Rear Ended in the Miata also

well, my mom was on southbound 820 last week and got rear ended in the m. today she found out it was totalled and it getting close to 6k. i asked her to check and see what the buy back price was just in case i want a project. my question is, is it worth fixing? I'll post pictures below of the damage. it did not touch the rear quarter panels and it's still driving fine. so i'm thinking all it needs is a new bumper, trunk, tail lights and the panel between the tail lights. and i'm sure there is going to be some beating of some underneath panels to make sure everything bolts on good. or i can buy it back and part it out. either way should we get it back?

here are the pics.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...4/CIMG1429.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...4/CIMG1430.jpg

I'd take it to a couple of body shops and get some estimates, doesn't look good from the few pictures you posted...

What year is it? Is it a special edition (M, etc)? How many miles?

Man, that sucks!

Sounds like something VFR750 might be interested in, though...

What the heck, what is it with all these Dallas drivers running into all our Miatas? I'm scared to take my LE to work now.

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Originally Posted by sammm

What year is it? Is it a special edition (M, etc)? How many miles?

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it is a 96 m edition. not really sure what the mileage is now, probably around 140xxx? would have to check.

I'm so sorry. :( I hope your mom is OK.

Looks like the trunk took most of the impact, since you said the rear quarter panels weren't damaged, so I'm guessing there's no frame damage. I'd take the $ettlement and buyback if it were me. I would expect that trunk, taillights and bumper can be replaced and repainted for less than $2K.

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Originally Posted by cam76034

Looks like the trunk took most of the impact, since you said the rear quarter panels weren't damaged, so I'm guessing there's no frame damage. I'd take the $ettlement and buyback if it were me. I would expect that trunk, taillights and bumper can be replaced and repainted for less than $2K.

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The rear quarters look damaged to me, plus the rear bulkhead has been moved forward quite a bit, the new trunk lid may have some issues getting latched. I'm thinking the insurance company may be on the money with totaling it. ;) What was the insurance companies estimate to fix it??

I'd still take it to a body shop and get an estimate or 2 rather than take educated guesses from a bunch of slack jawed yokels. ::Banana::

One reason a rear-ender is a quick total on an older Miata is the way cars are designed now. I had two that were rear-ended and totaled.

Modern cars are designed with crushable structures to absorb the energy of an impact so that your body doesn't have to. Take a look at the underside of the trunk floor and the two frame rails that go to the rear bumper supports. There are "weak" spots that are designed to be there so the metal starts to bend there in a wreck.

I would bet your trunk floor and frame rails are crumpled a bit. That's good for your mom, not good for repair costs. The trouble is that you can't just bend them back and have the same strength as before (to protect you/your mom in the next accident). To have the proper strength and crushable structure, you have to cut out those bent pieces and weld in new ones and that's expensive.

You *can* bend them back and get all the attach points and shut lines in the right positions and it will *look* okay. It will likely *be* okay too but the car won't be as strong the next time it gets hit. The previous owner of my first Miata did just that and I didn't know it until I crawled under to install new sway bars after 6 months. I'm glad I didn't know because I might not have bought the car and enjoyed it for three years. After three years, it got hit again in the rear and pushed into the car ahead of me too. Body damage on all panels but the doors = total. The next one lasted me 5 years until it was rear ended and totaled. Merv has that shell now.

I'd have to see the crumple zones but my bet it is not.

I'd fix it! Ive got a 95M in the shop hit like that now.

Don't let them total it.

More than likely i will not fix it myself. if i buy it back it will be to sell to one of you guys for what i bought it back for, or just to part it out. it has a lot of good usuable pieces. tops about a year old, the wheels are pretty rare since they only came on 96m's and the (i think) 97 STO. it has a style bar i'm sure i can get a non racer to buy. either way i'm going to see what the insurance company wants for it. the guy at the body shop thought it would be about $1400, but he said it could be cheaper also. we'll see.

I'll keep you all updated. I'm going to be out of the office all day today but will be able to reply tonight.

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Originally Posted by chucka

the guy at the body shop thought it would be about $1400, but he said it could be cheaper also. we'll see.

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From another post :

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Originally Posted by Titus

Yikes... I just looked up the MSRP for OEM parts that look to need replacing to me:

Bumper cover $340.80
Finish panel $431.60
Combo lamp assy Right $151.30
Quarter panel Right $412.38
Trunk lid $433.49

:(

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Skip the quarter panel and add in a second taillight and you are at $1508.00 in parts alone, lets say used parts are 1/2 price so your looking at $754.00 in just parts and this doesn't include any of the crash parts behind the bumper cover.

How does he think he is going to fix it for $1400, I call :bs:

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Originally Posted by POS Racing

How does he think he is going to fix it for $1400

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A BFH and lots of bondo?

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Originally Posted by POS Racing

From another post : Skip the quarter panel and add in a second taillight and you are at $1508.00 in parts alone, lets say used parts are 1/2 price so your looking at $754.00 in just parts and this doesn't include any of the crash parts behind the bumper cover.

How does he think he is going to fix it for $1400, I call :bs:

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Perhaps he is saying that the body shop guy says the buy back will be around $1400???

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Originally Posted by Titus

Perhaps he is saying that the body shop guy says the buy back will be around $1400???

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Now that could work although that seems high for a salvage title car with around 140,000 miles on the clock.

But no way it needs just $1400 worth of work at a body shop, hell you can hardly get a door ding fixed for under $500.00....

No Bull Shit! Genuine OEM experienced parts baby! After all the rest of the car is used.

Big shops don't do it the right way, they do it the quick and easy way. At your expense of course.

Aftermarket parts are crap.

Don't let them salvage it! I just went thru this with Barbara's '92 BnT, and its hit worse than that.
I told the appraiser "Salvage is not an option" He said OK.
Same with my CRX. They gave me a bit less money, but still a G more than I paid for the car. They Wanted to salvage, but I said NO.
If you don't have possession of said car, everything changes.

Ill say it again, I'd fix it, its hard to replace a car like that.

I'm betting that both rear quarter panels have a new bump just above the wheel wells. Depending what the plans are for the car, it's probably not worth fixing those(quarter panels consist of seven panels that are interlaced for strength and the labor is astronomical.). As Curtis said, the trunk floor pan has a buckle that will make it difficult to make the tail lights and finish panel fit properly. It would make for a very nice Spec Miata, though ;) I'm with Rogue. I would fix it, too...... I might even have a good rear clip to replace it all!

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Originally Posted by MadMerv

I'm betting that both rear quarter panels have a new bump just above the wheel wells. Depending what the plans are for the car, it's probably not worth fixing those(quarter panels consist of seven panels that are interlaced for strength and the labor is astronomical.). As Curtis said, the trunk floor pan has a buckle that will make it difficult to make the tail lights and finish panel fit properly. It would make for a very nice Spec Miata, though ;) I'm with Rogue. I would fix it, too...... I might even have a good rear clip to replace it all!

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A tug on the frame rails will fix that.

Post pics of the rear quarters from 6:00 and frame rails from underneath.

Its not always as bad as it looks.
You have to know what your looking for, and I've fixed quite a few. ;)

update:
Mom got a call from the insurance company and they said buy back would be $1200. So I told her to go ahead and do it.

she get's AAA to flat bet it over to my house so i can put it in my garage. got in started it up and it wouldnt move. it started up fine and ran smooth. so we pushed it in my garage and after some looking the passenger side axle was out a little bit from the differential. so i get under there to try to push it back in and saw this.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...4/CIMG1433.jpg

what pisses me off is that it drove fine before we took it to the place and now that is broken. i'm thinking they jacked it up by the differential and put too much stress on it. but how are we going to prove it? we can't, so i guess the body shop got away with breaking it.

oh well. i know i can still part it out for a lot more that we bought it for.

but since i hate to see this car being taken apart piece by piece. i will offer it to any body here that will give us $1200 for it. exactly what my mom paid for it.

one person on here has shown interest by PM'ing me so i will give him first dibs. after that, first come first serve. I would like to give it at least a week before i start parting out so hold your request until i start a new post in the classifieds section.