Think she’s repairable?

Hey all, just yesterday a big lifted truck with a cattle guard ran through an intersection as I was turning, and destroyed my rear passenger tail light and crumpled the frame to the point the rear door doesn’t seal. I’m going to be getting a quote from my insurance (guy fled the scene) and I’m wondering if any of you folks have any experience with this and whether or not my car will be totaled out. The airbags did deploy on the passenger side, but the car seems to drive fine. I’d like to get some photos up if I can figure out how.

its probably totaled. It of course depends on the year and the value but the rear quarter panel you are describing is part of the vehicles structure and is not replaceable it would have to be repaired with a specialist shop that has a frame machine.

Considering your repair involves a frame machine and airbag replacements im almost certain its totalled. Especially when you consider that insurance only appraises these cars at 6-10k for a 2015-2020 dependent on your negotiating skills and the trim level. Also although not super important here i believe the airbag computer is one time use device as mentioned by all rock in post #7 here: https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...l=1#post140238 and I doubt they are cheap.

You sound like you maybe sad that the car is totalled out, that is the preferred outcome where I am located. People would pay you money to convince the insurance to total the car. The car value is alot less due to accident on the carfax, and no one has any faith in the body shop here and instead of waiting for repairs to be done you get cash in hand. Especially important if you didnt have insurance coverage to provide a rental car.

If you go on http://copart.com you can see other mirages with less damage than you are describing having been declared total losses and are being auctioned off. Basically all cars on the site are from total loss accidents

Here is a prime example: https://www.copart.com/lot/41135952/...mo-springfield no airbags deployed, only needed a rear bumper and trunk lid and tail lights... total loss


If you have dash cam footage along with photos of the vehicle could you maybe possibly share it with me to make a youtube video about. I would like to show the world that the Mirage is a safe vehicle.

I’m assuming it’s a write off, and I agree that that is the best outcome. I’m sorry I don’t have footage, but I did get some images uploaded to my profile. I absolutely loved this little car, and I love it even more after the accident. At a speed of about 20-30 mph, the car didn’t budge an inch and was able to safely drive me home after I cut the airbags out. It didn’t even feel like anything was wrong aside from the noise from the rear bumper. (I secured it with a neck tie) But I am absolutely blown away by how well the car handled the accident, and I would not hesitate to trust the Mirage with my safety again. Provided I can, I will certainly be purchasing another one.

I will be said to see the car go though. It’s the first vehicle I’ve bought new, and I’ve put 25000 trouble-free reliable miles on it. Feel free to quote any of my post as well as using any images. The more people that buy these the better. Thank you very much for your reply, and I hope that you can change some peoples minds about these lovely little cars.

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Originally Posted by HappyMirage

I’m assuming it’s a write off, and I agree that that is the best outcome. I’m sorry I don’t have footage, but I did get some images uploaded to my profile. I absolutely loved this little car, and I love it even more after the accident. At a speed of about 20-30 mph, the car didn’t budge an inch and was able to safely drive me home after I cut the airbags out. It didn’t even feel like anything was wrong aside from the noise from the rear bumper. (I secured it with a neck tie) But I am absolutely blown away by how well the car handled the accident, and I would not hesitate to trust the Mirage with my safety again. Provided I can, I will certainly be purchasing another one.

I will be said to see the car go though. It’s the first vehicle I’ve bought new, and I’ve put 25000 trouble-free reliable miles on it. Feel free to quote any of my post as well as using any images. The more people that buy these the better. Thank you very much for your reply, and I hope that you can change some peoples minds about these lovely little cars.

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Losing a 2020 ES manual would make me sad, too!

I'm glad no one was hurt, but it sucked that the other party drove off. Their insurance should be covering the cost of repairs or a replacement. ES manuals will be harder to find today, but hopefully you'll find one. I hope the best for you. Keep us updated on how things work out!

It's impossible to say without seeing pics...But these are often easily written off. If it is written off you could probably buy it back from the insurance company for cheap then just get it fixed on the cheap. I don't do any body work so I'd let a decent shop tackle the metal reshaping and paint job but as for the airbags and other parts that need to be replaced, just buy used and replace them yourself. It's pretty straightforward stuff for the most part.

The last Mirage I repaired had both driver wheel and knee bags blow off. I replaced them and the airbag module but had to download the vin or some file from the original module then program it into the replacement(used) module. Then I discovered that both front seatbelt pretensioners were blown off so I had to hunt for 2 seatbelts as well...

Working with airbags is pretty idiot proof, stories of them magically blowing off are fairy tales in my opinion.