Accident with 05 Legacy Wagon

Ok folks, got into an accident Friday morning, lost control on leaves, smashed up the pass. side fender & front wheel. Inspected under the hood and sure enough the chassis is bent inwards, determined by measuring from centerline of engine to bolts on the strut towers. Left vs Right is a difference of 3/4" and looking at the firewall, can see a hole on pass side that is 'oval' is shape vs. the the hole on the driver side that is round.

Considering the fact that Im a frugal dumbass, I didn't buy collision, so Im out significantly. Need to consider options right now

1) is it too expensive to straighten the chassis? is it worth it?

2) do I sell it to a wrecker, if so, what price can I command?

3) part it out, then junk the carcass after it's been stripped?

some details:

113k miles, auto, engine has recent T-belt/water pump, regular oil changes & doesn't burn or leak, tranny shifts smooth, a/c cold, clean blakc leather interior, moon roof, stereo am/fm/cd

Thoughts?

is it drivable?

With regards straightening, there's a technique for BMW M3's that works to straighten them, involves a tree & some chain.

If you are paying a body shop to do the work, you have alot more control of what gets done and how its done. Might be worth taking to a couple of shops and see what could be done. I had a car with front end damage, drove it down and had a shop pull it reasonably straight and did the rest of the body work myself. I paid for time on the machine (you have to strip off the body panels so they can get to the points, but that's relatively easy).

You might post it in cars for sale forum with lots of pics. Someone might take it off your hands and you can be done with it. Especially if driveable.

I have driven down the road and back

needs new: stabilizer bar link, the wishbone arm, and steering link

removed the fender (which was easy), my concern though is fixing suspension & steering components, but if not doing the chassis, simply will not handle the same.

Yes you need to straighten the frame if that's where the suspension mounts too.

Call a few body shops and ask for a estimate.

Find someone with a clean, straight, non-running LGT (bad bottom end, bent valves, etc.). Buy it, swap your motor, part out what you don't need.

Do it right and you might break even. Definitely cheaper than body work.

Probably go upside down quickly if you pay to have it fixed, even DIY'ing what you can. If it's bent the substructure, it's gonna be pricey. Cheap paint work is rarely good, and good paint work is rarely cheap.

You can sell it on Copart. Probably do better than selling it to a junkyard (as that'll be who will be bidding for it at Copart). I passed today on an 05 LGT automatic with 113k hit light in the passenger side (needed both doors which I have) that went for $3100. You'll probably do better than that selling it to a private individual, but that's purely subjective. Someone who needs a motor and wants a black interior (assuming yours does) would probably be tickled $hitless to get it for $3-4k.

I'll buy your car or sell you mine.

Call me 603-531-9955.

I have the opposite problem of you. Blown engine, good good body. Ha ha.

Three years ago I had your problem when I thought my corvette was a good car to race up wet hills... Ended up with a trashed body on a practically brand new 33,000 mile ls1 motor and 6 speed.

that was dumb

Ok folks, got into an accident Friday morning, lost control on leaves, smashed up the pass. side fender & front wheel. Inspected under the hood and sure enough the chassis is bent inwards, determined by measuring from centerline of engine to bolts on the strut towers. Left vs Right is a difference of 3/4" and looking at the firewall, can see a hole on pass side that is 'oval' is shape vs. the the hole on the driver side that is round.

 

Considering the fact that Im a frugal dumbass, I didn't buy collision, so Im out significantly. Need to consider options right now

 

1) is it too expensive to straighten the chassis? is it worth it?

2) do I sell it to a wrecker, if so, what price can I command?

3) part it out, then junk the carcass after it's been stripped?

 

some details:

113k miles, auto, engine has recent T-belt/water pump, regular oil changes & doesn't burn or leak, tranny shifts smooth, a/c cold, clean blakc leather interior, moon roof, stereo am/fm/cd

 

Thoughts?

Find someone with a clean, straight, non-running LGT (bad bottom end, bent valves, etc.). Buy it, swap your motor, part out what you don't need.

 

Do it right and you might break even. Definitely cheaper than body work.

 

Probably go upside down quickly if you pay to have it fixed, even DIY'ing what you can. If it's bent the substructure, it's gonna be pricey. Cheap paint work is rarely good, and good paint work is rarely cheap.

 

You can sell it on Copart. Probably do better than selling it to a junkyard (as that'll be who will be bidding for it at Copart). I passed today on an 05 LGT automatic with 113k hit light in the passenger side (needed both doors which I have) that went for $3100. You'll probably do better than that selling it to a private individual, but that's purely subjective. Someone who needs a motor and wants a black interior (assuming yours does) would probably be tickled $hitless to get it for $3-4k.

I'll buy your car or sell you mine.

 

Call me 603-531-9955.

 

I have the opposite problem of you. Blown engine, good good body. Ha ha.

 

Three years ago I had your problem when I thought my corvette was a good car to race up wet hills... Ended up with a trashed body on a practically brand new 33,000 mile ls1 motor and 6 speed.

 

that was dumb

winner, winner, chicken dinner.

between Thor and Drew, could be apples and oranges. THis is a LegacyGT site, but Drew's talking about a 2.5i

I'm assuming Thor is talking LGT here.

Granted, you could buy the LGT wagon and swap all the turbo parts onto the 2.5i car, great.

Am going to attempt to fix this car on my own this summer (right now covered in snow & ice)

Bought a quick & cheap 2000 beetle 1.8t and cannot stand the thing. The late year cars are too expensive (gotta pay tax on cars in CT) and insurance premiums high and Suby's current lineup is effing ugly.

The least I can do is simply try to fix the damage a bit....