Not real bad, but she rolled into me at a stop sign. Sucks, cause even though my car wasn't in perfect condition, it was straight. The back panel and the bumper are bent, and I cant get the trunk open... I may be in need of some parts in the near future...
Just heard from the insurance company 10 min ago, and they were all about getting it fixed. Kind of scary, usually you have to fight with them. I'm checking with my local car club to see if they have any good shops that deal with older cars. The insurance offered 3 big name dealerships in the area. We will see what happens Glen
THAT REALLY SUCKS! I had a 67 Fairlane a few years ago. It was in super nice shape. I drove it to work every day. One day on my lunch break in a Walmart parking lot I was broadsided by an 82 year old man in a Lincoln. Car was totaled, he was doing 50 acrossed and in between the parking spaces. I didn't see him coming. After that I swore I wouldn't buy another classic. Well here it is a few years later an I got myself a Maverick. Its in the body shop getting painted and then back on the road. Its always in the back of my mind that this could happen again. Good luck in the repairs. When I got hit they tried to total the car, take it for scrap and offered me $400. I had to get a lawyer and sue. Three years later I got 4 grand and got to keep the car. I parted it out and got most of my money back even though the lawyer got a third of the settlement.
just make sure you go to a shop you pick. not one they want you go to. like you said check with your friend about shops that are good with older cars. some insurance companies have deals with big shops to get them buisness and in return the get special deals. and thats fine for newer cars but not our old mavericks. i personaly wouldnt trust my mav to just anybody.
Hoemermav, ya I sent out an email to some friends of mine in our local car club, they gave me a couple suggestions. The insurance company wanted to send me to one of three big dealerships out here, but I would be more comfortable dealing with an actual bodyshop that has/does work on older cars. My brother has a friend out in CA that has a couple Mavericks, he is checking to see what it would cost to just get the parts. I would actually prefer they replace the back panel and bumper. And I did tell the insurance company that there would be no bondo used in fixing it.
71Maverick, you should have openned your door and fallen out. Whip lash! There's an easy 40k. Just kidding, sorry to see the damage, I hope you get it up and running in no time. Ken
It will definitely be your choice as to which shop makes the repairs so don't let them push you to take anywhere you don't want. As for putting any body filler (bondo) in the car you may not have a choice in the matter. When you weld in any panels it may require the use of some filler. If the qtr panels are buckled even the slightest bit you won't have much choice other than to repair them with filler once any sheetmetal pulling has been done. There is nothing wrong with having filler in your car as long as it is used properly. Even high dollar restoration jobs usually get certain amounts of filler. It's pretty tough to get perfect nos parts for our cars that would even allow minor filler. And sometimes the insurance companies would rather try to toal our cars that to even deal with repairing it. Of course they don't wanna pay anything for them and it may wind up on the owner to provide a legitimate value appraisal to prove the value of the car. It's definitely not in your best interest to let them get the car appraised if it comes down to that. I know, I have done appraisals for both sides before so I hear it all. Best of luck to you.
Dont get me wrong, im not against body filler, I will probably be using some of it when I get to the rest of the car. I just want to avoid some lacky pounding it out with a hammer and clumping gobs of bondo on it. Glen