Well it happened. I was driving to work last Tuesday morning around 5:15am after a nice rain storm and I hit a LARGE piece of wood in the road with my passenger side front tire. It was big enough to make my back end whip around and I nailed the guard rail with the front bumper and then the car did a 180 and the rear bumper nailed it too.

The car was in the shop (long story) and the insurance adjustors told me there is a MINIMUM of $14,000 in damages. 2 bent frame rails, a bent rear bumper support (part of the frame) and they say my 2004 G35 is worth $30,000 with 27,000 miles on it. They won't total out the car, but I'm a little worried.

I have the car at a GREAT body shop, but in order to replace the frame rails they must pull the engine. Part of me says "great, I'll remove the Vortech, Crawford Headers, JWT clutch and flywheel and all of the other mods and return the car to stock and trade it in." Another part of me wants to get the new bumper, and the new S/C components that were damaged and keep on going. I'm really worried about having a body shop guy pull the engine and reassemble everything.

The other concern: The radiator core was demolished in the accident. Radiator fluid was all over the ground. My car has been driven (against my wishes) for short periods at least 5 times that I know of. The duration of these time periods are unknown to me. Fortunately I removed the cog pulley from the blower right away. I'm concerned that if the car was running for any period of time while I wasn't around, I might have a cracked piston ring (heat is bad) or something worse. If I get the car back and everything seems fine for 2 months then all of a sudden kaboom... well no warranty on the engine and I've got this nice and shiny blower staring the dealer in the face.

What to do? I'll probably have to spend several thousand dollars more on new S/C intercooler, plumbing, reinstall, retune, etc... and even more on the aftermarket bumper. Fortunately the blower, the main bracket holding the pulleys, the engine and a fair amount of the intercooler piping came out unharmed.

What would you do if you were in my shoes? I'm afraid that the car will NEVER be the same again and I'm really leaning on trading it in for something else.

BTW, the insurance company damaged one of my aftermarket wheels transporting my car from the impound lot to the body shop, they threw a piece of the intercooler piping inside on my willow leather seats leaving oil/grease everywhere and my car is full of dirt and mud. It wasn't like that when they removed it from the scene of the accident. I feel like finding a dead lizzard, tying a noose around it's neck and mailing it to my insurance adjustor.

Here's a before photo and I'll post after photos once G35driver comes back online.

 

I do not know what to tell you....I don't know what to say other than sory Hope all turns out well!!

 

damn. sorry to hear
do you need a new car now? the next G is being shown in April.
if it were me i'd put a deposit on the new one, and drive that one for one more year (i assume the new G 6MT is coming in Jan 07). if you could live w/out FI i'd fix it back and part that stuff out. If not, i'd fix it back on.

if you dont want to do that, I'd part out and sell it after it were fixed. try to claim diminished value. I'd have the engine checked. If something were wrong, I'd try to claim that under insurance too- check the legality of it, but i think it would be ok since the accident would have been the ultimate cause of any problems with it. Esp if they drove it against your wishes (flat bed is always an option..). Also, I would have a shop of my choice reassemble the engine stuff.
Good luck, and remember things could have been worse...

 

I called my insurance company and asked about damages to "aftermarket engine upgrades"....they told me it would be covered....just to keep receipts.

I would try to get ALL damages repaired and replaced......

 

$21K and change in retail value is in my car. The insurance company previously told me the SAME EXACT THING and now they tell me that I need an extension policy (special rider) for a value of that amount.

Bottom line, if you don't have it in writing from the insurance company... YOU DON'T HAVE IT.

 

if your not paying extra for it and its not on your policy you don't have coverage!

As for you it sounds like a lot of bad luck and no respect for customers property.

I guess for us looking at the aftermath its easy to say what we would have done. But at the time who knows. I guess sending it to the tuner or who ever installed it would have been more painless for you. That way they can pull all engine, sc, and tranny parts so it could be assembled by someone other than body specialists.
That way you'd fee comfortable.

Then have the body shop fix it and return it to the tuner shop and they install everything again.

 

The tuner is CPRacing in North Carolina. I live 8 hours away. At $110 + $2/mile... I can't afford 2 round trips with this car.

GEICO sucks!

 

Man sorry to hear this neff! Maybe you can go full custom?

 

It will NEVER be the same. EVER.

I would Get it fixed and Trade it ASAP. You may take a small loss, but it is WELL worth it.

 

It will never be the same no matter what the body shop tells you. Sell all the parts, get it fixed, trade it in on a new one.

 

Todd, I'm really sorry to hear the news. It really sucks! My suggestion is to fix it unless it will always bother you or nag at you later if or when something goes wrong that may have nothing to do with the accident. You've got alot of money invested. It's going to be a frustrating endeavor though to get it fixed "just the way you want it."

Can you get the body work done and have the car shipped to a good local tuner for the engine assembly and install?

Good luck!
Ron

 

Neffster.....sorry that your having to go through this.....good discussion.

 

You have the grossest avatar.

 

Hahaha.....Yah....+1....

 

that sucks... it was a nice looking car..

 

After photos... (notice how the blower and pulley bracket came out UNSCATHED... Thank GOD). Some of the pics are kind of small but as far as I can tell the only aftermarket mod to get messed up was the innercooler has a small dent in it and some of the hoses were pulled out of the clamps. A couple of scratches on the plumbing, otherwise everything looks great. I IMMEDIATELY removed the cog pulley on the blower and all oil lines are still hooked up. Oh yeah, one rim is bent too but the insurance will cover that.

Notice, the following images may not be sutiable for small children and people with weak hearts.

 

ouch

 

sorry to hear of your misfortune neff.

it has already been said, but glad you are okay. sometimes you cannot control what happens.

(disclaimer: I did not read the above posts) Since you asked, if I were you, I would get a friend who has AAA Plus (allows tow greater than 7 miles) and get the car towed (free for you...your friend gets 4 tows a year ) to a high end body shop. Have them work with you to get a high estimate. insurance works off of numbers, so if the estimate is high enough, they will total the car. it's a matter of working with your body shop.

if not, than get the car fixed and see what you can get in terms of re-sale. i wouldn't keep it.

you need a good platform to build your car on. not worth investing in a car you are not 100% sure is perfect.

best of luck.

 

DAmn that hurts me inside.. Good luck bro, glad your okay!!

 

if you have the money get a new one, it'll never be the same take a small hit on your wallet and be happy.