Illuminator

I'm looking for some advice and help from those that know Civics better than I. To keep a long story short, Friday I hit a spot of ice, spun out and smashed the passenger side front fender of my '94 4-door EX into another car. Body damage seems to be minimal, with it probably needing a new front/rear bumper, front passenger side fender and hood. The passenger side suspension is pretty messed up and the wheel was basically hanging by a thread, most of the suspension on that side was sheered off.

Looking at it and at the part cost, sans labor, I'm estimating maybe $1500 at the most for all the repairs. This is keeping the car stock, no fancy aftermarket parts like carbon fiber and what have you. Anyway, I took it to a shop, as I have no time or inclination to fix the thing myself and they called me today, quoting me $6300. This sounds, to be blunt, ****ing ridiculous. I'm not sure if they're including a paint job or not, but I'm going to see my car tomorrow and have them give me a breakdown of what they want to do.

So does this seem excessive to anyone else? Are there perhaps some hidden repairs that I'm not seeing, such as a tweaked front-end or some such? It's obviously not worth it to repair it if it's anything over $2000, but I figured the repairs would cost much less than that. Even if it is the case that something has happened to the front end of the car, does this seem like an excessive price?

Thanks

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

6300 is a bit much.

looks like more of a 2500-4000 job since it is quite a bit of stuff, and they will basically have to repaint ur car and do quite a bit of suspension work, not to mention that they might hvae to restrighten some stuff

DDragon7

I dont even think your car is worth $4000, not meaning to be rude.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

well obviously $6300 is going to be a total loss for the car. Maybe some pictures could help us see whats wrong. If the frame is a bit bent things can add up very fast. Especially if your saying you need to rebuild suspension. See if you can get another quote or two and see whats up.

Illuminator

No offense taken, Dragon. I bought the car for $1800 and put a stereo in it because I drive a lot and the stock stereo was crapped out. It's worth about $2200 total to me.

I'll be damned if I'm paying $6300 to fix the car...hell, even $2500 is too much. It just seemed to me that this estimate is ridiculously pricey, especially for a car where parts are extremely common.

As far as the suspension being replaced, it's just the passenger side front. I'm imagining all that needs to be done is to put a new half-shaft on there, wishbone, strut and other minor suspension niggles and it ought to be driveable. I'm not concerned about painting the car. I think part of the reason their estimate is so high is because they're probably trying to tack on an expensive paintjob I don't want. The car is driven solely to get good gas mileage and listen to podcasts on the way to and from work. I couldn't care less what it looks like as long as it drives okay.

Is it possible the frame is bent? I hit pretty hard in the car, but my friend was telling me that it's typical for Hondas after 89 or so to be built to a spec where the wheel will sheer off in the event of an accident to prevent damage to the frame.

My plans are to go see the car tomorrow and get a break down of what they want to do to it and then probably shop around. I'll bring my camera tomorrow in the hopes of grabbing some pictures. Thanks for the replies.