In process of lawsuit, need help:
04-23-2007, 10:28 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Central Coast, CA
Posts: 237
In process of lawsuit, need help:
So i was roaming my neighborhood when 2 latinos say we're in their hood, even though we live there too. one's drunk, and he kicks my car. the piece that broke is on [my 95 S14] the left rear quarter panel, right above the wheel well. What i realized right away is that the piece that this guy will be forced to replace (or fund the replacement anyway) is the piece that runs along the whole roof and down the other side. i got a quote for just bondo-ing it, and Davis Auto Body in SLO county, CA, said it would be $800 just to bondo and color match plain black paint.
*DETOUR* The guy i bought the car from had apparently crashed it or got some sort of damage to the same place, and bondoed it. He did a fantastic job, cuz i looked the whole car over (and although i dont know what old bondo looks like) the body was perfectly smooth, unless he replaced the whole thing too. but i dont want it bondoed if there's any way out of it, so im gonna replace it.
My question is, does anyone know exactly (or ball-park range) how much it would be to replace the whole body piece? My car's suggested retail price is just under $5k, and im kinda hoping itll be totaled so i could start new, but kinda hoping i get to keep it (sentimental value). another BIG problem that could be is that my car has an aftermarket moonroof, so if in fact i can still replace the top, it'll have to be cut to fit the moonroof.
the cops still havent gotten back to me, so i need
*DETOUR* The guy i bought the car from had apparently crashed it or got some sort of damage to the same place, and bondoed it. He did a fantastic job, cuz i looked the whole car over (and although i dont know what old bondo looks like) the body was perfectly smooth, unless he replaced the whole thing too. but i dont want it bondoed if there's any way out of it, so im gonna replace it.
My question is, does anyone know exactly (or ball-park range) how much it would be to replace the whole body piece? My car's suggested retail price is just under $5k, and im kinda hoping itll be totaled so i could start new, but kinda hoping i get to keep it (sentimental value). another BIG problem that could be is that my car has an aftermarket moonroof, so if in fact i can still replace the top, it'll have to be cut to fit the moonroof.
the cops still havent gotten back to me, so i need
04-23-2007, 10:35 AM
#2
you cant replace that piece, s14s are unibody. you can cut a fender off an existing s14 and do a patch job or have an experienced metal worker roll some sheetmetal to fill the form. then just cut out the damaged area and weld on the replacement piece. body filler will still need to be used.
as far as cost? expect to pay $800 or more if you replace the metal, if you just punch it out and bondo over it expect to pay less, and have a lower quality repair.
as far as cost? expect to pay $800 or more if you replace the metal, if you just punch it out and bondo over it expect to pay less, and have a lower quality repair.
04-23-2007, 11:00 AM
#4
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Central Coast, CA
Posts: 237
thats what i was thinking. i have them all picked out, but for the sake of justice, this ***** has to pay. haha. he's already facing charges for underage drinking, drinking in public, resisting arrest, assault, and anything i put on there for felony vandalism. i dunno. i want it fixed, but i dont want to go to so much trouble just to make hell for him. thanks for the tips though
04-23-2007, 11:40 AM
#5
Contributing Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Slidell, LA
Posts: 2,550
:fyi: if they total it, usually you can buy the title back from them for like $500. We did that with my mom's '94 maxima. Paid like $800 for it at an auction, drove it home. Drove it about 2 years, got in a small fender bender in the rear quarter and the insurnace company totaled it and we got like $3300. Bought the car back from em for $500 (still dorve fine, just body damage) and drove it another couple years LOL.
04-23-2007, 02:23 PM
#6
Let me explain to you about the body structure on the S14. I've been in the auto collision business for over 3 years. I can for sure tell you that any quarter panel job if you end up keeping the original panel on there (and the place you take it to will do it) will be ball park 1000 - 1500 if it is repairable, meaning the body panel should be repaired with metal finish techniques (very rare to find someone these days that knows how to do this) and use ver little bondo. Your car sounds like it got hit and whoever had the car before you decided to slap on a gallon of bondo to make it look like it was never hit.
BTW, bondo is body filler. When you repair a panel, 80% of the time, you cannot make it straight or as smooth as it was before. So you use a little bondo (and I mean LITTLE) to smooth out the area and your set for primer and paint. Most places these days will use A LOT of bondo to make a quick buck off someone who is not going through insurance (or the car was totaled and they dont want to put in the real effort in doing a complete repair job, sometimes their just ghetto in not ding the repairs). Bondo is the cheap repairman's way to make big money off people.
If you go through insurance, they will most likely (depending on how smart your adjuster is, and most of them are not qualified to do their job in the first place) consider your car a "total loss" meaning the cost of repairs exceed the cost of replacing the vehicle and depending on who you have for insurance, it can either be full Kelly Blue Book value or it can be average trade in value from KBB or like Allstate does, they look in the papers and search within a 120 mile radius of your zip code and look for "similar" model S14s like yours and give you the average value from there (usually the lowest price possible from their point of view).
Now, if you want to actually replace the panel without insurance, it gets costly. IIRC, the break down on the last estimate I wrote up for quarter panel repair on my S14 was as follows:
quarter panel: $300 - 400 (this price is for the body shops only, private parties are charged about 20% more from dealers)
removal of rear trunk lid, removeal if rear tail light assembly (damaged side) and removale of rear bumper: 1/2 hour
removal of quarter panel window: 1/2 hour labor
removal of rear windshield: 1 hour
removal of damaged quarter panel: 6 hours
*side note to insurance, depending on additional interior structural damages, cost may increase and may be assessed via supplemental form.*
now, if ONLY the outside quarter panel skin was damaged, the estimate would continue as follows (and 98% of the time, interior structures in the quarter panel section is damaged as well.):
Install new quarter panel skin: 4 hours
Primer and paint time: ~ 4.5 - 5 hours (this includes sanding time)
Install rear bumper, tail light assembly and rear trunk lid: 1/2 hour
Install rear windshield and quarter panel window: 1 hour (if you have the employees there to help)
Auto body shops normally charge by the hour and is usually 65 - 120 dollars an hour. If you go to a deal, expect $120 / hour. So the total "labor" cost at $65 / hour comes out to be: $1170 labor ONLY. Add in the cost of quarter panel, paint and other materials used for the repairs add another $1000 (and Im being generous here).
So a quarter panel job on paper would cost you about $2000 or more if you chose to replace the panel.
Just curious... how much bondo is on your quarter panel? if its THICK... you may want to look for another chassis if insurance totals the car, just salvage all the parts you want to keep before they take the car. If you do plan to find another car, I think my friend might be selling his S14 LE model. I'll have to check with him, he might ATM.
BTW, bondo is body filler. When you repair a panel, 80% of the time, you cannot make it straight or as smooth as it was before. So you use a little bondo (and I mean LITTLE) to smooth out the area and your set for primer and paint. Most places these days will use A LOT of bondo to make a quick buck off someone who is not going through insurance (or the car was totaled and they dont want to put in the real effort in doing a complete repair job, sometimes their just ghetto in not ding the repairs). Bondo is the cheap repairman's way to make big money off people.
If you go through insurance, they will most likely (depending on how smart your adjuster is, and most of them are not qualified to do their job in the first place) consider your car a "total loss" meaning the cost of repairs exceed the cost of replacing the vehicle and depending on who you have for insurance, it can either be full Kelly Blue Book value or it can be average trade in value from KBB or like Allstate does, they look in the papers and search within a 120 mile radius of your zip code and look for "similar" model S14s like yours and give you the average value from there (usually the lowest price possible from their point of view).
Now, if you want to actually replace the panel without insurance, it gets costly. IIRC, the break down on the last estimate I wrote up for quarter panel repair on my S14 was as follows:
quarter panel: $300 - 400 (this price is for the body shops only, private parties are charged about 20% more from dealers)
removal of rear trunk lid, removeal if rear tail light assembly (damaged side) and removale of rear bumper: 1/2 hour
removal of quarter panel window: 1/2 hour labor
removal of rear windshield: 1 hour
removal of damaged quarter panel: 6 hours
*side note to insurance, depending on additional interior structural damages, cost may increase and may be assessed via supplemental form.*
now, if ONLY the outside quarter panel skin was damaged, the estimate would continue as follows (and 98% of the time, interior structures in the quarter panel section is damaged as well.):
Install new quarter panel skin: 4 hours
Primer and paint time: ~ 4.5 - 5 hours (this includes sanding time)
Install rear bumper, tail light assembly and rear trunk lid: 1/2 hour
Install rear windshield and quarter panel window: 1 hour (if you have the employees there to help)
Auto body shops normally charge by the hour and is usually 65 - 120 dollars an hour. If you go to a deal, expect $120 / hour. So the total "labor" cost at $65 / hour comes out to be: $1170 labor ONLY. Add in the cost of quarter panel, paint and other materials used for the repairs add another $1000 (and Im being generous here).
So a quarter panel job on paper would cost you about $2000 or more if you chose to replace the panel.
Just curious... how much bondo is on your quarter panel? if its THICK... you may want to look for another chassis if insurance totals the car, just salvage all the parts you want to keep before they take the car. If you do plan to find another car, I think my friend might be selling his S14 LE model. I'll have to check with him, he might ATM.
04-23-2007, 03:14 PM
#7
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Central Coast, CA
Posts: 237
great response. you obviously take your job seriously and i appreciate that. thanks for all your help.
i do have allstate, and they actually gave me about $5000 on top of the blue book for my 00 maxima, (it was worth only 9k, but one sold for 14k, so they opted for the latter)
i didnt know what bondo looked like, but my dad looked behind the fender liner, and it looks like a ****ty caulking job in rafters. like a pack of chewed gum had been shoved in there. dunno what the under-skin looks like, from other damage, or this guy kicking it. the guy kicked it hard, but right under the window, so its kinda structured, but the crack is like 3 inches from the fender, so its not really well supported.
ill see what i can do. i submitted the quote of $800 but if they give me **** about it, ill tell them i want it done how it should be, with the whole car fixed like it was before this incident.
locale pricing might be hard, cuz im one of 2 owners within a 30 mi radius that own 240's, and none selling in the county (at least in trade express, photo ad, or on cars.com)
--and if they go by blue book, the fix-it quote might get pretty close to kbb retail or trade-in
i do have allstate, and they actually gave me about $5000 on top of the blue book for my 00 maxima, (it was worth only 9k, but one sold for 14k, so they opted for the latter)
i didnt know what bondo looked like, but my dad looked behind the fender liner, and it looks like a ****ty caulking job in rafters. like a pack of chewed gum had been shoved in there. dunno what the under-skin looks like, from other damage, or this guy kicking it. the guy kicked it hard, but right under the window, so its kinda structured, but the crack is like 3 inches from the fender, so its not really well supported.
ill see what i can do. i submitted the quote of $800 but if they give me **** about it, ill tell them i want it done how it should be, with the whole car fixed like it was before this incident.
locale pricing might be hard, cuz im one of 2 owners within a 30 mi radius that own 240's, and none selling in the county (at least in trade express, photo ad, or on cars.com)
--and if they go by blue book, the fix-it quote might get pretty close to kbb retail or trade-in
04-23-2007, 04:27 PM
#8
Yeah, looks like they drilled holes into the panel to pull it out a bit and bondoes the rest. Depending on the brand, bondo can look like chewed gum in either that pale tanish color, purple, red or even blue. I use the purple colored brand... forgot the name. Really strong stuff, wont crack (or at least the ones I've done cheapy jobs on, yes they were a**holes what do you expect?)
Where are you located exactly? I'm in Sacramento area. Depending on what you plan to do, I might be able to help.
Where are you located exactly? I'm in Sacramento area. Depending on what you plan to do, I might be able to help.
Last edited by NiSmO Knight; 04-23-2007 at 04:30 PM.
04-23-2007, 08:46 PM
#9
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Central Coast, CA
Posts: 237
Im in central CA, about 30 miles north of San Luis Obispo, and about an hour South of Monterey. definitely wouldnt mind driving the distance to give it to someone who knows their stuff though.
04-23-2007, 08:58 PM
#10
I sold off my share of the business a while back (differences with partners)
They were pulling off fraudulent BS while I was trying to run a legit shop. Luckily I got out when I did. I do have a guy in Sac that can do a really good job. He and I have the same concept in automotive collision repair. I can refer you over to him, he did a kick *** job on my truck about a year ago (still surprised Im alive.)
So what do you plan on doing? are you re-bondoing the panel? or going through insurance?
They were pulling off fraudulent BS while I was trying to run a legit shop. Luckily I got out when I did. I do have a guy in Sac that can do a really good job. He and I have the same concept in automotive collision repair. I can refer you over to him, he did a kick *** job on my truck about a year ago (still surprised Im alive.)
So what do you plan on doing? are you re-bondoing the panel? or going through insurance?
04-23-2007, 09:13 PM
#11
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Central Coast, CA
Posts: 237
i have enough **** through insurance, so i might just get it done myself, and either let the law work itself out, and he'll end up paying me back, or sue him and get it back. dunno when all this **** is going down yet, but either way, he'll have to pay.
04-24-2007, 12:44 PM
#13
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Central Coast, CA
Posts: 237
yeah, and i was actually thinking of printing this thread out to show the cop investigating it, proving that it will cost way more than what i thought. sure, a body shop is reputable, but i think specialists of this car would be more convincing, personally