I went to Rochester, NY this weekend to visit a friend and on the way back I got into an accident in my tC. What happened was that due to the snow storm that hit the area, the roads were still a bit slushy at times. My tires hit one of those areas and started to swerve to the left, I tried to compensate for the swerve but ended up overcompensating, at which point my vehicle completely spun out and off the road. I ended up in a ditch and had to be towed out. I can't really recollect what happened since it happened pretty quickly but it seems that my bumper hit a tiny sign on the side of the road. When I walked out of my car, I saw that the rear fender was basically cut in half with the right side missing, the front fender was coming off on the right side with the front ground effects kit hanging off. My tires seemed to be filled with snow. I finally got back to Binghamton, NY (where I go to college) today and had my car towed to the Scion dealer here. The mechanic did a damage estimate on the car, and it came out to be about $6,000 worth of damage (including front and rear fenders, 4 rims, 4 wheels, ground effects kit to name a few of the expensive parts, as well as the labor which by itself is $1,500). The car itself has no mechanical problems, purely cosmetic issues.

I'm thinking that's a lot of money to be spending on exterior fixes, does anyone have any advice. Do you think it would be cheaper if I simply got new tires w/ a wheel alignment and drove back to New York City (where I live) to have it fixed at a Scion dealer there?

 

it would be the same estimate... just claim through your insurance and pay the deductible

 

My insurance is already $3,600 for 6 months since I'm 19. Is it really worth it to go through insurance and have my rates skyrocket?

 

wow dude, mine's high but not THAT high. 6,000 is a LOT of money. try and find out how much your premiums would go up and go from there.

 

Yeah...New York City is expensive...

 

well here's what i'd look into. OEM parts are EXPENSIVE. if i were going to shell out that kind of money for new parts, i'd go aftermarket. just think... you could end up with nice rims, tires, and a kaminari body kit or something of that nature.

 

Here are some pictures I took after my car was towed to some tiny town between Rochester, NY and Binghamton, NY for the day (due to the snow storm). Sorry for the bad 2-megapixel quality, I only had my phone with me and it was running out of battery.




Inside the left front fender, the round pipe is my Injen CAI

 

Your rims look warped... atleast the front driver's side one/

In the end even if you go aftermarket it always ends up costing the same amount after you add the cost of painting the parts.

 

yeah but it gives him an excuse to make it into a show car for the same cost

 

hmmm iono if there isnt anything wrong with the car..just buy new bumpers get them painted and put them on lol

 

yeah without a doubt :] it's always an option.

You could probably get rims and the tires cheaper from an aftermarket source. ESPECIALLY the tires. Yoko's from the dealer cost 200 a tire...or something rediculous like that. You can buy better tires online cheaper. I would worry about getting the car running fine first then worry about my bumper.

 

$3600 for 6 months? That's....$600 a month. Are you serious?Mine has never been that high, even when I was 19.

 

The car runs fine actually, I drove it around the block today. I think I'll take the car to Firestone or something and get the tires there instead of from the dealer. The parts that are costing a lot are the bumper covers (front and rear), the ground effects kit, and the rims, and the labor fee is like $1,500. There are also a lot of other parts that add up.

 

Noooooo!!!!

Do NOT go to Firestone. They are the biggest ripoff in the country. When I was in the air force, they were calling on base officials to boot firestone off the base because of how much they ripped people off.

 

seriously, I'm 18 and I pay like $350 a month.

 

That's $2100 for 6 months then, not $3600.

 

send it to insurance....I can't believe that you are paying that much for insurance. What does your driving record look like and who is your insurance through?

The way I see it if you are paying that much for the insurance you might as well use it.

 

Knightman, you fail.

 

What?! I think your confused with solyd, I never said I pay $3600 for 6 months, he does

 

Well, since his post is the one I referenced in my original question, 'twas his level of seriousness I was asking about, not yours.