Mazda 6 Collision Repair

[jimmo]

I just wanted to share this collision repair job with the fellow Mazda 6 owners. Here we have a 2009 Mazda 6 that was really hit hard in the back causing a lot of damage. The repair bill is just over $15,000. This vehicle needed two quarter panels, a rear end panel, shelf panel,trunk,lights,rebar,bumper and many other odd's and ends. Here is what it came in looking like:





It is a very big job with a lot of metal panel replacements. Luckly the damage to the rails were very minimal being a high hit, the car also crumpled up around the passenger rear seats not transfering any of the impact into the vehicle.The rear end was welded while the quarters were glued (mostly) with a bit of welding. Here is the other day when I painted the door jambs and interior parts of the panels:









Here is the outside after being sprayed:











The car is completed and was picked up today. Here is a few pictures of the car being polished. This is what it looked like once sanded to remove any imperfections and what didn't look factory to me:





It was polished front to back giving the entire car a showroom shine. The hood was scratched from the tow truck drivers magnet lights and they also damaged the front bumper. Although insurance won't pay for tow truck damage and we didn't want to put the customer through the hassle of arguing with the tow truck company we did those repairs at our expense. Here is what she looks like now:







You can see a clip of me polishing the car on youtube @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vClDaX6ARM (in HD too).

[ashutoshsm]

Impressive job, kudos!

[bobbinka]

wow, looks brand spanking new.

wnna polish my car?

[drogos]

nice job for sure !!!! I am suprise it wasn't total. Is it because it was brand new hence worth fixing? What was your cost before labor ?

[bobbinka]

the car has to be 2009, so there's no way it could've been valued at less than $15,000, unless there was already something seriously wrong with it. so if the car is worth more than what the damages would cost, it would not be written off. someone correct me if i'm wrong.

[jimmo]

The car had next to no milage on it and I beleive it was valued somewhere between 25-30,000. In all honesty my expertiese lies more with the repair work then how the claim is handled so I cant tell you for certain. I'm sure if the owner had her way it would have been written off, it depends what is in the insurance policy. I know some companies are fixing them up to 100% valuation.

QUOTE (Drogos @ Oct 30 2009, 05:28 PM)

nice job for sure !!!! I am suprise it wasn't total. Is it because it was brand new hence worth fixing? What was your cost before labor ?[/b]

I don't have the numbers right now, I'll pull up the estimate next time at the shop and let you know.

[Mz6GreyGhost]

Nice work!

And no, the insurance companies won't total the car since it was only $15K worth of work, and it's easily a $23K+ car, since it's got the V6 with low miles. Most companies won't total it unless the damage is worth 75% or more of the actual car value. Had the unibody suffered more damage, maybe, but the damage was high, as the OP said.

Nice of you to fix the damage done by the ignorant towing company (which they all seem to be these days...)

[jimmo]

The initial estimate was around $12,000 having $4,200 of it being for parts & $670 repair material. The rest is mostly labor costs and a few sublet repairs. (tint, alignment,exhaust/mechanical..etc). There's a lot of paper work , I didn't really have time to sort though all the additionals that brought it up to the 15,000 mark. Usually just hidden damages and a lot of small things you don't see at a first look. The initial estimate is from the insurance appraiser not us btw.

[mpsanger6]

Nice work! Where are you located?

[jimmo]

QUOTE (mpsanger6 @ Oct 31 2009, 03:21 PM)

Nice work! Where are you located?[/b]

Ajax, Ontario