'96 Cutlass Supreme; Fixing it- Page 4

[nebojsa_o]

Hey everyone. Happy New Year to you all, hope it's going better than mine so far. So my mom rear ended someone today with the Cutlass. It was a '06 Pontiac G5. She is ok, and so is the other driver. She said she rear ended someone, but I didn't expect the hood to be quite this fucked. What do you think, would it be totaled if I go through insurance? I'm gonna try and avoid it, but seeing how it's my moms fault, I don't know if the other driver will be up for that, I'll talk to him one of these days.

 

 

 

 

View of the engine bay with the hood closed.

 

 

Also this morning my Maxima developed a coolant leak, so if these things happen in threes, I better go put pillows all around the motorcycle before it tips over in the garage.

Edited February 14, 2011 by nebojsa_o

[Euro]

Is the core support damaged at all? It doesn't look horrible from the pics, like the damage didn't get past the headlights.

[Twenty]

I'd suspect that it's totalled, unfortunately. A new hood, possibly bumper, paint, headlights, and so-on would be a lot relative to the value of a 1G W-body.

[94 olds vert]

I agree with bill its probably going to be totaled. It definitely looks like it could be fixed as long as the core support isn't too badly damaged.

[Euro]

Yeah, forgot to mention above that insurance will probably total it.

[jeremy]

I would think that the cost of the paint itself would total the vehicle. Sorry to hear about the accident, but at least everyone is ok.

[cutlassdude96]

so much for my parts car

[White93z34]

pretty much getting a parking lot ding can be quick to total one of these. if the damage is not past the core support you should be okay for repairing it yourself though.

[tornado_735]

Sorry to see that!

 

Good thing parts for these things are a dime a dozen at the junkyard.

[GOT2B GM]

time for a JY run!!

[Addicted to eaton]

yeah, my friend got his mirror knocked off on his 94 GTP (And broke the window) and they totaled it.

[Night Fury]

How did the G5 look?

[nebojsa_o]

Yeah, I was pretty much thinking what you guys are all saying, but I was sort of in denial. After all this is my baby. I will fix it up for sure, just not sure how easy it will be to get all the parts. I haven't had to go to a junkyard in a long time, but the last few times I went, the selection of 1st gen w-bodies was terrible. I will go look for some parts one of these days when I figure out if we're going through insurance or not.

 

The G5 actually looked surprisingly good. Just the bumper cover got cracked and scratched, mostly all around the rear plate. Never touched the tail lights or trunk lid or anything. The exhaust is fine too. So from the looks of it, just a new bumper cover.

 

Another question now. Since Cutlass is done for a little while, would my crosslaces fit the Maxima? 115x5 on a car with 114.3x5? Is that a no-no, or what? Not sure how the offset is, but if that works out, I might swap them because Maxima tires aren't as good as the Cutlass all seasons. And no, my mom didn't crash because of the tires. She crashed because she's a woman, and wasn't keeping proper distance between the 2 cars, and she got distracted by something.

[67eleanorgt500]

I don't think the car is totaled. If the car runs, drives, operates and has no mechanical electrical problems like it did before the accident then you should be fine. All you need is a new hood, bumper cover, maybe a new bumper absorber & reinforcement that mounts behind the bumper cover to the body. I can't tell if the fenders have any waves in them though. But if they do the body shop should be able to bend the metal out maybe some body filler. But the fenders look good to me right now. You definitely will need to replace a set of headlight housings, one or two side markers, both front park/turn lamp housings, headlight assy frame that mounts the headlight and park/turn lamps. Maybe some electrical connection plugs wires that operate your lights and turn signals. I've a had more than a few front end collisions with my cutlass supreme so I know what to expect in parts being replaced by looking at the picture. Of course you have a sedan mine car is a coupe. But there should be no difference. Some body shops will let you buy the replacement parts yourself and even let you put them on yourself after the car is done in the shop. I searched junk yards, the internet for parts. I know for a fact that you save yourself a lot of money and labor hours putting your car back together. Good Luck! Hope my advice helped.

[nebojsa_o]

Well, it looks like I will have to go through insurance. Sort of sucks because even though I wasn't driving, or even near the car, my insurance rates will go up for the next 5 years. Wouldn't be so bad if it only went up for the Cutlass, but it also goes up for the Maxima, and the GSX-R. It's not a huge amount, but enough to be gay. I'm gonna stop by the claims center tomorrow and book an appointment for the Cutlass, so I can bring it in, and they can tell me it's totaled.

 

Any tips about the hood? The way it is now, it can't be opened, so you can't see the core support, or if there is any other damage. Should I get that open before I get it out for inspection, or just leave it the way it is? I don't want the adjuster to assume there is damage under there just because he can't see it. I don't know if that makes any sense.

 

Thanks for the advice, and opinions guys. And special thanks to Jeff for helping with Maximas coolant leak.

 

EDIT: Forgot to ask. Does a hood from anything else fit the Cutlass? Is 2 door and 4 door hood different? What about Grand Prix hoods?

Edited January 7, 2011 by nebojsa_o

[Dark Ride]

They'll probably total it, but why are you worried about it? If they total it you can just buy it back, fix, drive another day. Hell you might make money on the deal. Just don't let your mom drive it again.

[Twenty]

They may also give an option for receiving a little less money in exchange for keeping the car with a clean title.

[nebojsa_o]

They may also give an option for receiving a little less money in exchange for keeping the car with a clean title.

 

I heard about this a few days ago. That's what I'm hoping for, but I don't know how common that option is. Oh and I found a new J/Y in the area that has a decent selection of Supremes. I asked on the phone and they said they had a dark green one. So I was hoping for the best, and got there, the hood is slightly bent, and the front bumper is blue. It's gonna be a fun project. Lots of headlights though.

[Addicted to eaton]

id jump on that.... no really get on the hood, and jump on the crease to give it slack to open it.

[Schurkey]

The issue isn't whether the insurance company totals the car or not.

 

The issue is whether the insurance company will GIVE YOU A FAIR SETTLEMENT.

 

You are almost guaranteed to be shortchanged by the insurance company by some amount--maybe 30 to 50 percent. It's to be expected, but not tolerated. They WILL attempt to fuck you, and YOU need to prevent this from happening.

 

NOW is the time to be researching the REAL value of your vehicle using "book" values AND magazine value guides AND by checking for prices of similar cars for sale.

 

DO NOT talk to the insurance company on the phone; and it's best to not contact them in person. GET E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G in WRITING. You'll need it all in writing when you sue them--otherwise you have no evidence.

 

Insurance wanted to give me $2000 for my totalled '92 Euro 3.4 Lumina; by the time I was done with them in small claims court, the judge had doubled the settlement amount--I got the car and cash; there's no salvage marker on the title; and I'm pleased with the way it all turned out.

 

Since this collision is covered under YOUR insurance (right?) you might want to assure that the OTHER party is being treated fairly by your insurance company--but--the problems with auto insurance are MUCH worse when the car in question is older. Newer cars aren't treated as harshly by insurance.

Edited January 8, 2011 by Schurkey

[w-bodys_are_the_best]

EDIT: Forgot to ask. Does a hood from anything else fit the Cutlass? Is 2 door and 4 door hood different? What about Grand Prix hoods?

 

Yes, 2 and 4 door cultass hoods are different because the coupes have the mini-quad headlights, the front edge drops down further. I don't believe any others will fit, possibly a 2 door GP, but I think they might also be different.

 

The damage doesn't look that bad. I hit a deer at 75 with my 94 2 door and it was similar to the damage yours has. Neither fender was touched, but the hood and everything up to the rad support was trashed. I bought a parts car and me and my friend swapped everything over in about 4 hours one summer afternoon. I never painted anything and just left it (you can see the marroon cutlass w/ white hood in my display pic). The sedan CS headlight parts should be easier to swap, the miniquads and their mounting/aiming hardware on the coupes have alot more pieces to them and really are a PITA to replace. I would assume the composites have much less hardware since they are 1 piece on each side.

[nebojsa_o]

Yeah, I'm not too worried about doing the work, I just need to get that far. This Wednesday my mom is reporting the accident to the insurance company, and then we get the ball rolling, and book an appointment so they can tell me how bad it is. Thanks for the advice. I probably won't get a parts car, but there is enough Cuttys at J/Ys around here, so I will get all the parts. I was just being picky about the color at first. Looks like I'll end up getting whatever, and then painting it.

[slick]

Take the keys, and tell her to go back from where she came from!!

 

Or maybe not, since that's a long ways away.

[visitor]

On the positive side now is a great time to get the whole car painted! Will look great then

[nebojsa_o]

I wish I could get it all painted, but now is definitely not a good time. I'm unemployed at the moment, although hoping for something really soon. I just spent money I wasn't planning on spending to change the radiator on the Maxima, so I at least have 1 working vehicle. After I replaced the rad today, I tried something out, and since Maximas tires aren't good in the snow and Cutlass tires are, I tried to swap them. Results were interesting. The crosslaces fit on the Maxima fine, but the Nissan wheels rub on the brake caliper on the Cutlass. I think I'll swap all 4 crosslaces on the Maxima when I get the Cutlass inspection done, since then it will just sit parked while I fix it. And I don't know if it's just me, but I kind of like the way the crosslaces look on the Maxima.