bubble

Yesterday my son crashed his beloved 01 LX Coupe. Fortunately, he was just shaken up, and the wife & I are ETERNALLY GRATEFUL for that. Now as we await the body shop estimate, we are wondering if we should just scrap it or try to "pay our way" back to drive-ability. As I am not knowledgeable enough myself to do the repairs, we would rely on the pros.

This car was a cream puff. We bought it for $5k, 128,000 miles, one owner, in damn near new condition, believe it or not.

Now, the rough guess from the body man is about $4k, with a more detailed quote on the way. Fortunately, the airbags did not deploy, so that expense is not part of the cost. The salvage yard quoted me $850 for it, but didn't ask if the airbags were intact.

When the tow truck pulled it out of the ditch, it was teetering on the shoulder of the road, possibly indicating undercarriage damage. It was in PARK when he winched it rearward, and loud clicking was heard. My gut just churned when I heard that.

When it was unloaded at home, the park position would NOT hold the car in place without using the E brake. Possible tranny damage? The windshield also is cracked, and needs replacement.

The hood won't open presently, so I would need to pry it open to get a better look at the engine, but thru the side, I could pull the oil dipstick, and it reads full yet, with no indication of coolant (my son said he immediately put it into PARK, then killed the ignition after the collision). The radiator is pushed rearward, the brake fluid reservoir is busted off, and I refuse to try to start it in it's current state.

My gut tells me to scrap it, but my son has enough attachment to it to want to fix it (maybe it is the back-seat memories ?).

Here are the pics : http://photobucket.com/2001-Civic-LX-bubble

If anyone has the time to offer opinions on this, I am all ears.

Thanks in advance.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

WAY too much damage to consider fixing. even if you pay the shop all that money, it will never be anywhere near what it was before. and then you couldve found another car in that price range anyway. there are plenty more just like it for that model.

bubble

Thanks for the quick reply.

My thoughts too, and the uncertainty of trans/engine damage kinda spook me BIG TIME. As far as a replacement used car, in these parts, used cars got real costly, ever since the economy took a dump. Still, I'm thinking that is the best option.

Any opinion on what the salvage value might be on one of these? I was hoping for $1200, in light of the fact the airbags are still good. $850 seemed like an insult.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

best wait for the detailed report, but i do think it will be only good for parts...

Mr Belvedere

this is a sad sad day.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

if you have the time and space, you may want to salvage it yourself and make well over $1k. just gotta have the patience.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Ouch. Sad to hear about the car, but glad to know your son is okay. Like gearbox said, much to much damage to consider fixing. I think your best bet is to part it out yourself, assuming you have the tools/mechanical ability to tear down the car, then junk the rest. I'm sure you can get more of your money back that way.

All things considered, the engine seems to fared well, the wheels appear to be undamaged from the accident, the rear end is untouched, interior is fine minus some normal wear and tear and dirt. People (much like myself) that were not able to get a black interior in our cars would love to get their hands on black interior pieces for relatively cheap.

bubble

Thanks to all who offered advice. Looks like I need to admit that this car is toast.

I had asked before, and got no opinions on the salvage value of this coupe. Any thoughts?? I'm sure parting it out would maximize our return on it, but I have no time or experience in that sort of task. I will most likely just scrap it whole. Has anyone here ever gone thru anything similar?

I had read reviews on the 7th gen Civics, post-crash, and one reviewer on the EDMUNDS site made some comments that really hit home for me. He stated that he would NEVER let his new-driver kids drive his Civic when the roads were wet, due to spinning out & sliding, etc. (My son's accident happened in the rain, and he said that his car slid for @ 5 seconds, and that he did not stomp on the brake, & was doing the speed limit. I believe him, for what it is worth, hahaha). I had also noticed these characteristics too, when I drove this car.

My son would like another Civic eventually, but my concern is with the poor traction this car had, even with new tires. Is there ANYTHING that can be done to improve the wet road traction of these cars? Also, in light of the fact that the 7th gen's had tranny issues galore (belatedly learned by me), I am wondering if any NEXT Civic should be a 6th gen, for cost savings and reliability sake.

My next question is this...has anyone here owned a 6th gen Civic, and if so, are the handling characteristics any better than a 7th gen? Are the handling traits of hatchbacks any better? How about the sedans?

Last winter, I had to move the Civic in the driveway, and was stunned at how poorly this car would grip the gravel, in very light snow. Perhaps this is the tradeoff for GREAT gas mileage, but would like to hear the common wisdom from the folks here. Any opinions offered again are MUCH appreciated.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

?
never did notice low traction compared to other cars. Sure, they are less than a sports car (i own two miatas), but nothing really discerneable to other cars at same price range. sure, i have lots of modifications in teh suspension, etc.
6th gen are cheaper, lighter, better suspension (lots of changes throught the 6 -> 7th gen), if something happens it does not hurt too much and easier to fix.

Buuuut figures higher in the stolen car statistics.

if you need mroe info, look in here:
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...reference.html

anibis

I owned my 6th gen for 4 years and now my 7th gen for almost 8 (yikes). Both cars drove very similar and I never had any issues on wet roads as long as I had good tires on the car. I don't recall ever sliding on normal pavement in either car even under moderate braking. I delivered pizza's in both cars so I have lots of experience driving around in crappy weather.

Tires do make a big difference. I bought my 7th gen new and the Bridgestones it came with hydroplaned bad at higher speeds and had terrible snow traction, they didn't stay on the car very long.

I wouldn't think the Civic stops much different in the wet than other similar sized cars. This is really where tires make the biggest difference.

It's probably more your son learning how to drive or maybe he was distracted and didn't want to tell you. I wrecked my first car when I was looking at a chick and rear ended the car in front of me, I surely didn't tell my parents that lol. That was my first and only wreck (that was my fault) and I learned my lesson.

6th gen's are very good cars, I would only get a 7th gen if it had a manual tranny.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah its more a tire issue than a car issue. i have some great directional tires now and driving in the rain feels safer than dry road. have had really bad experiences including spinning out when slowly pressing the gas from a stop with cheap tires.