What to do with wrecked car?

[stonewall]

My daughter had a little fender bender. She’s fine. Car is a 2010 Avalon , 190k miles. No collision coverage

I’m inclined to take to a body shop and just get it fixed.

If we were to look for a new vehicle, what do you do about this one? I’m assuming it needs to be fixed before selling it anyway.

Thoughts?

 

[PNWGATOR]

Glad your daughter is okay.

Have gear get a roll of Gorilla or duct tape and move along.

 

[jimh406]

I would get it fixed, but make sure you take it to a good shop that you trust for an estimate.

Fwiw, if it's been maintained, I don't know why you'd replace it. 190K isn't that many miles.

 

[Maverick1]

Take it to several body shops and get a couple of estimates. Explain to them that you want it to look "reasonable" and not be "perfect" - there are many options they may have if you tell them where you are coming from and what you want to accomplish.

From there you can make a decision on whether or not to sell or move on to something else. The market for selling is much better if it looks like it is in reasonable shape. Very few people are going to pay a reasonable amount for a vehicle that looks damaged.

Good luck!

 

[Gone4Days]

When my wife got into accident with 2006 grand caravan (paid for/liability only) I had it towed to my home and put it on OfferUp and listed it for best offer. A guy came gave me $750 for it to part it out, etc. It was probably only worth $4k before the accident.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Get a few estimates and go from there. With repair cost these days it may not be worth fixing it. I had a minor fender bender a few months back, not near as bad as that. $1300.

 

[Ralphie]

I’d look into buying the parts and putting it back together myself. Wife hit a deer with our 98 Corolla liability only. Ordered new hood, headlight corner light AC condenser and radiator. Really wasn’t that bad to put back.

I straightened the radiator support out with a come along

For this to work out you probably need to be ok with it not looking as new, especially the paint Of the new parts.

 

[CorbLand]

Get some estimates and go from there. Remember with auto work that they can only estimate what they can see, so it could be more than they quote you.

August 2021, I went to my grandpas funeral and had a tree branch fall on the car. Cost 1100 bucks to get it fixed and that was the cheapest quote.

 

[jimh406]

Explain to them that you want it to look "reasonable" and not be "perfect" - there are many options they may have if you tell them where you are coming from and what you want to accomplish.

Fwiw, I've seen some "reasonable" jobs. They didn't tape off very well or match the paint very well.

That would be a waste of money for me since I'd be bothered by the poor job every time I looked at it. I think a 2010 Avalon deserves a bit better.

 

[grfox92]

I would get it fixed, but make sure you take it to a good shop that you trust for an estimate.

Fwiw, if it's been maintained, I don't know why you'd replace it. 190K isn't that many miles.

This is good avice.

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[survivalistd]

Agreed 190k is nothing for a Toyota

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[fngTony]

Not an estimator but in the industry. Here’s how shops operate. They all use one of three repair softwares for an initial estimate. You will (red flag if they don’t) be told that a supplementary estimate will be written upon disassembly. If you get several estimates and one is significantly low that’s a sign of getting you in the door and hit you with a high supplement or an inexperienced estimator.

Parts might be hard to come by or slow to arrive due to the age and not being a popular car.

Definitely look into fixing that, doesn’t look like any structural issues.

 

[summs]

As a redneck, that's repairable. Pull the front bumper off your self and look for anything that's been bent or leaking badly. And get a new headlight. Your hood doesn't even look pushed up past a 1/4 inch. Nothing a mallet couldnt fix. I feel the cars a bit to new but not worth enough to throw $1000 at it. After my beater car hit a deer, it was just shy of $250 out of pocket to buy a new bumper, headlight and some rattle can gray and clear (not paint matching) to get it on the road again.

Order this and slap it on

https://www.carparts.com/details/Toyota/Avalon/Replacement/2008-2010/KIT-090417-87.html?srsltid=AR57-fCPgn7UtR5w5qEi422UKJAucCWhL6p38aoeMv3b03UU-d0ulAIqyBg

 

[FLATHEAD]

My son backed into a fence post with his door open. Just a small, maybe 2"
dent, 1200$.
May not be worth fixing.

 

[Gutshotem]

Fill that bad boy with tannerite and make money on the YouTube views

 

[Boarmaster]

I would get an estimate. If the estimate is higher or even close to the value of the car I would buy a new car.
I would try and trade the wreck in if I bought the new car from a car dealer if not then sell the car to someone who thinks they can fix it up.

 

[Laelkhunter]

If the airbags didn't deploy in the accident, should be a lot cheaper to repair than if they did. If you choose to make the repairs yourself, try to find out how to work around the airbag sensors in the front end to prevent them from deploying the airbags. I seem to remember that something bad can happen if they deploy (costs a lot more $$ to repair). Maybe someone else can add their experience with it. I do agree that it would be worth repairing.

 

[WKR]

If you have the know how or know someone that does, fix it yourself with body parts from a dismantler . It will save you thousands.

 

[Fatcamp]

Zip ties and spray paint

 

[5MilesBack]

Several years ago my daughter hit a road sign with a Honda Odyssey that just about split the right front of it in half. Missed the radiator so it was still driveable. But needed a new hood, bumper, right fender, windshield fluid tank was completely smashed, and a few other things. Two different shops quoted between $5k and $6k to repair. The van was worth less than that. Then we found a guy that a friend knew and he completely repaired it all for $1200........color matching as well. She drove it another three years without any issues and then sold it for $4k.