Expert: William Forster - 11/26/2006

Question
this past march my husband and I went on a 7 state trip to Colorado and my husband fell asleep at the wheel. We ended up doing a 180 and crashed into three cable wires outside of concordia MO. our car is damaged to the point that my side of the car was and still is caved in the passenger side windowsheild is cracked and we have to tie down the trunck b/c the lock got smashed in, the head lights were ripped off and the body just looks as though it was beaten up. My question is where can we get our back to the shape it was in before the crash?

Answer
I live in NW Ohio, and have no idea where to tell you to take your car to have it fixed, other than a reputable ford dealer. Judging by the damage you described, and the vehicle's age, it may very well be totaled out, meaning the cost to repair will exceed the vehicle's value. I suggest taking it to a body shop, and having a repair estimate done, then going to one of the online appraisal services, such as Kelley blue book, and doing a value appraisal. I would guess the vehicle's value to be in the 5000.00 range. It would be considered totaled out at 3750.00, or 3/4 of the vehicles value. This is just an example, not an accurate appraisal. Bill