Friday before last, my '04 Civic LX coupe was parked into at my apartments by a hit & run driver. It did some pretty major cosmetic damage and I was wondering if before I take it in for more quotes to collision repair shops if it is possible to tell visually if the unibody frame has been damaged. I was hit on the passenger side of the vehicle, my bumper has scrapes, there's dents and bends in my quarter panel and my door panel as well as where you open the door and step in. Currently it is drivable. Estimated damages before further inspection by me were $4,000 from Go Collision (a local dealership collision center). However, after I brought it back home I noticed that it had more damage which wasn't noticed by me or by the visual inspection.. This further damage I estimate to be around another $1000+ depending on the extent of the further noticed damage and will take it into Brighton Auto Body on Monday to get one of their estimators to inspect it more thoroughly and I will be meeting with my adjuster later that afternoon. If there is structural damage like I believe there to be, I want it to be totaled because the damage will run around $5,000 total if not more and the ACV "Actual Cash Value" of the vehicle is around $9500 private party (04 Civic LX with 73000 miles). My question here is, what exactly qualifies as unibody damage.... there are creases and bends where the door meets the body (not on the inside of the door itself but the metal part you step onto as you get in)... are there any body pros out there who could give me some advice...

thanks!

 

Can you take a few pictures for us? I'm sure someone here can give you some answers if we can "visually" inspect for ourselves.

 

http://s333.photobucket.com/albums/m...amberlain/car/

 

no it doesnt look like unibody damage, just all sheet metal. tho side damage like that is usualy pretty high repair bill! did they find the guy that did it?

shouldnt be to hard look for a red vehicle with your blue paint on it!

 

no i believe it was one of the work trucks around here... theyre refurbishing all of the apartments.

 

yep go quo9ted me like 3500 and brighton auto like 5500... with its value only around 9500 im gonna fight for a total

 

See if you can fnd out which truck, take pictures if there is any "evidence" left, get the plate number, etc. and then confront whoever is in charge.That'll save you money. And why fight for the total? You'll be getting a lot of fresh paint out of it. That's a nice color.

 

ya exactly.... i dont care whos car it was i would get pictures and proof and if the apartment manager doesnt do anything then definatly take it to the cops!!!!!!
get the highest repair bill and get paid!!!!!!
i had some douche in school that keyed my 66impala from front fender also on the drivers door and he braged about doing it in school and the renta pig cop heard his @ss and in short he got arrested and i got the highest estimate for the damage which was like alittle over 500bucks and he had to pay it along with all the other court/probation fees.LOL and i laughed my @ss off every time i saw that ***** in the halls because i pocketed every penny because i was the one that painted the car and had about 1quart left and i just touched it up myself.LOL

to do that much damage the driver was really stupid or drunk!

good luck with it either way! definatly drive around with your camera to find the vehicle in question!

 

sorry to hear that, hope things work out. I would flip if someone did that and left without telling me.

 

The car will never be a total. as you stated "cosmetic damage"
If a body shop totals that, they are not a reputable repair center.
I would be in the yard of the joint doing the facility repairs, looking for
a truck with YOUR paint or fresh paint on it!