So a little over a week ago I got rear ended by a women not paying attention. Luckily she had insurance and I have been going through her insurance company. She hit my on the right side of my rear bumper causing my right rear quarter panel to buckle and shifting the trunk and tail lights to the right.


Anyways dropped the car off at the body shop Monday so they could tear it down and check out the damage underneath, turns out theirs "internal structure" damage which I'm guessing means that corner of the trunk/body is crunched in so they added that to the bill as well. All in the damages are $4k+!! and the other car was only going 30mph at most!


So after the wreck I still drove my car for a week and didn't seem to notice any differences in driving. However it always seems that a car never drives the same after being hit, no matter how hard a shop tries to fix everything back to factory spec. Is my car going to be ruined now forever? Still waiting on the insurance company to determine if they're going to approve the repair or total it. I hope it's not totaled seeing as I've only got 64k on the clock...

 

No, it will never be the same. I hope this works out for you and you get a large payout so you can find an equivalent clean car. If it were me I would just try to move on. GL!

 

I've had two cars that were wrecked and I couldn't tell when driving them. Ford Ranger (was t boned) and an S2000 (previous owner crashed the front corner).

The S2000 repaired paint was garbage. It chipped if you looked at it wrong and then would start flaking off around the chip.

When I was in HS my parents had a minivan that was rear ended, then they rear ended somebody later. Thing should have been totaled both times. Still drove fine, but it was far from the driving experience of an RX8.

Also since you were hit you can ask for diminished value if they want to fix it. Might push them over the edge to total it or get you a little more money.

 

That's the problem, if it is totaled I'd like to just get another 8 but their isn't a single 6 port manual GT for sale in my area... any suggestions on an alternative car around the same price that is comparable to the RX8?

 

Could you explain "diminished value" to me? and how it would result in a little more money?

 

When you go to buy a car would you pay the same price for one with no accident history as one with an accident? No you wouldn't, the car that was in a crash has had its value diminished. The insurance company is supposed to make you whole. Just fixing the car doesn't really do that since when you go to sell it you get less money. Some states don't allow diminished value but most do.

 

I have a hard time accepting that it will never be the same.
You already drove it for a week and noticed no difference. So what are we even talking about?
If you like the car, let them fix it and continue enjoying it. Sure it'll have diminished value, but if you total it out and get money out of this whole thing, the best case scenario without adding more money is you get a car that is of similar age/mileage but with unknown maintenance and unknown previous owner problems. You know your car's history. Don't throw it out if you don't have to.

If you're willing to add money to get a fresher RX8 that's fine, but there aren't thousands of these things running around.