This sucks...
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 131
Likes: 0
From: Austin USA
This sucks...
My daughter just turned 16 and got her license. I had fixed up my wifes old car, a '96 Chrysler Sebring Convertible, to give to her. I recently put a new engine in the thing, replaced the leather interior and carpeting. The thing was looking good and almost new condition.
She managed to get in a wreck. She hit the drivers side front fender on an '89 Nissan. The Nissan appears to have sustained minor damage. The only thing visible was the fender being pushed into the tire.
The Sebring, on the other hand, is totaled. Estimate of $6,000 from the body shop and that is without any frame work. The guy says the frame is twisted. It amazes me that the car sustained so much damage when the Nissan we relatively unscathed. I hate to just throw away the money I put into the engine and interior.
Is frame work very expensive? I priced the major components I'd need on the web and come up to about $1500. I don't know how to access the actual frame damage. I'll probably get a second opinion on it, but it is deffinately not worth spending over $6K on.
I can do the component replacement (have to put my '53 F100 project on hold), but don't know anything about these unibody frames. Any frame experts that could offer some advise?
She managed to get in a wreck. She hit the drivers side front fender on an '89 Nissan. The Nissan appears to have sustained minor damage. The only thing visible was the fender being pushed into the tire.
The Sebring, on the other hand, is totaled. Estimate of $6,000 from the body shop and that is without any frame work. The guy says the frame is twisted. It amazes me that the car sustained so much damage when the Nissan we relatively unscathed. I hate to just throw away the money I put into the engine and interior.
Is frame work very expensive? I priced the major components I'd need on the web and come up to about $1500. I don't know how to access the actual frame damage. I'll probably get a second opinion on it, but it is deffinately not worth spending over $6K on.
I can do the component replacement (have to put my '53 F100 project on hold), but don't know anything about these unibody frames. Any frame experts that could offer some advise?
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 479
Likes: 1
From: Syracuse
I'm not an expert, nor do I play one on TV. Maybe you could get someone at the shop to give you an idea if it would still be structurally sound for your daughter to drive if it were straightened. I personally would take the insurance $, pay the salvage cost to keep it, and go from there, either part out the car or fix it up again. Convertibles are tricky, because they get all of their structure support from the under carriage, unlike a sedan. I might be way off base though??!
Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,978
Likes: 1
From: Alvin, Texas.
Part it.
Unibodies are a doozy even in minor fender benders...heck, even Heeps are a pain!
Geez, and as much as I like the looks of Sebring ragtops and am pained to say that about this one, chalk this up as a learning experience for the kiddo...
Unibodies are a doozy even in minor fender benders...heck, even Heeps are a pain!
Geez, and as much as I like the looks of Sebring ragtops and am pained to say that about this one, chalk this up as a learning experience for the kiddo...
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 131
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From: Austin USA
Well, I might be a fool, but here is my plan...
Going to have the thing towed home. I'll tear down the front end and have the frame checked out to see if it is repairable. The guy I talked to said they charge $44/hr on frames. Measuring takes 2 hours, then they do the straightening. Once the sheetmetal is off, a visual inspection should be able to tell if it can be fixed..
Tearing it apart won't cost anything and I'll be able to price all of the parts I'll need. After that, I can make a decision to forge ahead or not. If I can keep it to around $3K, it would be worth it. We'll see...
Going to have the thing towed home. I'll tear down the front end and have the frame checked out to see if it is repairable. The guy I talked to said they charge $44/hr on frames. Measuring takes 2 hours, then they do the straightening. Once the sheetmetal is off, a visual inspection should be able to tell if it can be fixed..
Tearing it apart won't cost anything and I'll be able to price all of the parts I'll need. After that, I can make a decision to forge ahead or not. If I can keep it to around $3K, it would be worth it. We'll see...
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 2,281
Likes: 18
From: Northern California
Another idea is to find the same car with a bad engine for cheap... pull your parts out and put them in the other car. I did this once and it worked great... had a bunch of spare parts to boot.
