I'm on my way back to work from lunch when a woman in a Jeep pulls out to make a left turn into .....

my black fiero!

a couple of seconds later WHAMMO!

I pull off into the RotoRooters parking lot right next dor to Altman's.





I know the insurance co will want to total my 23 year old car. It's still driveable.

The hood is buckled and the bumper cover is smooshed on the right side. All the other panels look reuseable. Anyone have a spare hood and bumperpad front cover?

[This message has been edited by 30+mpg (edited 04-13-2009).]

Fiero Factory is your Friend. Come to the Swap Meet and get all the replacement/repair parts you need.

BTW, sorry about your bad luck, that sucks.

Ron

was your car in superb condition? if they total it and give you enough to replace it with a nicer one, id do that, BUT you can always buck on prices, DONT ever accept the offer they give you.

also the parts dont cost nearly what the estimate show's the labor cost's are probably close because of paint and everything, but the hoods are normally $50-100 tops, sometimes less than that, the bumper will be around $125 or so for a good bumperpad bumper, maybe cheaper.

you can probably buy an entire parts car for $200-500 with everything you'll need.

matthew

you can always let them total it and buy it back from them. my buddy has done that with a few of his cars. you will have a salvage title on it but hell who cares.

Car has less than 30,000 miles on a remanufactured engine, a remanufactured a/c compressor & reupholstered seats.

I agree with the buy back, I did it on an '86 I had and it is usually about 10% of what they total it for.

What $923 for a hood, $200 for a fender and $32 for a headlight bulb. Those prices are exhorbitant. Bring the car to Ed Parks in Toney Al and I'm sure that he will repair it for a far more reasonable price. He has everything available there right at his place to fix it.

------------------
" THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, 3.4" Pulley, N* TB, LS1 MAF, Flotech Exhaust Autolite 104's Custom CAI 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite.
"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
" ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

That looks like a typical "insurance" estimate. The actual cost is less.
When getting estimates for body work that you're paying for out of pocket, be sure to tell them that so they don't write the estimate assuming it's for insurance.

quote Originally posted by Formula88: When getting estimates for body work that you're paying for out of pocket, be sure to tell them that so they don't write the estimate assuming it's for insurance.

...which, more specifically, almost invariably will be a more expensive estimate than that for non-insurance-related body work.

Although you already may have been aware of it, Formula88 has provided you some very good, very practical, "street-wise" advice here. I therefore encourage you or others facing a situation similar to yours to heed it.

Buy it back
Korey

quote Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua: What $923 for a hood, $200 for a fender and $32 for a headlight bulb. Those prices are exhorbitant.

What crap. Good luck trying to get a hood from GM. How do they even come up with prices for items they CANNOT BUY??? It's not like the body shop will be posting and asking for parts on Pennocks.
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My 3.4L S/C 87 GT
2002/2003/2004 World of Wheels Winner &
Multiple IASCA Stereo Award Winner
www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/096075.html] My SD4 Indy

[This message has been edited by fierosound (edited 04-05-2009).]

Maybe not here, but they will search the yards. They know where to get the parts needed to fix cars that arent produced anymore.

-Joe

Wow. That sucks big time. I read nearly that whole thread you did on your car so I know you put a lot of work into it.

Arkansas drivers really suck. No car is immune. You could be driving a Muricelago, have someone turn their head to look at you, and then somehow they'd still hit you.

You have the right to get full repair costs from the woman. Her insurance company only represents her interests and their own. Nowadays even a trivial bump pretty much automatically totals most all Fieros. You have the right to be made whole. Take her to small claims court and let her settle with her insurance company for what she can get back from them. Under no circumstances let the insurance company take possession of the car or its title. Once that happens you are SOL.

JazzMan

For those who like looking at pics of crunched Fieros:

Enjoy








I normally keep this car in the Pontiac section of my garage, but I'm parking it here if the adjuster comes to view it while I'm at work.

[This message has been edited by 30+mpg (edited 04-06-2009).]

Got a call this morning from a Nationwide guy in Nashville. Said he'll put my claim into the Arkansas "hat" and have an adjuster call me.

[This message has been edited by 30+mpg (edited 04-07-2009).]

that stinks!
don't let them total the car it can be rebuilt.
insurance companys can be a pain in the butt to deal with.
just somthing that might help call your insurance company and let them deal with the other company that is part of what you pay them for.
call your car a clasic some states have a collector value that can be added to the car.
good luck.

The insurance person who'll look at my car called this afternoon from 85 miles away in Ft. Smith. He'll be here some time this week. I told him the list of things that are different on my car from a regular 23 year old Fiero.

quote Originally posted by whodeanie: call your car a clasic some states have a collector value that can be added to the car.

This only works if the car had been appraised and insured as such BEFORE it was wrecked. Otherwise it's just a 23-year-old Fiero.

It's likely they're gonna give you practically nothing when they write it off. It's up to you if you decide to keep and repair it yourself.

Good luck.

------------------

My 3.4L S/C 87 GT
& My SD4 Indy
World of Wheels Winners

It doesn't look like it hurt the spaceframe in the pics just the panels.
Korey

The adjuster called and said the car is a total loss. My claim has now been sent to "the total loss center" in Scott, Arkansas. He said I should get a call from them within a day.

It figures that Arkansas would have a "center" judging by how people around here drive.

I now have been deprived of the use of my car for over a week due to no fault of my own.

[This message has been edited by 30+mpg (edited 04-13-2009).]

Just got a call from the center.

$2,300 if they take the car.
$2,181 if I keep the car.

The adjuster did not give the center any more info than mileage, photos & the estimate. The person at the center asked me to send the receipt on the reman. engine to allow additional adjustments to be made.

keep the car, fix it up, have it inspected and drive it.

Had the mail held for 3 days last week, got it today.

Among the mail were letters from 3 different personal injury law firms.

DO NOT LET THEM TAKE THE CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
i have lost three cars to insurance companies they are total scam artists
you should have them re appraise it after you fix it and just say the the bumper was dented
paint scuffed.
fight til the finish..
but never ever let the insurance take your car... especially not for 2100 bucks.
if they do say that they are taking it.....
take all the parts you can....
-seats
-tires
-all good body panels
-whole cradle
-all brakes
anything you can think of.
ps: or you can come to illinios and take my v6 gt body for 200 bucks...
no engine.. but it has all the body panels

I just sent the guy at the center a .jpg of the $173.45 receipt for the remanufactured A/C compressor I bought & installed.

I have already sent him a scan of the $1245 invoice for the reman. engine.

Hopefully, those will help boost their offer.

Oh BTW, I paid $1200 for the car in 2001.

[This message has been edited by 30+mpg (edited 04-13-2009).]

I have front hood and like new front cover with grill, lower air dam. Also have front crash bumper, honeycomb crush.
PM me if interested.

------------------


My Web Site www.xnet.com/~paulv
NIFE Web Site ]www.fierofocus.com]

just what ever you do...dont settle for them taking the car...
if they say that they are taking it... then take the cradle, motor, and trans out of it, and all the parts you can think of
and hide them all for a million million years... or until you get another fiero.

quote BlackGT Codde:just what ever you do...dont settle for them taking the car... if they say that they are taking it... then take the cradle, motor, and trans out of it, and all the parts you can think of and hide them all for a million million years... or until you get another fiero.

Relax, Codde. Nobody is going to touch my car expect me.

This really sucks, i'm sorry this happened to you..

I'd be pissed if this was my car.

A friend told me that Arkansas law requires my vehicle to be repaired or replaced with one of equivalent value.

quote Originally posted by 30+mpg: A friend told me that Arkansas law requires my vehicle to be repaired or replaced with one of equivalent value.

...only if the damage is less than the car's value. The damage is $4100 on a car that's worth $2100. The "equivalent value" is $2100 and that's what they'll give him as a writeoff.

quote fierosound:...only if the damage is less than the car's value. The damage is $4100 on a car that's worth $2100. The "equivalent value" is $2100 and that's what they'll give him as a writeoff.

I believe the operative word is "replaced".

Cool, give me a Fiero with less than 30,000 miles on a remanufactured engine, working A/C, power windows and reupholstered seats and I'll be happy.

yeah i guess im a little bit over ambitious on my point....he he
anyway...
hope it gets sorted out pretty well....
hey. you could sue for whiplash...lol

quote Originally posted by 30+mpg: I believe the operative word is "replaced". Cool, give me a Fiero with less than 30,000 miles on a remanufactured engine, working A/C, power windows and reupholstered seats and I'll be happy.

Life (and insurance companies) don't work like that. You will not be the first person who gets a payout and cannot get "as good" a car as they started out with. Them's the breaks.

Good luck though - you may do better.

quote Originally posted by 30+mpg: Just got a call from the center. $2,300 if they take the car. $2,181 if I keep the car. The adjuster did not give the center any more info than mileage, photos & the estimate. The person at the center asked me to send the receipt on the reman. engine to allow additional adjustments to be made.

Yup, My '88 GT got totaled after it was hit by a woman who ran a stop sign. It had 90,000 miles on it. I got to keep the car and about $1750. I talked to my own insurance company and they said there was no discourse. Book value of the car rules.

I insured my latest project with Grundy with stated value of $7500. It comes with restrictions such as can't use the car for regular transportation and no one else can drive it.

quote 30+mpg: $2,300 if they take the car. $2,181 if I keep the car. The adjuster did not give the center any more info than mileage, photos & the estimate. The person at the center asked me to send the receipt on the reman. engine to allow additional adjustments to be made.

And that's for an 86 2M4 with 169K showing on the odo.

[This message has been edited by 30+mpg (edited 04-17-2009).]

The insurance company mails me a check for $3,053.75 & I keep the car.

A before photo

[This message has been edited by 30+mpg (edited 06-09-2009).]

quote Originally posted by 30+mpg: The insurance company mails me a check for $3,053.75 & I keep the car.

That'll work. Nice little profit once the cars fixed.

joe

Two months later I finally have the car back from the body shop. They cut the bent radiator support cross member out and welded in a replacement that a PFF'r delivered to me from Texas along with a bumper cover, hood & some other parts.


That front clip had a bumper beam bolted to it when I dropped it off at the body shop. Not only did they remove the beam but they also ground the mounting studs flush and painted over them. Not good. I may be forced to stop payment on my check depending on their response.





Some minor assembly and painting required.

[This message has been edited by 30+mpg (edited 06-09-2009).]