Uhaul backed into my baby
 

so this happened last night. Cops came and told me that their insurance will pay for my damage. Any ideas of repair cost and diminished value of my brz? Thanks guys

http://i.imgur.com/otyvn7y.jpg

Repair about $1000. Not likely get diminished value as the damage is so light.

That's what I thought but I was told that one.

1. there will be a report on a carfax, people will not see the picture, they will only see there was an accident. Loose value at trade in

2. if there two brzs, same year, make, model and mileage, one with an accident one with no accident, you woud definitely pick the one without an accident because it's worth more.


I'm so sad, I never thought this will happen to me :(

Just dont sell the car - keep it & drive it into the ground, or until its worth little & doesn't make a difference in the scheme of things anyway.
Then its a non-factor. ;)

fwiw, when shopping for my used BRZ, I noticed the carfax would say "minor damage to fender" - car still drivable. This indicated to me it wasn't a crash - but just a dent. I'm not adverse to buying a used car that had a dent or scratch fixed. I am however, adverse to buying a used car that was in a crash.

Keep the pictures so you can show when you sell. If there is any diminished value it isn't much. Like Tcoat said, that should be pretty cheap to fix, though I'd double the number if the headlight assembly was damaged. You have the hardest color to match so scrutinize the shit out of it when they finish.

is that condensation inside the headlight or outside?

as for the damage, it's not much. you will most likely own the car for many years and a minor fender bender is better than getting t-boned or rear ended

Color matching should be most of your concerns, if it matches well then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Hello kitty band aid until it gets fixed

It was cold in Connecticut today morning, headlights were frozen, as well as the windshield

What's my best option to get perfectly color matched, dealer or a good repair shop?

Always go to a good repair shop unless dealer uses said good repair shop.

Stay away from dealers, take some time to find shops that sound confident that they can match, I've heard some places will keep respraying until you are happy with the results. Finding a place that work on high end cars/show cars may not be a bad idea either.

Don't take it to where their (or your) insurance company suggests. Usually, those places are cheaper and so is their quality of work. Like others have said, look for someone who is confident that they can do the job correctly!

thanks guys, will keep you updated with the results once it's finished. It will take a few weeks, unfortunately the police report isn't even ready yet.

guys, so I went to what i think one of the best shops around and they quoted me around $2300 to repair the damage. Something I didn't like they said is that they will have to sand part of the hood and paint it along with the bumper to "blend it in", I was like "really?", there's not a single scratch on the hood. Guys, is this common?

Some places have their "way" of doing things. I suggest you go to multiple places and ask where they will blend and "if" it doesn't come out matching, are they willing to respray it. I would avoid touching the hood as it is a large flat piece that reflects a lot of light and it is much easier to spot imperfections.

And $2300 is pretty high. New fender is maybe 400 at most? Bumper looks good. I was expecting 1000-1500 max.

On my last car, to repaint the fender they sprayed partial of the driver door and the hood. Didn't touch the bumper because no damage to it. It's just to blend it.

There are worse things to worry over
 

I'm so sad, I never thought this will happen to me.

I've been waiting for my first sports car my whole life. I finally bought my 2014 SSM Limited and had it for a month when I drove it into the back of an enormous pickup truck on the most notorious avenue in town. Low speed, no airbag deployment, but dang that foot long trailer hitch made a mess of things when it went through my headlight.

That was a month ago. It's been in the best body shop we have (Cadillac dealer), and they have been pouring on the TLC -- the manager had never seen one. He walked around it and gave it a low whistle. Everyone seems eager to restore their first BRZ, to get it RIGHT.

During one visitation, he showed me the structural piece that holds up the nose of the car. It gets welded at the top and bolted on the bottom. He said if this part doesn't just line up perfectly, the frame is twisted. Well, the new part had been welded in place, and I could see that the bolt holes lined up perfectly, no twist in the chassis. He said he would put it on the rack anyway just to be sure.

So, I pick it up tomorrow and I've got butterflies. I fully expect my BRZ to be 100pc new again, and everybody agrees this body shop can do it. So my advice is to get it done, forget the incident, and drive away in the sunshine. That's what I'm going to do.

Oh by the way, my insurance is paying $7500 for the work.

Any pictures of the before/after?

What was the total cost of the repair?

That was the total. They dismantled everything down to perfect parts and built it back up with Subaru OEM. The estimator wrote up about $5500 and the body manager added $1750 after he took it apart and saw what was what. Everyone seemed to agree that the car was not only practically new but special as well, and they took pains to bring it back to original condition.

Sorry, I'm a photographer, but I could hardly look at it. The bumper was in splinters, all the light fixtures were broken, the hood was flattened and buckled into an a-frame, and the right fender was compressed against the door so that I was afraid to try to open it. And yet no damage to anything mechanical -- I drove it home on the highway at speed without a problem. Let the crumple zones crumple to save the engine, legs, etc.

And trust me that it is once again immaculate.

If financially able: Don't report/claim on insurance, buy new - used parts, have color matched, install yourself. I'd go this direction if the cost of parts was less than $1500,you are financially able, and mechanically inclined or know someone who is. No report on carfax, no loss of resale value. Dishonest? Depends how good the color matching is lol. Since their insurance is covering the costs my idea is kind of dumb. Although I've never bought a used car with an accident reported on a carfax either.

The only thing that might be "dishonest," in my view, is replacing damage with used parts. Again, in my view, taking the insurance money and then doing your own repairs, or having them done more cheaply than a "professional job," is perfectly cool. After all, you sustained the loss, and the insurance is there to "make you whole." Nobody has anything to say about what you do with the money. With my accident, the shop went to pains to get only new Subaru parts. I may be sorry when my premiums rocket into the stratosphere, but a small addendum to carfax as to how it was repaired should count for something.

For damage like that fixing it yourself and not getting it on a record would not be dishonest in my opinion. Hell, dealers do it all the time with brand new cars damaged on the lot or in transit.
Now if there is structural or mechanical damage and you hide that then that is a whole different matter.

I had a similar but lighter damage on the fender the second day I picked the BRZ..
And same colour as yours.

Similar thing happened to me on the same fender. I took the best out of the situation and had the garnish on the fenders shaved off and painted for less than what the insurance estimator quoted (around $1600). They had to blend the paint on the door, hood, and bumper to get a better paint match.
Before:
http://i60.tinypic.com/29gg6lj.jpg
http://i57.tinypic.com/23ifhwo.jpg
After:
http://i.imgur.com/zTSgUCy.jpg

hey guys, i just finally got my car back two days ago..

So I paid $1200 cash for the repairs which included painting the whole bumper, and the fender (fender was partially painted and blended in)

Now, as for the results, I'm 8.5/10 happy because the color doesn't match perfectly. The new paint is whiter than the existing one. Noticed that on the driver's side (damaged side) the paint kind of blends in nice, but on the passenger's side you can see the color difference. It's easy to see it during the day but harder during the night. What do you guys think?

http://i.imgur.com/RGf3QvB.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/hdGd61d.png

http://i.imgur.com/KVRe8VZ.jpg

The hood looks yellowed and more off color to me than the fender.

I've been waiting for my first sports car my whole life. I finally bought my 2014 SSM Limited and had it for a month when I drove it into the back of an enormous pickup truck on the most notorious avenue in town. Low speed, no airbag deployment, but dang that foot long trailer hitch made a mess of things when it went through my headlight.

That was a month ago. It's been in the best body shop we have (Cadillac dealer), and they have been pouring on the TLC -- the manager had never seen one. He walked around it and gave it a low whistle. Everyone seems eager to restore their first BRZ, to get it RIGHT.

During one visitation, he showed me the structural piece that holds up the nose of the car. It gets welded at the top and bolted on the bottom. He said if this part doesn't just line up perfectly, the frame is twisted. Well, the new part had been welded in place, and I could see that the bolt holes lined up perfectly, no twist in the chassis. He said he would put it on the rack anyway just to be sure.

So, I pick it up tomorrow and I've got butterflies. I fully expect my BRZ to be 100pc new again, and everybody agrees this body shop can do it. So my advice is to get it done, forget the incident, and drive away in the sunshine. That's what I'm going to do.

Oh by the way, my insurance is paying $7500 for the work.[/QUOTE]

Do you guys think i should take it back to the shop or will i be a pain in the ass by doing thar since they have already done what they could?

can you take that stupid vinyl off the hood

Surprisingly I don't mind it. And I HATE any kind of pin striping or stickers on paint. The badging on my 2016 WRB didn't even make it past the first day I owned her. I've ALWAYS hated chrome on blue. I went so far as to replace the badging on my Tacoma with paint matched ones from the dealer because I couldn't stand the chrome. It looks good now because it's very stealth looking badging.

What irritates me is when I see someone vinyl their roof or mirrors or something. It just looks tacky. But then it's their car and they can do what they want with it.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/16/01...8057a8b327.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/16/01...c7e7cb584c.jpg

Almost the same. cost about $200 to fix

The shape of the car looks just superb, but unless your camera is the culprit, exaggerating the color difference, I'd take it back and pitch a hissy fit. That work should be under warranty, and I'd tell them every time somebody notices the color mismatch, I'd say just who did it.

did you fix this yourself? if not? how was that fixed? Just for future reference?

Thanks