What is $2000 in damages?

[coriolis]

Well, at least I got an honest answer, a private seller mentioned his car was in an accident, he wasn`t at fault, but it happened, and he didn`t want to hide it from me.

He had insurance claim it, and the collision report was left front fender, bumper, headlights, and wheels. There was no frame damage, and the total was about $2000.


Is that alot, for an accident? I haven`t replied to him yet though. I would normally walk away, but the asking price was pretty fair as he did mention straight away that it was in an accident. He did mention I could bring it to my mechanic without a problem. Should I not bother and just walk away, or pull a CarProof and let my mechanic look at it?


Thanks.

[stevenma188]

I don't think $2000 damage is too serious depending on the year of the car. As an example, if the airbags deploy, that's $2000 in damages by itself, plus all the other stuff that got damaged.

I would say take it to a mechanic. I don't really buy into CarFax/CarProof.

[fini]

I got into a 2k accident before. Dont worry about it. I had my rear fender tail light and bumper replaced. It was all superficial damage. Nothing to do with frame or anything like that

[SonicBoy]

Did you actually see the repair estimate and all the parts? If you could see a picture of the damaged car, it would help you to better decide. How about who did the repairs? If you knew that you could research them and see if they are reputable.

It's really up to you if you're willing to accept that there might be hidden items. Even if you take it to your mechanic, he/she may not be able to determine the extent of the damage and repair.

[ricohman]

2k?
Bumper and a headlight.

[poke65]

Having just a drivers side fender & headlight replaced and front bumper repainted on my then 3 year old cavalier was over a grand so 2000 is'nt to much

[aris]

You should ask him if her would let you take it to your own mechanic to over look the car...and if he says no then don't bother

[coriolis]

Thanks, unfortunately, my family mechanic doesn`t do much work besides the usual maintenance(never had an accident or major failure for any of our cars, late 90`s Corolla and mid 90`s Sonata), so I think I don`t want to bring the car to him.

However, I`ve been reading alot of reviews on Street Performance, and I think I`ll call them and see if I can set up something. This is assuming the seller allows me to take the car, as I`m pushing the reason of the accident as a major reason why I want to make sure that everything was repaired properly. Might be a small accident, but in the end, it is still an accident.

Thanks all.

[kevcol74]

2K is very low for an accident taken to a shop. A bumper, fender and headlight can easily amount to this. You could have more than that in a parking lot! If the airbags deployed, it would cost alot more AND the damage would be a concern. If the original airbags are attached, it was very minor.

[standsideways]

You should ask him if her would let you take it to your own mechanic to over look the car...and if he says no then don't bother

best thing to do...

ask him what the $2000 work was?

family member had a rear bumper/driver taillight replaced on an 09 corolla a few months ago and it was over 2K with our employee discount.

a $50 part could take 3 hrs to do while a $1000 part may take 1 hr...it could be anything, cars have 1000s of parts! take it to your mechanic for an inspection

[Gizzmo_jr]

Cost insurance $2000 for a new front bumper, new rad, A/C condensor, plastic support and A/C recharge.

[-cj-]

2k is nothing.... I had nearly $4k worth of damage just cause someone backed up into the passenger door.

[coriolis]

Thanks for the replies, none of my close friends or family has got into an accident(*knock on wood*), so I figured I`d ask to see if anyone knew.


Thanks again.

[Uni-Body]

As long as the frame or nothing major mechanically was damaged it should be mostly superficial damage (just the outside panels). If you're worried about it, ask him for a test drive and bring it by the shop and I'll take a look for you.

[coriolis]

Thanks, but it may be a bit far, the seller is in the East York area, near DVP and Eglinton. However, I will keep that in mind and give you a call if I find out if he'll let me take it out. The only major problem is that the car has tires that will not pass safety, and he said he'll replace them when a buyer is found.

[stevenma188]

that's pretty standard. However keep in mind that the seller probably wont put on brand new tires, but instead put on used ones that will pass safety. That's what happened when I bought my car.

[coriolis]

that's pretty standard. However keep in mind that the seller probably wont put on brand new tires, but instead put on used ones that will pass safety. That's what happened when I bought my car.

Yeah, he said the price of the car is negotiable, and I could offer less if I bring my own tires to replace the ones he has at the time of sale. Been looking at the B/S/T forums :)

[coriolis]

I just got back from the seller, nice guy. The car is in good shape, but the front bumper doesn't fully fit properly with the fender, nothing serious, just a little out of place. There is a few scratches here and there. Again, the tires are barely usable, and just passes the safety.

He has 'upgraded' the rims and exhaust, neither of which I like very much, the rims are kinda bleh and the exhaust is a fart can. Everything else is pretty satisfactory.

Pretty much 2007 hatch with 30,000 km for $11,000.

I have until Sunday evening to make up my mind, but as of now, I'm trying to figure out how much getting new rims and tires, if possible, stock 17" snowflakes or MS3 rims, and a stock exhaust set.

[philipfreire]

I just got back from the seller, nice guy. The car is in good shape, but the front bumper doesn't fully fit properly with the fender, nothing serious, just a little out of place. There is a few scratches here and there. Again, the tires are barely usable, and just passes the safety.

He has 'upgraded' the rims and exhaust, neither of which I like very much, the rims are kinda bleh and the exhaust is a fart can. Everything else is pretty satisfactory.

Pretty much 2007 hatch with 30,000 km for $11,000.

I have until Sunday evening to make up my mind, but as of now, I'm trying to figure out how much getting new rims and tires, if possible, stock 17" snowflakes or MS3 rims, and a stock exhaust set.

I wouldn't take the chance on it. That's just me though.

[coriolis]

I wouldn't take the chance on it. That's just me though.

Fair enough, makes sense, but he does have all paperwork(accident report), and CarFax as well as AutoCheck, and is willing to get CarProof too. Pretty much the history of the car is, a father buys the car from Ajax Mazda for his son, his son puts on 20,000km~, does a few mods(tires, tints, exhaust), sells the stock parts, then goes overseas for schooling. Car is left at fathers house, sitting for the past half year, so the father decides to sell it.

But I am a little bit on the border, on the positive side mainly cause the price and mileage is low, yes, but the added work is a bit, well, unnecessary. I brought a mechanic friend to look at it and go for a drive, and he said its fine, the bodywork was kinda crappy but besides that, everything else looks satisfactory.


I would prefer to purchase a hatch from a TM3 member, but so far, not much response: http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=39801


Thanks for your opinion, anything helps haha :)

[DumpInfo]

Well for the rims and tires there's a fella selling his MS3s for $1000 so it's up to you if you wanna jump on that. As for the exhaust there's a GB happening right now for that. So roughly your looking at $1500-$1700 depending on what you want!

[philipfreire]

Fair enough, makes sense, but he does have all paperwork(accident report), and CarFax as well as AutoCheck, and is willing to get CarProof too. Pretty much the history of the car is, a father buys the car from Ajax Mazda for his son, his son puts on 20,000km~, does a few mods(tires, tints, exhaust), sells the stock parts, then goes overseas for schooling. Car is left at fathers house, sitting for the past half year, so the father decides to sell it.

But I am a little bit on the border, on the positive side mainly cause the price and mileage is low, yes, but the added work is a bit, well, unnecessary. I brought a mechanic friend to look at it and go for a drive, and he said its fine, the bodywork was kinda crappy but besides that, everything else looks satisfactory.


I would prefer to purchase a hatch from a TM3 member, but so far, not much response: http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=39801


Thanks for your opinion, anything helps haha :)

Would you be happy driving a vehicle with these damages?
Are you willing to spend the money correct these issues?

One thing I learned, no matter how honest a person seems when selling a car, they are considering themselves over you 100%. If hes selling it for that low, theirs got to be more to it than you know.

Mechanically everything can look fine and dandy from a "test drive" but when you drive it daily, you will notice more and more things.

Just make sure this is what you really want before doing it.

[coriolis]

Would you be happy driving a vehicle with these damages?
Are you willing to spend the money correct these issues?

One thing I learned, no matter how honest a person seems when selling a car, they are considering themselves over you 100%. If hes selling it for that low, theirs got to be more to it than you know.

Mechanically everything can look fine and dandy from a "test drive" but when you drive it daily, you will notice more and more things.

Just make sure this is what you really want before doing it.

True, true. The document adds up, though right now I'm finalizing the number crunching, and documenting on the total cost of ownership, if I were to get new tires/rims for both summer and winter, the exhaust, etc.

In his garage, the Camaro SS and Dodge Ram seems like more cars than he needs, the SS is sweet. :hawt

[philipfreire]

True, true. The document adds up, though right now I'm finalizing the number crunching, and documenting on the total cost of ownership, if I were to get new tires/rims for both summer and winter, the exhaust, etc.

In his garage, the Camaro SS and Dodge Ram seems like more cars than he needs, the SS is sweet. :hawt

that's your problem. your negotiating on the wrong vehicle. shift focus onto the SS please :)

[rick10]

best thing to do...

ask him what the $2000 work was?

family member had a rear bumper/driver taillight replaced on an 09 corolla a few months ago and it was over 2K with our employee discount.

a $50 part could take 3 hrs to do while a $1000 part may take 1 hr...it could be anything, cars have 1000s of parts! take it to your mechanic for an inspection

you got robbed!!!

I had bumper , tail light (new installed) , quarter panel and rear door (huge dent in the door) fix for 1000 bucks ...( ( and that included my tail light for my 3 , gt model which is more expensive)

I just had a quote to fix all the rust and scrated on my mazda 3 for 400 $

Two weeks ago i had the rear door change , quarter panel fixed , front bumper paint and front fender dent fix and it cost me 750 $ on my civic ( i hit the rear door and rear quarter panel against concrete)

Last year i painted my civic which had rust , scratches and the quarter panel dented and it cost 1000 ... My buddy shop even installed and painted my front lip for 70$ ( although he wanted a 100)


http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/latinchico_19/IMG_6824.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/latinchico_19/IMG_6822.jpg

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h277/latinchico_19/SDC10319.jpg

I dont have hte pics from before , but my paint was in pretty bad shape , scratches everywhere , rust , a few dents , and a damaged rear quarter panel...


Also last year a friend from work got a quoted for 2000 from ontario mazda to fix his front fender , then he went to my bodyshop and it cost me around 650 to fix it ( including the front light) and he was pretty happy with the work done there...

[darky]

I just hit the front end of my 3. the parts alone cost me around 800. Thats fender, headlight and bumper. Dude below saying you got robbed is on glue. Just because you have a friend that does the work on your car doesnt mean the rest of the world gets the same deal.

2000 worth of damage is nothing. if its a good deal i dont see why not.

[rick10]

I just hit the front end of my 3. the parts alone cost me around 800. Thats fender, headlight and bumper. Dude below saying you got robbed is on glue. Just because you have a friend that does the work on your car doesnt mean the rest of the world gets the same deal.

2000 worth of damage is nothing. if its a good deal i dont see why not.

he is not a friend buddy , i just know where to go to get my car fix... You guys are paying too much for bodywork .... Do your homework and you ll be saving a lot of money ...

[Krazy]

$2000 is nothing... i think.

My friend hit my driver side front fender... and honda dealership (nearest at the moment) quoted like $1400 for everything.

sooooooooooo... yeah. -_-;

[pacmann33]

2K is nothing....that being said judging by thopse mods, and knowing that it was some dudes bastard son driving that car which he got for free...from daddy....I can guarantee he beat the SNOT out of it.

I'd pass on that car.