Vermont > AWD DSM

So I was heading to VT to do some skiing. I got to about 15 miles away from Okemo and the roads were really bad after the snowstorm they got on Friday. I hit some ice going about 25-30 and slid into the opposing lane (luckily there were no cars there) and bounced the front off the guard rail. The car then spun the other way and banged the rear. All said and done, I was facing the right way on the other side of the road.

This link might work. If it doesn't I'll upload the pics when I get home from work. I snapped them with my cell phone so the quality sucks.

http://www.t-mobilepictures.com/TJsPictures/EclipsePics/ps/ALBUM/VIEWWEBSITE?foneblog=1135016469299

Neither me or my passenger was hurt which is the most important part.

After the accident, I drove it to the hotel where I was going to be staying. The whole ride felt awful because it felt like the car was trying to twist when I would accelerate. I got to the hotel and then looked up the number to a shop. It was a chevy dealership (Alderman's Chevrolet, Rutland, VT HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY ME!!!!!) and they tested the alignment. Turns out, something in my steering was broken, driver side tie-rod end was broken (they told me I was lucky to make it from Ludlow to Rutland, about 30 miles) and the frame is bent.

Insurance is going to take care of it but I'm hoping they don't declare it totalled. They will be appraising it in the next week or so. If they do, it might be time to get another car. I'll have to make the call when I find out if I want to get another DSM or not. I'll keep you all posted.

Damn, that really sucks. Hopefully you will get it fixed soon

A bent frame at 25-30 mph? Sounds kinda iffy to me, I would get a second opinion.

So I got some news from the body shop and insurance appraiser today. It looks like when I bounced off the front fender and spun around to hit the back, it hit the rear wheel directly and potentially broke some of the cast iron in the area. The insurance guy told me that there is a high probability that they are going to consider the car totalled and just hand me a check. It's a sad day for me. I really don't want to give up my car but I don't want to spend huge money to get it safe to drive.

Now I'm in a predicament. I think I can buy the totalled car from the insurance company for fairly cheap, but do you think it will be worth it to part it out? I'd have to tow it about 200 miles back to my place. You can see all the mods in my sig. The car is in Rutland, Vermont. Is anybody interested in the car or the parts or does anyone have some suggestions as to what to do? Thanks.

i think it just depends on how much they give u for your car and how much they will sell it back to u.

Yeah. You're right. I'll find out the rest of the info tomorrow. I don't think I'll have to decide what to do right away. If they call it totalled, I'm tempted to just take a check and leave the car. It'd be sad because I probably could get at least some money for the turbo and other mods as well as the wheel but I'm not sure it's going to be worth the effort. I don't know where the car will go but it might be worth someones while to head up and raid the junkyard it ends up at. I'll let you all know.

lol im 40 minutes from rutland in NY, Where abouts you live?

oh i forgot to mention, it would be alot better to part out the car, if you do not want the car just strip it 1st of all the performance stuff

I live in Boston. I would love to part it out if they declare it totalled. I just have to figure out the details of getting to the car, getting the stuff out and then dropping off the rest at a junkyard somewhere. I don't really have the means to store the car where I'm living so I'd have to only grab the big things and leave the rest. When I find out what's happening maybe we can talk if you are interested in any of it since you are close.

i would love to buy that 16g turbo from you for a reasonable price if that is ok with you

GOOD NEWS (for me at least). I got a call from the insurance company today. It turns out they are going to declare my car totalled, which sucks. BUT the insurance company is giving me $5,500(!!!!). They offered to sell the car back to me for $400, which I accepted.

Now, I have two options.

Plan A:
The current plan is to drive up and trailer the car back to FL where I have a garage to keep it stored until I can find a good place to have the frame straightened and somewhere decent to to fix the body.

Plan B: Try to sell the car or parts of it off and use the money to get another car. I'm just not sure how much it is going to cost the fix the whole thing. Plus, it basically won't be able to be resold with the "Totalled" on his history report except to a DSM enthusiast or unsuspecting friend (j/k).

What would you do?

i would go with plan A. the car dosen't look that bad from the pictures and i bet it wont be to much to get it fix, mybe a grand or so. the way i see it, u got 4 grand to do what ever u want to your ride.

i would sell me the turbo =D

I dont know about only a grand to fix it. I got a dent on my rear qtr panel one day(long story). And I got estimates from 3 different places(800, 700, and 500) So if its 800-500 for just a dent...you got two dents; plus the other things you mentioned. I think you can almost deffinatly get it fixed though with the 5Gs. You might even have a grand or so left over when your done. If I was you I think I'd get estimates on repairs first and see what its going to cost. If it turns out to be too much you could always use that 5G to get another dsm and just part your old car out to your new one. Good luck with your situation and let us know how it all goes.

I would just take all your mods off and buy another GSX and put them on there. I'm sure you can find one for about 5,500. Or just buy like a 1g and use the extra cash to buy an sbr 6bolt, and put the mods you can on that car. heheh

I would really look in the car in detail and if it turns out to be just a big head ache then i would part it out. Just remember tho if you do decide to fix it and put more mods and other stuff in the car you will never get a big value for that car again, since you will have to get a salvaged title now. But let me know maybe we can talk about parts you want to get rid of if you go plan b

Eric

True enough. I talked to the shop where it is at and they gave me a quote of $1500 to straighten the frame and repair all the damage done to the rear wheel area. After that, the car will be drivable again, but not pretty. The place also has a body shop and I'll be getting a quote on Tuesday on how much it will be to repair the cosmetic damage. If its too much, I'll just keep the remaining money and put it toward a new car and just drive my car around until then. I'll be pissed off driving around with a crappy looking car, but it still will function. I haven't completely figured out what to do since I'm still waiting on estimates but I would prefer to get my car back to pre-accident condition rather than get rid of it. I don't mind spending the full insurance amount doing that.

If you decide to part it out im interested in the logger and the wires :)

For anybody who cares, here is an update about my car situation.

I left the car in VT to have the mechanical work done (straighten frame, fix ball joint and tie rod end ect...) and I was waiting to get back a quote to get the body work done. Well, when my dad called up today, it turns out that over the past weekend, someone broke into my car. Apparently they tried taking the radio but couldn't, smashed the front windshield and the car was found with the hood open. The dealership where I left it, didn't give any details on whether anything from the engine bay was missing.

They are shirking responsibility. They told me initally they would be able to keep the car up there and perform all the work on it and now they are saying that they are not responsible for any of the break in damage and they want to charge me to store the car. What pricks.

Worst part is, I probably won't get any help from the insurance company since they declared the car totalled about 2 weeks ago. I haven't talked to them yet about these new findings.

My dad is going to be calling the dealership back later to figure out whats going on and what will happen. I'll keep you posted. Right now, I'm ready to just say screw it walk away from the whole situation.

damn that sucks, hope everything works out for you.

I left the car in VT

I read that first sentence and I knew you where about to say that your car was broken in to....thats too bad, sometimes your luck sucks.

Right now, I'm ready to just say screw it walk away from the whole situation.

Dude, that would be the bitch thing to do, I am sure you have had a real bad past 2-3 weeks, but dont let anyone walk all over you like that, call the dealership up and just start complaining like crazy, I am sure you will get your way.

The final problem is that they came back with a quote of $3000 just to do the body work from the crash. It leaves me about $600 to deal with the break in and anything that could possibly be missing. It just doesn't seem worth it. I can invest the $5100 in a new car. Just really upset about the situation right now...

Round 2 of discussions with the dealership reveals that the driver side window was broken, the driver side door interior was ripped off, the plastic moulding around the radio was destroyed and the armrest was damaged. Windshield is fine and engine bay was untouched. It makes me feel a little better about the situation. I'm going to restore the car completely and keep it.

The total body repair bill was $3200. I can't do much about labor but some of the parts seemed rediculously priced. There are 4 major things that need replacing: Front bumper cover, front fender, headlights, tail lights. The prices quoted respectively are: $332.27, $246.57, $393.85 and $157.18.

I think I can definitely do the head lights and tail lights cheaper on ebay. I'd get some halos for the front and replace the altezza lights in the back. What about body parts? Anyone had any luck with stock replacement body parts? I'm not looking to kit the car or anything, I like the stock look. Thoughts?

Check the junk yard for a new fender, Bumper and all that shit. You might be able to find everything your looking for alot cheaper...

Sorry to hear about this!

Here is my eBay finds. I feel dirty about getting the fender and bumper but it seems legit. The sellers got good ratings for the most part. Now I'm tempted just to pay the extra bucks for the OEM body parts just to make sure it works out. I don't really have any good way of going junkyard hopping as I am now completely rideless otherwise I'd probably go that route. The major sucky part is that the car is so far away. I can't just drop off parts for them to use. I'm going to have to convice the ebay sellers to ship to the dealership (wish me luck).

Front Fender:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-99-MITSUBISHI-ECLIPSE-FENDER-LEFT-PRIMED-BRAND-NEW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33644QQitemZ8025616 977QQrdZ1

Front bumper cover:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-96-MITSUBISHI-ECLIPSE-BUMPER-FRONT-PRIMED-NEW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33640QQitemZ8025622 361QQrdZ1

Front Headlights:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-96-MITSUBISHI-ECLIPSE-HALO-PROJECTOR-HEADLIGHTS_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33710QQitemZ 8026622618QQrdZ1

Read Taillights:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TYC-ECLIPSE-95-99-ALTEZZA-TAILLIGHTS-CLEAR-TAIL-LIGHTS_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33716QQitemZ8026 124096QQrdZ1

Definitly get your parts of of ebay. It looks like the sellers are legit, I have seen the front bumper on ebay before for like $35 (before shipping), to me this seems like the perfect oppurtunity for you to convert you 95 to a 97-99, go and buy the 97-99 halos, and forget the altezzas, stick with stock.....GL

Damn i should have went on my gut instinct to post and tell you sooner. I will tell you right now sorry man. Rutland is a very bad place, alot of breakins there and other shit. I live 45 minutes from rutland on the NY side of course lol. But i have a few friends in rutland and they tell me some bad shit about cars getting broke into all the time. The hot shit over there right now are the imports.