For those wondering, her she is and here's the story, Sad day, extremely upset Options

[Fastbird]

I was heading to work this morning, happy as a pig in mud due to some potential extremely wonderful news I found out late last night. Just putzing along minding my own business, not even speeding. Heading down the four lane road towards work, coming up on a traffic light in about a quarter mile. Lady in a light blue Hyundai Sonata that I'm about to pass in a couple of seconds (moving at slighty under the speed limit she was) decided to move in front of me apparently to go around another car. Irritating, but happens every day. About 150 feet from the traffic light when she was fully in front of me and I'd only released the gas to keep from running into her. Then the light goes yellow and she SLAMS on her brakes, nevermind she could have coasted through and made it. I do a VERY quick situational check to the right, see the car that's still in front of her not slowing down, and make a semi-panic braking move to the right. In the split second I made that decision, the right lane decided to slam on his brakes too, and I was left with NO options. I tried to make the seam between the two cars but there wasn't room and I hit a 98 Toyota Camry right on the corner of the drivers side rear bumper. Hindsight, if I had cranked the wheel fully right I may have been able to escape all together, but that's always a 20/20 scenario. Anyway, the Camry is out a bumper, put a fist sized hole in it. My baby (and my wife's moreso) however, is feeling it. And the worst part, I thought I was still carrying collision, which I am not. Preliminary estimate is for about $3500 BEFORE panels.

The aftermath:











There's also paint damage to the door, passenger a-pillar, and drivers fender where the hood is rubbing. The radiator support is fubar and the under fender support it's welded to on the passenger side needs pulling and repair. All components in the engine bay are OK, car runs and drives fine, just isn't "legal" due ot lack of lighting. The DCW SSIII splitter end mount cracked, but I can repair that myself fortunately. I'm also fortunate enough in that I have a re-enlistment bonus coming at the end of December, and our tax return after that will more than cover the repairs. Problem is we need it fixed asap, and with the economy being in the tubes I have my reservations on my bank (USAA) giving me a secured or unsecured loan for the repairs.

I myself am fine as was the other passenger, and the airbags did NOT deploy. My shoulders and neck are a little stiff, and my ego is severely bruised, but other than that I'm fine. Today is going to be spent debating, pricing, and sulking. My wife already mentioned doing a couple of upgrades we'd been talking about, being a Vis Invader hood, shaved markets, shaved door handles, all of which this is the time to do. So.......hopefully in a few weeks if things go right she'll be back and better than ever.

There is a parts WTB thread in the for sale section, we're looking for a hood, fender, and facelift bumper.

[DEATH]

Damn - so sorry to see that man.

[Rusty]

yeah looks like you just need bumber fender lights and the hood as well.
no damage to the frame or anything?

stink mate, but glad to hear your alright

[BonzaiCelica]

ahh no way man so sorry to hear that happen to you? People just don't know how to drive now adays. and even the best of drivers cant escape accidents sometimes. But hopefully you get everything back to the way it is. Sucks so much to see your celica destroyed like that. Godd luck

[Fastbird]

Yah, I'm WAY upset seeing that car like that. My Vette is my personal baby but I think that the Celica is my favorite out of all our cars.

So who's the people to get projectors from now? Is it still Champion Toyota in Houston or did they quit doing that? THink I'll be able to get JUST the passenger side lights?

[Fastbird]

Good news is that it looks like I can order JUST the passenger side projector and high beam from Champion for about $400. I was most worried about not being able to replace those.

[RickJamesBish]

So this is your daily and the Vette is the toy?

[RickJamesBish]

And actually, get some 5th gen mirrors if you're gonna be doing a makeover.

[lagos]

Thats almost identical to the accident I had in my car.
Do as much of the work as possible yourself if you can and just take the car in to pull the rad support (if its needed) and for paint. My estimate was around 4k and I managed to repair everything for less then 2k including a brand new hood, bumper, headlight, rad support pulling and paint.

This post has been edited by lagos: Nov 26, 2008 - 12:50 PM

[Fastbird]

Thats almost identical to the accident I had in my car.
Do as much of the work as possible yourself if you can and just take the car in to pull the rad support (if its needed) and for paint. My estimate was around 4k and I managed to repair everything for less then 2k including a brand new hood, bumper, headlight, rad support pulling and paint.

That's what I'm thinking initially, but it's only $600 more to have them do the reassembly. The shop is going to let me source the panels and just do the labor/pulling and paint work. This shop isn't the cheapest but does outstanding paint work which is why I chose them.

I do have one possible out, I have a co-worker that does his own paint/body work. I may talk to him about doing the paint, could probably escape for a lot less money and he does phenomenal work. That would of course put a stop to shaving the markers/handles at the time though.......possibly.

The support from this forum is amazing. I've gotten a few pm's for body parts already and am just waiting on pics to come in to see if they'll meet standards.

Anyone have part numbers for OEM facelift bumper, fender, and hood????

[GriffGirl]

Tin_Foil has a carbon fiber VIS hood IIRC for sale right now, and I also think it was a pretty decent price. It's *fairly* local to me, so if you want a second set of eyes to check it out for you if you're seriously interested, let me know and I'll be happy to help however I can.

[manphibian]

That is sad

[Fastbird]

Tin_Foil has a carbon fiber VIS hood IIRC for sale right now, and I also think it was a pretty decent price. It's *fairly* local to me, so if you want a second set of eyes to check it out for you if you're seriously interested, let me know and I'll be happy to help however I can.

Let me find the thread and I'll let you know. THanks for the offer!

[GriffGirl]

Sure, just PM me if you need any help

[bseaman_5]

This is so depressing!! I'm really sorry that this happened to you.. Very upsetting...

[presure2]

ouch, that sucks man, but art is right, you can save a ton doing alot of that work yourself.

good luck man, hope it all works out for ya.

[Fastbird]

ouch, that sucks man, but art is right, you can save a ton doing alot of that work yourself.

good luck man, hope it all works out for ya.

Yup. About $2500 of the work though is paint work. Top notch paint work though.


Thanks for the support everyone! This is a huge reason why I love this community so much.

[RUNNIN-LOW]

it hurts my heart to see that much dmg!!!and the headlight wow i cant breath!!!!damn man sorry about it..

[Fastbird]

Well, a day later and I think I'm more upset about it than yesterday. I haven't even been in the garage to start surveying the damage under a microscope. My wife is very upset and said she won't be looking at it. I'm getting some feelers on everything but the facelift bumper so far, and have found on line Toyota spots where I can order all the parts if need be, but they're just more than I'd like to spend. Still, $230 for the bumper and $210 for the fender ain't bad. Hood is like $360 but that's what I'm getting the most interest from here on.

[lagos]

ouch, that sucks man, but art is right, you can save a ton doing alot of that work yourself.

good luck man, hope it all works out for ya.

Yup. About $2500 of the work though is paint work. Top notch paint work though.


Thanks for the support everyone! This is a huge reason why I love this community so much.

2,500$ to paint a hood and bumper?
I paid about 500bucks to have mine done.
For that much money, you could get the entire car repainted at a higher end shop.

[Fastbird]

ouch, that sucks man, but art is right, you can save a ton doing alot of that work yourself.

good luck man, hope it all works out for ya.

Yup. About $2500 of the work though is paint work. Top notch paint work though.


Thanks for the support everyone! This is a huge reason why I love this community so much.

2,500$ to paint a hood and bumper?
I paid about 500bucks to have mine done.
For that much money, you could get the entire car repainted at a higher end shop.

That's for hood, bumper, both front fenders, passenger side door, A-Pillar on the passenger side. The $2500 is a rough estimate. There's prep time worked into that, as well as assembly time and such.

[richee3]

D***, that sucks!!! It's not even your fault, but I hate how insurance plays out like that where since you hit her it is automatically your fault. It'd be nice if they would look at accidents impartially to see whose fault it actually was. But what can you do? It's a shame to see your projectors smashed like that, and that's if you ignore everything else. I've had 2 wrecked Celicas, and repairs are freakin' expensive on them. Hope everything works our for the best.

[joehernandez]

omg!!! broken projectors!!!!
thats like a nightmare to me!!!!

[Fastbird]

Well, good news is I've got a new (Used) projector low on the way with only a broken mounting tab (fixable) and a very minor chip in the glass that I'm going to have fixed. It was half of a new one so worst case scenario if it's not up to par it'll work to get it back together.

I'm leaning towards going new on the Fender and Bumper because what I've been finding is either dented with some spots of rust, would take entirely too much prep work, or in the case of the bumper I've found the holes in the bottom for the speed nuts have all had the backs ripped out. But......if I can snag the bumper ultra cheap, I'll probably give it a go because a little bit of fiberglass work and a drill would make that all batter.

Every time I look at the car it just kills me.

[Fastbird]

Projector came in looking great, and picking up a fender and hood on Saturday. Still hunting for a facelift bumper and high beam from a projector set.

[GriffGirl]

I have a busted-lensed high beam if you want it, in the event you can't find a JDM high beam. You can probably get just one lense from Rayme - although it won't be glass, of course.

[dustin15brown]

i have a gauge cluster for you? idk, that's the word on the street

[Fastbird]

I have a busted-lensed high beam if you want it, in the event you can't find a JDM high beam. You can probably get just one lense from Rayme - although it won't be glass, of course.

I'm planning on just ordering a single JDM clear high beam if I can't find one, which is the most likely situation. Thanks for the offer though.

i have a gauge cluster for you? idk, that's the word on the street

Heck of a rumor there. I'd like to see it backed up.....

Oh man, I'm ticked though!!! There was a white bumper that would have most likely worked like a champ on ebay that ended last night, free shipping even. I COMPLETELY forgot about it until about an hour after the fact. Sucker went for $82 SHIPPED. I'm pretty mad at myself about that one.

This post has been edited by Fastbird: Dec 2, 2008 - 3:50 PM

[GriffGirl]

Which side high beam did you need again? Here's a left side one on eBay (yes it's JDM )

http://cgi.ebay.com/JDM-6-Gen-OEM-98-Celic...0QQcmdZViewItem

Buy it now is $139, shipping is $46, but it's also Make Offer and I hear he's a great seller and also takes offers.

[Fastbird]

Which side high beam did you need again? Here's a left side one on eBay (yes it's JDM )

http://cgi.ebay.com/JDM-6-Gen-OEM-98-Celic...0QQcmdZViewItem

Buy it now is $139, shipping is $46, but it's also Make Offer and I hear he's a great seller and also takes offers.

Thanks for the heads up!!!! Unfortunately I need a right side high beam.

NO ONE PAY THAT FOR THAT LENS!!!! IT'S A RIPOFF. NEW THEY ARE $101 FROM TOYOTA. Just an FYI.

[stephen_lee]

Which side high beam did you need again? Here's a left side one on eBay (yes it's JDM )

http://cgi.ebay.com/JDM-6-Gen-OEM-98-Celic...0QQcmdZViewItem

Buy it now is $139, shipping is $46, but it's also Make Offer and I hear he's a great seller and also takes offers.

Thanks for the heads up!!!! Unfortunately I need a right side high beam.

NO ONE PAY THAT FOR THAT LENS!!!! IT'S A RIPOFF. NEW THEY ARE $101 FROM TOYOTA. Just an FYI.

what lens?

[Fastbird]

I meant High Beam. Don't know why I said lens.

[easternpiro1]

damn bird! im sorry to see that! i hope you get her up and running in no time!

[TheMadScientist]

That totaly sucks, I feel your pain. Hope you get it fixed

[trdproven]

If you are replacing the damaged parts there is no body work needed, just paint the whole car. Even still 2500 is too high for the whole car unless again a high end shop.

[celicaST]

i have a hood i would give you if you were not so far away

[Fastbird]

Oy.......that was a LONG day yesterday. Left St. Louis (Collinsville IL actually) at 0620 in the morning. Wasn't expecting weather, but with my limited availability I it was a "had to do" situation. Head for Indiania, accidents everywhere. 6 hours later, finally make it to West Lafayette to meet up with the man himself, Dustin15Brown. Picked up a couple of custom pieces from him (pics to come eventually), then back on the highway. Start heading for Chicago to get on 80/90 to hit South Bend. Made good time, was there at about 3 or so IIRC. Met up with Slow_Yota, picked up a fender and hood for the rebuild, and snagged a couple of interior bits too (thank man!!!). Head out of South Bend on 80/90, heading for Ft. Wayne to drop off the last of the parts needed to resurrect my Corvette to my friend that's doing the work. Finally got headed home at about 8 PM..........and at 1 AM pulled back into my driveway.

I simply can't believe that we actually got everything accomplished yesterday given the weather. I'm down to needing a facelift bumper. I think I've also decided to to strip the car myself and have the body shop do the fixing of the stuff I can't (radiator support, fender support, check straightness, ect), then I'm going to hang the body panels myself, ensure alignment, and then like mentioned shoot for having all the rear section blemishes taken care of (dents mainly) and have the entire car sprayed. We'll see though.....

The shop I'm using is NOT a budget shop. They do very high quality work, and you have to pay for that. $2500, even $3500, isn't enough to get a quality and solid paint job on a car the right way.

[dustin15brown]

The man himself huh? I should feel honored...? haha joking of course! Good to see you and Katie even though I wasn't exactly awake and alert! Ahh, the joys of being in college

[Fastbird]

So in the downtime, I'm thinking about what to do to the front end to make it "different" when it goes back together. Given the red black theme with the only chrome looking stuff being up front, how do you all think it would look if I had the coves around the headlights and foglights painted in flat black to accentuate the shinyness of the chrome?? Would be different, but could make the car look like it's got a black eye too......

[bmj67]

I would say find a good pic of the front and photoshop it in black before you commit then you won't have to repaint if you don't like it

I think this is what you mean i did it up quick in photoshop here

I dont know where photos are normally hosted so i put it in my profile let me know after you see it and I can remove it

This post has been edited by bmj67: Dec 12, 2008 - 5:37 PM

[Fastbird]

I would say find a good pic of the front and photoshop it in black before you commit then you won't have to repaint if you don't like it

I think this is what you mean i did it up quick in photoshop here

I dont know where photos are normally hosted so i put it in my profile let me know after you see it and I can remove it

Yeah, I played with that in paint and did the same thing to the same pic. You can snatch it down, thanks for doing that!

What I'm thinkng is getting some of the vinyl people use to cover their entire cars with. I can cut and apply where I see necessary and it's a snap to remove without causing any harm. THis way I can see it for real, decide if I like and either peel off or leave on. FLAT black for the accents to match the wheels of course.

[bmj67]

Yeah vinyl would work nice. You could probably just make the patterns and even have the vinyl shop cut them so you have nice edges.

[Fastbird]

Here's kind of what we were brainstorming.....my wife really likes it but at the same time says it makes it look "emo."

[bmj67]

I sorta like the look of the black on the headlights. Not a big fan of the bumper but that just my 2c. It might look nice if you had a full black grill and maybe make up some grill pieces to go in the fog areas too.

[Rusty]

theres a celica round my area like that sort of (preface lift, no projectors) doesn't look right

[Fastbird]

Trust me y'all, I don't think it looks right, but the wife is diggin' it. I chalk it up to her not knowing up from down due to hormones right now.

We're just looking at things we can do to make it a little less run of the mill.

[bmj67]

The bottom might look better if you were to put the black the whole way around in the fog openings. Right now its black then it just stops and goes red in your pic. quick fix of what I mean HERE

This post has been edited by bmj67: Dec 14, 2008 - 1:14 AM

[Fastbird]

The bottom might look better if you were to put the black the whole way around in the fog openings. Right now its black then it just stops and goes red in your pic. quick fix of what I mean HERE

You're right, that looks a lot better.

[bmj67]

I like it more too. It looks different and sporty. It would be nice to see it for real. The worst that happens is you are out a little bit of time and money if you don't like it.

I set up a photobucket account so I wouldn't have to use up space on 6gc

This post has been edited by bmj67: Dec 14, 2008 - 1:38 AM

[RickJamesBish]

It's different, and it's definitely unique...but it does make the car look "emo." I vote no, especially if you're not convinced yourself.

[97celiman]

i like the direction but not where its at now....side not though- are your turns signals stock clear ones that have been cleaned up or something else?
also why no clear side markers?

[Fastbird]

i like the direction but not where its at now....side not though- are your turns signals stock clear ones that have been cleaned up or something else?
also why no clear side markers?

Turn signals are clear units from eBay, side markers being deleted because they are just eyesores. The clear ones are terrible looking IMO, and it helps the body lines flow there, especially when coupled with shaved handles, and possibly a shvaed gas door too.

[97celiman]

ya they arent my fav either but i like having my clears on a white car rather than the bicycle reflectors...but its the stock turn signal with a clear plate on it?

[RickJamesBish]

So where are the door handles and gas cap going to be relocated to?

[Fastbird]

So where are the door handles and gas cap going to be relocated to?

Door handles will be non-existent. Doing a full aftermarket alarm w/shaved door handle poppers and a custom trunk release for remote operation. Gas cap.....I may try to have it moved behind the tail liight like I've seen on a couple of cars.....maybe. Don't know yet.

[Rusty]

maybe agas cap like that?, sorry its a honda example

[RickJamesBish]

So where are the door handles and gas cap going to be relocated to?

Door handles will be non-existent. Doing a full aftermarket alarm w/shaved door handle poppers and a custom trunk release for remote operation. Gas cap.....I may try to have it moved behind the tail liight like I've seen on a couple of cars.....maybe. Don't know yet.

I was thinking of that tail-light idea when you mentioned moving it...could be pretty sweet. You should shave the antenna as well, and the rear wiper.

[Fastbird]

Update: Haven't been doing much of anything to her since I need to wait on my tax refund. Got GREAT news today though. I'm having the husband of my boss at my part time job (yeah, a female managing an AutoZone, she's cool though, has a drag car, ect) do the carpet in our basement here soon. He came by and we started talking cars, I showed him the wrecked Celi, he put me in touch with his body guy...........so that guy came by today. Took a good look over the car, and gave me this:

For the bare minimum to fix it and paint, and delete the side markers, $2K. To do the ENTIRE car to include shaving the door handles and glassing in and smoothing the transition to the ducktail spoiler and taking care of any and all little dents.....$3800. Needless to say, for an extra $300 over what the first shop quoted me, she's getting a brand new full paint job. Guy does good work too, had a Vega on teh cover of Super Chevy a while back, has a bike that's scheduled to be featured in a biker mag here soon, and I've seen some pretty impressive pictures of local work so far (he's going to take me around to some cars when we get a chance). Better part? He's got a hookup at the Toyota dealership, gets 30-35% off ALL parts.

So...hopefully in about a month I'll get it in the shop and we'll get rolling with it. Need to order the alarm and solenoids to shave the handles and do a remote for the trunk now though.......

[97celiman]

sweet deal man, lolz my falcon had the gas cap in the back (lots of old fords/old cars do) the new gas nozzles were impossible you had to trickle gas in. painful it'll be cool though

[lagos]

You can get that same discount from partznet.

[jimmykay]

Man, sorry to hear about the wreck. But it looks like you're making really good progress.

Personally, I don't like the black around the lights. It makes it look like a zombie car.

That being said, since I'm close (Bethalto,IL) if I can help with anything let me know.

[m0dd3d1]

...not even speeding...

Not even ending the second sentence, I knew where this was going. Sorry to hear about your car man. I've been a member with USAA for years now and they totally tried to bend me over with a loan. My rate was rediculously high so I said no thanks. Hope all works out well.

This post has been edited by m0dd3d1: Jan 16, 2009 - 11:37 AM

[Fastbird]

You can get that same discount from partznet.

But this way I don't have to pay shipping. I found several toyota dealers on line offering the discount, but none would ship the front bumper for a reasonable cost. This is paid at a local dealership, and no cost shipping and pickup.

Not doing the gas cap thing, no funds for htat. Maybe some day, but for now it's just the bare essentials along with paint and door handles/side markers.

[lagos]

If you call them up they should be able to drop ship anything to your local dealer. Partznet is actuall Conicelli Toyota, a local dealership around here. I know most of the guys there, and if you need something let me know. I'll tell you who to talk to over there.

[Fastbird]

If you call them up they should be able to drop ship anything to your local dealer. Partznet is actuall Conicelli Toyota, a local dealership around here. I know most of the guys there, and if you need something let me know. I'll tell you who to talk to over there.

I may take you up on that. Let me see what I can get figured out over the next few weeks while I appropriate funds.

[presure2]

another thought.

normally most dealers will price match.
print out the partznet page with the price, and bring it in to your local parts guy.
if he seems unwilling, i would go right over his head to the GM, they really would rather give you the discount than loose the buisness most times.

[lagos]

^ Yep.
All dealerships have 2 prices. One is what they charge the average guy who walks in through the door (list price), and the other is what they charge your mechanic when he calls up to order a part. Then your mechanic turns to you and says... look I'm only making money on the labor, when in fact he is marking up the part back up to list price and making money from selling you the part (totally legit). Anyway, the dealership should have no problems giving you that price, because they do it everyday and still make money on it.