Should I Save My Cruze Or Total It?

891 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by bowtie-72, 2 mo ago

iKendallTE

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

A few months back my beloved Cruze that I built as a totaled car got into an accident due to a negligent red light runner. The SUV hit my passenger side front fender and shifted the frame about 2 inches to the drivers side. The crash bar was bent and luckily took most of the impact, but the frame still shifted. My insurance (with full coverage) will not cover the damages because it was determined as a 50/50 accident since the other driver denied blowing the light. The police report did not state who was at fault because the runner was denying any wrong doing.

I've invested so much time, money, and love into this car and I'm considering doing a rebuild, but at the same time I'm not sure if it's worth the cost. Below are some pictures of the car and some of the damage. Tell me y'alls honest opinions!

Motor vehicle Hood Automotive exterior Auto part Automotive tire

Vehicle Car Grille Hood Automotive lighting

Tire Wheel Automotive lighting Hood Automotive tire

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Blasirl

· #2 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

iKendallTE said:
A few months back my beloved Cruze that I built as a totaled car got into an accident due to a negligent red light runner. The SUV hit my passenger side front fender and shifted the frame about 2 inches to the drivers side. The crash bar was bent and luckily took most of the impact, but the frame still shifted. My insurance (with full coverage) will not cover the damages because it was determined as a 50/50 accident since the other driver denied blowing the light. The police report did not state who was at fault because the runner was denying any wrong doing.

I've invested so much time, money, and love into this car and I'm considering doing a rebuild, but at the same time I'm not sure if it's worth the cost. Below are some pictures of the car and some of the damage. Tell me y'alls honest opinions!

View attachment 301663 View attachment 301664 View attachment 301665
View attachment 301666

Buy another one with a good body and use parts from the one you have.

EDIT: unless you know how to use a frame machine and have access to one. A porta-power will probably leave you a bit short.

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frankh

· #3 · 3 mo ago

And spend $100 on a dash cam.. We had the same thing when a driver ran a 4 way stop, but then we had the evidence and the other driver got cited as soon as we showed the cop the footage and was held at fault.

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iKendallTE

Discussion Starter · #4 · 3 mo ago

frankh said:
And spend $100 on a dash cam.. We had the same thing when a driver ran a 4 way stop, but then we had the evidence and the other driver got cited as soon as we showed the cop the footage and was held at fault.

I did have a dash cam at the time, but the footage was either never properly saved or got corrupted. I was able to view it once I got home but after that it was gone. Most likely an error by myself

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frankh

· #5 · 3 mo ago

iKendallTE said:
I did have a dash cam at the time, but the footage was either never properly saved or got corrupted. I was able to view it once I got home but after that it was gone. Most likely an error by myself

Ugh, frustrating!

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Cruzing12

· #6 · 3 mo ago

Chevrolet Cruze Repair Manual: Collision Repair - Body repair

C cruze.com has a lot of info.... Just found the front measurements....

Hard to say ...if you have a come along, good mallet and a measuring tape one could will it back into form.

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regardedwrencher

· #7 · 2 mo ago

the damage isn't too bad but honestly as others said. unless you have a frame machine it isn't worth paying to have this pulled. maybe you get lucky and find a spot that will just pull but then you need it to go into inspection and get a rebuilt title if it was written off as a total loss. this will also lower the cars value and you would have to be great buddies with a rebuilder to have him just pull then you assemble used painted parts (best bang for buck) then have them go use their license then get it titled and registered again.

your best bet in this case is to find a roller with a nice body/ clean title and swap the parts over and this is only if you can do the work. if you can't do the work just get another cruze, swap mods and keep this one as a parts car if you have space.

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Blasirl

· #8 · 2 mo ago

National Auto Auction Association Structural Analysis - 2011 & 2012 Chevrolet Cruze

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bowtie-72

· #9 · 2 mo ago

To be honest, I would try to pull it out myself. You obviously like the car and put a lot of work into it already. You would have a lot of work anyway if you got another car and tried to swap everything over. Even then, you probably wouldn’t be as happy as you would with THIS car. To give you some confidence I have done this before with some surprising results. Get a chain, take your time, and armed with your measurements, pull A LITTLE at a time. If you need to pull from the side, use a pickup and chain to it. Just pull, then measure, pull then measure. Keep going and have someone help you if you can. Good luck, I think it’s worth a try!

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