Only issue I see From reading is potentially no more comprehensive insurance, liability only.

I don’t plan on selling it, so don’t think im concerned with the hit on that side of it.

Thanks.

 

I’m with Allstate for many years, hoping that loyalty counts for something. Waiting for the call back from the assessor, who I’m getting along with very well.

I’ve fully stripped it today, there is nothing more sinister than what I thought, and even with a nice TF winch bumper I’m at 3.5k for parts.

How does the buy-back thing work? If they offer me a payout, say 10k, do they then offer me a price for the car that is a % of that amount?

Then it looks like I get a salvage title that I swap for a rebuilt title after an inspection.

OR, I ignore the insurance route and just fix it myself for 3.5k and go about my day?

 

Yeah I’d try to keep from it being totaled. The crappy part is the insurance company (industry) wins either way: either they pay you out and don’t have to cover much on the vehicle any longer, or you pay to fix it yourself. But the value on the market will drop by well over 50% and even if you never plan on selling it, I think with your $1k deductible, you’ll never be on the north side of it being worth it for the hassle and such.

Personally, I think minus the bumper, you could get it done for far less than $3500 if you are frugal in the parts hunt- possibly right around $1k if you are patient. Those headlights can be found for FAR cheaper than $1500 for the set, I’ve used Nissens radiators on 3 D2s now with no issues, and the trim bits can be had used from folks like Will Tillery (he has EVERYTHING) and although crazy busy is good to do business with.

The 2 things that will hurt are going to be the condenser (based on labor of pulling a vacuum and recharging the system), and of course the bumper. If it’s not a daily, I’d cancel the claim and be on the hunt for parts assuming the rest of the machine is pristine.

 

Insurance assessor just came back with a valuation of $14.2k, which astonished me. (He was very impressed with my headliner work, ha.)

NY is a 75% state, so if they can repair the damage for 10k or less they will go that route.

Waiting for the conversation with the repairs department.

With that valuation, I'm now hoping they can’t manage the repair price and I can have 14 grand, please! Minus deductible, minus buy back price.

 

You should be able to get all those parts for under 1k!

Nissens Condenser 171.00 NEW
Nissens Radiator 207.00 NEW
AC Drier 8.25 NEW

All the parts above are from Rock Auto

The Grill & headlights = a good salvage yard, Will, or Ebay. Or you could probably find an entire D2 parts truck with a blown engine/rusty frame for under 1k and just rob the parts off of it. Honestly I wouldn't even bother with insurance. I have liability only on all my LR's as I was taken for a ride when I had full coverage and had to argue with them when I was in a wreck over the value of my truck and the proper repairs and they then tried to give my flawless LR a salvage title over a bumper and a cargo door plastic trim piece!!!!!

AC wise since all the R134A is already gone all you have to do is pull a vacuum on the system once the condenser is replaced. The air pumps aren't that much, and I'm sure someone local could lend it to you. Let it pull a vacuum for 20-30min, disconnect, connect some AC gauges and refill the system with the proper amount of R134A.

 

O'Reilly rents the vacuum pumps for free

 

I got the vacuum kit many years ago and did it myself on one of my E30s with meh results. This was a different situation in it being a vehicle that started on R12 and in addition to flushing the entire system, I needed to replace all the O rings, and what I should have done was replace the condenser with one more suited for R134.

On the Alveston, I got a can of this stuff to recharge it when I it didn’t seem to be getting cool enough.



That stuff WORKED. Obviously you need to pull a vacuum first, but for those who just might need a recharge, that stuff turned my AC arctic.

 

You really only need to pull a vacuum if you change a component. Otherwise even with no pressure the system is still full of R134, just at very low pressure. You can just refill and give it a go. Often the compressors start to leak a little at the crank seals.

 

Oh yeah, absolutely- thus why I mentioned in this particular situation, the “recharge” deal wasn’t an option. I was always told pretty much any time you crack the system (expose it to atmosphere) you really should replace the receiver/dryer.

Funny story: back during my E30 days (not the one I mentioned above- an earlier one for which I also had AC work done) I went to an Autocross event. I lived in the Bay Area at the time and drove down to Monterrey for the event. Meaning, it was close to triple digits F where I lived, and in the 50s down close to Laguna Seca. I ran the event, had fun, and was driving back home and as I got closer decided to turn the AC on. It didn’t blow as cold as I thought it should and was a little miffed as I’d just had a vacuum pulled, a new receiver dryer installed, and the system charged. I went back to the shop who did the work (VERY good shop that is still around- dude by the name of Art Funk, who used to actually let me borrow tools from time to time) and said WTF? He looked under the hood for about a minute and saw a line coming from the compressor had rubbed on the body and cut a hole in it, leaking out all the refrigerant. Turns out in my beating the snot out of the car on course, I tore a motor mount causing the engine to shift and do that to the line. Another receiver/dryer, vacuum, and recharge and it was arctic cold for the remainder of the time I had that car.

If I didn’t have the S4 I might look at another E30- and those things are stupid expensive these days!

 

Update from the repair assessor.

He’ll know by the end of the week the cost of repairs.

Best news - is that whatever happens there will be no stain on the title. This is a NY state specific thing, regarding age of car and nature of repairs needed. Even if a total loss and I buy back, it won’t have a salvage title.

Also, this shouldn't increase my insurance premium as it counts as a not-my-fault incident. Dude was 80% on that.

Two options are,
a, it goes for repair with all new parts, plus the winch bumper I chose
b, total loss and I receive 14k minus salvage amount minus deductible. Buy it back and fix it cheap.

Car is our daily, so I’m keen it goes back together nicely. I’m just about to primer and paint under the battery box and air box as it’s all now in bits.

AC. Strange thing is I don’t think it actually punctured the condenser channels. Moved them around quite significantly, but I think the system is still sealed.