Re: PLEASE HELP! Minor Accident, 5KCSTQ! Advice ?!?

[Larry Mittell <lmittel@ibm.net>]

At 09:50 AM 3/25/99 -0500, Richard Haroutunian wrote:
>
>
>Well it finally happened to me!
>
>I got in a minor fender-bender this a.m. 

BTDT. It sounds as though the damage is limited to bolt-on stuff, so it's no
big deal to fix it. Be warned, however, that if you buy the parts from AoA,
it'll cost you a sizable fraction of the resale value of your car. OTOH, if
you
prevail upon Qlisters to comb through their spare stuff, as I did, and/or look
around at salvage yards, the parts total will probably add up to well under a
thou. If I recall correctly, my total was right around $1000, but both of my
headlights were clobbered and my intercooler was destroyed.

This is an excellent time to go to euros, but you'll probably push the parts
bill up to or beyond $1000 in doing so. I didn't because I was trying to keep
costs down. If you wind up sticking to DOT headlamps, Didi or Linda at Carlsen
can get you aftermarket replacements that are half the AoA price. From what I
hear about the euros, you shouldn't need any accessory lamps.

A final note-- my insurance company will not countenance employment of used
parts in any repair they are directly involved in. I suspect the issue is
liability. At any event, new parts prices pushed the repair estimate well over
the threshold for totaling the car. The threshold BTW, is 80% of wholesale
Blue
Book, if memory serves. Fortunately, when I presented my list itemizing what I
paid for parts, they were willing to cut me a check for my cost, including
body
shop labor. The adjuster called this a "technical total." The good thing about
it is that title was never transferred to the insurance company, so my
title is
clean. It's my understanding that with some insurers in some states, you could
wind up with a "salvage" title. It's tough to sell a car with a blot like that
on its escutcheon. OTOH, if you intend to drive the thing until the wheels
fall
off, this may not cause you concern .

If I weren't so lazy, I could have easily done the repair myself and turned a
small profit. Could've had those euros after all. Oh well.



Cheers,
Larry Mittell
87 5kcstq
89 200tqw
lmittel@ibm.net