Repair Costs

[rushstang350]

Hello all,
I recently got into an accident that resulted in frame damage (front crossmember), the replacement of a quarter panel, and a few other things. the airbags did deploy.

The body shop is trying to tell me the costs will be around $38,000. Has anyone else been told the same with similar damage?

Below are pictures of the visible damage

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[WItoTX]

Have they given you an itemized list of the damages? That photo is probably deceptive, and looks minimal. Airbags going off is never cheap.

 

[sms2022]

$38,000 is the “total it” number they give to insurance companies. Frame damage is incredibly expensive to fix on new cars though, quarter panels are not easily replaced properly, and airbags can be $1k to $2k a piece. So around $20k wouldn’t be unreasonable imo to do the job 100% correctly using oem parts and methods.

 

[EFI]

frame damage (front crossmember)

If the damage to the frame is in the front, show us some pictures of the front of the car how it sits right now.

 

[markayash]

I think the " total" number is 65% of what its worth..Or at least what they told me a few years back

 

[rushstang350]

If the damage to the frame is in the front, show us some pictures of the front of the car how it sits right now.

I haven’t had the car since the accident. the front was sitting perfectly normal, in fact, when the cops got there they had to ask where i’d been hit.

 

[rushstang350]

$38,000 is the “total it” number they give to insurance companies. Frame damage is incredibly expensive to fix on new cars though, quarter panels are not easily replaced properly, and airbags can be $1k to $2k a piece. So around $20k wouldn’t be unreasonable imo to do the job 100% correctly using oem parts and methods.

so 38,000 is a standard number to tell the insurance company to have it totaled? i ask because i am a little skeptical, they initially told us around the 20,000 mark.

 

[EFI]

I haven’t had the car since the accident. the front was sitting perfectly normal, in fact, when the cops got there they had to ask where i’d been hit.

That's interesting that the front of the car has extensive frame damage, yet there's no actual damage to any of the front body panels. The rear of the car has body panel damage indicating that's where it was hit. How does one damage the front of the car by hitting the back of the car?

I'd want to go look at the car personally.

 

[rushstang350]

That's interesting that the front of the car has extensive frame damage, yet there's no actual damage to any of the front body panels. Yet the rear of the car has body panel damage indicating that's where it was hit. How does one break the front of the car by hitting the back of the car.

I'd want to go look at the car personally.

i pretty much got out maneuvered by a truck. he clipped the back end and i spun out into a curb, that’s why the front has frame damage.

 

[sms2022]

so 38,000 is a standard number to tell the insurance company to have it totaled? i ask because i am a little skeptical, they initially told us around the 20,000 mark.

Not necessarily a standard number but they often jack up the price by 200% or so to send to the insurance company. I see it all the time, minor accident and a $12000 repair estimate for a bumper cover and tailgate/tailights. The insurance company usually totals the car or rarely the will pay that ridiculous price.

 

[rushstang350]

Not necessarily a standard number but they often jack up the price by 200% or so to send to the insurance company. I see it all the time, minor accident and a $12000 repair estimate for a bumper cover and tailgate/tailights. The insurance company usually totals the car or rarely the will pay that ridiculous price.

is there any way to combat that? 38,000 seems like a ridiculous imo.

 

[sms2022]

is there any way to combat that? 38,000 seems like a ridiculous imo.

Depends on what you want to have happen here.

Sounds like you want to keep the car but have it repaired. I’d Take it to a new collision shop and have them run an estimate and make it clear you don’t want it totaled.

we don’t know how badly the frame is bent though so if the second shop comes back with a crazy number then you might be SOL. And truthfully if the frame is damaged that badly, you probably don’t want the car repaired. Plus it will be worth considerably less as it will almost certainly carry a rebuilt title.

 

[Inthehighdesert]

What else are they replacing on the front end inner structure. The core support isn’t a huge deal but tear down and reassembly can be high by the book. The term frame damage is thrown around incorrectly. These cars are unibody construction. On the break down it should show how much rack time there is. That’s the amount alloted to bring it back in to spec. From the pics it looks like a couple hours set up time and probably 6-8hrs of actual rack time. That core support is very expensive. The quarter isn’t a big deal even for a newer tech. 38k seems really high for that repair but I haven’t been inside a program calculator and costs for parts in several years. Had a shop for several decades. Typically the total threshold is 80%, but that can vary depending on what they(insurance company) think the car will bring at auction. If it’s under that it can be run through as a clean title sale with damage in most State’s. What you have is what I would try and buy every chance I got as long as it was a clean title. From a shop’s perspective that’s a very easy repair and would go back to oem quality without a problem

 

[Crew4991]

Oh my, I hope you are okay after the accident.

Honestly, $38k sounds pretty accurate based on the circumstances you described.

Here is why I believe this may be an accurate number:
-This is a GT350, so to start everything unique about the car is going to cost way more than a normal mustang; example that GT350 rear bumper
-Parts cost way more post pandemic and still have some supply constraints
-Skilled labor to fix vehicles has substantially increased
-Airbags deployed
-Frame damage

I will admit when I saw your photos I was like oh okay a new bumper and maybe a rear quarter panel/paintless dent repair - but then I read the description... it seems that most of that money to repair the car is going towards fixing the things we aren't seeing in the photos.

 

[LOL WUT]

If the professional repair shop is saying 38k it’s 38k. Why would you want to lower the repair costs by cutting corners or using less than adequate (oem) parts?

I’d fully assume 38k would hit the total loss criteria which for a car with frame damage I’d be praying for. There are more cars out there, I’d be pushing for a total loss so I could get a clean replacement GT350.

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