Evo 8 Repair - Insurance only covering aftermarket parts
 

Unfortunately, my pristine 2005 Evo 8 (75k miles / excellent shape) was in a 3 mph fender bender. It pushed the inter-cooler into the radiator and made a mess. My insurance company is refusing to pay the OEM cost for the following items and is only going to use aftermarket (A/M). I need to make a decision ASAP (tomorrow) if I am going to pay out of pocket the difference for the OEM parts or my own aftermarket performance parts. I am curious to know what others think about this. What would you do? I don't have deep pockets so if you had to pick aftermarket parts, what would you pick? :(

OEM Parts: $2709 - (Insurance wont cover)
Radiator = $728
Intercooler = $683
Condenser = $776
Fan Assembly = $522

Insurance picked aftermarket parts: $609
Radiator = $126
Intercooler = $297
Condenser = $98
Fan Assembly = $88

I would not pay the difference for new OEM stuff. Especially when it comes to the FMIC. They only place i see costing more than the insurance will cover is the Radiator. I would spend money there to upgrade.

Radiator = upgrade to koyo or something else aftermarket.
FMIC = buy used OEM cheap or upgrade to ETS/AMS/other
A/C condensor = buy used oem cheap
Fan = buy oem used cheap

also, I have 2 OEM FMIC in my basement i can sell if you are interested.

i agree with dontstopme

I agree w/Hutch for agreeing w/Dontstopme :cool:

What about having the insurance company show you, in writing, where they can opt for non OE parts?

Thanks everyone for your feedback. The shop I picked does really good work but they started off apprehensive because they were afraid I did a lot of mods to the car. Obviously, they ideally want OEM parts so they would have no set backs and they wanted to make sure it was as good as new when done. They were pushing the insurance to do OEM but they balked. I think I need to find things that are bolt-on so the shop isn't apprehensive again. I will be calling the shop tomorrow based on what I find so all of your suggestions are appreciated.

If go with ETS for the Intercooler, it looks like it will cost me approx $400 (discounted after it is in the cart) so $100 over what the insurance will cover. It "looks" bolt on and doesn't mention any modifications to make it fit. Since I haven't modded my Evo's engine, I don't suspect anything bigger than the standard 3" core thickness would matter???
https://www.extremeturbosystems.com/...EaAontEALw_wcB

It looks like the Koyo KOY-HH031610 should be a stock fit to my car. At approx $300 I would pay $176 over what the insurance covers.
https://stmtuned.com/products/koyo-r...acing-radiator

I am not having much luck finding Condenser or Fan Assembly alternatives. The ebay used condenser I found looks questionable. I presume I would be better off going with a new aftermarket part versus a heavily used oem? Since the condenser only relates to the A/C and not performance or critical to the engine, if I had to go with a cheaper aftermarket, I would think it is a safer bet? And because I am getting a better radiator, I wouldn't presume the fan assembly is as big of deal also?

Whats everyone's thoughts?

Unfortunately, any radiator other than OEM is a downgrade in performance except CBRD (I think is the brand ..?). Same for the fan unless you find something with a shroud. But unless you are tracking the car, you will probably never notice.
Decent condensors are pretty cheap and come with new driers. I think I got mine from Rock Auto.
The rest, I'd also go used, like everyone else says. You'll never know the difference there.
How did 3mph cave in the crash beam and radiator support???

Really sorry to hear that, i hope it all works out for you.

This is one thing people always overlook with insurance companies; what sort of parts they use for repairs.

Some will try for OE if available, some will go straight to aftermarket.

IMO ask insurance to cut you a check for the total and buy things like the intercooler used from the forums or something.

Then go find a new insurance company who is willing to actually repair your car properly.

If you just need the car fixed and back on the road, I'd let the shop source the parts and pay the difference for a nicer FMIC and OEM radiator and call it a day.You can always upgrade once it's back on the road.

The bumper of the other car hit at the mitsu symbol which pressed the intercooler back. The top intercooler mount is attached to the front frame so it bent that back some which makes the hood hard to open. It pushed the radiator and condenser back which caused them to leak. If you take the nose off of an Evo, you will see that there is very little that resembles a bumper. Just don't get into a fender bender. :0

I guess the good news is that my deductible is only $500 and I am getting two new headlight housings, a new nose piece, the fenders are getting painted and the hood is getting repainted. Even with only 75k miles, there were plenty of rock chips that are now going to be gone. Making lemonade out of lemons. :)

I talked to my shop and they are getting quotes of there own on the "aftermarket" claims that the insurance company provided to make sure they didn't quote something that isn't possible to get or not the right type of part. They are still trying to get the OEM parts but if not, I will be purchasing the Koyo radiator and ETS FMIC and shipping the parts to the shop and they will write a check back to me for what I spend.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...e0e66b6b42.jpg
Doesn't look like much but it is at about $7k using aftermarket parts. You can't see in the photo well but the front corner of both headlights got scratched so they are replacing them.

My wind splitter didn't get hurt.

Hopefully it works for you! Good luck ,dude.

CBRD is a downgrade, it doesn't fit, and takes MONTHS to get one.

CSF makes a stock replacement that is a great option.

Koyo, mishimoto, etc, are all downgrades as well, DO NOT purchase one of these.

Since OP doesn't care about mods, take the money and find a USED OEM intercooler, They're a dime a dozen and can be found in good shape. Make sure you're getting OEM headlights, aftermarket headlights are always garbage.

I knew it started with a "C" :lol: