Front End Collision Repair

[jsmith20]

My '96 LS was in an accident this evening and I'm wondering how closely you can estimate the cost to repair. I haven't taken it in yet, so I have no idea.

What I can see (I haven't popped the hood yet, its 19deg and snowing right now :-) ):

Front driver quarter panel

Hood damage

Front headlamp housing

Turn indicator housing

Front clip damage/rash

My wife was driving down a road ~30mph when someone pulled out in front of her. Not sure how fast she was going at impact, but the collision was a "T-bone" with the crossover. Sounds like it messed up both doors on the crossover pretty good.

I'm wondering what to expect for the repair estimate.

The car seems to drive fine, but I only took it down the road 1/2m, and not faster than 30.

Guesses?

Thanks - Joel

[SW03ES]

Very hard to estimate, who knows what they'll find when they get in there.

Using OEM or aftermarket parts? OEM...$5k easy.

[SRK]

Yep $5000.00 plus. Maybe plus quite a bit. That's to fix it correctly. Some back-yarder may charge less, and you get less.

But it's a moot point. The body shops will be paid according to the adjuster's estimate.

[jsmith20]

At that rate, I'm guessing they'll total it, don't you think?

We'll see where the estimates come in tomorrow. My experience with other cars that had front clip damage was the repair costs went up pretty quick.

I may take it to my LLD if the local body shops are way under your estimates.

Thanks for the input :-)

[RDM]

Hard to tell, but if the fender apron and core support aren't damaged then it's just simply replacing parts, you can do it yourself in a couple hours. Parts at a salvage yard won't be more than $1500.

[jsmith20]

You guys nailed it :-)

1st shop (GM Dealer) - $5100

2nd shop (Lexus Dealer) - $5300

Both registered as a full loss, so now we'll see what the adjuster says.

Thanks for the feedback.