My Car Got Crushed

[Bruce Urie]

While I'm not a bodyman, I will say, IMHO, that car is very repairable from the pictures posted. I would NEVER allow it to be totaled. I have been around damaged vehicles for over 30 years (in the insurance industry) and do know a little. Find a body shop and start buying parts. If you don't have a shop where you are, there are 2 in my town that would repair that and you would never know there was any damage done.

Now that's what I call real, positive confidence......:wink: I'm sure you know this for a fact.....wish I had a body shop like that around here.

Bruce '87 GRand National

 

[Bruce Urie]

I agree with Dennis and the rest of the guys here....it's totally fixable and that's what I'd would do.....keep that GN on the road....it's worth getting fixed. Being hit in the rear is not as problematic as being smashed in the front....you could have engine part damage, and all those special front end specifics (black grill, headlight trims, side marker lights, innercooler parts, etc) can add up to a really large replacement cost....the rear lights can be had off of any '84-'87 Regal, plus the trunk and rear quarter pane......., the bumper can be stripped of chome then powercoated, rubber rub strip is still available at a good price, body parts can come off of any Regal....Brian, (GBODYPARTS) Dennis (Kirban Performance) James (ttaowner) Bob (Innercooler88s) Glen (NOS4GN, HIGHWAYSTARS) all have parts available to make your GN whole again, plus quite a few other guys here whos screen names I can't remember at the moment can help with parts. It just takes some time and patience and that, my friend, is up to you....I hope you make the right choice as it's a beautiful GN, even in wrecked form. Just my opinion, of course.

Again, sorry to see those pictures....made me cringe..

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[gordyzx9r]

...the people around here aren't really up on these cars. Any help is appreciated.

You'd be surprised how many TR owners there are out that way, more so as you venture out towards Nashville and further east towards Shelbyville. They're just quiet...

...but really, most of the damage looks to be something that a reputable body shop should be able to take care of. It's been awhile since I've been to Clarksville and I would have to look up names, but I know the Buick dealership actually had a really good paint and body shop there (at the time, circa 2001) because they fixed some "repairs" that a local shop tried to do on my GN. There was/is a really good shop off of 41A close to post...it was one of the shops highly recommended by USAA and they did really good work on my Audi when it was tagged.

 

[GNgift]

Make your Insurance company deal with it. If they screw you around give me a call and I will help you make them pay... I know how to deal with these people. It's not an ordinary car. If they refuse to fix it then we move on to the transportation company who owns the fuel truck while we wait for the insurance commisioner to deal with them.. DO NOT SETTLE.. DO NOT SELL YOUR CAR if you really love it. If you really could care less about it you could sell it to someone here who IS going to fix it. But dont give it away.. Its worth some good money still...

 

[INEEDAGN]

I think the biggest problem to face here is the depreciation of the car. Even though we all know that it can be fixed 100%, it still attaches a stigma to the car that would make collectors shy away. And it will be hard to get insurance to pay for that, even if you get paid good to fix it. So if you can convince them to total it for you due to frame damage you may be ahead to do so even if it sticks a salvage title on the car. Then its up to you if you wanna buy it back, past experience with others on this site suggests that its worth more than they'll want for it and you can come out ok on it.

 

[87Turbo-TWE4]

I talked with the adjuster for the tanker company and he said, "so the guy just basically ran over the back of you." I'm told him abou the car being a GN and he knew the cars. Hi last words were, "we're going to contact USAA and we're going to get you paid." That's really all I know right now.