WWGRMD? Wreck/insurance/new car? thread

So this morning i got a call from my girlfriend saying she smashed her xj into the back of a box truck. Roadside lookover says the frame rails are bent down at the front swaybar bracket. We only payed 1900 for the jeep a couple months back and its served us great but now have no idea what to do. Liability insurance so its all on us now. The jeep has 268000 miles but runs and drives great, reliable, but its lifted 4.5 inches and has clearly been used as a mountain/offroad rig for years so most panels had a dent or something so its not like the truck was mint. More info on our behalf, were a young couple who just moved across the country on our own dime as well as buying two cars when we got here so while we have enough in savings to get another $2000-$3000 car, there wouldn't be a savings left for other life stuff

What im asking here is what should i think to do? Part out and sell? Sawzall and welder make it stronger? Cut losses and dump on craigslist for just above scrap value or just scrap it as is?

Photos because whats a thread without photos? Ill get better ones of damage tomorrow when i can get to it. Let me know if yall cant see the photos

Ouch, hope shes ok. It doesn't look that bad to me. Tow strap, telephone pole + reverse. Its cheap, all in front of the suspension/important pickup points, bend it back close enough, new fenders grill and hood etc. Good to go for awhile. Welcome to the PNW!

Also hope everyone was OK. Looks like it was a pretty nice XJ. I'd at least see if it can be aligned straight before I'd give up on it.

Thanks guys, shes alright a little banged up but you know how wrecks go, the next couple weeks will really tell more how she is. Im still having neck trouble from a wreck 2 years ago hopefully she doesnt have any of that junk!

Im seriously pondering the fix it with sawzall and welder because i dont think i could get anything back straight enough to fit factory parts but i know i can make it work and at least buy us time to decide what to do while still getting her to work safely. But ill have to play insurance adjuster to see if its worth it. But i feel it should be worth it if i can get some more life out of it, it was well used but still had a ton of life. That and i feel i "didnt get my moneys worth" because we only had it a short time if that made sense

Junkyard parts and put it together as well and you can and keep on driving. Those XJs are tough.

This insurance adjuster would tell you to just sell it to some other ambitious nitwit and simply buy another. The parts alone will be close to the value of that thing. Guaranteed you dump $2k into fixing it that high mileage motor will cough up a lung the following week.

I've driven worse. From that pic a weekend's worth of work and you should be back in business.

Parting it will net you the most gain. Selling it is easiest.

I'd part it and buy another.

Spend a Saturday pulling off all the smashed parts and see what's bent up underneath. Just from those pics, I'd fix it and keep driving it. Junkyard for all the body parts, a new radiator is about $60 on Rock Auto. XJ's are tough and if it was a decent vehicle before this, I'd try to fix it and keep driving it while you continue to save money.

I bought our XJ with a slightly smashed right front. I straightened up the bumper with a bottle jack, and heat. Fixed the grill surround and painted it, and a good friend found and donated a matching fender to the project.

If you think you can straighten it out, do so, then stick these on:

http://www.jcroffroad.com/product/XJMISC/XJUNS-F.html

While you're buying that frame stiffener go ahead and order one of their weld together bumpers too.

I've seen new grill surrounds on eBay for ~$60. I almost bought one, but wound up "fixing" mine with fiberglass and bodno. There's a lot of fenders in the Pick-n-Pull, but most of them are dented up too, and every grill surround I found was as bad or worse than what I already had. It might take a while to parts in better shape and the right color, so don't be afraid to paint.

I used Dupli Color Perfect match rattle cans, it's close to the right color, at least in Mopar Stone White, but doesn't cover worth a E36 M3, and is expensive. If I had it to do over I'd have just told the paint code to O'Reilly's and got a pint of single stage Nason, I've threatened to pull the girll surround off and do that anyway.

Yeah, doesn't appear any frame behind the suspension mounts so it's all good.

Tow strap, new radiator and time for some hardware.

First, fix the radiator (did it even break?) and try driving it and go get it aligned. If they can get it to track straight, then keep on driving.

The A/C, bumper and aesthetic items can be replaced slowly after that. So really you are just looking at a $60 dollar radiator, couple gallons of coolant, and an alignment right away. Roughly $200 to get it on the road again, unless the frame really is too bent. Then later buy a condenser and recharge to get A/C back, so maybe $150. Then get the bumper and grill. Many ways to do this. Make your own steel bumper, or just buy a junkyard one.

Pic is blocked on my work computer, but from your description and other's commentary it doesn't sound too bad. As far back as all the suspension mounts sit on the frame, I'd think you're likely OK there. I'd straighten it out as best as possible, plate the front portion of the frame for strength, and DIY a bumper out of 3x5 rectangular tubing, as others have suggested.

Alternatively, I'd think you could probably net enough parting it out to afford a serviceable beater. Or buy another super cheap XJ and combine the best parts of your wrecked Jeep with the new one, then part the rest. But either of those options are more work than the first for little gain.

I'd do a sawzall/welder mad max front end and keep saving money.

I agree. If all the bending is in front of the suspension mounts, who cares? New Rad and core support and optional grille.

So i finally had time and the willpower to go open the garage and actually assess the damage after reading all the comments here. It took about an hour to get the hood open because the drivers side got hit way harder than the passenger side. I tried to get some decent photos of the damage but lighting out there is crummy and the photos suck but crawling underneath made me lose a lot of hope. The frame rail on the drivers side is bent pretty bad before the swaybar mount, but the part thats bent is where the steering box attaches. I think any hope i had at getting it fixed quick and easy went out the window.

Meh still looks like the steering box is straight. Fix it!

In reply to java230:

The bottom part is the straight bit. The steering box is attatched to the bent part facing like 30ish degrees in and maybe 15 down. That explains why it was so hard to steer from the flatbed into the garage. So minimum to make it run not drive is ps pulley, new serpentine belt, clutch fan and pulley, aux fan, radiator, airbox. Then straighten and strengthen the frame at the steering box as well as replacing both airbags and hoping nothing else is bent that a hammer cant fix and thats ignoring all the front end lights, grill, bumper, both fenders, and hood. I think i may just punt because if i fix all that ive still got a 268,000 jeep with no ac and a broken drivers seat

It can't hurt to try and get it straighter. If it doesn't work, it's time to buy another and part the current one out.

ddavidv is an insurance adjuster with 20-ish years in the game, and he is a GRMer. Respect his words.

But if you're still reading this, I will tell you I'm in the "it's already berkeleyed, you can't hurt it by trying to fix it" camp.

Start removing busted and bent stuff. You used a magic word earlier: garage. Do you also have tools? do you have welding capability, or a friend who does? I would not hesitate to make some cuts in the bends and use a bottle jack to push the frame to about where it should be, then plate over the cuts. You can drive without AC and airbags, then fix those things as time and cash flow allow.

Or you can buy another XJ, part this one out, and be diligent about replenishing your savings ASAP.