Not a good saturday night!!*pics*

[jasjamz]

Lady ran the light and tagged my car! She had no license, insurance or money. How much do you guys think this will cost. frame shifted and my biggest worry is the car is an 85. Will this make a big diffrence? I do have full coverage State Farm an tips or advise before i go get estimates??

 

[jasjamz]

More...And please the wheels are not the issue, lets stick to the topic, I want to get my baby fixed.

 

[Quiky One]

Man that sucks. I would think an 85 would be less in the books than an 87 just because of sticker price. However I have never had to deal with insurance yet (knock on wood) and hope never have to. Good luck and keep us updated.

Jason

 

[jasjamz]

Its got like 78,000 on the clock. I was having a good night till then...crusing with my t-tops out. My car did a complete 180.

 

[John Larkin]

Why do you think the frame shifted?

 

[jasjamz]

I can see the body bushing on the pass side twisted and on the drivers side the space betwiin the frame and radiator support is big enough to place my hand in. And the front sway bar bushings have moved.

 

[jhanson1750]

Glad your OK. Now get out your photo album and pray for a resonable estimator.. I had good and bad luck with insurance companys. Like the old saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words. Find a reputible body shop to get the estimates, they see at least a couple dozen cars a month and you, like most TR people, know your car inside and out. If you don't get the impression your being listened to WALK AWAY!!!! Anyway sorry about your ride but if you can walk away from any accident count your blessings.

 

[jasjamz]

Thanks I'm fine.I have my 86\87 wheels and many photos. I thank God I'M ok and she was too. I have two good places both within two miles that do awesome work. My worry is what the insurance is going to value my car at vs. the price to fix it.

 

[acoen]

The good thing is that you were not hurt and the car looks easily fixable. I would imagine that the front clip has shifted on the frame. I doubt if the frame is tweaked past the point of no return. A good body shop can straighten a frame and line up the body panels better than the factory did. Make sure you go throught the car with a fine toothed comb. write everything down. Anything noticably wrong with the car (no matter how minor) after the accident as far as the body goes circle with a grease pen (dents, dings, scratched etc.) Before the insurance gets too involved go on line and find as many 85' (86' or 87' wouldn't hurt) GNs in similar condition for sale and print them out . You will need this when and if it comes to negotiation. If they want to total it tell them no..."I want it replaced." HTH....and good luck, keep us posted.

 

[BandAid]

Did you atleast call the police and have that B!tch deported back to where she came from....or at least knock her teeth in...

 

[no-nos]

dude that sucks , but the good part is your o.k. and the other driver is ok too. i would'nt worry to much about it being an 85 ( should be more rare, more 87's were made than 85's .i hope everything works out for you. I had my gn hit once and i had the same attitude ( $hit-happens)

 

[GNguy]

Did you atleast call the police and have that B!tch deported back to where she came from....or at least knock her teeth in...

True.......I would be royally pissed......Glad to hear your ok though

 

[jurassic five 7]

whata ****ing ****!

Today this kid who I knew was behind me and i was gonna turn onto my street and i slowed down cause the next door neighbor was leaving my street and after she turned, i looked back and seen the jackass behind me and pass me.

Yes I didnt have my blinker on cause no one was behind me when i came to a stop (I figured no one would come really) and he just popped up.

If i wouldnt have looked, I would have been screwed. It wasnt very close, but could have been if I turned and went slow.

-Adam

 

[John Larkin]

Start looking for a parts car. I bought an El Camino several years ago and the bumper was tweaked like that from an accident and swung the ends of the frame with it. I took it to a frame shop and they lined it up for $300. You need the replacement sheetmetal to be on the car when they do this so start scouring the junkyards/autotrader/bargain trader mags/newspaper for donor cars. Bolting new sheetmetal on is easy and Regal fenders "usually" are not rust prone.

 

[jasjamz]

Headin out to the body shops now! I keep all of you posted. Oh and Bandaid, no I didnt, but boy I wanted too.

 

[bishir]

Assuming the hood is fine I'm guessing about 1500-1600 to replace the missing/broken pieces give or take some. Finding a nice OEM header-panel isn't easy as usually the replacements have the hood ornament hole that needs to be filled.

 

[rtviper]

Have an independent appraiser value your car. Get someone who specializes in muscle cars and older collector cars. You are working with the best insurance company out there in my opinion. I had an 87 with 150k miles on it vandalized and state farm gave me over 21k for the car after it was properly appraised. Get as many pics from the internet also of cars 85,86,and 87 in similar condition. Before the appraiser looks at the car make surte its standing tall with a good wax and detail.

 

[jasjamz]

Update #1

I have went and filed a claim and left the car with one of the of their most trusted bodyshops. My agent did say that i could make an appt at the claim office and they would inspect it there and issue me a check right there. But She said to leave it where it was because they are going to put it on a lift and do a full inspection. N.A.D.A list the 1985 and older Buicks under collector muscle cars. average value is going to between $8k to $10K. It has regal, t-type, and grand national options for the make but no turbo v-6 engine option. If I check V6 they drop the value 10%, check 307 V8 and it goes up 10% . Through that site I found two other 85's that want about $8500 but are not in my area. I will try to get in touch with an appraiser today while I wait for the quote. I thank you all for the replies and concerns, and will try to update as the news comes.

 

[2QUIK6]

Remember you could get a base regal with a non-turbo V6 and V8, thats where the drop for V6 and more for V8 come from. The GN package includes the turbo V6 of course so thats the value you want from the NADA.
I've had some serious frame damage before, bent right in front of the driver side rear tire, it was fixed perfectly by a reputable shop.
Your's, if it is bent, it would appear to be just the frame rails in front of the front tire, a less critical area and easy for them to straighten up.
Finding a front facia/header panel will be easy since all the base regals will fit. Make sure they use the correct headlight bezels and such and do not just paint chrome ones to match.
When mine was done they painted them instead of using the correct flatter black ones.

 

[turbojimmy]

Lady ran the light and tagged my car! She had no license, insurance or money. How much do you guys think this will cost. frame shifted and my biggest worry is the car is an 85. Will this make a big diffrence? I do have full coverage State Farm an tips or advise before i go get estimates??

I hope you got a police report that indicates that it was her fault. Your insurance company will sue her on your behalf.

It it swayed over a bit on the front. The bumper has a lot of leverage on the frame extensions. It can be chained down and pulled straight though I'll bet they total it.

Jim