Is this goodbye to the forum?

[papadoc]

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My 19 yo son managed to run my car off the road into a chain link fence, the pictures tell the story. Was fooling around, hit a curb on an onramp and bounced right into this fence. CSAA had us take it to a local shop that does very good but very expensive work. Right intercooler is toast, but no damage to the engine. They included an amazing quote of $1500 to replace the clear bra. Minus that, the estimate came to $17,200! Of course CSAA does not want to pay this. They are offering me $15,750 which includes the deductible, and if I choose to keep the car and get it repaired, $13,000. I bought the car in March 2004 new, have put 141,00 miles on it, and while it has a rebuilt trans, I have the TC code popping up while still under warranty for the repair. Car has been filled with BND fluids for most of its life, has 19" Euro titanium wheels, APR exhaust, APR ECU tune, and interior is excellent. Wifey wants to just call it quits and take the settlement, which frankly is better than I would have guessed. This was my daily driver until last November, and I've had a great 10 years with it. I think I could take it to another local shop I have used and get the repairs done closer to the settlement amount, but would then have a salvage title. So, I am looking to my friends on this board to weigh in, and if nothing else, alert you to a good salvage vehicle should you need some parts from a babied beast.

[Korben007]

They only offering you 15,750 for your totaled rs6. Should be at least 22k to 25k.

[DHall1]

Damn.

This would be an easy fix. Look at what the member did with the deer hit.

That said, buy back the car from insurance and i will take it. If you dont wish to fix it.

[MaxRS6]

Bummer- I hope you manage to keep it alive and continue to be on-board the Crazy Train.

[Other_Erik]

Tell them to stuff their offer of <$16k and let you know what they're really willing to pay you - even with the mileage, your offer should be no lower than 22k. Remind them about the one-owner, documented maintenance, etc... I hate how they pull the offer numbers from any RS available on the market - sure I can pick one up for 14k, but then I'm going to be putting another 10 into it to get it back into the maintenance schedule, not to mention how badly it may have been abused over the years being out of proper maintenance... :| That really grinds my gears!

[SteveKen]

If you give it to the ins. co., be sure to take off those wheels first.

I have a set you can swap them out with. ;)

[lswing]

Ugh, bummer, hope it works out well, very nice RS6 you had there, perfect.

I might title this thread "Is this goodbye to my 19 year old"...

[papadoc]

I might title this thread "Is this goodbye to my 19 year old"...

I told him we're getting a Yaris for him to drive as punishment.

Thanks, all, I'm going to start the process of hanging on to the car and having it repaired. The quote from the body shop included over $13,000 in parts, and in going over much of the estimate, they must have obtained numbers from a local dealer as they are at least 20-25% more than ECS. I have another shop that we've used that I will likely move the car to if the first won't negotiate the price with me. The one additional cost I have to figure in is what I will need to do to keep the wife happy with this decision!

[lswing]

Yaris, haha, that's brutal...poor kid. Well glad he's ok, too bad it's a spendy/tough car to fix, but great to hear you'll be sticking with it. I'm thinking the boy will be doing lots of free work for you and the wife, maybe that will help.

[SteveKen]

Crap I just noticed the tow truck in your initial picture.

Hopefully that was just to pull it out of the grass and back onto the road.

Flatbed is the proper transport method for quattro.

If it was towed with two wheels up and two on the ground, I'm not sure if there's any rule of thumb on what happens or if there are any speed or distance limits.

[DHall1]

Tell the shop you need the numbers lowered and you must keep the vehicle. Take the clear bra off the estimate

Start to research another shop.

Beg the wife.

Kick the kid and give him some chores to do.

Beg the wife.

Fight the 15700

Beg the wife.

Call me for a check if the above falls through


I told him we're getting a Yaris for him to drive as punishment.

Thanks, all, I'm going to start the process of hanging on to the car and having it repaired. The quote from the body shop included over $13,000 in parts, and in going over much of the estimate, they must have obtained numbers from a local dealer as they are at least 20-25% more than ECS. I have another shop that we've used that I will likely move the car to if the first won't negotiate the price with me. The one additional cost I have to figure in is what I will need to do to keep the wife happy with this decision!

[Bigglezworth]

I told him we're getting a Yaris for him to drive as punishment.Egad. That's WAY to nice after a chump move like this in dad's baby. You should get him a used Lada or an old Chevette that needs weekly effort to keep running.

[bethridg]

Yuck, this hurts to see.

As for settlement amounts...this is what I got after a small battle for mine with ~88k miles at the time. Not sure what that works out to in CA money and near double the mileage.


The final agreed ACV was $19250. But that was after sending them a spreadsheet comparing ALL RS6's currently for sale on autotrader/cars.com and KBB/Napa valuations. They agreed to do a "dealer value estimate" because I pushed for it to be considered a specialty vehicle which averaged into the above agreed ACV.

Buyback amount was equal to salvage value of $3900.

I spent days building a spreadsheet to determine, if I did most of the work myself, could I make the numbers work. I also want to mention that when my car was returned to me the repair shop had left a new estimate on the dash which was about half the original $15k estimate they provided my insurance company. I'll have to go back and look at the paper work but it was the exact same repairs line by line; maybe lower labor costs or something hmmm. Turns out the estimates had some incorrect part numbers and a few items that I decided did not need to be replaced but that's another story.


Anyway, knowing what I know now about these cars and if mine had been in the state yours appears to be in from the pics I probably would let this one go.

Sorry, it sucks.

[ben916]

Anyway, knowing what I know now about these cars and if mine had been in the state yours appears to be in from the pics I probably would let this one go.

Also, BEFORE letting it go -> Get the APR ECU and other goodies...

[SteveKen]

Also, BEFORE letting it go -> Get the APR ECU and other goodies...

Especially those wheels. Keep me in mind if you want to get rid of them.

In all seriousness, bethridg has a point on cutting your losses. Be sure to do a thorough examination of any potential frame damage.

[DHall1]

Ben

No worries....I will take the whole thing off papadoc's hands if he lets it go.


Also, BEFORE letting it go -> Get the APR ECU and other goodies...

[hahnmgh63]

Also, there is the RS6 on here that just got the timing belt/waterpump done and is selling for $15.5, if it is worth it buy your car back and buy his also?

[Styhl]

Friend of mine just bought a brand new yaris, he found a turbo kit from Garrett to take it over 200hp, as it sits now though we call it his growler when you step on the gas all it does is get loud and keeps sitting still.

Seriously though if this gets parted out can I buy the gas tank? One of my fuel pumps isn't holding a perfect seal and my mechanic thinks it may be a bad tank at this point.

[Styhl]

Friend of mine just bought a brand new yaris, he found a turbo kit from Garrett to take it over 200hp, as it sits now though we call it his growler when you step on the gas all it does is get loud and keeps sitting still.

Seriously though if this gets parted out can I buy the gas tank? One of my fuel pumps isn't holding a perfect seal and my mechanic thinks it may be a bad tank at this point.

[Bigglezworth]

The estimate came to $17,200!Never ceases to amaze me on obscene and unsensible quotes like this for what many a back yard mechanic well knows is nonsense. If you don't mind sharing, it would be nice to see just exactly what they are claiming as $ for parts, $ for labour, and of course the amount of time they are estimating it takes to replace things.

[papadoc]

154111541215413

Here's the gory details. Sorry for the small attachment, best I could do quickly.
Negotiating with the shop. Hardest negotiation though is with the wife. Still begging!
More to follow...

[SA RS6]

154111541215413

Here's the gory details. Sorry for the small attachment, best I could do quickly.
Negotiating with the shop. Hardest negotiation though is with the wife. Still begging!
More to follow...


cant really read it, but is the total 18k:vhmmm:

[bethridg]

Here's the gory details. Sorry for the small attachment, best I could do quickly.
Negotiating with the shop. Hardest negotiation though is with the wife. Still begging!
More to follow...

Let me clarify, when I said I'd let it go I meant I wouldn't be willing to do the work myself. It's an easier decision if you can have a shop repair it in a reasonable time and make the numbers work. Like you said, convincing the boss is the challenge.

Your estimate is near identical to mine. Best of luck!

[Dmb408]

What did you end up settling for with the insurance company? This is good need to know intel for the forum...thanks.

[Bigglezworth]

To put some sensibility and reasonableness to what you are looking at, I can well confirm that the repair costs for what you are being quoted, vs. what it can actually be done for are drastically different. DRASTICALLY. My black beast was 'written off' in 2005 after the driver tagged a pole. Damage that could be similar in cost to what you are seeing with yours. In 2005 the repair quote/costs were large enough to write a vehicle off that was only 2 years old.... Makes no sense to me, but I'm not an insurance company. That said, it was repaired for less than a 1/3 of what the quotes were. Repairs were provided by a qualified/certified company and included many new parts. With there now being access to cars in salvage yards, the parts costs can be lowered. If you are mechanically inclined you save even more. Still amazes me these days that people that used wrenches and screwdrivers to perform a good amount of their work are billed out by companies at rates that rival professional engineers, architects, dentists, and even some lawyers. Baffles me.

15419154201542115422


154111541215413

Here's the gory details. Sorry for the small attachment, best I could do quickly.
Negotiating with the shop. Hardest negotiation though is with the wife. Still begging!
More to follow...
In scanning through your quote, I see a number of items that simply don't play in to the equation. It's like the estimator took every single little item and then looked at what it costs to replace just that one item (book rate) irrespective of there already being a host of other parts removed as part of a separate pricing effort. Examples like the A/C hoses....$800.00 to R&R a pair of hoses??? $750.00 for the front bumper reinforcement bar? $275.00 to R&R the intercooler duct (fastens with 4 small screws...) and only $107 for the duct itself. $840 for an OEM intercooler and $240 for just the bracket?? There is indeed a number of parts to source and replace, and subject to what's available from the auto recyclers depends on how much you would need to fork out for all the parts. I guesstimate all the parts in question could be sourced for less than $4,000.00. A qualified indy shop could retrofit all of the parts in question for a nominal $2-3,000.00 IMO. I firmly believe that even if you aren't a wrencher, you could have a third party repair the damage for 30-40% of what you are being quoted. Even less if you are able to do it yourself.

[papadoc]

Lot's of helpful input here, fellas. Still in the process of making final decision, but heavily leaning toward either selling the car as is to the right buyer, or working it out to keep it and repair it. I don't have the skills or time to do any of the work myself. CSAA, my insurance, won't budge on their numbers. Note that the amounts I quoted above includes my $1000 deductible, so add that to their numbers. 142K miles was a big factor. Prices on the estimate are for parts from a dealer, and I know they can be sourced much cheaper. While I completely agree on the labor charges- as one who depends on Medicare for a good portion of income, believe me the similarity in reimbursements galls me- I have to depend on someone else to do the work and do it right. No way do I have the time or energy to part it out myself.
And yes, still begging the wife!
More to come...

[Dmb408]

Oh sorry, went back and read that, so you got 16750 as the offer, gotch yah.

[bethridg]

In scanning through your quote, I see a number of items that simply don't play in to the equation. It's like the estimator took every single little item and then looked at what it costs to replace just that one item (book rate) irrespective of there already being a host of other parts removed as part of a separate pricing effort. Examples like the A/C hoses....$800.00 to R&R a pair of hoses??? $750.00 for the front bumper reinforcement bar? $275.00 to R&R the intercooler duct (fastens with 4 small screws...) and only $107 for the duct itself. $840 for an OEM intercooler and $240 for just the bracket?? There is indeed a number of parts to source and replace, and subject to what's available from the auto recyclers depends on how much you would need to fork out for all the parts. I guesstimate all the parts in question could be sourced for less than $4,000.00. A qualified indy shop could retrofit all of the parts in question for a nominal $2-3,000.00 IMO. I firmly believe that even if you aren't a wrencher, you could have a third party repair the damage for 30-40% of what you are being quoted. Even less if you are able to do it yourself.

It's software. They just click on a picture, adjust labor amounts and the computer does the rest. They all use the exact same software.

Sourcing parts is challenging and time consuming. Cross referencing part numbers across the entire Audi line makes searching easier. If something is available direct from Audi it comes with a premium. Salvage parts are hit/miss. Ebay can be scarce and tedious but I managed to find some good deals. In my case, Shokan was invaluable but even their used parts were a bit pricey. This forum is a good source too.

Your guesstimate is in the ball park. I had right around $3600 in parts and a couple months of labor working mostly weekends. Outsourced the paint for ~$2k.

I also did a lot of maintenance while I had it apart which slowed the process.

[905084]

If you repair, I've got an intercooler, ducting, fog lights, intercooler grill from my Wag install.

[papadoc]

Well, after a week of running numbers, looking at the prices of the current RS6s out there for sale, noting the price for those with salvage titles, and the fact that I do own all of the 142,000 miles (and good ones at that) on the beast, I'm afraid it's time to put her down. Will be some good items available from salvage but if I start stripping parts from it, my settlement cost goes down, and I don't have the time to do this in any case. Should anyone be interested, I'll try to find out where it goes for salvage. I babied this car for 10+ years and though I know it's only a piece of machinery, I've never held on to a car this long so it's a surprisingly sad moment for me. Those of you with even more miles on your cars than I can probably understand. I'll still follow you all on the forum- most amazing group of car enthusiasts with terrifically helpful information over the years, amazed at the number of posts some of you have made- and wish everyone many more years of enjoyment of this special car.

[papadoc]

Glad to report that the car has found a new owner who knows and understands the nuances of the RS6 as well as anybody. Whether it becomes a donor or ultimately back on the road, it will soon be in good hands!

[ben916]

Glad to report that the car has found a new owner who knows and understands the nuances of the RS6 as well as anybody. Whether it becomes a donor or ultimately back on the road, it will soon be in good hands!

DAVE!!!??!?!?

You got some 'x-planin' to do!!!

[DHall1]

Who me?

You cotton pickers! I cant sneak anything under cover.

Checks in the mail and we are gonna save this car. A big thank you to Papadoc and the car will be Arizona bound later this week.



?
DAVE!!!??!?!?

You got some 'x-planin' to do!!!