Hail damage dilemma

ucsd_ucla_dad
Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:00:22 +0000

Maybe just paint it white and paint “Titleist” on the side and see if you can get some advertising revenue.

I just looked up the used car pricing on a 2000 Neon and on Edmunds (will be higher depending on options, mileage, condition) -
Trade-In: $1173
Private-party: $1815
Dealer retail: $2539

I looked it up on kbb.com as well and the price is also less than $4K.

Given the above, you might want to seriously consider taking the money and using it to buy an equivalent lower mileage undamaged Neon or add a bit to the money and get something newer and maybe safer. It sounds like the insurance cmpany is being pretty generous on the reimbursement. Also remember that the ‘fixed’ car, especially from a cheapo dent pulling job, likely won’t be the same quality as it was before the damage. The hood and roof will likely not match well even though they’ll try to blend it due to this being a 10 y/o car with 10 years of paint fade.

I suggest checking out the pricing as well via the way I did it as well as seeing what autotrader.com has for sale for a car like this and then seeing what else can be had with the $4K or $4K plus if that’s what’s desired.