Honestly, I would just have a certified repair shop do everything and forget about making any money off of it ( I guess it's too late at this point) Most shops are pretty lenient with the parts they'll order ( the IX front end is probably around the same as the 8). I had a wrx that got into a similar accident, took out both lights, hood, grill, bumper and one fender, bent the radiator support, and what you have to watch out is the hidden small damage. it also bent a fin on my AC compressor I think they said ( maybe not that, but it was a small bend, almost invisible, and they had to replace the part, which costed almost 700 dollars.The bad thing is they didn't know it was damaged until they got the entire front end off) When they took it to the local place ( which is the place I take all my stuff now) I had it fixed, though after everything was orderred they said they would have been more than happy to have orderred STi front end stuff ( the insurance claim estimate person is in house so the small difference in price didn't matter.) Also I don't know about your insurance, but mine was only guaranteed to be 100% fixed if it went through the shop they offerred( as in if something else comes up along the way that can be attributed to the accident, they will also pay for that) If you owned a 4k DSM I can understand taking the money and spending it on alternate sources, but with a 30k+ car, I'd have it done right with a gurantee ( and you'd be surprised how lenient some shops are with their orderring because they're getting payed either way, so they don't really care what you're buying) Also paint matching becomes an issue ( even if its the same color, if it sat in a different region of the country, the paint may be slightly off due to fade from the sun, even if it's new)
Its cool either way, but the shop I go to gurantees their work forever, it's worth the little extra.

 

Understood and agreed, but here's where we might be on different pages... All the parts that needed to be replaced were cosmetic EXCEPT the upper tie bar which requires a body shop... Everything else is bolt on. I orderd EVERYTHING OEM but used so it would match the car better with the wear and tear 3 years will put on it... All the parts are being repainted at the certified body shop and will be put on there. The shop that is initially doing the bolt on stuff is good and there's not much of a way you can screw up by putting on a bumper, fender, hood, or headlights. As I said the only thing needing real bodyshop work is the upper radiator support tie bar- and hte paint matching.

I just chose to not buy most of these parts brand new but they are all OEM. We aren't talking big stuff here.

 

It's all good as long as it looks as it should in the end, I was just saying what I would do, telling my story of a similar event and how it went together.

 

I hear ya, and if there was more structural damage and we didn't NEED the extra money right now(we just bought our first house) I probably would've went all new OEM.

 

makes me want to cry

 

bah i always hate to see evos with damage

 

ouch that sucks

 

IT sucks but could have been so much worse- what really makes it look bad is all that alluminum, it crunches like no other. It will be fine and back to normal, and better!!! Just blows that it's taking 3 weeks to get everything!!!!

 

Bet it was a soccer mom driving the SUV..

 

I'm not so sure about soccer mom... This lady had "Skydive Kansas" bumpe stickers all over the place and looked a little butch. I think she may have batted for the other team..

Regardless she was not nice at all. I appologized like 5 times and not once did she even say anything in return AND there was like NOTHING wrong with her SUV. WTF

 

Sorry to hear man. SuV's are a beast compared to us micro machines =(. Good Luck with the car. Let us know how it goes.

 

No kidding man, and the aluminum doesn't help either. Looks like I'll be without it for another week and a half minimum. Still waiting on a few parts to come in. Sucks... So far I've got the bumper, and that's it...

The upper radiator support is on it's way from the dealer, the fender will be here Thursday, and the lights and hood- uhm not so sure hopefully this week. But it will be going to an actual body shop for the upper radiator support to be spot welded on and completely aligned and by the looks of it without the bumper- there will be more parts needed- the pre-estimate is way off.

The crash support looks bent, the right fork piece sticking up from the radiator support looks bent and my bumper brackets are broken (the didn't put new bumper on the list- just repaint) and one of the IC brackets is broken off and that's just what I see- I'm sure the shop will find more.

 

But I would like to thank all those who have helped me- EvoDave has been a huge help, Les (Evoviiiyou) with Jun.BL, and Paul (Ifarted2) have been great at helping me with parts and advice. Thanks guys...

 

That sux bro.

 

damn....