Repairing vs Replacing Parts After a Rear End Collision

[StannisthMannis]

Hi, I was recently rear ended while stopped in traffic and am going through the repair process. In addition to exterior damage, the car also has some rear frame, suspension, and exhaust damage.

Besides the obvious exterior parts being replaced, are there certain parts of the body I should push to have replaced rather than repaired? It sounds like the body shop wants to repair the frame as much as possible without removing or cutting out any sections. In places where the damage could be repaired or replaced I would obviously want the parts to be replaced.

The body shop wants to replace most, but not all, of my left rear suspension. Are there any specific suspension parts that are more prone to damage?

I am using the site below as a reference. The sedan code is PR-K8S.

Body
https://www.lllparts.co.uk/en/catalo.../USA/RS3/853/8

Rear suspension
https://www.lllparts.co.uk/en/catalo.../USA/RS3/853/5

Exhaust
https://www.lllparts.co.uk/en/catalo.../USA/RS3/853/2

[o1turbo30v]

Have you had your insurance adjuster look at it yet? Sounds like it’s close to being totaled with the damage you described. I would be very wary of a diminished value and possibly driving issues.

[StannisthMannis]

Have you had your insurance adjuster look at it yet? Sounds like it’s close to being totaled with the damage you described. I would be very wary of a diminished value and possibly driving issues.

It doesn't look like I'll be able to have it totaled at this point even though that would be ideal. We are still in the process of determining the responsible party's insurance. The accident happened on the freeway so highway patrol collected everyone's info and did a crash report.

My insurance had me send photos for the estimate. They are one of the largest auto insurance companies in the US and apparently they don't even have the RS3 in their database. In addition to not identifying all the damage their estimate has a number of incorrect part numbers. The body shop appears to have identified most of the damage, but they based their estimate off the insurance's estimate and all the incorrect part numbers are carried over.

[MXblau]

If you got rear-ended on the highway with frame damage, it's a total.

[StannisthMannis]

Here are some photos

[Skunkwerx]

Here are some photos

I'd get another estimate from another Audi certified collision shop. There are TON in LA and OC... If the body shop you went to was quoting the incorrect parts... then don't stick with them. I'll let the experts chime in on if this should be repaired.

[signde]

i have been hearing stories recently of cars being repaired rather than totaled because of the price of used cars has gone up so much. even having said that, if you have frame damage i can't imagine the car not being totaled.

i got tapped in the rear end by someone at less than 5mph. it probably would have buffed out if she had not had a front license plate and one of the hex heads put a hole in my bumper. it required a new bumper and the total bill was like $4500. an unpainted bumper alone from audi is something like $2500.

[StannisthMannis]

I'd get another estimate from another Audi certified collision shop. There are TON in LA and OC... If the body shop you went to was quoting the incorrect parts... then don't stick with them. I'll let the experts chime in on if this should be repaired.

The car is disassembled so it would have to be reassembled before taking it to another body shop, which could take several weeks. At the moment my insurance is the party holding things up. An adjuster visited the shop almost two weeks ago and we are still waiting on their updated estimate.

i have been hearing stories recently of cars being repaired rather than totaled because of the price of used cars has gone up so much. even having said that, if you have frame damage i can't imagine the car not being totaled.

i got tapped in the rear end by someone at less than 5mph. it probably would have buffed out if she had not had a front license plate and one of the hex heads put a hole in my bumper. it required a new bumper and the total bill was like $4500. an unpainted bumper alone from audi is something like $2500.

I am hoping once actual cost of repairing the whole car is identified it will be closer to being totaled, but the higher resale value will definitely make it more difficult.

[Dubfound]

I had very similar damage to two different S3s that both got rear ended and they totaled both of them. They were both only like a year old at the time so the used value was in the $40k range.