Rip 1995 Corolla - Pre-1997 Toyota Corolla and Geo Prizm - Corolland: the Toyota Corolla Forums

Over the weekend, my sister was driving the corolla. The truck in front of her braked quickly, and she didn't have enough time to stop. I'll post pictures soon, but the damage isn't necessarily bad; however, considering the age of the car, I think i'm going to get rid of it. There's damage to the radiator, headlights, hood, grill, and the crimson bar (i think that's what the bar connecting the passenger to driver side of the vehicle). Suprisingly, since the tuck sat high and the corolla low, the bumper was unaffected by the collision. The car's leaking coolant, so it cannot be driven for long periods of time. I'm having it towed to a body shop to get an estimate, as it won't hurt. Anyone have an approximate idea of how much it would cost to repair?

Sucks to hear. Hopefully your sister was unhurt.

Radiator, AC Condensor, plus all the straightening that is needed - likely by themselves will total out the car. Never know though - depends on the how badly they got hit. Parts are pretty plentiful, and as long as the engine and powertrain are in good shape - the car can be rebuilt. The real issue will it be worth it. Depends on what you need the car to do, the shape of the rest of the car.

At this point, without looking at pics or details on the rest of the car - I'd personally consider it only as a fixable commuter car or potential project car for fun. Even at relatively low speed impacts, any sub-frame tweaking needed to pull the car back into shape generally results in the car never driving it is did pre-accident.

Sucks to hear. Hopefully your sister was unhurt.

Radiator, AC Condensor, plus all the straightening that is needed - likely by themselves will total out the car. Never know though - depends on the how badly they got hit. Parts are pretty plentiful, and as long as the engine and powertrain are in good shape - the car can be rebuilt. The real issue will it be worth it. Depends on what you need the car to do, the shape of the rest of the car.
At this point, without looking at pics or details on the rest of the car - I'd personally consider it only as a fixable commuter car or potential project car for fun. Even at relatively low speed impacts, any sub-frame tweaking needed to pull the car back into shape generally results in the car never driving it is did pre-accident.

Yeah, thank God she's fine! So I decided to take your suggestion and use it as a commuter vehicle. Sounds like a good idea, especially since it has 69K miles and thus a few good years left. SO, I called up a local repair shop, and I was quoted around $550 to repair the vehicle. Figured it was worth the money. Basically, it needed a headlamp, parking light, radiator, grill, and the hood needed resurfaced/straightened out along with the crimson bar. I go to pick the vehicle up today, and it was dead. Stone cold dead- like it was after sitting for a week after the accident. Tried to turn the vehicle on, and no dash lights came on- the door open light wouldn't even illuminate. I wonder exactly what could be wrong with the car--- she hit a truck with the right front of the Corolla, but I didn't think she messed with the electrical system at all. A friend and I managed to jump the vehicle using his Mini and a few minutes of waiting for the battery to charge. However, I'm quite worried about how the car dies that quickly, especially since I was there Friday and the car started.

I'm starting to think that the repair shop is messing with me, especially since the car was cold dead after sitting for three days. They must've jumped it right before I got there on Friday.

And I forgot to mention how the shop forgot to change the grille, so one side is broken and almost hanging from the front. They also left three big dents on the hood after "resurfacing" it. Adds to the car's aesthetics!

Any suggestions regarding the electrical system? It's pretty important!

I'd double check the connections to the battery and the chassis grounds. Possible you have a cracked battery / internally damaged battery. If it works after a jump, likely points to a battery issue. More so if this is the original battery or an older battery (5 years or older).

As for diagnosing the electricals - hard to say without being right there. There are a number of possible culprits that would cause what you are seeing. Unfortunately, it also sounds like the shop is taking shortcuts in repairing the car - that adds a little more complexity in trying to diagnose this.

Is there any signs of metal work - welding marks? Some shops may or may not disconnect the battery ground/ECM before they weld. Some just clean a spot close to where they weld, to minimize spiking the electricals. That would cause all sorts of issues - very difficult to diagnose.