As the title states below are pictures of a 2001 grand am se that got in an accident last night. Pretty banged up. Im no mechanic so I cant tell you whats going on in the engine bay but I tried to take a few pictures. The car still runs and drives. You can see some pics are outside then the car was driven into the garage. Can anyone estimate the cost of fixing all this? Are we looking at 2-3k or 5k plus?
Ballpark $4-5k.
I hope you have insurance. I would gun for a “totaled” on the insurance report.
Have insurance but not collision. We usually stop paying for that once the car is paid off. So totaled is out of the question. Its either fix or buy a new car.
Oh man that sucks. You are looking at a pretty large repair bill based on all of the different areas that look to be damaged. Best of luck.
Id say it could be far less than 4-5k depending on how you go about it and how extensive the damage is under the body panels. Those cars are dime a dozen at most junk yards. Figure for new bumper,hood, lights, and fenders prob around 4-500. Then paint shouldn’t be much more than a grand or two if you go to the right place.It all depends on if an 8 year old Pontiac with a mediocre resale value is worth fixing to you. If the car has low miles and is mechanically sound and you can fix it cheap enough then run it into the ground and drive it.
^ agreed.
I would just buy a new car, and not bother fixing an '01 Grand Am. I wouldn’t pay for repairs that cost more than the car itself. On average, I’m sure it KBB’s around $5k.
it would be easier to buy a whole front clip. if you look hard enough you might be able to get one the same color then it wouldnt have to be painted.
it looks like it will need at least the upper tie bar.
i could do it for 2k, it would cost you about 3-4 all said and done.
you want to find something like this but that has headlights and what not (obv for the right year, but this is all that ebay had):
we used to get these all the time for older cars at the body shop I used to work at. wilberts in webster might be able to help you.
Part out this car and buy another.
This will pay for more then half of the replacement versus paying twice that out of pocket for repairs.
Not worth fixing that thing.
My brother had one of these things fixed, insurance paid 6500 bucks to the body shop.
It came back squeeking and rattling, then all the abs sensors and other sensor lights starting coming on in the dash…
What did you hit?
If you’re going to try fixing it yourself it might be worth it, using junk yard parts and knowing that it’s not going to be perfect ever again. A comealong hooked to a tree works ok for straightening bent supports.
If you’re thinking about taking it somewhere and you don’t have a collision shop hookup where some good friend is going to do it for a case of beer over cost it won’t be worth fixing.
Kill it with fire.
Seriously, that thing is hurt. There could be damage that you can’t see also. Is the rad support bent or cracked? From the pics it looks like it is.
How many miles on it?
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=256390513&dealer_id=100012648&car_year=2002&rdm=1242909329684&model=GRNDAM&num_records=25&systime=&make2=&highlightFirstMakeModel=&start_year=2001&keywordsfyc=U0U,&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=083069&keywordsrep=&engine=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=200&marketZipError=false&search_lang=en&showZipError=y&make=PONT&keywords_display=SE&color=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&seller_type=b&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=priceDESC&address=14221&advanced=y&end_year=2002&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=207&standard=false
A year newer, 74k, listed at $4995. Makes it hard to justify putting too much money into repairing this one.
I was going to say if it was a 6cyl, I’d buy the motor/trans from you… but it looks like it’s a 4 -.-
But if it is a 6, lemme know 
They’re always gone in seconds at the junkyards -.-
Oh, and btw no it’s not worth fixing. (paying a shop to do it)
Unless you do it yourself and know how to do it… then it could be.
That car is a loss the frame is bent pretty far. I would part out buy a different car.
Fry has the best estimate base on the pics. But, you need to pull the bumper and such to get a better idea. Look at the Rad support, inner-structure, suspension, etc. The front end is all tied together and are usually very vunerable in these kind of impacts.
The support is tweaked in this corner and that weld for the headlight bucket bracket is definitely broke:
You may be able to save it but I would gut the front end to make sure.
The back looks straight (hard to tell though with no light).
If it is you might be ok to salvage the front. But, you need to look on that drivers side corner REALLY well. The way GM mounted the reinforment piece (Black plastic) on these front bumpers do not protect much. Most front end collisions on these bend the inner fender structure all to hell. Since the whole front end is one welded piece you need a whole clip to cut and splice. Usually it is not worth it on these cars now. Once you get some of the panels off look in the corners of the engine bay inside and out(under the collant bottle and under the battery). These are the troublesome areas. If these are messed up get rid of it. If the middle of the radiator support is just pushed in you can easily pull that straight again. Since this has the Ecotec motor you have tons of room between the Radiator and the Motor so there is a good chance nothing got hit on the motor. But judging by the damage I am assuming the Airbags went off. If they did that passenger side airbag requires a whole new dash to be put in. If not, you got lucky.
As far as parts…check out grandamgt.com and gaownersclub.com for part out threads. Usually you can get some really good deals. If you can get the same color then that’s even better. Since the sideskirts look ok you can get the fenders off of a GT or SE model. But, the GT did not come in that color Blue. The hood is alos the same for the SE and GT but again the GT will not have that color.
I am assuming best case here (ie, Airbags did not go off, Motor did not get hit, Car inner-structure is not bent, and you shop around for parts)
Pricing:
Being that it is an 8 year old car the paint is probably not worth the headache of blending into the doors. If you can get the Fenders, Hood, and Bumper painted off the car you can save some cash by just having a body shop spray those (Figure 200-300 per panel). Then just install them yourself. It is pretty easy. The only bitch is getting the fenders on/off. If you can do the work all told you should be in the 1500-2500 range if there is NO major damage and you do all the work. Before you decide to just total it out I would take a closer look.
If you need any more info shoot me a PM.
If it was mine. I would just keep it. You said it runs and drives fine. I would have a mechanic come and take a look though. If he gives it the green light, I would fix whatever necessary to get it to pass inspection, and nothing more. I see the air bags didn’t deploy, but it needs a headlight. That car you have right there makes an excellent winter beater and daily driver back and forth to work. Get it road worthy with some new lights (junkyard will have them for sure) and shop around for a new toy.
i specialize in fixing grand ams i have several parts cars private message me your number and i will call you to speak with you and tell you your optitions and i can keep it cheap.
i own several grand am parts cars and have the parts you need. i can do it for very cheap around 1000 area. please call me at 7165480836 leave a message