CAR REPAIR QUESTION!!

Looking to place a bid through my uncle who owns a car lot and has access to alot of salvage and auction cars. Wondering if anyone can give out some advice to whether the repairs required for this Lexus sedan front end bumper area damage is deceivingly more serious then it looks or could be repaired for a fair amount of money. I'm looking to keep this car not flip in case anyone is wondering why I'd buy a salvage title. There is no engine damage at all.

Not sure of the cost of repairing that front clip and fender. I suggest checking the sway bar to ensure it's not bent, which will throw off the stability of the car. Also consider bent struts and weakened front endparts like the lower ball join and tie rod connectors, no uppers cuz its got da strut.

Front end damages usually arent to expensive from my experience, but its always on an older model car and Im buying parts from a junkyard.... just gotta make sure nothing is tweaked like the frame, steering assembly, etc. Plastic breaks easy, metal bends before it breaks:-) (usually)

From what I see, minimal cost and no damage to structual componets. Although its hard to tell...is that tire flat from the crash, or because the fender buckled and peirced it? hard to tell impact zone when all the metal has been pulled of it. if that car got in from the side, right about where the tire is... i suggest u take a good look at the structure..if not, cosmetics. have fun.

You're in the right place, cars are what I do.

That model features a uni-body subframe which is not too hard to change, but could be expensive since toyota parts are high value these days (from the looks of it I highly doubt the subframe is totaled).

It appears the front driver rim is ruined and was driven on after breaking for quite some distance and surely ripped the fender to crap.

If the sway bar is damaged like Rachkir pointed out (and it may very well be) that will not be a costly fix (most of the time a well built performance upgrade is cheaper than the O.E.M. replacement).

Many of these parts can be found from salvage and toyota salvage is big business right now so expect a good selection.

Worst case scenario the subframe isn't straight and will need changing, but I doubt it and even then a subframe can be straightened safely back to road worthy condition (minus any future extreme induction upgrades i.e. turbo/supercharger/nitrous oxide).

From the looks of it the hardest part you will run into is lining up the new body panels to look uniform and straight (especially the headlamp) , but that takes some time and patience that's all, hell I could straighten that out with a common scissor jack on a slow day.

If I were you, this is something I would go for just remember if you do buy it, lexus excels in advanced braking systems so be careful what you replace the hardware with, go with O.E.M or a trustworthy performance upgrade.

gl hf dc.

Thank you guys, because of the advice I will be looking to put in a winning bid today, for better or worse. I owe you guys both one xD.

dont forget to check the johnson rod.

Fuck me. I swear this site pwns answers.com. You can just about get anything done by asking the HL2DM community.

Walking Target wrote:Fuck me. I swear this site pwns answers.com. You can just about get anything done by asking the HL2DM community.

I've noticed that too haha, it's amazing.

you're looking at 3500-4500 if a body shop does it.

or you could do it yourself for 1700-2000.

just an estimate but i do body work as well.

Stay away from my car

Last night i broke a johnson rod

I forgot about an exam that was during the final periods of the auction so no luck . There's always next time and yes, this community is unique to the quake and CSS communities. Everyone here is tight knit, intelligent and typically has a good answer for almost anything, that's why this is the first place I came to for an answer. Oh and blas is u read this can u guess who was the artist of the masterpiece in my new avatar? So far ur 1 for 1

Fuck me. I swear this site pwns answers.com. You can just about get anything done by asking the HL2DM community.

lmao, could be true hahaah

Va|iums wrote:I forgot about an exam that was during the final periods of the auction so no luck . There's always next time and yes, this community is unique to the quake and CSS communities. Everyone here is tight knit, intelligent and typically has a good answer for almost anything, that's why this is the first place I came to for an answer. Oh and blas is u read this can u guess who was the artist of the masterpiece in my new avatar? So far ur 1 for 1

I'm gonna have to bite my tongue and say i don't know.