Vigo said:That will probably total that van. It has damage on three panels, needs a wheel and tire, suspension work, alignment, etc.
I'm having it towed on Monday to Allstate's recommended local shop. I'd be OK with them totaling it, but I'd definitely buy it back because I know it's been impeccably maintained since 48k (she's at 171k now).
We just went through getting totaled by Michigan snow with our 2008 Civic Si (242K miles, well maintained too). A guy went around a corner too fast and took out three parked cars, including ours. I bought it back and am fixing it, so I'm glad to help with tips if you end up going down that path.
update 2/11/2020:
Body shop initial estimate is $5600, including:
I really hope this is below the threshold for totalling it out, because i can get the suspension and a wheel and a silver fender locally for under $500, and knock it out in less than a day.
Body shop started tearing down to begin panel prep but "oh, we had to remove that window trim in order to properly estimate repair to a scrape just above the rocker" or some E36 M3 like that. berkeley it, i don't have time to fight about it. called Allstate and told them the deal, and that i was kinda unhappy about it since i specifically said "do NOT begin work, I have not decided whether or not i'm going to DIY it." Allstate backed the body shop, so I had to pay $500 to cover disassembly and reassembly since i chose to DIY.
i got a corner assembly from a 131k rear-hit for $80 and a used rim for $95 from the same local JY, plus $40 shipped for Moog inner and outer tie rod ends. so for $215 plus tire mount and balance i'll be rolling again. if mama says i must make it look better, i found a silver front fender for $50. dang, i should just go ahead and buy that for the surprise-and-delight factor. i mean, tomorrow is Valentine's day. i've also got contact info for a fantastic detailer. dude made my buddy Jay's truck, SS, and '69 Nova look friggin sweet for about $200 each.
when it's all said and done, we are receiving about $4600 to drive a slightly-dented van.
That's about right for Allstate. Working in the industry I can clearly say that they are in my experience the worst carrier to deal with. Always an awful experience.
$4,600 in your pocket and the van still in the driveway (and on the road.)
That's winning!
You can keep driving the van and later, if still running, sell it for $3k.
$7,600 out of a near 200k van is great.
i talked myself into that silver fender for $50. i'll pick it up tomorrow morning. ah, romance.
edit: i also ordered a new aftermarket LCA because I know the tie rod banged it up, and i'd rather not take any chances with stress concentrations in an aluminum suspension part.
John Welsh said:$4,600 in your pocket and the van still in the driveway (and on the road.)
That's winning!
You can keep driving the van and later, if still running, sell it for $3k.
$7,600 out of a near 200k van is great.
Yeah, that's what i was thinking. Mama loves it, and it's been impeccably maintained by yours truly since 48k. when i told her the estimate was $5600, she said "berkeley a dented quarter! we're taking the money, right?"
You wrote....
... maintained by yours truly since 48k
Based on the earlier posts in this thread is the above considered to be a positive or negative attribute? 
In reply to John Welsh :
LOL sick burn!
Update 2/17/2020. gonna go driveabeater style and start with the budget (with rounding):
i was able to locate all required used parts locally on car-part.com, so I spend Friday afternoon driving to 3 yards in metro Detroit retrieving my parts. I'm fortunate that the hub / bearing and wheel speed sensor that came with the JY corner are in excellent condition.
I picked up a used "silver" fender off a 2007 (mine is a 2010) but it was really "sand beige" or something that was a little bit gold-ish, so I returned that for refund today.
I ordered Moog tie rod ends from amazon, and the A-pillar filler trim piece from my local Honda dealer. I R&R'd the suspension parts and refit the front bumper and fender on Saturday. I got the inner tie rod end tool on loan from AutoZone, which made quick work of that. Here's a YouTube screen grab:
Removing the front bumper cover led to the discovery that there's no front crash beam in place, and the AC condenser is bent, so this thing had been crashed at some point before we bought it. :-(
I was able to straighten the bent fender a bit by placing it face down on a pile of moving blankets and stepping / bouncing on it. Good enough.
Belle Tire on Ann Arbor Rd in Plymouth took care of swapping tire and pressure sensor from crashed rim to JY rim, then aligned it, and it drives just like pre-crash. i'll have the detail guy knock it out once the salt is off the roads, probably 1st week of april. it'll still have a couple wrinkles in it, but it's 11 years old with 171k miles so we're OK with that.
The drivabeater lives on!!!!
You should do it build thread that culminates in a Turbocharger and track days
Dusterbd13-michael said:The drivabeater lives on!!!!
You should do it build thread that culminates in a Turbocharger and track days
When we bought this in 2014, the dealer gave us $1500 trade-in on our 2003 that had 255k on it. I briefly considered "2015: A Challenge Odyssey" but quickly abandoned that thought.
Revisiting 19 months and 30k miles later, because drivers side halfshaft quit halfshafting. I suspect it took some damage in the crash which initiated this failure.
so she came home on the stretcher Thursday night and I'm spending this morning on the R&R. Should be a quick job as long as the inner CV doesn't fight me too hard coming out.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
You're real good with that hand motion. Must have taken a lot of practice.
You should be able to pry it gently out of the transmission without any issues. I'd recommend an OEM replacement, it seems like everything else almost guarantees doing the job again in a few months. Might not hurt to get a new seal while you're at it.
In reply to dj06482 (Forum Supporter) :
I couldn't really get a good angle on it with typical mechanic pry bar, but my home improvement demolition bar worked a treat:
seal looks OK, so I'm gonna roll the dice. FWIW, I replaced both OE halfshafts at about 118k, so this one has 83k and a crash under its belt. Advance offers lifetime warranty on them so the new one will be $free fiddy. Ordered replacement Thursday night so it's waiting for me to do the exchange. This time I removed knuckle to strut bolts and pulled caliper, vs popping the outer tie rod. Everything came apart easy, as it's only been a couple months since I replaced struts. Not a bad job overall.
carnage!
cage was busted in half and all the balls were loose inside. Total mayhem!
I have the angled HF pry bars just for the axle :-). I always take out the strut bolts and take off the calipers, as well - it's so much easier that way. My seal had unknown mileage and was leaking, so it was a no-brainer for me.
Glad to hear the repair went well - I bought a 3/4" HF torque wrench just for torquing the axle nut to the 242ft-lbs or whatever the spec is.
Test drive complete. She's good!
props to advance auto parts for no questions asked warranty replacement.
In reply to dj06482 (Forum Supporter) :
Yep, it's 242 lb-ft. My 1/2" only goes to 150, so I set it to max and then reefed another (estimated) 100 with my breaker bar. Super accurate is my middle name.
I thought it was Supersonic?
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The halfshaft job went so well that I decided to replace the rear shocks. I bought them a couple months ago when I did the front struts, and they've just been sitting on the shelf taunting me. Old and busted:
Note solid imprint of jounce bumper inside spring seat. Mama takes no prisoners. No pix of new hotness, so another pic of old and busted.
Trust me, the new hotness are both new and hotness. Pretty sure they are Monroe "OE Spectrum". Ride quality is greatly improved. 10/10, would R&R again.
How were your rear spring seats? My uppers were fine (I replaced them anyways), but my lower seats (plastic) had seen better days:
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