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Crashed My 95 Ls400, Insurance Is Trying To Fix?! Pix Inside


SC300Drifter

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Well I figured I would update this post since I have had the car back for a while now.

The repair shop took 1 and a half months and $10,xxx to fix my LS400. I really cant believe they did it. The car rides just as before and looks just as good as when I purchased it, they even replated the emblems. I have had the car back for four months and the engine runs smoother than before there are no leaks but there are some problems: The transmission makes a weird sound when @ full throttle beyond 4.5k RPM's, my window washer sprayers only have 2 nozzles instead of 3 and my turn signal switch doesnt cancel when turning left. All I can really say is I wish they would have just totaled it out and cut me a check so I could have purchased a newer LS400 but I am glad the car is back and in decent shape. What do you guys think?

I crashed my 1995 LS400 a week ago and had my insurance company pick the car up to go over the damage. They informed me that if I go through one of their approved shops all of the repairs made to the vehicle would be gauranteed as long as I owned the vehicle. I agreed and they picked the car up and took it to their suggested shop. I talked to the owner of the shop 3 days after they had recieved it and he told me that their was $6500 worth of damage if they got the ok from the insurance company to repair the vehicle with "used parts". He told me they had faxed my insurance company this quote and were waiting for a reply. While I had the shop on the phone I asked them about several things I noticed damaged on the car (such as the transmission not selecting gears after the accident) they said they hadn't spent much time on the car and would inspect it.

I dont understand how they sent any quote to the insurance company without fully inspecting the car? I figured they need more time and will throughly inspect the car. The autobody shop called me today and said they would be repairing the car for $7000 and it would be done in 2 weeks. I am very nervous about how well my car is being repaired... it was accident/problem free.

These are several things I noticed when I inspected the car:

The exhaust manifold is resting on the steering coloumn

The engine appeared to be pushed back several inches

The left strut tower is pushed into the power brake booster

The transmission goes into reverse when put into drive and the gear selection is off no matter what gear you choose

The turn signal lever broke off steering coloumn upon impact

Possible left control arm damage

The autobody shop told me that the left strut tower would have to be straightened, no motor mounts were broken (hard to believe on a 12 year old car that had the engine pushed back) , the transmission was sent to a transmission shop for inspection, and the exterior parts will be replaced with used ones... I am very worried they might have overlooked something or possibly misqouted something... and the grand total for repair is $7,000 which is only $500 more than initially quoted before they knew about the transmission... seems fishy to me.

I purchased this car 9 months ago and am still paying on it, the car was in mint condition when I purchased it and had no mechanical issues at all, and a clean CarFax. I have never been in a situation like this before so I have several questions:

Can I have the car inspected by another shop after the repairs have been done?

What if the original shop making the repairs overlooks something?

Does the damage seem extensive to be repaired?

What are some precautions I can take to be safe and confident that my car is being repaired properly?

They said the car should be done in 2 weeks what should I do?

I searched for crashed LS400 pictures on this forum and found several cars that appear to have less damage and a higher repair cost... why does my car appear more damaged and cheaper to fix? Please any info will be greatly appreciated as I will be paying on this car for another year....

here are some pictures:

P9150129ONE.jpg

P9150130TWO.jpg

P9150131THREE.jpg

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That is a lot of damage. My wife smashed our LS400, which had far less damage, and it cost over 10k to repair, with new parts. But it was just hood grill, bumper, neither fender and the coolant didn't come out of the engine. All three engine mounts were sheared cleanly. Your car will have all three mounts sheared for sure, and any autobody guy that thinks otherwise is not worth dealing with.

You have two options - let them get started and then run the bill up as further repairs are revealed, or demand that the car be written off. The strut tower is a big deal, and means that the hit was huge. That's "frame damage" in todays world.

It was a lovely car, and it saved you from injury and sacrificed itself doing so, which was how it was designed. It's time for you to move on to another car and let this one rest in peace.

I think the damage is to severe for a successful repair at the prices they are quoting.

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That is a lot of damage. My wife smashed our LS400, which had far less damage, and it cost over 10k to repair, with new parts. But it was just hood grill, bumper, neither fender and the coolant didn't come out of the engine. All three engine mounts were sheared cleanly. Your car will have all three mounts sheared for sure, and any autobody guy that thinks otherwise is not worth dealing with.

You have two options - let them get started and then run the bill up as further repairs are revealed, or demand that the car be written off. The strut tower is a big deal, and means that the hit was huge. That's "frame damage" in todays world.

It was a lovely car, and it saved you from injury and sacrificed itself doing so, which was how it was designed. It's time for you to move on to another car and let this one rest in peace.

I think the damage is to severe for a successful repair at the prices they are quoting.

I have a 91 LS400, excellent condition. A few years ago, I was involved in a head-on, and the other driver's insurance

paid for the damages. The body shop replaced the radiator, grill, some hoses, new battery and front wheel alignment.

To this date, the car is not driving as it was before. If your insurance company declared it is a total or almost total lost,

like the previous comment, you are better off taking the money and invest it in another used LS400 or newer models.

I too, love my LS400 but sometimes, you have to let it go. Good Luck ! :-)

post-53679-1191084331_thumb.jpg

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... It was a lovely car, and it saved you from injury and sacrificed itself doing so, which was how it was designed. It's time for you to move on to another car and let this one rest in peace. I think the damage is to severe for a successful repair at the prices they are quoting.

I would agree; let 'er go. No matter how well they do the repairs, it'll never be the same. I've made that mistake in the past with other cars and ended up selling them off when they pulled funny, wore out tires, etc.

Take the insurance money and find a clean replacement. Now one thing to consider too is buying the wreck back from the insurance company during the settlement. Usually, you can buy it pretty inexpensively. Then, strip it (you want the wheels right?) :), fill your garage with the best, cleanest, highest value parts, sell off what you don't want or need and then donate the car to the scrap yard. In some cases, you'll have to pay to have it hauled away depending on how much of the car is left. I did this years ago with a Volvo 264GL that my wife totalled. I bought it back from the insurance company for a few hundred bucks, bought another straight but worn 264 from the salvage yard and did some major swapping; all the leather, doors, trunk, plastics, wheels, etc.. A salvage yard picked up the wreck and I sold the refurbed 264 for a couple thousand after driving it for a couple more years.

Just a thought.... good luck and my sincerest condolences on your loss. :)

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Hey SC sorry to see your baby mangled like that. If I were you, I would press for it being written off as a total loss. I find it hard to believe that your car sustained no more than $7,000 worth of damage. It doesn't sound like they're planning to do a great job in repairs. I'm sure they're going to give you full retail value on your car, after the payoff on the loan, hopefully you'll have some cash to buy a new one. Good luck bud. May she RIP

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Hey SC sorry to see your baby mangled like that. If I were you, I would press for it being written off as a total loss. I find it hard to believe that your car sustained no more than $7,000 worth of damage. It doesn't sound like they're planning to do a great job in repairs. I'm sure they're going to give you full retail value on your car, after the payoff on the loan, hopefully you'll have some cash to buy a new one. Good luck bud. May she RIP

That car is done. My father in laws 98 Cirrus got its rear bumper torn off in a left rear collision, no sheetmetal damage, just bumper and bumper reinforcement..totalled by insurance company, got 5000 check, way less damage than yours, but far less a car too. I just saw a 92 LS today, creamed in the rear driver door by a hit and run, all sheetmetal from rear door back to jacked bumper in about 12 inches, pass rear tire cocked outboard by curb about 45 degrees, interior jacked, broken glass, Guy sold it to a body shop friend for 700 bucks. Says he is going to fix it, HA, a body shop is going to fix the rear driveline, subframe, sheetmetal, door, interior sheared park pawl in the trans, hell no. MAYBE if he back halves the whole car? It did have a clear A/C control I wanted but too late, that was the first thing the buyer looked at! Yours is never going to be the same, Thank Toyota for protecting you and move on...

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  • 6 months later...

Well I figured I would update this post.

The repair shop took 1 and a half months and $10,xxx to fix my LS400. I really cant believe they did it. The car rides just as before and looks just as good as when I purchased it, they even replated the emblems. I have had the car back for four months and the engine runs smoother than before there are no leaks but there are some problems: The transmission makes a weird sound when @ full throttle beyond 4.5k RPM's, my window washer sprayers only have 2 nozzles instead of 3 and my turn signal switch doesnt cancel when turning left. All I can really say is I wish they would have just totaled it out and cut me a check so I could have purchased a newer LS400 but I am glad the car is back and in decent shape. What do you guys think?

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Well I figured I would update this post.

The repair shop took 1 and a half months and $10,xxx to fix my LS400. I really cant believe they did it. The car rides just as before and looks just as good as when I purchased it, they even replated the emblems. I have had the car back for four months and the engine runs smoother than before there are no leaks but there are some problems: The transmission makes a weird sound when @ full throttle beyond 4.5k RPM's, my window washer sprayers only have 2 nozzles instead of 3 and my turn signal switch doesnt cancel when turning left. All I can really say is I wish they would have just totaled it out and cut me a check so I could have purchased a newer LS400 but I am glad the car is back and in decent shape. What do you guys think?

I have a family member whose situation was sort of like yours. He drove a 2001 Ford Crown Victoria LX. Used to driving front-wheel drive cars most of his life. This car was rear-wheel drive. He was driving around rural Nebraska in the winter, and the car slipped on black ice, spun around, and the entire right side hit a concrete culvert. $15,000 in damage.

Since the accident was away from home here in Kansas City, he could not have the car repaired at the excellent body shop here that he would have preferred. The place in Nebraska that did the repair did a good job matching the paint, but the car still had little mechanical and electrical issues similar to the ones you are describing with your LS. The paint on the bumper also started to flake off less than 3 days after he brought the car back home.

He kept the car for about 2 weeks after the accident before selling it and purchasing a different car.

I would think the body shop that did the work on your car would give some kind of warranty to cover things like you are describing. You would think they would stand behind their work. The car is obviously not in the same condition it was before the accident. Have you contacted the shop and let them know about the problems?

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The body shop does offer a LIFETIME gaurantee on all repairs done but I assume they will claim no responsibilty for the transmission making noise because of the milage on the car (they did a full tune-up on the car because it had a misfire after they repaired it and were very hesitant to because they claimed it was highly likely that the car ran rough before the accident) and the other stuff is so minor I haven't even wasted my time trying to get them fix any of it.

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The body shop does offer a LIFETIME gaurantee on all repairs done but I assume they will claim no responsibilty for the transmission making noise because of the milage on the car (they did a full tune-up on the car because it had a misfire after they repaired it and were very hesitant to because they claimed it was highly likely that the car ran rough before the accident) and the other stuff is so minor I haven't even wasted my time trying to get them fix any of it.

Did the car actually run rough before the accident? I can't tell you much about the transmission, but I think it is certainly worth your time to get the other small problems fixed, if nothing else.

It sounds like they would bother me more than they bother you. But, when the time comes that you finally sell the car, those small problems could change somebody's mind about whether the collision repair was excellent, or just a half-a$$ job.

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