sprigs  

I'm going to budget 6k for the front repair...

 
 
Make sure you don't mention that when you go to the panel shop or their quote will be surprisingly close to that.
 
I think if you supplied most of the parts (repairers hate these cars as parts can be hard to find and expensive - unless you are on this forum) you could get the repair done and a respray for closish to that.
 
But no-one can say what its going to cost until the damage to the floorpan is seen. 

esskay
The value of full comprehensive is also more useful when it comes to hitting other cars - if you're in the wrong, and you DON'T have full comprehensive, any damage to the OTHER car comes out of your own pocket - this is what many people don't realise, and leads to a lot of financial heartbreak down the road...

 
Are you sure on that? I always thought third party covered OTHER cars and property, but not yours. So basically you are paying a premium to protect others but not your own transport. Should you be in a larger prang you will have to pay out of YOUR own pocket for YOUR car.

I think esskay meant "third party" even tho he wrote full comp...
Full comp - best investment for the p plater especially during the first year lol (no joke)
Third party - bare minimum...

why dont you measure the chassis points you can in the front and compare to the BGB values to see if the front end is in spec.  this will tell you if the rails/suspension towers have moved or of it is just "cosmetic".  then you can make an informed decision.
 
cheers

Tree - Thanks, SSS automotive sounds like a good place to start looking for a front/nose clip as I was worried about not finding one. And don't think importing one would be cheap.
 
Dudeman - I'll rip out the seats and carpet and post some pics hopefully there's no damage. Won't be able to do that until the weekend.
 
artymr2 - Sounds like a good idea, I'll try that on the weekend as well.
 
 
 
 

MRTurbo

esskay
The value of full comprehensive is also more useful when it comes to hitting other cars - if you're in the wrong, and you DON'T have full comprehensive, any damage to the OTHER car comes out of your own pocket - this is what many people don't realise, and leads to a lot of financial heartbreak down the road...

I thought thats was what third party property was for?

Comprehensive is comes into its own when someone ELSE crashes into you but they are UNinsured. Saves you going to all the bs and hassle of taking them to court etc. to recover the damages.

 
opps... Sorry, you're right - I forgot about third party property :)
 
I was thinking in terms of either basic 3rd party insurance ("green slip") *or* full comprehensive - I forgot about 3rd party property (3rd party fire & theft isn't applicable here since the car was being driven by the owner at the time).
 
I'm not sure what the difference in $$$ is between 3rd party property and full comp, but I've always gone for full comprehensive - I was glad to have it when the  guy who hit my old MR2 was at fault, didn't own the car and didn't have a licence :/
 
 
I've heard good things about SSS at Girraween - a mate sourced his 4EFTE through them, said they were great to deal with.

If you're a male under 25, then full comp is a complete ripoff. Absolute best value I've seen was about a 4 year break even. That is if I didn't write my car off in 4 years, I would have paid the value of the car in premiums! Its even worse for bikes, 1 years premium and the excess was 500bucks less than what I paid for it.
Get 3rd party to cover your arse against writing off a ferarri, and save the rest in case something happens. Unless you have a brand new car, you tend to get screwed over even with full comp.

^Sorry forgot to mention something important - put it under dad's name :P. It was $1000 for my car me listed as 2nd driver hehe. Otherwise it would've been $2000 - $3000 which is stupid. It's under my name now, but third party for exactly the reason you said.

^Yeah, it is *very* expensive to go under your own name in full comprehensive when young. But look around all the car forums at how many "I smashed my car" type threads there are from young male drivers and it begins to make sense... The most logical thing is to get a car you're not too worried about losing until you're over 25 and stick with 3rd party damage, or go under a parents name as Tree said...

Ok sorry for the long absence I caught a bad bug a few of weeks back (still feel like ****) and the wet weather we had didn't help me on the progress on the car. Well today I manage to take an even closer look. Took off the passenger fender doesnt appear to be any damage underneath that. The damage doesnt appear to go further than the section circled in the pic (PANEL SUB-ASSY, FRONT LUGGAGE END). Also managed to pull the rail out a bit.



I have yet to go to the panel beaters but just by looking at the mangled front rail I'm not sure if its gona be within my 6k budget or whether its legal to cut it or beat it out straight or do a nose cut transplant (which was what I was planning on doing), I've arranged to buy a wreck off one of our forums members but given the circumstances I don't want to end up with 2 wrecks.

so what do you guys reckon, pursue or give up?