My car was recently in an accident. I slid sideways at pretty decent rate of speed and clipped a guard rail with the front end (stupid, I know). The damage seems cosmetic for the most part. Later this week I'm having the damage professionally appraised, but in the meantime I did my own evaluation and came up with the following damaged components: hood, hood latch, front bumper, grille, headlight washers, fiberglass structural beam, and both headlight assemblies. Unfortunately I wasn't able to open the hood to reveal any other possible damage, although everything else seems intact looking at it from behind the grille. Although it doesn't look like it, the fenders, radiator, and radiator support panel could also be slightly damaged, unsure at this point.

My question is, if my insurance company is willing to write me a check for the damage, is it worth buying the parts and fixing it myself with somewhat limited knowledge? or would I be better off taking it to a body shop? I was thinking of using this accident as an opportunity to get a full body kit and a cf hood, how hard would these be to install? and would most body shops charge me an arm and a leg to buy/install them?

Help me out guys, I appreciate it.

 

Well, it might be easier to just take it to a body shop. Plus, correct me if I'm wrong, they could probably do a better paint job than you could. I would take to a private shop and steer clear of stealerships. They frequently charge several hundred more for the same job than the private guys do. If you call them before hand and ask them about the body kit they'll probably be willing to install it, just give them plenty of notice, don't call the day you drop it off and say "Hey by the way......", that pisses them off. I also don't know if your insurance check would cover the install of the kit. You'd probably have to pay a little extra.

 

i would definitely DIY. i took apart my whole front end with no previous experience. its very straight forward and gives you more confidence to work on your car in the future. a timing belt DIY pretty much lists all the work needed and you can always call me if your having any problems.

and just to give you an estimate of what you are probly gona receive here's an old accident report of mine http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...airReceipt.jpg

 

Wow, thanks guys. That gives me a very good idea of what to expect, especially that receipt of yours, chaos92287. I'd definitely rather do it myself and take all the help I can get. Are most body kits hard to line up precisely? and can most of them come pre-painted in Audi Silver? or if not, what's a relatively cheap alternative? (I do have painting experience with high viscosity paints and HVLP spray equipment. Just no equipment I can use.)

 

hmmm..carbon fiber hood...S4 front bumper and some depo/aleo headlights....

Gl!

pictures please!

 

hmm, sounds like quite a bit of damage. hopefully everything else is fine though. ya body parts are easy to put on but you might need a second person to help you adjust it. biggest problem area is where the front bumper meets the fender but the corner lights. just put a screw straight up into the fender and you'll be good.

 

post a picture and maybe we can tell you exactly what you can expect to replace, and what speed was "decent"?. i had a 97 2.8 before my current car and was driving a little under the speed limit (65) cause it was rainy, but i still managed to hit a guard rail with the front drivers side corner at around 50-55. there was enough damage to the car that it was totaled.

if it was just a gentle tap to the front bumper, you may not have to replace much. but you said it even went up to your hood. when i hit, it smashed right up to the engine. all the coolant lines were severed, radiator, hood, left wheel, 4-link and shock, both headlights, power steering cooler... etc. the car was worth about 6k and it would have cost more then that to repair it, so they totaled it.

look at where your front fender meets your drivers and passengers door. is the gap between them closer then normal or are they touching?

 

Just got the estimate. The insurance company is giving me about $3100 to fix it (more than what I expected). I wanted to use the money to buy a cf hood, S4 body kit, and HID headlights, but the folks at the bank are being asses about using non-OEM parts. So I've decided to use the accident money plus some out of pocket money to pay off the car, then fix it over the next few months.

Does anyone know if I can get a somewhat affordable pre-painted body kit? Does such a thing exist?

Thanks again for everyone's help, I'll post before and after pics as soon as I get them.

 

Bump.

 

s4 front bumper is OEM from the dealership...