with hiring a layer to fight for it costing you more money. In the end, if your car receives quality repairs you shouldn't have any trouble selling it for market value.

 

[kaerflog]

^^ In reply to the above post.
I called several Honda dealerships in town asking if they had a collision center in house.
1 did. 2 others recommended the same place.
I went to the recommended place and he told me $6200 including replacing one of the panel.
The 2nd place I went to was the collision center inside the Honda dealership.
Hes the one that was straight up with me.
He said I can write you an estimate with 1 qtr panel replaced but they won't agree to it so he did the estimate with just fixing the panels. That was just $3200 to my surprise.
So I'm guessing my worst case scenario is take the $4500 and have it fixed for $3200.
The collision is inside the dealership so I'm sure it as reputable as it can be.