GT Wrecked!! What to do!!

[tylerdred]

Here is the problem....My 2001 GT was badly damaged in a high speed collision. The front frame was bent, the door was scratched, air bags went off, and both front fenders damaged, but the engine is fine! The car had only 27k miles and it is my baby. The rest of the car is perfect. I only had liability at the time so insurance (sadly) wont pay for it. What is the best option for me? I thought of a couple:

1) fix the current vehicle, including straightening the frame. I'm thinking it would cost around 10k

2) buy a cheap 01 V6 with a nice frame and swap everything from the damaged car into the new frame (have friends that are mechanics and could do this granted it is possible)

3) sadly, part out the car.......

I wouldnt want to do #1, because i've been told that the car will never be the same. I wouldnt want to to #3 because I love the car. I am leaning towards #2, but I was wondering how difficult the process is.

Thanks....any advice would be appreciated!!

 

[smueller]

Wow...sorry to hear that man. No insurance, that sux! I'm not real sure what I would do in your situation...

 

[tylerdred]

thanks for the kind words....i was hoping one of the gear heads here would chime in

 

[jgfiveoh]

#3 sell it for parts............then take that money and buy a fox!!! jk, but if i was in that situation i would see if i could find a sixer and stuff that engine in there. good luck to u and sorry to hear that.

 

[Mike97gt]

find a sixer that has high mileage/ blown motor and swap your stuff in, it's a lot of work but still a lot less than what the body work might cost you.

 

[tylerdred]

Are there any other parts that I need to do the job??? Has anyone else done anything like #2????

 

[04gtdrop]

i have not done #2, but if i were you, thats the route i would go. And i dont know all the in's and out's of the 6's. But keep in mind that you will prob have to swap, the motor, tranny, rear end, speedo, ECU and maybe even some of the suspension? i would hope that most of it could come off of your wrecked GT....i know its not much, i hope this helps....

 

[loosescrew79]

I would go with option #2. GET MORE INSURANCE COVERAGE!!!! LOL

 

[jasonh_86]

Option #2.. find a V6 in good condition that's fairly cheap and swap that stuff on over!

And with the V6 VIN, then you could get cheaper insurance and hopefully go full-coverage next time around.

Good luck with it man, let us know what you decide to do and keep us updated

 

[mustangman9812]

Get the sixer and swap over. Insurance will be much cheaper and they will never have to know you switched motors!

 

[Kilgore Trout]

#2

 

[myponyrocks]

doesn't he need a new K-member as well since his was probly dammaged in the accident... or will the 4.6 hook to the v6 K?

 

[DocG]

Ok, first of all...and you already know...get freakin insurance. Second...do not straighten your frame for 10k. That's insane. The frame will be weaker and you can almost just buy another 2001 GT for that price. The V6 swap will probably be more work and money than you plan for. You have the price of the base car...no one will likely sell you just the frame. You sure your engine is fine? Front end collision with frame bent and all front body panels messed up...and engine is fine? Radiator...A/C, alternator....etc...all fine? My prediction is...if you swap everything from a GT into a V6 shell....you'll always have some sort of problem out of it. You would need to change an awful lot of stuff.

Take your losses, part it out for as much cash as possible. Buy a new or new-used car. Obviously yours was paid off or else you'd have full coverage on the loan. If not, you have much bigger problems.

*Edit* Oh, and don't listen to these guys about swapping over and your insurance being cheaper...then when you wreck your car again, you'll have full coverage on a V6....you might get $5k for a $10k car...and you'll be posting this post all over again. Not smart to scam your insurance company.

 

[steveb24]

damn.. i never considered driving a car worth more than 4-5 g's without full coverage. esp our powerful rwd stangs. #2 is going to be a crap load of work, if u want it like the one u have, your gonna have to switch some body stuff over too. just dosnt seem worth it to me, unless your friends are really going to spend alllllll that time to and energy to help you for cheap..like real cheap..it not worth it. do yourself a favor and buy a cobra, part your stang for like..probably could get 5 g's out of it, and rest in peace. and do it right next time.

 

[tomustang]

I only had liability at the time so insurance (sadly) wont pay for it. What is the best option for me?

Your insurance company allowed you to have JUST liability on a 5 year old car? wow

 

[DCjuggalo]

i dont have full coverage either man, would of cost me 2800 every 6 months. thats almost 500 a month

 

[DTNODYA]

I don't have full coverage either. But I'm not driving my car much right now ....

That really sux about your car man. I know how it feels though .. I did the same thing to my camaro but I had FC insurance .. they straightened the frame and it drove better than before. When I sold it, I told the guy that the frame had been straightened and he didn't care. I sold it for more than I originally paid, being honest too. Anyway, get full coverage if you can afford it and good luck finding a decent stang to swap stuff on.

 

[DocG]

I don't get not having full coverage insurance ona car worth more than a couple g's. If you don't want to pay that much for insurance...you should drive a civic. Even if you don't drive the car much, what if it got hail damage, stolen, whatever. I do good to ahve cash to cover my $500 deductible, let alone replace a minimum of 10g's for a car.

 

[mity2]

combo of option 2 and 3.
Find nice low milege sixer. swap all (engine, trans, harness, rearend, suspension stuff).
then whats left of wrecked car, sell it as parts(if any that are sellable). thats IF you can do all the owrk yourself. if not(if you have to pay someone to do the work), then I say bite the bigone, and sell the car, and buy anotherone


Sorry about what happend man...

Your insurance company allowed you to have JUST liability on a 5 year old car? wow

If you don't own anything for the car, then you can do whatever you want. personaly, i think drive with just liability is an insane. Especially with sue happy lawyers out there. Heck my $3200 Geo have full coverage.

 

[DCjuggalo]

10,000 is a little on the steep side, lol go with the v6 swap idea