[Nathan]

Had a lil accident last night, need a repair shop in dfw. One that can give insurance an accurate estimate. Damage looks minimal (but im sure its not).
Someone please suggest a good shop. Thanks.

 

[jasperw4]

were you in austin recently?

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f109/who-austin-hit-cow-76041/

Seriously though, I know John Eagle Collision up there has done a bunch of Lotus work and they just opened the Aston/Bentley/Lotus store down here so they should be familliar with the car.

 

[Nathan]

nope, havnt been in austin

 

[mrcarcrazy]

And here I was hoping you'd solve the mystery:sad:

 

[Morty]

I use Stuarts Paint and Body and LOVE them! I wouldn't go anywhere else... unless I was paying out of pocket? They are the best but they are not cheap!

stuartspnb.com
tell Stuart Matt Mortimer sent you

 

[Nathan]

Thanks morty

 

[Nathan]

Pics

 

[Shine]

That does not look good. I would be very concerned about the upper and lower wishbone mounting points. If you haven't damaged those, the rest of the repairs should be pretty easy since it's just a matter of replacing bolt on parts. If the mounting points are damaged, it could be really, really bad.

 

[Nathan]

my biggest concern is the driver seat is hard to slide forward / backward now. Not sure if the seat rails got bent, or if frame got tweaked. Doors are fine though

 

[jasperw4]

yeah, that looks pretty bad. especially the upper contorl arm mounts, have them checked very carefully.

 

[CosmosMpower]

Looks like it might be a total. I know of a shop in DFW that is competent but I really had to babysit my car when I used them so I don't know if I want to reccomend them.

That looks like you slid into a curb? If so I'd be very concerned about frame/suspension pickup point damage.

 

[buzzy]

Looks like it might be a total. I know of a shop in DFW that is competent but I really had to babysit my car when I used them so I don't know if I want to reccomend them.

That looks like you slid into a curb? If so I'd be very concerned about frame/suspension pickup point damage.

You think so? From the photos it doesn't look as if the aluminum chassis is damaged. That's the rear subframe and just bolts on. Might be a very expensive and time consuming repair but there's no reason why it can't be perfect again. Have Lotus' been totaled for rear-subframe damage before?

 

[jtj]

the upper arm is completely housed by the crash structure, which is a replaceable item. not cheap, but certainly not what a chassis costs. the lower arm front bushing mount is a bolt in piece on the tub, but I have seen where they didnt give and tweaked the tub, you guessed it, right behind the drivers seat.... It is still likely that you bent the rails, as the seat mechanism isnt exactly industrial grade...

If this is insurance, I HIGHLY suggest you be involved EVERY step of the way thru estimate and repair, because More times than not when the tub is involved, they will try and hammer it back out etc to avoid the replacement/total loss cost. There should be plenty of copies of the tech service notes floating around to get the statement from Lotus that says the tub should be replaced for ANY damage if you have trouble with your insurance company. If it comes down to a fight, and your car is at a local shop, I will be glad to verify this for your insurance company, pm me and let me know whats going on... I have had to get involved a couple of times in the last 3 years on insurance deals like this, where they claimed the tub was fine, but it had stress cracks etc...

Jason

 

[Nathan]

The car is at Stuarts Paint and Body. There doing estimate tomorrow. And yes, this is going through insurance.

 

[Morty]

You are in good hands!

 

[jtj]

stuarts will handle it fine... If you had mentioned a couple of other shops, I would have been worried...

 

[Shine]

Nathan,

How are the repairs coming along? What was the extent of the damage?

 

[Nathan]

Parts are on order... heres summary of damage

front panel (not sure what exactly this refers to) - new
door seal - new
wheelarch - new
rear grille - new
heatshield - new
rear hub carrier - new
rear hub unit - new
rear wishbone - new
rear camber shims x6 - new
rear ball joint - new
rear wishbone - new
gas tank lower cover - new
seat frame - repair
front clam shell - repair
floor - repair
front bumper / clam shell - repair
rear clam shell - repair
2 rear belly pans - new
rear sub frame - new
left rear suspension - new
left rocker - repair
right rocker - repair
3m paint protection film - new
shear panel - new
rear diffuser - new
left rear wheel - new
left rear tire - new

plus a bunch of "remove/reinstall" bits, and hardware

$8,113.29 parts
$9,100.75 labor
$1,010.06 additional costs (disposal fees, alignment, towing, paint/materials)

$18,224.10 total

 

[Aedo]

... Damage looks minimal (but im sure its not).
...

...
$18,224.10 total

Well your first guess was right

Sorry to hear its taken so long to figure out whats wrong - how long to put it back together?

 

[Seb]

Holy ****!

What's the story behind that?