Your take: get repairs or buy new

etml12 · 06-13-07, 10:36

So here is my situation. I live in a townhouse and on Sunday (6/10) I parked my vehicle, a 2006 Civic Si, on a side street while I applied some asphalt sealer to my driveway. 4 hours later when I went back to my car I realized that somebody left me with a hit and run. Damage was fairly localized with it needing a new hood, buff out the grill, buff the front bumper, and repaint the new hood and blending. Despite my attempts I couldn’t talk the person doing the appraisal into a new bumper. With my deductible, the total is going to run just under $1800.

Here is where it gets interesting (and exciting). As of one month ago, the vehicle was paid for in full. I could either have the repairs done and hope to not have issues down the road OR look into getting into a 07 or in a few months an 08 model with some upgrades. I’m thinking that I could go back to the dealer I purchased from originally and see if they can cut me a decent deal. Their costs for repair would certainly be less than I would have to pay and they could then make a potentially significant profit on the sale. In turn I can get into a new vehicle 1 model year newer with stability control (standard option of the 07+) and the navi that I should have waited for from the beginning.

If you were in a similar situation what course of action would you take? Sorry for the long post but any thoughts and/or comments are certainly welcome.

Danase · 06-13-07, 10:39

My take...if it is paid for have it fixed and keep driving it.

kkreit01 · 06-13-07, 11:35

^ ditto -- the dealer will still give you waaaay less then KBB or NADA trade-in. They'll probably figure twice the damage -- since it will also be a headache for them to repair.

Danin Re · 06-13-07, 11:44

I'd say keep it too... then take the money you were making as your car payment, and put it away for some good mods, if that's what you're into.

If you're dead set on getting a new car, have this one fixed by a very good body shop, then save the money you were making on car payments until you have a sizable down payment and then go get the new one.

intoran · 07-06-07, 12:48

^ I concur

Unless you are independently wealthy keep the car since it's paid for and use the money for mods, your next car, Roth IRA, etc..

gmblack3a · 07-06-07, 12:54

Believe me, its nice having just about everything paid for.

MotorCity · 07-06-07, 12:59

No car note is really sweet!!

I was without payment for a few years and man it twas nice...

So - another vote for keeping the current ride!

You can actually put in a really sweet Nav system which if you find the right fabricator will look OE...

I know of a guy that does Accord's I'm going to have him make me a custom bezel for a 7.5" vga transreflective screen for the Carputer I'm piecing together.... He may know som eone that does Civic's - PM if interested.

etml12 · 07-06-07, 01:30

A bit of a thread revival as of late! Just to give an update, the vehicle is going into the shop on Monday (7/9) for a week. As it turned out, there was a drastic shortage in Civic Si's with navi late in the model year. With the combination of high demand and relatively low supply there weren't any deals to be had. I'm just going to hope things go well with the body work and I can continue to stash some $ away for a new motorcycle.

simracer · 07-09-07, 02:08

Good deal. And if the bumper isn't at least as nice as it was before the damage, keep bugging them about it. You might not get anywhere, but then again, you might at least get a repaint if not a whole new bumper.

Insurance companies are in the restoration business and they are required to restore it to the condition that it was before the accident. Nothing more, nothing less. So if the bumper is still worse than it was, make some noise.

94BlkStang · 07-09-07, 03:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by etml12

So here is my situation. I live in a townhouse and on Sunday (6/10) I parked my vehicle, a 2006 Civic Si, on a side street while I applied some asphalt sealer to my driveway. 4 hours later when I went back to my car I realized that somebody left me with a hit and run. Damage was fairly localized with it needing a new hood, buff out the grill, buff the front bumper, and repaint the new hood and blending. Despite my attempts I couldn’t talk the person doing the appraisal into a new bumper. With my deductible, the total is going to run just under $1800.

Here is where it gets interesting (and exciting). As of one month ago, the vehicle was paid for in full. I could either have the repairs done and hope to not have issues down the road OR look into getting into a 07 or in a few months an 08 model with some upgrades. I’m thinking that I could go back to the dealer I purchased from originally and see if they can cut me a decent deal. Their costs for repair would certainly be less than I would have to pay and they could then make a potentially significant profit on the sale. In turn I can get into a new vehicle 1 model year newer with stability control (standard option of the 07+) and the navi that I should have waited for from the beginning.

If you were in a similar situation what course of action would you take? Sorry for the long post but any thoughts and/or comments are certainly welcome.

Sounds like minimal damage and an easy repair and it's definitely nice to have a car paid off. If you really are interested in trading up then go to the dealer and see what the best deal is they can offer. I bet you'll be giving the okay for the repairs after that as the dealer isn't going to pay you near enough to make it worth your while. Good luck and let us know what you decide.