Acura World banner

2001TL in accident - suggestions if i can get it fixed?

2K views 1 reply 1 participant last post by  njcarsearcher 
#1 ·
My 2001 TL was in an accident recently. These are the list of things that got messed up

  1. Front Bumper
Left Fender and Right Fender are bent

  • Hood bent and the right hinge and left hinge holding the hood also got bent.

  • Pistons that keep the hood up when raised also went bad

  • Radiator Support is broken

  • Frame holding the engine also got bent

Insurance said cost to repair is more than 75% of the value of the car so they paid me "market value - deductible - salvage bid of the car".

I took it to a local mechanic and he said he can fix it for $3500. He showed me that there are 5 bends in the frame and only a body shop can remove these bends.

Q. Is it worthwhile to spend time and energy to fix this car?

It is my first car and i worked a lot to own this car including paying high insurance costs. So emotinally attached to this car, that is forcing me to fix the car and use it.

Don't have good photos of the accident or the bent frame, need to go and take some snaps to get online feedback.
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#2 ·
Got it repaired

I got it repaired by a local mechanic and costed me 3 grand. For now it seems to be running fine.

Mechanic put in new car hood, fenders, bumper, pistons to hold the hood up when lifted and a new radiator support. Windshield cowl broke a bit so he just cut it out where it was broken, so i have a small gap without the cowl.

I tried asking the dealer for the cost of the windshield cowl and they said it costs $175 and $75 to replace it on my car.

I also saw that the headlights support bracket is broken. Instead of going for a new headlight assembly, he just adjusted the headlights to stay in place.

Wipers stopped working, seems like some dirt is stuck, so he blew it off and the wipers started working.

Air Conditioner was not working, tried to pump out the refrigerant and pumped it back in again. Tried changing the fuse but it went bust again. Checking for shorts in the wires or mechanical problem saw that the case for A/C fan was bent. This was preventing the fan from rotating causing the fuse to blow out.

Took out some bends with the screw driver and the fan was rotating with a small scratching sound now and then but it grinded off eventually and now i don't hear any more noises.

I asked him not to paint but he went ahead and painted the new parts, so it looks like old wine in a new bottle :)

Hope this TL works out for a few more years for the amt that i invested in this car to get it fixed.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top