Expert: William Forster - 10/22/2007

Question
QUESTION: Just recently they wrecked my 99 firebird an it looks like the frame is bad. My question is. Is it a frame or a unibody? and is it repairable?

ANSWER:  It's a unibody, both are repairable, depending upon the severity of the damage. I can't see the damage on yours to determine what the proper course of action is. It won't take a lot of damage on a 9 year old car to total it. Bill

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QUESTION: well the most damage accured on the front of the car on the driver side n it barely touched the motor (thank god), n its it really bended the frame. whats the price of the frame

Answer
Franco, 2 things- the car has no frame. A unibody is as the name implies- all 1 part. The front structure is comprised of at least 9 major parts, all welded to the car itself. The unibody needs pulled straight, the damaged structural parts removed, and new parts welded back on. This requires special tools and equipment, and is absolutely not a DIY job. Second, if you read my bios, you will see that I don't do online estimates- especially when I can't see the damage. Just a wild guess? there is 4000-7,500 dollars damage if there was no air bag deployment. Add 3000.00 dollars if the air bags deployed. In my opinion, just going by what you described, the car is a total loss. Go to a body shop for a proper damage assessment. I can help you no further. Bill