Got rear ended. Repair or replace Any suggestions?

[BillW]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

The other drivers insurance is going to give me $3500 for the car, and I can buy the wrecked car back from the insurance company for $380.

My question is: should I buy the car back and get the rear end repaired for $3200, since it ran nice before the crash (except for the A/C, some rust spots, etc.) Or should I buy the car back, find a car with a BHG, etc. and swap the motor,trans etc. from the wrecked car into a car with a BHG?

I'm thinking that it will be difficult to check out a car with a BHG, since it can't be driven and I can't check the suspension, brakes etc. so maybe I should repair what I have. On the other hand, if I repair what I have, I will come out with a salvage title, the car may never drive as well as it did before the crash, and I may not get through inspection.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

[Green7mgte]

hmm.. I mean you have a motor for it.. what is your gut telling you? which path is cheaper? do you have the time to work on a new one? I would FIRST look around and see if any 7mgte's are even available. you might be able to find one thats cherry just needing some TLC. in which case you have a whole shell of tlc waiting to be used. But maybe you might find the only supra you can get your hands on is a lemon.. not leamons. =) and if thats the case what other option do you have? If i had another reliable Daily Driver and enough cash to buy a reliable supra shell. I would do the swap (i have the time and the process would be informative to say the least.)
is time an option? how about mechanical know-how. is cash for problems that arise during the swap a problem? all these play into your decision.

[cre]

Green's asking all the right questions. My first and number one question is: do you have another vehicle to drive in the interim? Number two is: Do you have room for two non running cars while you swap parts? Number three is: Just how capable are you of performing the labor required or how willing are you to learn?

Simply swapping parts is fairly straight forward and IMO downright easy.

Personally, I would look for a PERFECT MKIII chassis with matching interior.... don't care if the engine or transmission have fallen apart to the point of not even being in the car anymore. Then I'd take my time... I would pull the engine from my old car and completely rebuild it. Swap in everything i liked from my old car (suspension, brake pads, the damned ashtray!, whatever). I would put together the cleanest car possible and then sell off every remaining part that anyone will buy (even if just for the cost of shipping).. Who knows, you may even make enough to pay for some of the rebuild.

I'm not adverse to fixing what's broken and I have NO problem at all with salvage titles. My car cost me $300... should give you an idea of the state it was in... it's still not gorgeous, but I got stopped by a guy yesterday who wanted to buy it on the spot! I'm still not entirely sure I should have turned him down. But I have spent a TON of money on this car. I probably would have less money invested had I bought two cars and just pieced together one good one and had the other crushed. However, it is not a path I recommend to most. There are things which will creep up constantly that you didn't notice and now have too much money invested to just jump ship. You may be right, it may never drive the same... Then again, it might... the areas where I SEE structural damage aren't areas of concern with regard to alignment or the integrity of the frame.

In the end it is your decision. The points I've provided for consideration are precisely the things I would pay the most attention to. I honestly can't tell you which you should do as I do not know your capabilities or what facilities you have at your disposal.

[BillW]

Thanks for the help. You guys are great.

My Nephew, who now owns the car, decided to have the damage fixed, since he got enough money from insurance to repair the damage, and he loves the car. There was some rust around the tail lights, which should get taken out in the process, so that's a good thing too.

My Nephew is just getting his hands dirty, so an engine/trans swap may have been a little much. He'll still have plenty to do once it gets back from the body shop.

I'll post some pictures, when he gets the car back in two weeks.

Thanks again.

PS: You guys got me thinking it'd be neat to buy two supras, swap parts, and have have a nice supra of my own to drive. I really enjoyed doing the work on my Nephew's car, once I got past the fear factor. I still haven't figured out how to sell these projects to my wife, though.

[BillW]

Well, 2 weeks at the auto body shop turned into 2 months, but the car is back and it looks great. I'm glad my nephew did not scrap the car since I had a lot of time into it, and now I'm happy he gets to drive it some more.

Sorry, these are the best pictures I have.

Thanks for everyones input!

[cre]

I told ya it'd buff right out!




Looks good!

[Green7mgte]

buff right out..
rofl!

looks great!