65Delta

Last night I got rear ended by a 17 yr old kid playing with his iPhone. He was going about 25mph and hit her dead on. I can't even begin to describe how angry I am. She needs a bumper, gas tank, rear deck lid, work on the tail panel, and a kink massaged out of the Right quarter panel. Anyone have recommendations on a good body shop in Western NC (Asheville area)? Where can I find parts? Desert Valley Auto Parts?

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DarrylJ

I would have probably strangled him on the spot and be sitting in jail! Very sorry about what happened. Hopefully he learned a lesson but I doubt it. Check Hemmings motor news for some parts. There might be some junkyards down your way. You guys don't have the rust issues like us notherners! DVAP has lots of cars but they are very expensive. Good Luck on the fix.

65Delta

Believe me when I say it took every ounce of self-retraint I had to not strangle the kid. I had to physically distance myself from him as hearing him talk was making me more angry by the minute. He basically shrugged his shoulders at the cop and asked when he could go. I didn't see any remorse in him at all.
I'm trying to prepare for dealing with a "modern" insurance company (he had one of the big names that always advertises on TV). Does anyone still make acrylic lacquer paint? I'm thinking they'll end up having to respray the entire car in base coat/clear coat to get her to match.

oldstata

Sorry to hear ! The bad thing is they will try and total it rather pay you for the repairs do you have classic insurance ? If so I would pay my deductible and let them deal with it, once they finalize everything you would get it back.

That kink don't look to bad at all but yes they would have to blend and reclear most of that quarter maybe even into the door.

oldcutlass

Sorry about your misfortunate incident, hopefully it will turn out ok.

pcard

Good luck Mate.

71cutlassdroptop

you can call vicks classic cars. he is near Blacksburg/Gaffney SC. he might have something. Sorry to hear about your car.

Olds442redberet

Sorry for your bad luck. Hopefully you'll find the right shop and get her back into shape.
Good luck

redoldsman

Another little dipstick punk. I would have taken his phone and smashed it. I don't believe you would go to jail for that. Sorry about the accident. No way around it, it is going to be a pain in the butt.

coppercutlass

If the kids insurance is paying for it. take it to the shop of your choice. no insurance company can make you go to a particular shop . Its your choice Your call. When I crashed my 72 the insurance told me to locate parts , prices , and the websites and they would pay me what the parts cost. For parts that where not in production such as the core support we went off of what ebay units where plus 20 percent. They also payed me the going rate for labor. I fixed it my self but had the choice to take it to any shop of my choice. Many resto shops will do insurance work or atleast they do In my area.



I feel your pain I have been there my self .

jaunty75

Before you start looking for parts, take it to a good body shop and let them tell you what they can't fix. I had a similar experience very recently (last month), and I thought I'd be looking for parts. Someone backed into my '73 wagon in a parking lot. It turned out the shop was able to repair everything. Granted, the damage wasn't as severe as yours, but still, wait until you know what you need and then start looking.

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The gas tank is a different issue as I don't know what's involved in repairing a dented one if it can be repaired at all.

65Delta

The kid is 100% at fault so his insurance should cover the entire thing. I'll get my collector insurance involved as a last resort. I want to be prepared for the possibility that his insurance will try and total her out, citing lack of parts availability, etc.
Vick's classic cars is a good lead. I'll have to call them and see what they have in their inventory.


To CopperCutlass' point I need to find the right shop. I've found a few thus far that look promising: http://tdcustoms.com/PhotoGallery.html http://www.bealandcompanyinc.com/


I am worried about the gas tank. I'd imagine a new filler neck could be welded (brazed?) on the tank if it isn't buckled. Fortunately the tank didn't rupture when I got hit...the exhaust system isn't far away from the tank.

coppercutlass

there are shops that repair gas tanks/radiators. We have a few here I would imagine there would be some down south too.

ThePackRat

That sucks.

Stupid lil' twerp.

Sadly we will only being seeing more & more of this sort of thing.

Koda

Do not settle for anything less than perfect. Your insurance company can help you here with no penalty to you. Also, a lawyer can help, and he'll pay for it.

rocketraider

It'll be worth paying a lawyer for a couple hours work to send the kid's insurer a letter b/c I can guarantee his insurer will want to total it for bottom dollar.

Copy the letter to his parents and go after them if necessary. Texting while driving is primary offense in NC and cell phone use while driving by under 18 is flat illegal. http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions...DF/S1289v8.pdf

Parts availability? Tell the insurance company that is THEIR problem, since their driver is at fault.

Als1956rocket

Damn punks and those bloody cell phones...I see it every day. Cars weaving carelessly while some idiot texts on his phone...
I hope you can get your car fixed as good as new.

65Delta

I hope I can get her fixed too. I'm stuck in insurance he&& right now. The "big box" insurance company (kid's insurance) is moving slowly and doing some odd things, like checking tread depth on my tires.


I called Vick's and he didn't have anything to offer. Any other thoughts on where to source parts?

ThePackRat

<sarcasm mode on>

Why should they pay if they can find some way to make you out as a not-so-innocent victim ?.

It's what they do.

Next they will hire a team of people to track down any & everyone in your past no matter how insignificant they might seem ... to try & dig up dirt on you.

Better hope your childhood playmates don't recall you smashing Tonka trucks together or something ... or the jig will be up.

VI Cutty

It's not just the kids, unfortunately. Saw two middle aged people driving erratically while texting on a winding highway yesterday.

Aron Nance

I feel your pain, 65Delta! So sorry for the (another) idiotic driver not paying attention, and using the text feature of his phone. Wish they had never invented the damned things................don't get me started!

Mr Shifty Sidney

I may have a trunk lid. I cant remember if I got rid of it or not. For some reason I thought you were in southern Indiana at some time??? I will try to look in the next few days.

Don W

albert8b

Call CTC Auto Ranch in Denton, TX 940-482-3007 They have that same model and they ship too. Tell them Albert told you to call. Good Luck.

Als1956rocket

Wow...sometimes I think we need to just turn off those damn phones once in a while. I remember the pre-cell phone days. How life was simple then.

BLUE72RAGTOP

[QUOTE=65Delta;702948]I hope I can get her fixed too. I'm stuck in insurance he&& right now. The "big box" insurance company (kid's insurance) is moving slowly and doing some odd things, like checking tread depth on my tires.


Don't worry too much about that. The adjuster doesn't know what the car is worth and is collecting all the info he needs to submit a request for a value on your car. He has to process your claim as a total loss if the estimate exceeds 75% of the Actual Cash Value, but the value will be higher than he thinks. Auto damage adjusters aren't necessarily experts on classic cars. Even if he is, he will have to prove it to the bean counters. Nevertheless, it is probably better to use your own insurance and have them subrogate for damages against the other insurance company if you have classic car insurance or a stated value policy. If the kid was ticketed, there is no question of liability and your insurance company can likely waive your deductible and collect it from the adverse carrier. I wish I knew the shops in your area a little better. If you can't find anyone there, I could make a suggestion in Hickory if you want to PM me. Until I retired last year, I was a licensed adjuster in NC. Sorry for your aggravation and loss!

Als1956rocket

Too bad you live so far away...I have a good friend who owns a body shop up here, which specializes in vintage/hot Rods/ customs. He does an excellent job on vintage cars!
https://www.facebook.com/SRL.PAINT.SHOP

Tedd Thompson

I feel your grief, If it was my problem I would for sure get my insurance company involved, done that and it worked out well for me. Do you have classic car insurance with agreed value or regular type insurance ? If regular insurance they will for sure try to total it out and is doubtful you will get a decent price on your car. If you have classic insurance you will be good to go and your car should be put back like it was...Just my thoughts ... Tedd

rocketraider

Unless things have changed collector insurance in NC is weird, because NC requires any insurance company writing policies in the state to maintain an office in the state. Some of the dedicated collector insurance companies don't write insurance in NC because of that.

There was an effort to change that requirement a few years back but not sure what came of it.

65Delta

I do have collector insurance and I have spoken with them. The big box adjuster came out earlier this week and she said the car wasn't totaled. My subsequent conversations with the big box company involved an initial repair quote so low that I don't think it would buy a well used 2002 Cavalier.
They are firmly in denial. I have to find someone locally who is willing to quote a repair in order to counter them.

65Delta

Update: The insurance company officially totaled her. The amount of settlement is enough that I can look for a comparable car. They're supposed to pick her up early next week but, if possible I'd rather leave her in the driveway and not be there when the wrecker comes. I don't think I could take watching that.

oldstata

Why don't you see if you can buy it back they usually sell them back pretty cheap it will have a salvage/ rebuilt title tho

pcard

Blue rag tell him not to do that. There must be a way around this. Try to make a deal with your insurance company. What are they going to do with her, send her to scrap?

Koda

Utter bullshit that that damage is totalable. Why isn't your classic car insurance company involved? You don't have to take the total payout.

slantflat

Just remember it's still your car, you are in control. You don't have to take any payment or make any deals until you are completely satisfied with the outcome. Just don't sign anything until then.

oldcutlass

Did a local body shop estimate the cost of repair? You still have options if your not happy with the end result as long as you don't cash the check. On the other hand if your satisfied, then life is good.

jaunty75

The thing that everyone seems to be assuming here is that only acceptable option is to find a way to fix the damaged car. That's the gut reaction from anyone in the old car hobby, and it's understandable.

But we have to be clear-headed and objective here. Another, perhaps more preferable, possibility, which is one the OP seems to be pursuing, is to recognize that getting the damaged car repaired might not be so easy, and, if the settlement gives him enough money to replace the damaged car, which he seems to think it does, then that's the way to go.

With apologies to Rudyard Kipling, a car is just a car, but a good cigar is a smoke. This is just a car we're talking about here, not a human life, and if a good replacement for the damaged one can be found for the money available, that might be the simpler, wiser course of action.

joe_padavano

The fundamental problem is that no one is making any more of these cars. Once that one is scrapped, there's one less vintage Olds on the planet. Sorry, but that is NOT a difficult repair, and parts are available. We don't know the settlement amount, but I strongly suspect that it's a lowball number.

jaunty75

True. But once a model year passes, they're not making any more of any cars.

But one person can't save the world. Collectively, we all want to preserve as many of these cars as possible, and we all do that just by being in this hobby. But individually, depending on the circumstances, we need to act in our own self-interest.

While this car may end up scrapped, it certainly has parts that could be donated to other cars, and how is that a bad thing? This car dies so other cars can live. This might not be the ideal end for this particular car, but it's certainly not an ignoble one.

joe_padavano

Because that almost certainly won't happen. It will be sold for scrap metal value. It might sit in a wrecking yard for a couple of weeks tops. At that point it will be crushed and melted down.

66400

Here's my guess to this cars future if the insurance company ends up with it. Insurance company does not sell the car for scrap. It will wind up at an insurance salvage pool for auction and likely sell for some decent money. Possible buyer may build the car or end up offering it on ebay.

Henry