accident resulting in damaged chassis - worth repairing or not?

[doc_donsky]

Mga Sirs,

I was driving an old honda city exi at 2 am last week when i hit a big concrete boulder that had no warning device along a dimly lit highway in cavite. i wrecked the left front side of my car and damaged the ff:

> transmision assembly
> radiator and aircon
> ATF reservoir
> power steering pulley shop
> upper engine support
> bumper
> head lights
> left side chassis

I was planning to file a complaint becoz there was no warning device and the boulder was there sitting almost at the middle of the road but realizing that it's a hopeless case, i decided to just have it repaired on my own. the mechanic who assessed the damages assured me that the engine was ok. I was all set to have the car repaired but another mechanic advised me that one the chassis is already damaged, there is no way you can bring back the car to its old form. Even if repaired/fixed, this old chassis will only cause more trouble as you will end up spending for reallignment that will never be remedied anyway

I need opinions about this one - would it still be wise to have my car repaired given all the "injuries" mentioned above particularly the one pertaining to the chassis? help naman po...

[impulzz]

if the chassis is really damaged/ misaligned... it would really be just a big head ache for you in the long run, might as well sell the car as is, or sell it as parts car.

had a 89 lancer singkit before, it's weakness was the chassis near where the lower suspension arm was bolted.. it cracks when you hit a bump or pothole at high speeds. and mine got cracked. i had it fixed by a shop along edsa.. but after a week the weld gave way... they re-welded it but after a week it cracked again. so i just sold the car and told the buyer of the defect.

[D15B]

how about finding a half cut? civic sana yan where surplus parts are everywhere. find a half cut na lang. hth

[renzo_d10]

how about finding a half cut? civic sana yan where surplus parts are everywhere. find a half cut na lang. hth

Unlikely. Its parts are not as widely spread unlike its bigger brother, the Civic wherein you can find halfcuts almost everywhere. But it's not impossible tho'.

*TS : If the car has a sentimental value, then, I guess it will be worth repairing although the extent of the damage will REALLY cause you a lot of money and time. However, if it does not have any value for you, at all, then sell it AS IS or, sell the " good " parts ( i.e. tail lights, grille, SW, trunk etc. etc. ) then bring whats left in some junkshop.

[doc_donsky]

Thank you very much for the options...i'm studying them all seriously.

Anyway, regarding the damaged chassis, is repair really a bad idea? What are the chances that a good mechanic could bring it back..at least..relatively close to its old form in terms of original measurements and allignment? I've heard a lot of "horror" stories regarding chassis repair similar to that of Sir Impulzz and his 89 lancer.

Another question po, what does it take for a mechanic to really determine if the chassis is badly damaged or not? In my case, the mechanic simply went under the car to see the damaged parts. That's how he diagnosed that the left side chassis was damaged. He also went inside and sat at the driver's seat to assess the other damages. He was unable to open the hood and examine the other parts (including the engine) as it would'nt open because of the accident. Basically, the other damages such as radiator/aircon, upper engine support, power steering and transmission system were also diagnosed that way.

Most of the repair shops i've consulted refused to make assessments based only on the list i presented to them (done by the first mechanic). They required that the car be towed first to them so their own mechanic can determine the extent daw of the damages. Kailangan daw, nakataas ng husto yung sasakyan para mapag-aralang mabuti. Do i really need to have the car towed to these repair shops just for damage and price assessment? Madugo po kasi tow services dito sa cavite (ranging from 2-2500 thou) one way even at short distances.

Pasensya na po sa dami ng tanong...I'm really getting agitated as it's been more than a week after the accident and i still could not figure out what do do with my ride. Thanks..

[blacksun25]

*TS - good thing that you're safe from the mishap. can you post pics?

Medyo mahirap talaga pag ang chassis na ang na-damage. It's not impossible but it would really be hard to bring it back to it's old shape. Re: shops refusing to provide an estimate without the car being brought to their shop, I guess it's only fair. One cannot assess the real extent of the damage without scrutinizing all the damaged parts.

For me, mas maganda sigurong gawing parts car na lang yan. Mahirap talagang magdala ng oto na na-restore lang from a big accident. Gagastusan mo lang yan and you don't even have a guarantee that repairs will turn out well.