So,I met this kid...by ACCIDENT!

[Subarunation 713]

Well the 96 OBW 2.2 5 speed with 164,000 miles has come to an untimely end. My new friend Jason pulled right out in front of me as I was driving my wife's car. I was going through my green light when he made a right turn on red. When you do this you are supposed to Stop, Look for traffic, Yield to oncoming traffic, and Proceed with CAUTION. Well he had the proceed correct! Poor kid, his dad got there and was PISSED OFF! It made me think back 20+ years when I did that with my dad's car. It won't be the end of the world if he learns from it and becomes a better driver for the next 40+ years. I know my accident when I was 17 made me a better driver from then to now.

 

I bought the car back from the insurance company. They totaled it. The hood, right front fender, bumper assembly, lights, fender support and assorted crap. The ABS pump is fine. The horn even survived. It drives down the road fine. Brakes fine and doesn't pull.

 

It has value to me as the new Yokohama Avid tires are about 8 weeks old and I know it's history and I know how well I maintained it.

 

I SUCK at body work. Mechanics and I get along great. My question is this, what would you do with it? Sell it? Fix it, and if so, what are used body pieces generally like? An used spindle/wheel hub doesn't have dents and the rust doesn't matter. It is either solid or not acceptable. A hood? Well it could be fine, have rust but still be ok, have dents but still be sellable. If I drive to Wisconsin to and the hood, fender, whatever sucks I just wasted 8 hours plus some gas.

 

I guess I am just asking for some informed advice.

 

thanks,

Greg

 

btw-What did I do 24 hours and 20 minutes before my accident? you guessed it, REDUCED my insurance coverage!

[blitz]

Glad you're OK.

 

Drivers pulling out into traffic without looking is the reason you won't catch me on a motorcycle ...anymore. WAY too many close calls.

 

I'm not experirenced with body work either, but you might be able to find some halfway decent salvage parts you could bolt-on yourself. The color will probably be different tho, but it beats driving around with crumpled panels.

 

My advice would be to make your decision purely a financial one (factor in the good mechanical condition), but leave the emotions out. Do a little more research on what it'll cost to half-azz fix-it yourself v.s. what you'll get selling it. No need to rush the decision either.

[felipe01forester]

Brother, I feel your pain. I was in the same situation with my dad's almost-like-new 1969 VW back in October. Going through a green light, this woman tried turning left from the opposite side of the street, I plowed right into her because I didn't have time to stop. Bug got totaled and the idiot woman in the other car WASN'T INSURED!!!

 

Anyway, I'm glad you're OK because no matter how dear they were to you, cars can be replaced. Lives, however, cannot.

 

Oh and BTW, we got $4000 for the Bug. I think you should just total the Outback because you'll probably spend much more than it's worth trying to get it fixed.

[ballitch]

if what you say is true, your just dealing with mostly crumpled sheet metal, i say fix it up, you got paid from the insurance, you bought it back, use the money to fix it up and maybe try to sell it then if you still dont want it. if it just a buper and bumper support, fenders, hood. and nothing mechanical really, i say just fix it up and deal with the totalled/reconstructed title.

 

 

 

~Josh~

[Subarunation 713]

(snip)deal with the totalled/reconstructed title.

~Josh~

The beauty is it is and will remain a clean title. It will show up on a CARFAX report as an accident but not a total/salvage certificate.

 

It will require some cutting and welding. I am GREAT with the torch aka "The Gas Wrench" but my skills with the welder....well they leave much to be desired!

 

Thanks for the input, please keep it coming.

 

Greg

[Andyjo]

Lift it and use it as an Off-Road beast

If the damage isn't that bad to the fenders etc, unbolt em, get a hammer, and see if you can pound the dents out... did that with one of my fenders, then i re-painted it, there's still some dings.. but it's better than haveing a 'concave-in' fender

I'd also suggest finding a junk/salvage yard and seeing if you can find some new body panels there, re-painting them isn't that bad.

OR... the least fun option (in my eyes) is get a whole lot of bondo... and do it up that way... uhg, that would suck.

[STRANGELUCK65]

all week i fix trainwrecks for the local subaru dealer (mastro subaru-tampa).base your desision on structural demensions.measure from rear fender bolt to forward fender bolt on the opposite side,this is called an x-out. is the damage above the frame rails? is one or both rails bent?if so you could sub out the frame straightening to a bodyshop and finish it yourself.contrary to popular belief,mig welders are simple to use - if i can teach a big tittied blonde girlfriend to use one it aint that hard.if you choose to attemt to fix it and need demensions,let me know.like i said,this is what i do for a living.the way people drive here in tampa-i make a damn good living.

[Green96GT]

if i can teach a big tittied blonde girlfriend to use one it aint that hard.

 

Can you post some pics? ; ^)

[cookie]

First you need to figure out if it is worth it. As the gentleman with the lady friend above says it's much more difficult if the car is bent badly. If you have to pay a frame shop to straighten the car it runs into money.

Find out what the parts will cost, exactly what the car will sell for, and how much work you think it will be and double it.

When my 85 mercedes 190 E was rear ended I bought it back from the insurance. New motor, tranny, etc. The estimate was about $5,000 to replace the tail panel, trunk lid, and paint if I recall. The car only booked about $4,000.

They gave me a salvage title by reporting to DMV. This was a real pain as I had to get a lights inspection that cost a few hundred in the end. This is in CA so things may be different where you are.

I bought a K Mart jack and a trunklid that matched in color from a junk yeard and spent a weekend blocking and jacking the deck area square.

I lived with the bumper scratch and cracked tailight and got another year out of it.

Still have the K Mart jack....