[rhit_rs]

Two weeks ago I was in an accident with my 92 RS. The insurance company valued the car at $6100 (new paint, 1 yr old engine, lots of maintenance, etc). The estimate from the first body shop in Indianapolis was $5700, but the insurance company didn't want to pay to have it fixed for fear of finding additional damage. Now I have the car plus a check for $5500 (value of car minus deductable and scrap value plus cost of tax on buying a new vehicle) and the car. It is wrecked on the front left side. It needs a new front end, drivers side fender, hood, and part of a front left frame rail.

I took the car back home to the shop that just painted it because I trust them to do good work. Their labor rate is a little higher. They quoted around $4000 for labor and paint assuming I find a suitable donor car for all of the parts. I've found a couple options on parts cars - a 91 RS body here in Indianapolis that look good in the pictures for $500 and a complete 92 Z28 (77,000 miles, 305 w/ T-5) wrecked on the passenger side for $1200.

One option is to buy a parts car and pay the shop to fix it. Another is to sell the car - apparently there's been some interest at the body shop. I'm also considering parting the car out. I could sell quite a few engine parts, brand new (1 month) front koni yellows, 3 year old koni yellow rears, LS1 style front brakes, PBR rear brakes, brand new front steering parts (I don't think they were damaged), 18x8.5 chrome iroc style rims, addco sway bars, plus some interior and 5 speed parts.

I'm pretty much on the fence. I'd like to keep the car - it's been my baby for 3+ years and I've put a bunch of time and money into it already. I'm also having second thoughts about keeping it long term and this would be a decent opportunity to move on to something different (I've had my eye on bmw 318ti's) or more reliable. I won't really have a good place or time to work on a car over the next couple of years while I tackle grad school.

What are you guys' suggestions? If I get rid of the car will I regret it forever? (can anyone speak from experience on this one?)

Thanks!

Josh

[patred]

When I wrecked my first Sentra SE-R 10+ years ago, I bought another SE-R but bought the wrecked one back from the insurance company and took off all the suspension and other go-fast stuff to use on the new car. Also sold a bunch of other stuff like interior pieces, seats, cyl head, wheels, etc. Between all the stuff I was able to re-use and how much I sold, it was well worth it.

Also, hate to say it, but it's just a thirdgen Camaro RS. There really isn't anything special about it. Replacements are easy to find. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Pat

This post has been edited by patred: Aug 13 2009, 08:07 PM

[BrianChevy]

Also, hate to say it, but it's just a thirdgen Camaro RS. There really isn't anything special about it. Replacements are easy to find. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

sounds like somebody has been hanging around the rally car folks a little too much.

(IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[patred]

sounds like somebody has been hanging around the rally car folks a little too much.

(IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

No, just 6-7 years laughing at the people at thirdgen.org who think their rattletrap V6 cars are classics. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Or "1LE" means "multiply value by 5."

Edit: Such as ....

Pat

This post has been edited by patred: Aug 14 2009, 03:48 PM

[trackbird]

sounds like somebody has been hanging around the rally car folks a little too much.

(IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

No, just 6-7 years laughing at the people at thirdgen.org who think their rattletrap V6 cars are classics. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) Or "1LE" means "multiply value by 5."

Pat

Pat was a 3rd gen owner (at least once, maybe a few times).


Yea, part of me feels like I should be "sad" that I'm cutting up a factory 1992 Z28 hardtop original 5.7 liter car. In 1992 they built like 5,600 Z28's and 1,800-ish convertibles (it was a pretty low production year for Z28's). So, it's one of 3,800-ish Z28's and the hardtop (non t-top) and original 5.7 liter car could make it possibly one of a few hundred. On the other hand, it's still pretty much worthless, even if it was mint (and it wasn't). It's a rare person who's throwing down big money for these cars. For every one of those "38 miles on the odometer, kept under a cover since new/stored as an investment" IROC's that someone pays $25k for, there are thousands of cars that change hands for a few hundred bucks to a few k. On paper, I might have a car that had collector potential...and it's still nothing terribly special. That's how it became a race car project.

Decent LS1 cars are occasionally approaching $5k. I like many things about the 3rd gens better (size, sight lines out of the car, lighter weight, no ABS, easier to work on, etc) but the 4th gen car is "worlds better" in almost every way (as a driver/street car). Nicer interior, better brakes, T56 (who buys an auto?), tons more power, etc. If I were shopping for a Camaro and had $5k in my pocket (and wanted a car to drive and enjoy and not particularly to race), I'd go looking for a "decent" LS1 car long before I'd go looking for a 3rd gen.