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Had an accident. Is this totaled?

9K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  PaulKim 
#1 · (Edited)
*Is this the best sub-forum? Move if not, thanks.

Slid off an icy road and into a chain link fence. What concerns me is the damage to the lower sill below the doors that appears one piece with the entire rear quarter panel, roof, B pillar, etc. Is this car just one huge metal shell? Seems like the sill is a difficult section to pound straight, and it appears non-replaceable, being welded to the lower subframe. It's basically the bottom of the B-pillar, which of course is one piece with the roof.

The entire front bumper was nearly ripped off on the pull out as well. I was able to lodge it back into place and it's held by bungee at the moment. But it suffered breaks and good mangling and is in need of complete replacement as well.
 

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#4 · (Edited)
Additional photo added to OP.
 
#5 ·
Might be half the value of the car give or take. Depends on what the body shop actually finds under that rocker panel and if the body structure is damaged. Some things the insurance company just won't allow to be repaired. If a piece has to be cut and pasted into that part of the cage chances are it will be either quite expensive or outright disallowed.
Considering how the front fascia was pulled off there could also be some damage behind the bumper. Radiator supports bend, the grill mounted radar sensors if your car has them are very expensive to replace, wiring harnesses get torn up, it adds up fast unfortunately. No telling what else was damaged in the front end either by the recovery effort. Without actually seeing the hidden damage its quite difficult to tell if its totaled or not.
 
#7 ·
First estimate was $7400 to $8900. The difference due to potential frame damage under the B pillar sheet metal and rocker that cannot be determined at this time. If that holds at other places, this will not be a total.

Anyone have thoughts on the worth of this selling myself? 32k mi, 2016, i Touring, manual. Am considering taking a payoff, selling, and finding another. Am not thrilled about keeping a $9k repair car long term.
 
#8 ·
There is no "frame" as such. The body itself is considered a protective structure around the passenger compartment and is sort of like unibody cars of the past. If it is actually damaged it may or may not be repairable depending on what the insurance company allows. If the repairs will compromise the integrity of the structure it may not be allowed or the car may need to have a rebuilt or salvage title.
So, your car around here would sell for ~$13k or so, thats what the dealer has them priced at. Now, with damage totaling 75% of the ACV you'll have to take whatever you can get, and with a salvage title probably even less. I hope your car loan has gap coverage just in case......
 
#9 ·
It's over 50 percent the value of the car. Not to mention, a hit like that and the car may never drive the same or it may drive better. But it's a fair bit of damage none the less. I'd probably total it, buy it back from insurance and part it out as you've got at least 6k worth of parts on the car.
 
#10 ·
Since everyone else has answered you... im going to ask for a moment of silence for this wonderful vehicle....
 
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#13 ·
I just got it back yesterday, June 15. $7300 in repairs. The center pillar was cut out, both doors replaced, fender and headlight assembly replaced, front bumper and grille replaced, and various other bits.

Anyone know when this info appears on Carfax? Loss in value for that will be major I'm sure.
 
#15 ·
When I'm shopping for used cars I pay very close attention to whether the vehicle has been in an accident or not. I value zero accidents pretty highly. I probably shouldn't paint all car accidents with a broad brush like that, but typically no one takes the time to explain the type of accident (how the car was hit) and the types of repairs that were made. So I assume the worst and fear long term driveability issues. Getting rear ended is probably one of the least concerning.
 
#17 ·
Pretty sobering about loss of value. Perhaps I should sell it now before the Carfax info hits the system? I rationalize by knowing the damage is literally sheet metal and unrelated to running gear or mechanicals. Yet it seems a dirty move.

How would pursuing insurance for LOV work? Seems impossible to quantify ahead of a sale. Also depends on when a sale takes place. LOV being larger now vs when end of life at 200k miles.
 
#18 ·
There's a guy online who's service I was using. He walks you through the process for (I believe) a couple hundred buck and explains all the ins and outs up front. It's all kind of a PITA, but it's probably doable if you're determined enough. I lost my momentum halfway through the process and, as I said above, took it in the shorts when it came time to sell a couple of years later. Google "loss of value insurance claims" if you want to learn more.
 
#20 ·
That was another factor for sure in why I didn't get more for my 2013 CX-5 than I did. There were so many Craigslistings for CX-5s of all years that you could get one 2 years newer than mine for the about the same price. Of course that says nothing of the condition they were in (compared to my cream puff), but just getting someone to look at mine once the word "collision" was mentioned proved very difficult. Mazda has done a great job flooding the market with low cost lease cars which come back after 2-3 years and screw up the resale market for the rest of us. Not that they're alone in these practices!
 
#21 ·
I don’t know what the big deal is. The cost of selling the current car (lower price due to accident history) + the cost of a new replacement car + taxes, fees, interest, starting a 5 year payment plan all over again. Ugh. Screw all that. If the fix was done properly and of good quality, I’d drive the current car till the wheels fall off.

When you’ll go to sell it later, the price hit will be minimal once these age closer to 10 years old.
 
#24 ·
Wouldn't be surprised if it is a total loss, at least 10k in damage there. Labor alone to replace all those body panels and repaint/blend half the car...

Cheap cars are becoming throw away items these days. I know we love our mazda 3 but they are kind of low end of the scale.

Also I hope you can learn from this, even in light snow all season tires aren't great. And the all seasons on the Mazda 3 18" wheels are "performance" all season which is even worse. $600 on a winter wheel/tire set will help you if you have to deal with snow in your commute. Otherwise best stay off the roads until they are cleared.

I hope you make out well in your repairs or replacement.
 
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