You don't mention if the car is still running, so one can't know how much internal damage there is. My guess would be that the cost of repair will exceed the resale value of the car, so it essentially has no value except as a source of parts. There are people who have taken down cars in this condition and sold the parts themselves, successfully. Lucky for me, no one in my neighborhood is attempting to do this!

 

Get estimates for repair and then you can compare those to the value of the vehicle and make an informed decision. You could let the body shop know that used parts would be acceptable and that insurance is not involved, that might lower your cost. If the air bags went off or the vehicle no longer runs, though, you can probably assume it is a total loss.

 

Sorry for your accident. Let's make sure your understanding of your insurance coverage first. Comprehensive is coverage for something that was out of your control like your car being vandalized when it was parked, etc.. Your case would be covered under collision, which maybe you have.

I looked it up on kbb and your car has a private party sale value of around $5-6k US, which is probably not far off the cost to rebuild your car. Probably worth taking it around to get some auto body quotes - I've never been successful getting a better deal for cash, all the shops I go to use the same estimating guide. Did the car need anything else that you will have to do anyway? I don't think salvage yards will offer much and if you start over you'd probably be spending more than $10k for a new to you car. It may just be worth having it rebuilt but it won't be cheap.

 

I definitely don’t have insurance coverage for this. Already spoke to them just in case, but no, it’s not covered. And it does run. It drove fine to the collision reporting centre and then home (~40km). I’d rather not take it around to a bunch of places because I’m sure it’s illegal to drive a car with a missing headlight.

Seems to be mainly body damage. Which unfortunately won’t be cheap, and is a shame since mechanically it’s in good shape. One place I talked to said count on at least $7K to fix it (~5000 USD) after looking at the same photo I showed you here. Was hoping it could be less than that but after calling a few places it’s near impossible to even get somebody to look at a car in this condition that isn’t covered by insurance.

 

I definitely don't have insurance coverage for this. Already spoke to them just in case, but no, it's not covered. And it does run. It drove fine to the collision reporting centre and then home (~40km). I'd rather not take it around to a bunch of places because I'm sure it's illegal to drive a car with a missing headlight.

Seems to be mainly body damage. Which unfortunately won't be cheap, and is a shame since mechanically it's in good shape. One place I talked to said count on at least $7K to fix it (~5000 USD) after looking at the same photo I showed you here. Was hoping it could be less than that but after calling a few places it's near impossible to even get somebody to look at a car in this condition that isn't covered by insurance.

Condolences on the collision. Another option you might consider, since you said it appears to be mainly body damage. Is it something you could DYI and straight out somewhat enough to allow continued usage? Alternately, perhaps contacting a local high school that has an auto-mechanic shop program that might be agreeable to using your car for their class repair project, with you just paying for parts.

If you're looking for a "new-for-you" car, for what it's worth and I'm sad to say, I'd expect a lot of previously owned cars will soon flood the marketplace. On a national scale, with rental companies like Hertz declaring COVID-bankruptcy, they'll have many cars that they will have to dispose of. The surviving rental companies will likely downsized their fleets. My guess is that supply versus demand will result is lower then normal pricing.

 

Good to hear your S60 still runs and I hope that means the expensive airbags didn't deploy. It looks like all the collision force was absorbed by the headlight assembly and the hood. Depending on the traffic laws where you live, you may be okay driving in daytime hours as long as you're sticking your arm out to signal a left hand turn. Hopefully you can find a shop willing to do the repairs for a better price if less driving because of the virus means fewer crashes and less work for bodyshops.

 

I did not realize that the car was driveable. That means the engine and cooling system is still working OK. My guess is that the car could be repaired, with used parts, and painted to match. The problem is that if you find someone who gives you a lowball estimate, the end result may be less than perfect. My 2005 S60 2.5T is less than perfect, but I still like it, & plan to keep it.

 

Just to throw some numbers out there, I rear-ended a motorcycle on the left front of my bumper at maybe 12 mph. The cost for a shop to replace the bumper and left quarter panel with sensors, and match the paint was about $4,000 if I remember off the top of my head correctly. The motorcyclist was found guilty so I didn't pay anything, but its incredible how much the plastic bits and paint will cost. If they are quoting 5k USD for a hood, bumper, quarter panel, headlight, sensors, etc. There must be no mechanical damage, but I would have a second shop assess the frame to see if the crumple zone pushed in at all. The picture shows a significant gap between the quarter panel and driver's door which could cause issues down the road if the frame is crumpled and new panels won't fit perfectly. Sorry about the crash, it's always a bad time.

 

You need to look at the bigger picture here when making a decision. You didn't have collision insurance for what reason?

1. Is it because the monthly/bi-annual/annual expense was prohibitively expensive for you based on your current income? If so, you were driving a car that was way too nice and this is the hard way of finding that out. If you can't afford insurance, you need to be driving a $1,000-$2,000 car that is essentially disposable. If this is the case, can we also assume you don't have $5,000 lying around to get your car fixed?
2. Is it because your driving record is so bad that insurance is way too expensive? If so, kudos for picking a safe car since you were indeed more likely to crash. But also, same as #1, you need to be driving a beater until you get better at driving and your record improves. Hopefully in this case, you have more savings, but not necessarily.
3. It it because you did the cost-benefit analysis and figured you would save enough not having insurance that when you eventually crashed, you would be able to just throw the car away and buy a new one? If so, did the analysis work, or did you bank on driving crash free for 5 years and didn't make it that far? I.E. Do you still needed 4 more years of no-insurance-bill savings to buy a new car?
4. Is it something else completely different?

These questions may seem irrelevant to your current decision (fix or salvage), but I contend that the bigger picture is quite relevant for your immediate decision as well. For instance, if you are in situation 1 or 2 and don't have the repair money, the answer is salvage and buy a beater. If you are in another situation, that may not be the best choice.

 

Hi Brian J,
Where are you located? Using km, are you in Canada or the EU? If Canada, what Province?

You could also try a local salvage yard. They, through their network, can track parts all over Canada. They could find a 2011 that's been rear ended and get you the front parts you need at a discounted price.

 

+1 Try to source the parts from a salvage yard. I know the hood is expensive even salvaged but still.
If you are handy and have the space/tools why not start taking things apart to get an idea on the extent of damage and what parts are needed.

 

Yes, looks to me that with used parts done yourself you could get it fully roadworthy for a fraction of the estimate to make it ‘good as new’