my incident.

ok so somone hit me, poo on them, but i need some advice on how bad the dammage is, i will put some pics in the post but please visit this site for more info and pics. thanks.
wilt. i bought it for $1500 and it has 190k on it.

www.wiltj.com/jeep/hit

From some of those pics I can't even see what you're trying to show.

There's no way anyone can reliably estimate body repair costs from photos. Heck, I've had professional appraisers go over damage at the shop with the shop owner going over it with him, and they still missed things that didn't show up until the repair was in progress.

Take it to a couple of shops and get professional estimates.

hit from behind, it looks like....tore up the unibody frame...I can tell you what they'll do.

TOTAL IT. Guaranteed. Wouldn't matter if it was an 01 cherokee.

Your other options include...making them find an equivelent replacement, buying it back and trying to sell it for parts and then using both the check from the wreck and, the money you make from parts.

Good Luck.

buy it back,loose the roof, weld a cage in, and go wheelin

that rust on the frame is even kinda scary for towing, i can imagine the bents from and impace, i have them on the front of my frame from a hit, but there is serious deteriation there. take the check and start anew, i wish i would have, XJs are cheap and plentiful

Our 97 was rear ended to the tune of $6500 worth of damage last year. Because of very low mileage and excellent condition (wife's car) State Farm decided to fix it. The body was badly buckled at the front of the receiver hitch which is basically the rear wheel wells. It had zero panel or paint damage except some buckling above one rear wheel well because of the hitch. But the body was bent a few inches along the roof line.

Anyway, what I am getting to is the body guy said these are very easy to pull out on the frame machine and repair the frame panels. Of course people kept telling us that once the "frame" is bent they are junk. Which cracked the body shop guys up since unibody cars have the "frame" bent in almost any crash. Bottom line is that despite getting buckled at the rear wheel wells, our XJ still looks and drives like new after the repair.

After looking at the pictures on your site, I would be worried about even TRYING to repair an XJ with the "frame" having as much rust as yours seems to show.

Vehicular value issues aside, getting the "frame" straightened with that much rust will be problematic for any competent body shop. "Fixing" the repair WITHOUT straightening the frame properly (the hillbilly way) would result in NO safe towing ability, not to mention potential axle alignment issues where the rear spring shackles attach.

I hate to say this, but your XJ appears to have died a quiet death here. The thing is beyond redemption for repair, and must now go to the great off-road trail in the sky.

The same thing happened to my 1992. A Dodge Stratus hit my trailer hitch at about 40mph. Externally, the XJ looked fine, with no damage to any body part except the bumper. Underneath, the "frame" was kinked up about 2 inches, right where the front of the hitch met the frame. The body shop estimated the VISIBLE damage at $10K, and felt sure that once it was dug into, it would go up. Needless to say, the insurance company totalled it. :bawl:

red91inWA said:

hit from behind, it looks like....tore up the unibody frame...I can tell you what they'll do.

TOTAL IT. Guaranteed. Wouldn't matter if it was an 01 cherokee.

Your other options include...making them find an equivelent replacement, buying it back and trying to sell it for parts and then using both the check from the wreck and, the money you make from parts.

Good Luck.

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spobi. at the bodyshop i work at they readily cut out damaged portions of unibodys and weld in new pieces. this is on mercedes hondas and jags too. it is an old wives tale that frame or unibody damage means total, it just isnt true.

^^ word. my XJ's frame looks like swiss cheese. its still strong as ever.

rust will probably hurt ya, saying that a damaged frame can be fixed good as new

I'm sure i'ts possible to repair this. The question is whether it's cost effective. My guess is that unless you do it all yourself it won't be.

lol, you plate number is 666...lol

Ramsey said:

spobi. at the bodyshop i work at they readily cut out damaged portions of unibodys and weld in new pieces. this is on mercedes hondas and jags too. it is an old wives tale that frame or unibody damage means total, it just isnt true.

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Agreed, but given the amount of rust visible in those photos there're two problems here: one is straightening the unibody, the other is doing it right since large chunks of the metal are already eaten away. I grew up in a very rust-prone place and it was pretty common to have to cut out and weld in new structural sections on unibody vehicles, but once you couple that with damage it's nearly impossible to ever get it straight again.

Anyway, let them total it and swap over what you can salvage onto another. It's a goner, sad to say.

i was saying that more as an fyi kinda thing, i wouldnt want to do that to something in the shape his is in, hell i wouldnt even want to drive it without the damage :laugh3: gotta love the rust free south

Ramsey said:

spobi. at the bodyshop i work at they readily cut out damaged portions of unibodys and weld in new pieces. this is on mercedes hondas and jags too. it is an old wives tale that frame or unibody damage means total, it just isnt true.

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the book value on a jeep cherokee now doens't justify the following :

Rear body panel section and cut. Rear 1/4 Cut. Redoing the whole thing, and then squirting the entire rear half of the rig for a paint match. I don't care if you spent $16,000 yesterday. You get hit like that, you'll need at least a 1/4, bumper, possible gas tank and skid, more than likely a gate. and all the little crap that adds up. Just saw one today AAMOF.

00 cherokee. Hit just about the same. Ins. paid off $11,1 with 40k on the Odom.

Yeah you can do it, but the insurance companys will total it becuase of the cost of repairs against the cost of replacing the vehicle.

Done this crap for 15 yrs. They may fix a BMW worth 30K, but NOT a cherokee. High dollar vehicles are easy to get a 12-15 k repair job on. NOT something that books for just over 10K.

civics and accords arent that pricey and they do it all the time. yes if a cherokee came in that way it would probably total since there at least 4 yrs old. not saying it cant total a vehicle, just that it isnt a guaranteed total like so many people think.

Ramsey said:

civics and accords arent that pricey and they do it all the time. yes if a cherokee came in that way it would probably total since there at least 4 yrs old. not saying it cant total a vehicle, just that it isnt a guaranteed total like so many people think.

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oh no. I agree. But VALUE, AND a customers wish play into it immensly.

eace: