Written off VT wagon

[AlpineRaven]

G'day guys,
Can you give me an answer what i do from here, its my brother's wagon (huge mistake he learn't as he left in neutral and hand brake not tight enough - hence rolled down the hill and ended up embankment) Anyway, He only had this wagon for 2 weeks for 7 grand and insurance won't be able to cover him for replacement car. Officially its a write off.

Now, One of my mates said fix it - get a front cut shell and replace it.
My father said give it to wreckers and get $500 for it
me - sell it on ebay as it is estimate will get 800 bucks or fix it as a backyard work with panel beater (I've done similar thing but this is worst)

More info of the damage -
•*Cross member is okay - hasn't moved
•*engine has been pushed back approx 2-3mm RHS engine mount is torn but LHS isn't.
•*Automatic trans has been pushed back mounts are cracked/torn can't tell if the box is ok. Windscreen damaged from trees/bonnet.
• LHS doors/guard is damaged - can panel beat back or replace whole doors but doors hasn't moved at all - open/close ok.
•*Dash board has been "moved" but possibly can tweak it back in place - possibly that engine has pushed the firewall - can't tell unless you remove the engine or dash.
•*Drivers/Passengers, roof & rear end is fine.

Pictures shown below -





I need some ideas here what should we do here?

If I sell the wagon as in parts possibly would be lucky to get 1 grand out of it in slow progress which I am not gonna prepare due time.

Thanks for your help.
Cheers
AP

[eurekamad94]

its fcked go buy a peice of sh!it for 500$ so if he wrecks another one it barely matters

[social]

that musta been a ****ing big roll to the embankment man, my opinion, its not worth the trouble man go wreck it / ebay it / sell parts off if u got the time, its not worth the effort / time to fix or well try and fix it, and 7grand for a vt wagon? thats a bit expensive aint it.

[ImAHoon!]

that car would have been doing 50+kms to get that kinda damage.

no way did it just roll down an embankment.

I think your brother is a lying little twat

any questions? lol

[STEALTHY™]

How steep was the hill? looks like it had some power behind it when it hit whatever it hit!

its fcked go but a peice of sh!it for 500$ so if he wrecks another one it barely matters

Take a deep breath before you reply, then it might make sense!

[AlpineRaven]

chill chill.. i only asked for opinion, anyway the road was at least 25% then on the side of the road to embankment is at least 70% gradient and it hit the tree approx 30 metres from the road down to the embankment - yes it would be at least 50kmh or more - keys wasn't in the ignition - airbags didn't go off.
Cheers
AP

[eurekamad94]

Take a deep breath before you reply, then it might make sense!

haha yea sorry mate im bad for hitting the wrong keys when typing fast lol too much msn haha

[STEALTHY™]

haha yea sorry mate im bad for hitting the wrong keys when typing fast lol too much msn haha

Yeah, sounded like you were ****ing something up the but

[daron]

•*engine has been pushed back approx 2-3mm RHS engine mount is torn but LHS isn't.


um thats a lot more then 2-3 mm more like 200-300 mm
yeah thats screwedfront end is gone

[Paiste402]

oh man thats not a nice pic to see. Well to put it my way, ive done less damage to a car and ridden it off...

It looks like too much of a job to fix, in the end it prolly wont drive right either. But that is a huge bummer, will he get anything back at all for the car?!

[Travy]

No way would you fix it, would never drive the same again plus its dodgy lol..

send it to wreckers or part it out..

Time for a new car.

[Kurhas]

just wreck it man, and dont bother to fix it, was it a repairable write off or not? just be happy no body died or got injuried, stuff happens

[Full Spectrum]

Looks similar to mine damage but worse. I'd say new rails are in order and they wouldn't be cheap. Judging on the damage to the centre it wouldn't avoid bending them but more damaging them up front.
On the plus side the air bags didn't go off so that is a plus.

The guards look very repairable. You would need what you mentioned plus pretty much anything that sit around the radiator support.

[blackbedford]

G'day

My advice is ditch it and buy another one.
$7000 does sound a bit high though.
Just before Xmas I went to the auctions and bought a VX series 2 wagon in very nice condition for $1500. It has a dent in the drivers side front guard, which I will be replacing this week. Sounds a LOT easier than rebuilding yours.

[Full Spectrum]

7K.. No to much indeed. I paid $3300 for my car almost 2 years ago.
If it was 3k might be worth it if your not to worried about spending a little extra if needed.

[azzaVT]

One option, to recoup the loss, is to get a donor car... a rolling mechanical wreck.
Something with **** loads of kms, blown motor/trans, and/or a crappy interior. Make one car from the two. That's your only hope, that I can see, of you retaining the value invested.

[Longman]

Wow dude, that's some impact!! From the looks of the engine bay photos, it's an exec (no cruise or abs) so it would cost way more to fix than it is worth. The insurance company would have written it off for sure and with good reason. Some things just aint worth fixing mate. Put it on ebay for parts.

[davway]

why wont insurance cover it?
obviously, since its classed as a write off, its been through the insurance process meaning for them to deem it OFFICIALLY a write off, they had to pay out on it or replace it with another car.
i think there is a whole lot more to this story than your letting on.
oh, BTW, your firewall is damaged as well.

[Full Spectrum]

That's typical of insurance company's. Better most of the time for them to pay out X amount rather then fix it. If it works out as cheap or similar most of the time they pay you out and sell the car.

[Mick1988]

That looks like it's gone head first into a light pole at about 70km/h to me..... >_>

Is the car still licensed or have you handed in the plates?

[AlpineRaven]

That looks like it's gone head first into a light pole at about 70km/h to me..... >_>

Is the car still licensed or have you handed in the plates?

Tree...
Nah the plates are still on the commodore, will deal with it next week.
Insurance - they wont because it was off surface and no driver was involved and no one to blame (also there is more beyond that but too much to explain).
Cheers
AP

[STEALTHY™]

Take the time to explain it, so we all know whats going on.

[ImAHoon!]

if its got full comp, it should be covered.

even if he did drive it into a light pole at 70k's lol

[Mick1988]

Well that means the car won't be listed as an official write-off. If you want to get it back on the road, it is possible.

What you will need to do is buy another front end and engine. I would recommend looking for a VT or VX that is a write-off (even statutory will be fine) but only with rear or side damage. Then you'll need to transplant the entire front end and engine over. As long as you keep the same VIN and the vehicle is roadworthy you'll be OK.

It will probably cost you $2,500 if you do as much of the work as possible yourself. Try to get a white car to avoid painting panels and then you can sell parts you don't need to re-coop some of your costs. Sell parts of the engine from the wagon (don't sell someone that engine), sell the interior off the donor car, dash, BCM, transmission, doors, trims ect ect. You should be able to make at least $1,500 back.

[Full Spectrum]

If his from Victoria he might not get away with cut and shut. They are againts it now. But if he avoids the VIV he should be fine. But that will be hard to avoid.