I'm getting my car back from the body shop tomorrow! For those of you who don't remember, I did this 9-10 months ago (it was dark and raining, and I misjudged a turn a slid off the road):




(The tire was replaced an hour or two after these pictures).

I had to save up to pay for repairs, because I didn't want to make an insurance claim. It'll run me a hair over $2000, but I can pay for it. Not only was the frame bent, but so were the struts, radiator, condenser, and a couple other things. More damage than I thought. The place I went to, a friend of mine's dad took his car there when he got in a wreck, and said they do great work. Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

I'll post some after pics Saturday.

It feels SO great to get my car back...going 3 weeks with no car is a PITA (some of that was my fault, not all of it was the body shop's fault).

the frame? or the sub-frame?

glad you are getting it back!

Sub-frame, if I remember correctly...

ok, that makes more sense.

Glad to hear you're getting it fixed...three weeks isn't too bad; I've seen cars held up in body shops for a couple of months..

Yeah, going nearly a month without your Grand Prix can be a real pain...




*cries*

Wow, you rode around like that for 9-10 months!

congrats, i dont know what i'd do if i didnt have my car... i cant stand being driven around

A big X2 on that one! Of course around this time of year I don't mind so much mostly because that means my car is in the warm garage and not using gas.

Good luck with your car Ace! Hopefully you have better luck than UMfan. Definitely looking forward to some pics as soon as it's done!

i bum rides off of people at every single opportunity i can. im cheap... lol

You too huh?

Any updated pics?

I remember the front of the car but i did not know you was driving with that front side panel like that. But congrats on getting your car back and I know what you mean by you insurance company.

Rook, you have two cars and you still bum rides?...THAT is a dedicated money saver slave to the mod bug

No, I should be getting it back just after dusk Friday, so I'll have to take them first thing Saturday morning and post them.

It's too bad that it' going to cost as much as it is, I was hoping I could afford to get new tires right when I got it back, so I could smoke the ones I have now in celebration. Oh well, I should have them in probably a month, but for sure when I get my tax return.

And yes, I drove it like that for months, although it didn't look quite that bad anymore...I DID get all the mud off. lol Although with stuff bent like they were, my headlights didn't illuminate the road at ALL, even when they were pointed down. And I don't think they'll be fixing the quarter panel, I didn't ask them to. My friend and I should be able to take it off ourselves and get the dent out. It's not QUITE as bad as it looks in the pic anyway.

Man, I can't WAIT! I want my car...

For that much damage and a bent subframe (I assume they streightened it out) $2k sound very reasonable... But yes, cant wait for the pics!

Yea, they straightened the frame, replaced the bumper and bumper absorber, and are just straightening the radiator and condenser. They said those simply had a bow in them, not a sharp jab, and when they just bend them back into place, they usually work properly for the rest of the life of the car.

Frankly, it saved me $700, and since $2000 was about the limit I could spend, I didn't have much choice. If there's a problem, I can always replace them later. But they didn't give me any problems while they were bent, so... *shrugs*

But because of all the extra stuff that was bent, it should ride a little better when I get it back, and I'm kinda hoping maybe it'll fix the squealing noise. But I doubt it, I think it's wheel hub related.

Yay! It's official, I have her back. I'll post some pics tomorrow, but since I'm up so late tonight, it won't be first thing in the morning.

Man, I'd had the damage for so long, and it happened so soon after I got the car, I'd forgotten how good it looked.

They DID repair the dent in the fender, which I didn't know they were going to do. They also said they replaced the coolant, but I've got a low coolant light on. I'll get some tomorrow.

And the bulbs for my fog lamps are gone... Those things are expensive, so I'm gonna see if I can get reimbursed for them.

congrats... i cant wait to see pics

OK, I have them. Naturally, I parked the front right in a shadow... >.< I was too lazy to move it, but it's a clear difference anyway.

Before:


After:




Much better.

After I get new tires and probably an aftermarket intake, the next visual repair I need to do is touch up the paint on the front end:



My friends and I are probably going to the Battleship Texas again in a couple weeks, since we didn't get a good chance to look through it last time, so I'll get some better pics for you then.

Looks great! A lot better than it was before. Is that paint damage from the accident? Looks like the clearcoat is peeling. You should have asked them reclear the other fender for you, I'm sure they would've done it for not much more.

Are those new headlights too?

nice glad to see it turned out good, ya redoing the clear shouldnt be that much, but i dont really know

No, the paint isn't from the accident. The hood if from the heat coming out of the hood scoops (the are actual "heat extractors" according to Pontiac), and I assume the fender is from when the hood wouldn't close all the way, the heat rolling out from the hood.

As for the headlights, yes, I bought new ones after the accident, because the old ones were all fogged up. They replaced the grills like I didn't want them too, but I would have been pissed if they replaced the headlights too. lol

And just for the record, the red F-150 in the background is my dad's rental truck, so that's why it's there instead of the older maroon one in the other pics. I REALLY like that rental truck, and I only drove it across the street to Advanced Auto Parts to get coolant and fog bulbs. I prefer my car, though, of course.

Hey, question for you guys that I forgot about.

When I got the car back, the guy who gave it to me relayed that he'd been told by the body shop that my air conditioner won't work right now. Some valve(s?) was/were leaking, and because of that, they couldn't refill the refrigerant. Any idea what valve they were talking about?

IIRC theres a high-pressure "BOV" for the compressor. Not for certain, but I believe the AC system has a series of valves and reliefs to ensure the compressor dont blow themselves up. You might wanna take it to an AC shop or something to get a second opinion/solid diagnosis.

wow, thats nice. I wish I had the car because I love that color but the peeling on the hood and fender doesn't look to bad.

in order to fix the peeling on the hood and fender you would have to repaint the hole thing you cant just do clear

I'm sorry you have to sport that license plate there to cover up the new and improved Beauty!

Oh, I plan on getting the license plate cover. Technically, Texas requires you to have both plates, but I could drive around town for just five minutes and find at least one car that doesn't have a front plate. One of the most frequent offenders are Firebirds, actually...lol Obviously, it's not enforced here.

I'll just keep the second one in my trunk, so if I do get pulled over somewhere else, I'll just ask the officer to let me change it real quick and hopefully get off with a warning.

And Rick, thanks for the info. That's kind of what I figured. I wasn't able to get much info when I got the car back because I actually drop it off and receive it at an office - it gets transported to the body shop somewhere else. So they body shop guy told the office guy, who told me and didn't really know all the info. :rolleyes: