How should I go about this (body/headlight damage)

[Seo219]

Hey,

So I'm entirely all too new to this, and other than getting my car from point a to point b, I'm a bit clueless with this. I got into an accident yesterday with my 2003 neon and sustained damage to my front bumper and headlight. This is what it looks like, luckily by lights and signal still works... So at least I have that going for me.

http://i59.tinypic.com/351aakz.jpg

When I bought the car it already had some body damage to the front bumper, but it didn't run any codes when I scanned it so I didn't think much of it, but now I don't really know what I should do, and how I should go about it.

Help!?

[firebane]

Get a new bumper and light from the wreckers and spend a couple of hours swapping it out.

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by firebane
Get a new bumper and light from the wreckers and spend a couple of hours swapping it out.

Yeah time to upgrade, Evo or Black widow is my suggestion.

[ExtraSlow]

report it to insurance and hope they write it off?
What's a 2003 neon worth? About two grand I would guess.

Odds of a write-off from this are high.

[Seo219]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
report it to insurance and hope they write it off?
What's a 2003 neon worth? About two grand I would guess.

Odds of a write-off from this are high.

Haha, I wish I could. Honestly it's my first car, I've only had it for a few months. I like it, does what I need it to without any problems. Had exceptionally low KMs and had nothing else wrong with it when I bought it.

As for the Evo and Black Widow suggestion - where does one look for that?

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by Seo219
As for the Evo and Black Widow suggestion - where does one look for that?

In between the articles on 10 year old Sport Compact Car magazines.


Originally posted by Seo219
Haha, I wish I could. Honestly it's my first car, I've only had it for a few months.

(Birthday July 28, 1989)


24 years old and it's your first car! now that's impressive for a Calgarian imo

[G-ZUS]

I wouldn't even both fixing that damage :dunno: If so inclined, hit up pick n pull and bucks auto parts and hope you find a bumper in that color. Otherwise, try car-part.com. Then just pull off the old ones and put the new ones on. Shouldn't take you more than 2 hours if this is your first time.

[Seo219]

Originally posted by n1zm0


In between the articles on 10 year old Sport Compact Car magazines.



24 years old and it's your first car! now that's impressive for a Calgarian imo

Drove my moms for a while, didn't really have a need until I got a job that needed one. Thanks though :thumbsup:

[GTS4tw]

Beyond used to be a car forum. Brutal answers so far. Not everyone has an AMG as their first car.

If the headlight works I would use clear tape to repair it. You can buy fiberglass repair kits at Lordco, they come in a box with cloth, epoxy, and everything you need to make a small repair. Follow the directions on the box and fix the hole in the bumper. You can go to Napa and get color matched paint for your car with the VIN #.

Total cost of these repairs should be under $50. The other option is to go to pick and pull and get a new bumper and light, but if you dont own tools then you will find that frustrating at best. The first way is much cheaper, quicker and will work fine for years. Plus you will learn how easy it is to do fiberglass.

[Seo219]

Originally posted by GTS4tw
Beyond used to be a car forum. Brutal answers so far. Not everyone has an AMG as their first car.

If the headlight works I would use clear tape to repair it. You can buy fiberglass repair kits at Lordco, they come in a box with cloth, epoxy, and everything you need to make a small repair. Follow the directions on the box and fix the hole in the bumper. You can go to Napa and get color matched paint for your car with the VIN #.

Total cost of these repairs should be under $50. The other option is to go to pick and pull and get a new bumper and light, but if you dont own tools then you will find that frustrating at best. The first way is much cheaper, quicker and will work fine for years. Plus you will learn how easy it is to do fiberglass.

Thanks for giving me a real answer, it's what I came here looking for.

[Skidro]

You could just zip tie the damage!!! All the racers do it
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/4174/dscf0046g.jpg
But I would suggest getting a new headlight if there is any visibility issues

[firebane]

Originally posted by GTS4tw
Beyond used to be a car forum. Brutal answers so far. Not everyone has an AMG as their first car.

If the headlight works I would use clear tape to repair it. You can buy fiberglass repair kits at Lordco, they come in a box with cloth, epoxy, and everything you need to make a small repair. Follow the directions on the box and fix the hole in the bumper. You can go to Napa and get color matched paint for your car with the VIN #.

Total cost of these repairs should be under $50. The other option is to go to pick and pull and get a new bumper and light, but if you dont own tools then you will find that frustrating at best. The first way is much cheaper, quicker and will work fine for years. Plus you will learn how easy it is to do fiberglass.

Fibreglass in the hands of a person who doesn't know what they are doing will come out looking worse than just leaving the bumper alone.

And considering how bad those healights are already a new one would be better anyways or at least a polishing kit for them.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by Seo219


Thanks for giving me a real answer, it's what I came here looking for.

No worries, I love cheap cars and love to make them go forever once others give up on them. The more simple stuff you do the better you will feel about the car and all it's battle scars.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by firebane


Fibreglass in the hands of a person who doesn't know what they are doing will come out looking worse than just leaving the bumper alone.

Who cares what it looks like, just get the hole sealed up so birds dont nest in it, spray it yellow and youre good to go.

[firebane]

Originally posted by GTS4tw


Who cares what it looks like, just get the hole sealed up so birds dont nest in it, spray it yellow and youre good to go.

So why not save all the headache of learning, the mess, the itchiness etc of learning to fibreglass and just get a new bumper?

A bumper at PnP is only $45 and that to me is worth every penny then trying to use fibreglass.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by firebane


So why not save all the headache of learning, the mess, the itchiness etc of learning to fibreglass and just get a new bumper?

A bumper at PnP is only $45 and that to me is worth every penny then trying to use fibreglass.

As I said in my last post, you need tools to do that job.... the guy has his first car and no mech knowledge what makes you think he has the skill to swap bumpers? Hassle included my way is cheaper and faster. Just looks like shit...:rofl: 50% of the fun of first cars.

edit: the other 50% being smashing through stuff to cause this kind of damage...

[Seo219]

I should mention, in either scenario (fiberglass or replacing the bumper and headlight) I would have no idea what I'm doing at all.

Also, not a guy. Female. Very female. I have like two screwdrivers and that is the extent of tools that I own.

[firebane]

Originally posted by GTS4tw


As I said in my last post, you need tools to do that job.... the guy has his first car and no mech knowledge what makes you think he has the skill to swap bumpers? Hassle included my way is cheaper and faster. Just looks like shit...:rofl: 50% of the fun of first cars.

edit: the other 50% being smashing through stuff to cause this kind of damage...

And being that they just posted they are female.. Either way simply will not work.

They need to find some friends who are guys who can do this for them.

[G-ZUS]

Originally posted by Seo219
I should mention, in either scenario (fiberglass or replacing the bumper and headlight) I would have no idea what I'm doing at all.

Also, not a guy. Female. Very female. I have like two screwdrivers and that is the extent of tools that I own.

Do you need some help replacing those? :dunno: :rofl:

On a serious note, if you don't care about how it looks - just leave it as-is. If you do, you may be able to get a male friend to help you with it or find a backyard body guy who can replace them for you on the cheap. Unless you want to tackle it yourself, you don't need much tools. Most cars I've owned I was able to get the bumper and fender replaced with a flathead, phillips screwdrivers and a 10mm socket

[Seo219]

Originally posted by G-ZUS


Do you need some help replacing those? :dunno: :rofl:

On a serious note, if you don't care about how it looks - just leave it as-is. If you do, you may be able to get a male friend to help you with it or find a backyard body guy who can replace them for you on the cheap. Unless you want to tackle it yourself, you don't need much tools. Most cars I've owned I was able to get the bumper and fender replaced with a flathead, phillips screwdrivers and a 10mm socket

Haha, No not looking for help - just wanted to know which way I should go about it, and then I can find the help. That's not the issue, but when it comes to either-or I myself am clueless and want a general consensus on what the best option is before I spend the money… Y'know, because I don't want to screw myself out of $$ if I'm spending it.

For now I'm just leaving it as-is (broke-student life, waiting on internship $) but in a few months I'll be looking at doing something with it.

If I were to go with either way, which tools would I need to pick up in order to go about it? That is the other question.

[ExtraSlow]

For the record, I was 100% serious about getting it written off. I've written off two shitboxes, and the payouts have been pretty good. I'm guessing you could write this off, buy a new car, and still come out money ahead.

Or, do the bare minimum ot repair it. If it was mine and I had my heart set on keeping the car for some reason, I wouldn't touch the bumper at all and I would just worry about that headlight. I haven't done it on a neon, but I'd guess those two screwdrivers you own may be all that's needed to replace that lens with one from pick-n-pull. Head down there with a haynes manual and see what hapens. If you can't make it work, buy a hot dog and go home, you aren't out much. If the swap is successful, you'll be pretty proud of yourself.

[Seo219]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
For the record, I was 100% serious about getting it written off. I've written off two shitboxes, and the payouts have been pretty good. I'm guessing you could write this off, buy a new car, and still come out money ahead.

Or, do the bare minimum ot repair it. If it was mine and I had my heart set on keeping the car for some reason, I wouldn't touch the bumper at all and I would just worry about that headlight. I haven't done it on a neon, but I'd guess those two screwdrivers you own may be all that's needed to replace that lens with one from pick-n-pull. Head down there with a haynes manual and see what hapens. If you can't make it work, buy a hot dog and go home, you aren't out much. If the swap is successful, you'll be pretty proud of yourself.

Thanks for the feedback :)

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by Seo219
Haha, No not looking for help - just wanted to know which way I should go about it, and then I can find the help. That's not the issue, but when it comes to either-or I myself am clueless and want a general consensus on what the best option is before I spend the money… Y'know, because I don't want to screw myself out of $$ if I'm spending it.

For now I'm just leaving it as-is (broke-student life, waiting on internship $) but in a few months I'll be looking at doing something with it.

If I were to go with either way, which tools would I need to pick up in order to go about it? That is the other question.

Fixing what's important but being super cheap about it: I would fix the headlight by whatever means necessary to keep moisture out(patch or install a used assy, the latter is what I would do) and fk the bumper, I'd just leave it like that if I was in that financial situation.

tools for removing the headlight & possibly bumper to get at the headlight, idk philips/trim clip removers/basic socket set.

[roll_over]

Here you go

OvpMssKWs6w

Pick and pull inventory. The site says $17.99 for the part

Inventory (http://www.picknpull.com/check_inventory.aspx?Address=T2j6h7&Lat=50.8865012&Lng=-113.9853010&Make=Dodge&Model=Neon&Distance=20)

[jsn]

If this was me, and I was just using it as a vehicle to get me from point A to B, I'd just leave the bumper alone altogether. The damage isn't that bad and it's not like it's falling off or anything. My sister had someone hit her rear bumper and has a similar sized crack in hers and she just left it as is. Especially if you're not really into cars anyways, it doesn't affect the way it drives. It's just cosmetics mainly.

I would take the time to follow videos and change out the headlights though so moisture doesn't get in.

[Seo219]

Thanks so much guys! I've decided to go look for a replacement light and replace that and not worry about the bumper (hell, it had yellow duct tape on when I bought it, why do I care now). The moisture is an issue worth considering though… So that's more immediate concern.

I'd say this is as good as answered.

Thanks!

I'm not paying for my insurance so it's not my shot to call, parents are.