A Poll, & My Cherokee has been maimed

[MountainDon]

It was an otherwise uneventful day. First I had a flat tire (stray 3" deck screw).
Then I went to the post office.
My Cherokee has been maimed.   
F350 backed into me.



I'm trying to keep my attitude and spirits up. So let's have a wee bit of fun. How much do you think this'll cost to make better? I'll run this a week or so. No estimate yet, but I'll have that done in the next day or so.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Ouch, Don!!  I hope it's not that expensive, but I'm guesstimating based on what it cost to get our old Blazer fixed after DH had a little trouble on black ice one time... but then we had a few windows busted,too, though not as much body damage.

[glenn kangiser]

Any chance the insurance Co will try to total it on you and give you a pittance?  Seems like one of their favorite tricks.

[MountainDon]

There. I forgot to toss my guess into the ring.

Glenn, that is the wost case scenario. That's been in the back corner of my mind from the moment I first set eyes on the damage. My guess is that it's very close to the edge. Probably over the edge if it wasn't for the fact that I pay extra because of the valuation of some of the extras I've added.

I can see the rocker box seems to be untouched, which is good. But the forward end of the wheel well is deformed; not good. The door opens and closes even though it's deformed. The upper portion doesn't seal. In fact it far enough out of whack the courtesy light won't shut off. I had to tape a small piece of 1/4" plywood to the door so the light switch would get depressed far enough to turn off the courtesy lights.

As long as the insurance will pay to have the door made good, to have it seal properly, well that's the main thing. I'd forgo them paying for shiny new paint or the plastic door trim if it made the difference between a write off and a repair. I'll have to see what the body shop/estimator comes up with. I don't want to have to find a replacement and build it up all over again.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Well?  Any word yet?

[MountainDon]

Got the word. Locked the poll. And the insurance is covering it, doing a full repair.



BTW, my guess was $4500 - 5500

[Sassy]

Outrageous what repairs cost!  But I'm glad the insurance is paying for it 

btw, we just 4wd all over our mountain - lots of places Glenn didn't think the Bushhog would go - the ground was slippery clay - same stuff Glenn got the Bobcat stuck in the other day - no problem with the BH 

[peternap]

Glad it worked out Don. I thought they were going to total it.

[MountainDon]

It was a close call. The estimator's computer beeped a 'red flag' warning when he was just about done. He 'tweaked' it and it worked out. But, if it had been a normal unmodified Cherokee, with normal mileage, it would have been written off. It's a '99 with only 66000 miles. Plus because of the mods, I pay an extra premium and they cover the added value.

Estimated shop time is 10 days. I have to pull off the side rock rails, rear bumper and tire carrier as well as the rear quarter panel armor. And I have to reinstall all that stuff as well. The 'fun' thing may be trying to straighten the quarter panel armor... I think I'll leave the slight curve, cut the mounts and reweld them. That's the easier way out I think.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

That was my guess, too.

[glenn kangiser]

Great you got to keep it but still a pain for someone else's boo boo.

I have been doing a bunch of TIG welding for the last week --- haven't done it in 20 years but it's the bicycle thing -- refresh the book info and it comes right back.  Point is, it would be great for some of the products you mentioned -- but then plain ol' regular welding is faster, cheaper and easier if you are not set up to do TIG.

[MountainDon]

I'm a MIG guy   

[glenn kangiser]

Me too, quite often -- actually I usually run FCAW -- flux core NR211 for the small stuff in  little Miller 135 120v welder I think is the model.  No gas to mess with or blow away.

[John_C]

Woo Hoo.  I think I was the one with the $3500  -  $4500 vote.  The bad news is that dollar-wise it looks much like the damage to my '95 Saturn.  Cheap car to begin with and now > 200,000 miles later it surely isn't worth putting that kind of money into.  Someone ran into it in the parking lot at work a few weeks ago.  At the end of the day the left front was smashed.   

[MountainDon]

No gas to mess with or blow away.

There's the difference. I try to weld inside, but have some flux core when I can't.

[glenn kangiser]

It really changed body work.  In the old days they welded panels with oxy/acet torches and then had tons of warps to fix

The MIG or FCAW is hot so fast and done it warps very little on small welds.