Hello All:

Last Sunday around 40 minutes from home I hit a patch of black ice on the highway, lost control, crossed the opposing lane of traffic, went through a ditch and hit a tree in a farmer's field. Wife, daughter and I are fine-- the Volvo isn't doing as well.

My first impression following the collision is that I will buy another one! The Volvo is a bit of a mess now,but I shudder to think what would have happened in some economy car-- I might not be writing to you now!

I put up a couple low-res shots from the towing yard-- see them here:

http://www.imaging.robarts.ca/~hgoltz/volvo.html

I have my insurance company (State Farm here in Canada) to deal with. The car has obvious damage to the:

1) front bumper
2) bumper cover
3) spoiler assembly
4) grille
5) hood
6) passenger side fender
7) passenger side marker light
8) passenger side light assembly
9) 3 strips of chrome bumper trim
10) radiator (snapped intake hose fitting off)
11) trim under passenger side light assembly

Other probables are the radiator support assembly and the AC system (it is R12 and now R12 is illegal to refill in Ontario). It needs serious suspension work and an alignment, definitely front suspension components too-- the wheels point in opposite directions now. The car still runs-- we sat in it with the heat turned up until the Ontario Provincial Police and a tow truck showed up!

I am fully insured (collision, comprehensive, the works), but here is the problem-- the car has 171K mi(~300K km) and isn't astoundingly attractive on the outside-- it has the typical peeling clearcoat from the late '80s, some dings here and there. The interior is also not gorgeous-- somewhat scabby tan leather and some UV damage to the plastic bits (it was in Florida when I got it). It also has a weak steering rack and intermittently sagging Nivomats...

I suspect when they do the math on the parts it needs, they will write it off. I am open to any and all tips on how to get the best settlement out of them-- I guess I have to be open to either repairs with used parts or a write-off. I will hit the archives later to look for ideas-- I know we have an adjuster or two around the Volvo community (here or swedishbricks, I don't remember)... I have had a few good tips in previous posts

Please let me know if you have any good ideas about how to handle this! The fun
has already started with a "claims team" from Toronto (2 hours away!)...

Herb Goltz, London, Ontario, Canada '89 760GLE w/171K mi

one point of concern, it sounds like you craked the rad neck, but then ran the engine on....sure you didnt cook it - if you did you could be looking at a head job as well.....

as to the rest seems pretty well covered,I would at the very least get a couple of professional opinions/quotes, my brother supplies cara pannels and taking him to look at cars is an education, some look bad and are easy, some look easy and you should walk away (quickly!)...

Thing is, you walked away from the crash, bodge the repair and you might not be so lucky next time....

Hi
Had the same problem last month. Buy yourself another brick and save this one for parts. Thats what I am doing. My repairs were estimated at between $4300.00 and $4700.00. Only about $500.00 less then the car was worth. You can see pictures of mine at:
http://www.webspace4me.net/~highdeserthills
I too wanted to repair mine myself, but you need a rack to pull out the damage.
Its a shame repairs and parts are so much, the car in the pics only had 97,000 miles. I am still looking for a replacement.
Regards Brad

My son did similar to his old car last summer. It was about $3000 US to repair. As Chris wrote, the issue is the damage to the unibody and the labor to repair the front end.

Even if you choose to repair yourself, you will still need to have the front end straightened at a frame repair shop.

i'm lic. body tech .. in my opinion let it R.I.P. insurance write off for sure

They might just total it. The damage sounded worse in your description than in the pictures, though. I'd be tempted to fix it. A few hundred dollars worth of junkyard parts could probably get it legal and mostly straight again. If they give you $2500 to fix it and you can drive it again for $500, you're 2 grand to the good on your next Volvo. If they do total it, you can always buy it back from them for a small sum and still do the repairs. Or not.
--
Bob W.
'91 744T 173K
'82 245Ti 238K
'81 245 GLT, non-turbo 275K
'67 122 wagon

Herb,

I'm looking at it with a somewhat well-trained eye. I learned from some real pros in auto body (and worked for them).

#1. Your car is very totaled.

#2. Here is why:

The hood isn't misaligned because the right side quarter is pushed in, as much as it is misaligned from the front end shifted. It is hard to tell the direction of hit, but from the glancing hit, I'm guessing that the front structure is shifted left. That is why the left quarter is misaligned with the hood. Either that, or the right side hit caused the right frame structure to collapse backwards, thereby moving the hood to the right.

I'd say just by looking at it, the damage shifted the frame structure about an inch, and I'm guessing to the left. Either that, or again, back, and to the right. It is hard to tell from pictures.

The steering is another issue, and might have a lot to do with a bent tie rod or collapsed control arm. Either of them is not fatal to the car, and is rather easily fixed.

However, in total, the car is going to need several thousand (USD) of work. Probably closing in on four grand if you're lucky. It's too bad, because unless the frame has 'accordion' damage (shoved in on itself in a straight line) it's an easy stretch and align job.

Unfortunately, when dealing with insurance, you're looking at a totaled vehicle. The frame alignment time is significant. The parts are not hideously expensive, but the labor intensive straightening process is.

If you had equipment, you could straighten that damage yourself, rather easily. However, it is impractical for most people to either acquire that equipment, or spend the time necessary to do so. If you get the wreck for cheap, you can probably save EVERY BIT of front sheet metal. The hood is easy to fix, the quarter panel is also an easy fix (but they are super cheap) and then the bumper, cover, etc., is an easy mounting job. But the straightening part is the problematic area, and in the process of dismantling the front end of the vehicle, you might find that it is FAR worse than you thought.

Basically, if the car were worth about $5k more, it would be an excellent candidate for repairing. Volvos--contrary to many uninformed opinions--are excellent cars for repairing after being accident damaged, even "frame damaged" (which is a misnomer with unit frame vehicles because almost every hit is a frame damage hit). There is a limit to practical reconstruction, but in your case, the car took a light hit and is certainly a candidate for fixing. The question boils down to an issue of cost, nothing more.
--
chris herbst, near chicago

When my brick got rear-ended in 11/01 by a ford ranger pickup, the damage didn't look all that bad, but after looking at it carefully, it ended up the gaps in the rear doors were closed up, and there was a buckle in the 1/4 panel, and the roof was slightly tweaked (the sunroof just wasn't operating right)... and the rear window ended up cracking... When i took it in for repair (the insurance covered it), the car had the frame pulled and the gaps in the doors came back to normal, the sunroof worked better, and the buckle in the 1/4 panel nearly disappeared.... I didn't have any paintwork done... Just needed a new muffler, rear window, and trans mount otherwise... However, i guess the problems with straightening the frame on the Volvos is that the car is difficult to hook up to the frame straightening machine compared to most other cars. This is what i was told by the body shop estimator who has been a family friend for decades...

If it were my car, I'd just have the frame pulled professionally, and install all of the other bodypanels myself... that is if it wasn't covered under insurance..

Cliff Scott
89 DOHC 740 <-has to go to the shop from being rear-ended again!

EGADS! All that whack, and the car doesn't look all that bad. Glad that you and yours are OK, other than using up a years' worth of adrenaline.

I think the deciding factor will be what damage it was caused the front wheel to point wrong. Frame, crossmember, etc, down in the guts of the car. The other parts are a front clip, and could be done without too much problem.

Get a Volvo dealer to give you a written estimate, if you can get the car to one. I have found Sefeldt Volvo body shop here in Houston very user-friendly, perhaps there is a shop like that near you. A non-Volvo shop will tell you how they fix Hondas and Buicks, which means nothing relevant to a brick.

Good Luck,

Bob

:>)