I'm considering getting an NSX and after reading some of the salvage title threads, I have to wonder why an insurance company would total out a car worth a minimum $20k (for a 1991)over damage that can be fixed for $3k. Doesn't make sense. Seems like body panel damage is enough to total one of them. What's the story?
NSX's seem to be totalled easily...
- Thread starter glane21
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Very simple answer: Insurance companies DON'T total out NSX's with $3K of damage.
Who are you hearing this from? I'm guessing this is nonsense from the people that are trying to sell salvage title cars. It is obviously in their best interest to make you think that the damage is totally minor, so you are getting an amazing deal. Meanwhile, if the insurance company totalled the car, there is a significant amount of work that needs to be done to get the car back to normal.
Who are you hearing this from? I'm guessing this is nonsense from the people that are trying to sell salvage title cars. It is obviously in their best interest to make you think that the damage is totally minor, so you are getting an amazing deal. Meanwhile, if the insurance company totalled the car, there is a significant amount of work that needs to be done to get the car back to normal.
Yeah, ditto. Having been an insurance defense attorney handling automobile collisions, insurance companies do pay attention to the bottom line and will take the option which costs them the least amount of $$$. They won't total it out for $3k of damage. However, on a side note, when damaged, the NSX tends to cost more than the average car to fix. Low production means high $$ for replacement parts. On top of that the aluminum construction makes it more difficult to fix. I would never buy a previously damaged NSX because for things like the frame, I don't think they CAN be fixed properly (back to 100%).
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paulviriyapan said:
I agree - sad but true that our car's frame is so stiff, precise, but relatively sensitive to collisions. Someone recently posted "insider" pictures of the Ford GT40 team disassembling a NSX to the frame. He stated they wanted to see why some of the NSX alluminum welded structures were actually more rigid then if they had been solid parts (paraphrasing - but something like that).
I am not talking about body damage and paint but actual frame damage. That said - insurance does not care. I had a friend who had a Porsche 911 convertable that literally "folded in half" in the middle during a severe collision. They did not total out the car but instead had it on a laser allignment rack for a couple of days stretching it back out and replacing most of the body panels. That thing rattled before the accident - how do you think she handles now?
nkb said:
Yeah, there is a guy in another post here saying he knows someone who bought an $8k salvaged NSX, fixed it for $3k and sold it for $20k. Also, there was a post in the for sale forum, or maybe it was an auction, for a blue '02 model that had been vandalized and was for sale from an insurance yard. The damage was only to the body so no frame damage, but it was to most of the panels. Still, an '02 is a $65k car and it was totalled for replaceable body panel damage?
Also keep in mind that there is a difference between fixing the car, and fixing it properly. Insurance companies base the decision on totalling it on fixing it properly and completely. You can save a lot of money on the crash repair if you don't care about whether it winds up as good-looking or as safe as a car without accident damage.
Does the parting-out value of the wreck come into this decision? Say you had a $30K car with $20K worth of damage but you could part it out for $15K -- the best decision is to declare it totalled and part it out. OTOH insurance co's aren't in that business. So it would sell at auction for the greater of either the parted-out value ($15K) or the selling value minus the cost to repair it ($30K-$20K = 10K).
When you say replacing body panels it is different for the NSX. Yes, it is still the same bolt on parts but the aluminum OEM replacement body panels are a lot more expensive than other cars. For example, the fenders on the early model NSX is about $975 each. The rear 1/4 panels are much more expensive at about $1475 each. Just about 3 weeks ago a coworker backed into my front fender denting it and also scuffing up my front bumper cover. On my Acura Legend similar damage was about $1400 for a new fender and prep and repaint of the front bumper cover. YOu could even do metal work on the fender and salvage the original fender. On my NSX, it is nearing $3000. Close to $1000 as I mentioned before is just for the fender alone since the aluminum is beyond repair even if it looks like a minor dent. The rest is to remove and reprep the front upper and lower bumper covers and paint. Also labor to prep and paint properly by removing everything from the car rather than leaving it on the car and masking it off. Like nsxtasy said. You can repair or you can repair it properly. Mine is close to $3000 and it is a minor fender bender with only 1 front fender that needs replacing. I find it very hard to believe those salvaged NSXs have only $3000 worth of damage.
To get a good idea on how much body panel parts and accessories cost for the NSX take a look at crash/parts estimate guide in on the NSXPrime home page here http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Reference/partnumbers.htm
To get a good idea on how much body panel parts and accessories cost for the NSX take a look at crash/parts estimate guide in on the NSXPrime home page here http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Reference/partnumbers.htm
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Four years ago I had a collission with an other car and had front damage for about $ 37K. A year before I bought the car for $ 35k.
It was a 1991 NSX.
The insurance company payed the whole damage without problems.
So my car was fixed like new at a Ferrari repair shop.
It was a 1991 NSX.
The insurance company payed the whole damage without problems.
So my car was fixed like new at a Ferrari repair shop.
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pbassjo said:He said , she said.
I heard that...
I know a guy...
A friend told me...
My buddy knows this guy...
I almost got to meet Ray Charles once
I bought Jon Voigt's convertible Lebaron.
Well, that was my point.glane21 said:
You can't blindly trust someone's report about damage to a salvage title car. Just because the guy says it was vandalism, and there is no frame damage, doesn't make it so. Unfortunately, salvage titles usually don't give an indication of the type of damage that was done.
I remember a silver NSX on ebay, that was originally listed as a "clean" title. Someone called the seller on it, and he changed his listing to salvage, saying it was water damage from rain, when the owner left the windows open (yeah, right). He later changed it to theft recovery, probably because he didn't realize at first that water damage is actually a lot worse than he thought.
Would you believe this guy? What makes you think that the seller of the 02 is any more honest? The vandalism may have been a full rollover, or another massive type of crash, where he could either fix the frame damage cheaply, or not at all.
You wouldn't know unless you had it professionally checked out.
MY $.02
So here is my story.........................
I hit a curb (HARD) and damaged the front and rear suspension. The total repair so-far is over $10,000.00 and still going. I have a '91 so the whole 3k thing is a mute point. Just keep in mind that to replace the wheels from a '91 is around $4000 through the dealership.
So here is my story.........................
I hit a curb (HARD) and damaged the front and rear suspension. The total repair so-far is over $10,000.00 and still going. I have a '91 so the whole 3k thing is a mute point. Just keep in mind that to replace the wheels from a '91 is around $4000 through the dealership.
I had my 91 totaled a few years ago. You can see pictures in the gallery section under "Norm". It looks like the damage was limited to the windshield and the roof. And if someone wanted to make a track car out of it, that might be all that it would take to get it back on the road. What you can't see is the glass damage inside the car and the broken dash mount and the potential damage of the forces from the roof being transferred through the rest of the body.
The repair shop, which did high end work, indicated a reluctance to try and fix the car, sighting concerns about window alignment, air noise etc. When the car went through the salvage auction I believe it brought close to $20,0000. I was happy to let someone else deal with the potential problems and bought a 94.
There is no doubt the NSX is an expensive car to repair (although there are certainly others that are more so) but I never considered not buying another. (Well, there was that one drive of an S2000.....)
The repair shop, which did high end work, indicated a reluctance to try and fix the car, sighting concerns about window alignment, air noise etc. When the car went through the salvage auction I believe it brought close to $20,0000. I was happy to let someone else deal with the potential problems and bought a 94.
There is no doubt the NSX is an expensive car to repair (although there are certainly others that are more so) but I never considered not buying another. (Well, there was that one drive of an S2000.....)
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You cannot pull aluminium frames. When it's bent you have to cut it off and weld in a new piece. This is expensive.
If you bend the front frame rail it will probably cost 20k to fix.
If you bend the front frame rail it will probably cost 20k to fix.
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