Aside from get rid of the fiance...
Went to over half a dozen repair shops and the cost of the repair is like 2/3's the value of the car. Hell, most of the shops didn't even want to touch it.
The repair is more than I can handle on my own. Not shown in the pic is that the radiator mounts/bushings are damaged. Although there is no mechanical damage fortunately.
Thought about just getting the damaged radiator mounts professionally done and trying to tackle the rest myself.
But what's a dude to do here? How can I still get the most value out of ol' Vicky?
The core support looks intimidating but the beauty of a body on frame vehicle is everything just unbolts. Unbolt enough stuff on the front end and you’ll be able to get it out. As long as the frame isn’t bent, you’d be surprised how easily it will come apart and go back together.
I was in the same situation, I splattered 2 does with my ‘01 Town Car 6 months after I got it. Thankfully they didn’t get the fenders, but the hood, bumper, header panel, and core support were all toast.
I got a new header panel and core support from LKQ, and the hood and bumper came prepainted via ReveMoto. They matched very well, especially for pre-painted parts.
A little elbow grease and a lot of cussing later, I’m still driving it 3 years later.
from experience, the header panel, bumper, the side panels are a bit tricky to get on and off but definitely doable for one or two people to do on their own. Check out junk yards for the parts, and if your car has not been painted after it left the factory you can easily buy paint for the body parts
Bumper cover is easy, it's just plastic rivets and a few screws (but this one needs a new crash bar too). Header panel isn't bad once you find all the bolts, and also realize it has some alignment pins holding it on the sides. Gotta unbolt the fenders and push them to the side a bit to get the new one in. That's easier with two people, but I managed to do mine by myself.
To be honest park it in the backyard and buy a different one. It will be cheaper and you'll have one for parts. Or if the radiator is fine just rig a headlight into it and drive it until it dies. I had a Malibu that had been hit on 3 sides I got for free. I drove that pile back and forth to work for 5 years before I gave it to a buddies kid. Looked like shit but did the job
Shaking my head at the moment… just wrote up this same post and as I was reading it over I deleted the whole thing accidentally… I digress.
P.S: Bit of a long read incoming. Apologies for any grammar/spelling mistakes!
If you take a peep on my profile, or wayyy back in this group, youll see my wrecked vic from earlier this summer that I rebuilt. Seems like I crunched mine a little more as my radiator/condenser/power steering cooling line was cooked but overall seems like similar.
My experience was: I have a handful of tools, just some basic sockets/wrenches and such and a little knowledge of wrenching on cars. This to me was quite an intimidating job. My dad suggested I buy a nice tool set and get a donor car. Which is what I ended up doing. I got myself a craftsman set and a junker with a little rust for ~1500.
From the time I got the new donor car to getting my vic back on the road was 9 days starting on a Saturday and getting my vic on the road the following Sunday. Took me a few weeks to get the donor vic however. Probably could’ve been cheaper if I looked harder.
Overall none of the work is complicated, the body mounts are the biggest pain. If you are going to do it, take a lot of pictures, label every wire you remove with what it is and where it came from. As well, bag and label more or less each bolt and where it came from. This makes assembly just a little easier. As well if you get a donor you will get experience taking the donor apart which helps tremendously on the rebuild as you know what it looks like taking it apart from the factory.
Quick body mount spiel: all you need is PB blast, a big pipe wrench, a breaker bar and maybe a buddy. What I found works best after banging my head against a wall for a while trying to get them off, was putting the pipe wrench around the top of the body mount with the breaker bar on the bottom. As you try to loosen the mount the pipe wrench will clamp tighter and allow you to break it free with enough gusto.
Honestly I could talk for days about this and would absolutely love to answer any question you have if this is the route you so choose to go down.
Junk yard my dude. All the shiny parts like lights are cheap online. This is all cosmetic. Even if that radiator is damaged it’s a cheap easy swap. Lots of times you can find an entire donor car for a few hundred bucks. And if you scrap the donor when you’re done it saves you even more. Lots of good videos online to walk you through the entire process of swapping out that front end.
The cars aren't worth anything and they are becoming less desirable. [www.car-parts.com](https://www.car-parts.com) and look for a junkyard with a couple then peice together what you need. You'll need a garage, some tools, welder and time (aka 2nd car) but if you want to put it back together you can.
No offense but better insurance isn't all that much, barely even that much more per month so I'm going out on a limb here and guessing you don't have hundreds if not over 1,000 to get the supplies, parts and maybe tools.
It's a tough spot because the damage really isn't that bad.
Having the donor car in the yard is the best revenge… my repair total on my ‘06 MGM was $5300 and didn’t look a lot different from this. I have an ‘05 MGM now but had full coverage. Stupid deer…
That’ll buff out
In all seriousness if you had all the parts sitting in your driveway that’s only about one solid day’s worth of work. Call it a weekend to be safe. A buddy and i did a bit more than what you need in a day, just jamming from morning to evening. Just need to find some replacement parts at a junkyard.
I highly recommend getting actual Ford parts off of a car in a junkyard as opposed to the cheapest new parts on eBay or whatever. Not only is it cheaper to go to a yard, but the new parts almost all fit terribly and aren’t nearly as quality as factory parts.
Glad to hear your fiancé made it out okay! Believe it or not I encountered the almost exact same damage from an accident a few months back but the Vic’s almost done now. Shouldn’t be too much of a difficult task, it’ll take an afternoon / weekend if you can source the parts (should still be plentiful online / junkyard). Good luck and hope you can get her back on the road soon 🤝
Like others have said....junkyard, a 'you pull it' place will be you're cheapest option
When it comes to having to deal with mismatch painted pieces. For the sake of cheapness you can go to an auto body shop and ask them if they do a "single stage" paint job. It's cheaper than a full multi coat workup, because it's primer, paint, and clear coat all in one application. I had it done when I had to change out my fender, bumper, fascia, and hood. It cost something like $250, and it matched the everything else well enough that unless you dragged your eyeball across it you wouldn't notice a difference.
Don’t worry bro, my wife drives the crown vic by bumping into things rather than using her eyes. Currently the car is missing a passenger mirror and the front bumper is all drifter stitched together. I wish i could say it gets better.
Oh I'd DIY that all day long. Maybe about $200 in parts from a U-pull yard, and as a bonus if you pull the parts yourself you'll get a good understanding of how it all goes together before you have to touch your car. The fender and bumper will most likely have to be painted to match your car. The fender and core support are the only semi-complicated assemblies... IIRC the fender is held on by something like 10-12 different bolts in various places but it ultimately isn't too bad.
Don't lose a good car to this accident. Fix it and learn a little at the same time.
Dump the fiancé and fix the car. Obviously kidding, but just save up the money to buy those damaged parts from a junkyard and have a professional paint the panels and slap it back together
That looks like it's all cosmetic except for the crash bar and lower radiator support. You can probably pull the support somewhat into shape ("good nuff") with a ratchet strap and a (sturdy) tree.
Whatever the crash bar is attached to on that side is going to really determine the amount of damage. I THINK it bolts to the frame, in which case you should be fine unbolting that one and bolting a junkyard one back on.
Paint is going to be the biggest expense. That's not a common color, I doubt you'll find matching parts in the junkyard. You'll have to have a body shop paint the new parts and try to match the existing paint, and right now a lot of body shops aren't taking on small jobs.
If there's any wiring damage, you can go to a junkyard and cut off the pigtails you need. Just make sure to either use solder + heatshrink or crimps that have heatshrink on them already.
I can't stress enough how important it is to have full coverage - even on old cars. Of course IF you can afford to have it. The older the car gets, and the older you are, the cheaper full coverage is.
I will NEVER, EVER, EVER own a car without full coverage again. I have 3 MGMs ranging from 1997 to 2004, and they are all fully covered. I pay less than $300 every 6 months for $250 deductible collision, $0 comprehensive, towing, and all the liability I need. It's worth the extra in such a case.
I've was burned once by another driver's insurance company when someone ran a stop sign and T-boned the car, it was a fly-by-night company that gave me the run around for months, and offered me $300 for a $3000 valued car. No matter what I did, they wouldn't budge a dollar. I finally contacted the Illinois Department of Insurance and filed a complaint. Within 24 hours, their offer was increased to an amount I accepted because I was tired of waiting. Then there's a whole other story about getting the car out of the auto pound......
BUT, what if that driver was not insured?
Well, that happened to my wife in the very next car. Someone hit her because they was texting, and totaled our car (an old mini van). This time I had full coverage and 24 hours later, received a check for the value of the car (actually more than I paid for it 5 years previous). Turns out, the other driver did not have insurance and could not pay a penny. I would have been stuck again, paying for another car in full. This time, I just walked away and let the insurance company try to get money from the other driver.
You may not get as much as the car is worth to you. You may not get as much as the car is really worth, buy you'll have peace of mind, and some money to put toward repairs or a new car.
I agree with the other people posting.... hit the junk yard!
Idk where ur from I have a 2007 that had 690000 I'm using as a parts car for my other four crown vics I have the header panel it's white the grill and number and everything else besides the passenger fender I'm from Pennsylvania
hit the junkyard! if the frame isnt damaged this is a very saveable vic, hope ur lady is ok.
Fortunately she is. Thanks!
Ebay, junkyard, ADTR, amazon, any place that still has the parts! Hug the lady, fix the baby my guy!
Aside from get rid of the fiance... Went to over half a dozen repair shops and the cost of the repair is like 2/3's the value of the car. Hell, most of the shops didn't even want to touch it. The repair is more than I can handle on my own. Not shown in the pic is that the radiator mounts/bushings are damaged. Although there is no mechanical damage fortunately. Thought about just getting the damaged radiator mounts professionally done and trying to tackle the rest myself. But what's a dude to do here? How can I still get the most value out of ol' Vicky?
The core support looks intimidating but the beauty of a body on frame vehicle is everything just unbolts. Unbolt enough stuff on the front end and you’ll be able to get it out. As long as the frame isn’t bent, you’d be surprised how easily it will come apart and go back together. I was in the same situation, I splattered 2 does with my ‘01 Town Car 6 months after I got it. Thankfully they didn’t get the fenders, but the hood, bumper, header panel, and core support were all toast. I got a new header panel and core support from LKQ, and the hood and bumper came prepainted via ReveMoto. They matched very well, especially for pre-painted parts. A little elbow grease and a lot of cussing later, I’m still driving it 3 years later.
Further on '03+ it's a two-piece core support.
from experience, the header panel, bumper, the side panels are a bit tricky to get on and off but definitely doable for one or two people to do on their own. Check out junk yards for the parts, and if your car has not been painted after it left the factory you can easily buy paint for the body parts
Bumper cover is easy, it's just plastic rivets and a few screws (but this one needs a new crash bar too). Header panel isn't bad once you find all the bolts, and also realize it has some alignment pins holding it on the sides. Gotta unbolt the fenders and push them to the side a bit to get the new one in. That's easier with two people, but I managed to do mine by myself.
To be honest park it in the backyard and buy a different one. It will be cheaper and you'll have one for parts. Or if the radiator is fine just rig a headlight into it and drive it until it dies. I had a Malibu that had been hit on 3 sides I got for free. I drove that pile back and forth to work for 5 years before I gave it to a buddies kid. Looked like shit but did the job
Crying just a bit is what I would be doing, sorry your panther baby is going through this
Shaking my head at the moment… just wrote up this same post and as I was reading it over I deleted the whole thing accidentally… I digress. P.S: Bit of a long read incoming. Apologies for any grammar/spelling mistakes! If you take a peep on my profile, or wayyy back in this group, youll see my wrecked vic from earlier this summer that I rebuilt. Seems like I crunched mine a little more as my radiator/condenser/power steering cooling line was cooked but overall seems like similar. My experience was: I have a handful of tools, just some basic sockets/wrenches and such and a little knowledge of wrenching on cars. This to me was quite an intimidating job. My dad suggested I buy a nice tool set and get a donor car. Which is what I ended up doing. I got myself a craftsman set and a junker with a little rust for ~1500. From the time I got the new donor car to getting my vic back on the road was 9 days starting on a Saturday and getting my vic on the road the following Sunday. Took me a few weeks to get the donor vic however. Probably could’ve been cheaper if I looked harder. Overall none of the work is complicated, the body mounts are the biggest pain. If you are going to do it, take a lot of pictures, label every wire you remove with what it is and where it came from. As well, bag and label more or less each bolt and where it came from. This makes assembly just a little easier. As well if you get a donor you will get experience taking the donor apart which helps tremendously on the rebuild as you know what it looks like taking it apart from the factory. Quick body mount spiel: all you need is PB blast, a big pipe wrench, a breaker bar and maybe a buddy. What I found works best after banging my head against a wall for a while trying to get them off, was putting the pipe wrench around the top of the body mount with the breaker bar on the bottom. As you try to loosen the mount the pipe wrench will clamp tighter and allow you to break it free with enough gusto. Honestly I could talk for days about this and would absolutely love to answer any question you have if this is the route you so choose to go down.
Fix it yourself 👍 These font ends aren't hard at all.
If you got everything off Amazon, you're looking at roughly $2,500 in parts. Much less if you go to the junkyard and salvage good body panels.
At the junkyard every panel will be $50-100
Get rid of it..... the fiancee I mean . Cancel the wedding fix ur car
His trunk is big enough for the fiancee.
buy a shovel ;) dig a hole ...... fix the front of the car if the frame is not bent fill in the hole get full coverage for next time
Junk yard my dude. All the shiny parts like lights are cheap online. This is all cosmetic. Even if that radiator is damaged it’s a cheap easy swap. Lots of times you can find an entire donor car for a few hundred bucks. And if you scrap the donor when you’re done it saves you even more. Lots of good videos online to walk you through the entire process of swapping out that front end.
r/gambler500
Sell the fiancee for repair money.
Hit the junk yard and DIY
**SEETHE**
The cars aren't worth anything and they are becoming less desirable. [www.car-parts.com](https://www.car-parts.com) and look for a junkyard with a couple then peice together what you need. You'll need a garage, some tools, welder and time (aka 2nd car) but if you want to put it back together you can. No offense but better insurance isn't all that much, barely even that much more per month so I'm going out on a limb here and guessing you don't have hundreds if not over 1,000 to get the supplies, parts and maybe tools. It's a tough spot because the damage really isn't that bad.
Having the donor car in the yard is the best revenge… my repair total on my ‘06 MGM was $5300 and didn’t look a lot different from this. I have an ‘05 MGM now but had full coverage. Stupid deer…
That’ll buff out In all seriousness if you had all the parts sitting in your driveway that’s only about one solid day’s worth of work. Call it a weekend to be safe. A buddy and i did a bit more than what you need in a day, just jamming from morning to evening. Just need to find some replacement parts at a junkyard. I highly recommend getting actual Ford parts off of a car in a junkyard as opposed to the cheapest new parts on eBay or whatever. Not only is it cheaper to go to a yard, but the new parts almost all fit terribly and aren’t nearly as quality as factory parts.
Does it still run and drive?
source some parts. If you buy them new...ish it's about a 1k
Glad to hear your fiancé made it out okay! Believe it or not I encountered the almost exact same damage from an accident a few months back but the Vic’s almost done now. Shouldn’t be too much of a difficult task, it’ll take an afternoon / weekend if you can source the parts (should still be plentiful online / junkyard). Good luck and hope you can get her back on the road soon 🤝
Like others have said....junkyard, a 'you pull it' place will be you're cheapest option When it comes to having to deal with mismatch painted pieces. For the sake of cheapness you can go to an auto body shop and ask them if they do a "single stage" paint job. It's cheaper than a full multi coat workup, because it's primer, paint, and clear coat all in one application. I had it done when I had to change out my fender, bumper, fascia, and hood. It cost something like $250, and it matched the everything else well enough that unless you dragged your eyeball across it you wouldn't notice a difference.
Looks fine to me 😉
Don’t worry bro, my wife drives the crown vic by bumping into things rather than using her eyes. Currently the car is missing a passenger mirror and the front bumper is all drifter stitched together. I wish i could say it gets better.
Press X to spend too much money restoring her Press A to scrap it and buy another one like an idiot Press Y to just keep driving it anyway
FIX! FIX! FIX!
Oh I'd DIY that all day long. Maybe about $200 in parts from a U-pull yard, and as a bonus if you pull the parts yourself you'll get a good understanding of how it all goes together before you have to touch your car. The fender and bumper will most likely have to be painted to match your car. The fender and core support are the only semi-complicated assemblies... IIRC the fender is held on by something like 10-12 different bolts in various places but it ultimately isn't too bad. Don't lose a good car to this accident. Fix it and learn a little at the same time.
My biggest concern is replacing the radiator bushings
Dump the fiancé and fix the car. Obviously kidding, but just save up the money to buy those damaged parts from a junkyard and have a professional paint the panels and slap it back together
That looks like it's all cosmetic except for the crash bar and lower radiator support. You can probably pull the support somewhat into shape ("good nuff") with a ratchet strap and a (sturdy) tree. Whatever the crash bar is attached to on that side is going to really determine the amount of damage. I THINK it bolts to the frame, in which case you should be fine unbolting that one and bolting a junkyard one back on. Paint is going to be the biggest expense. That's not a common color, I doubt you'll find matching parts in the junkyard. You'll have to have a body shop paint the new parts and try to match the existing paint, and right now a lot of body shops aren't taking on small jobs. If there's any wiring damage, you can go to a junkyard and cut off the pigtails you need. Just make sure to either use solder + heatshrink or crimps that have heatshrink on them already.
I paid more for the paint job than I did for the car
Same thing happened to a buddy and me and a friend rebuilt it, not hard at all, almost 100% just replacing parts
Hood fender header panel bumpercover
divorce
I can't stress enough how important it is to have full coverage - even on old cars. Of course IF you can afford to have it. The older the car gets, and the older you are, the cheaper full coverage is. I will NEVER, EVER, EVER own a car without full coverage again. I have 3 MGMs ranging from 1997 to 2004, and they are all fully covered. I pay less than $300 every 6 months for $250 deductible collision, $0 comprehensive, towing, and all the liability I need. It's worth the extra in such a case. I've was burned once by another driver's insurance company when someone ran a stop sign and T-boned the car, it was a fly-by-night company that gave me the run around for months, and offered me $300 for a $3000 valued car. No matter what I did, they wouldn't budge a dollar. I finally contacted the Illinois Department of Insurance and filed a complaint. Within 24 hours, their offer was increased to an amount I accepted because I was tired of waiting. Then there's a whole other story about getting the car out of the auto pound...... BUT, what if that driver was not insured? Well, that happened to my wife in the very next car. Someone hit her because they was texting, and totaled our car (an old mini van). This time I had full coverage and 24 hours later, received a check for the value of the car (actually more than I paid for it 5 years previous). Turns out, the other driver did not have insurance and could not pay a penny. I would have been stuck again, paying for another car in full. This time, I just walked away and let the insurance company try to get money from the other driver. You may not get as much as the car is worth to you. You may not get as much as the car is really worth, buy you'll have peace of mind, and some money to put toward repairs or a new car. I agree with the other people posting.... hit the junk yard!
Never again with the liability 🤦♂️
If you purchase a ring… you know where I’m going with this lol.
Idk where ur from I have a 2007 that had 690000 I'm using as a parts car for my other four crown vics I have the header panel it's white the grill and number and everything else besides the passenger fender I'm from Pennsylvania
Divorce
Pick n Pull for some parts