"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
01/23/2015 at 18:15 • Filed to: None
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"Grindintosecond" (Grindintosecond)
01/23/2015 at 18:15 • Filed to: None | 0
| 8 |
The deal. My Mazda3 manual hatch was viciously attacked by covert fat ninja hail stones at the airport parking lot last summer. Part of the repair will be a new roof! So, that requires the mounting rails removed and the center section cut out and a new one welded in. In addition to that, it's getting new headlights, bumper, window scrapers, etc, AND a new hood and wherever there are difficult to attend to individual dents such as above the curve above the door and the like, they will fill in and sand and basically, the whole car is getting mostly a new paint job. The total insurance fix on this is $5,000 and 18 days labor. It's worth just under $10k, owe almost $5k@220/month. So, given this, I will have a perfect looking new car assuming they get the black paint with fairy dust right.
Is it worth keeping after this?
If I sell this, they will see this repair if they pulled a carfax or whatever. Will a potential buyer stay away or low-ball me? Or would they be okay with the repair? My biggest fear is where they weld the new roof section in. It's done under those plastic rain gutter roof strips where you would mount any roof carrier or anything else. Water would be in there on occasion and I'm just not confident how the welding and paint would hold up if I were to keep it for 100,000 miles beyond this. It should last, but will the work? Should I sell it? Pro/con over trusting the work or selling it right after and whats the chance of the value actually being reduced greatly?
Thoughts guys. Thank you for the time spent on this.
E92M3
> Grindintosecond
01/23/2015 at 18:24 |
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I wouldn't be too concerned about the roof. Those plastic rails pop off and underneath the roof is spot welded on. The body shop will drill out the spot welds to remove the roof. They'll put the new roof on and spot weld it in place, sand down the welds and paint everything before snapping the plastic rails back in place. There won't be exposed metal to rust. You won't be able to tell it was ever done unless you pull a carfax. I'd keep it since it's value will be diminished just for having paint work done.
Steve in Manhattan
> Grindintosecond
01/23/2015 at 18:36 |
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Drive it into the ground. And yes, I would lowball you. Anyone would. If you were happy with the car before the hail, keep driving it.
Takuro Spirit
> Grindintosecond
01/23/2015 at 18:40 |
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Would not fix.
Keep insurance money.
Buy racecar.
DD dented Mazda.
Give no fucks.
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Grindintosecond
> Steve in Manhattan
01/23/2015 at 18:45 |
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The theory of a perfect world would be sell for 9, pay off the debt. Have 4, buy a reliable vibe/corolla commuter car. Have no debt and use the 220/month for the OG mini restoration. But....enter hail...
Arben72
> Grindintosecond
01/23/2015 at 18:49 |
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Take the insurance check, do no repairs, sell on Craigslist for 4-5. Atleast that's what I'd do.
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Steve in Manhattan
> Grindintosecond
01/23/2015 at 18:51 |
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I had an '87 300D. $658.74. I still remember the payment on what was my third new car. I sent them $750 a month and knocked down the principle as best I could. That's one idea.
Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> Grindintosecond
01/23/2015 at 19:14 |
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Keep driving it. If it's functional, I say don't even bother repairing it. And if you keep it long enough it won't be worth the 5k repair anyway, so then just sell it as is, and you'll have gotten your money's worth by then.
If you reach a point when you want to sell it, then you can weigh whether or not an expensive repair will affect the resale value significanly. If you squeeze 4k more out of a 5k repair, it's not worth it.
Old-Busted-Hotness
> Grindintosecond
01/24/2015 at 06:44 |
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Look around the shop and see how clean their other jobs came out. If it looks like they know what they're doing, no worries. A roof is just a body panel like any other.