Mazdaspeed 6 Totaled. What do I do?

[TheSixthSpeed]

Hi, Today I totaled my Mazdaspeed 6 by making a very bad decision at the wrong time and wrong place like a dumbass... I can't believe I destroyed this rare car...

There were no injuries to anyone so I guess I'm lucky. I haven't got the insurance yet but I know they are going to total the car, you can see in the pics that it's obvious. The frame is ripped and bent and there is no way to repair it unless it gets straightened out and then gets some fabrication and weld work done which is very unlikely to be possible.

The insurance will give out max $4,000. I know the engine is worth $3,000 even used and the gearbox/transmission can be worth between $1,000 and $2,000. So I think I'll get much more out of it by just parting out the car rather than giving it to the insurance and taking the $4,000.

The car has 90,000 miles with leaking piston rings, so I was planning a rebuild and screwed everything up. The car has basically all power bolt-ons for maxing out the BNR S3 that's installed. I have methanol injection along with all supporting mods and a custom tune done by me with Versatuner which near maxes out the ignition timing, I have full polyurethane suspension bushings, H&R Coilovers, full poly mounts etc, all the work done by me. But that's pretty irrelevant now....

My options are to buy another Speed 6 and swapping out the parts or not buy it and just sell the after-market parts and take the $4,000 and give up the car. Or also just part out the whole car and not give anything to the insurance.

I don't know what to do, what you you guys think I should do? I did all the work and mods myself I'm good with a wrench and even have a welder to do some body work.

I'm bummed out. I loved this car. I knew nothing about cars till I got in this forum and I learned so much working on it... I feel like I'm going to loose all my enthusiasm for cars with the death of this one...

Edit: I corrected the upside down pictures.

[Turbosuby]

Sorry about your loss, if you have speed 6 for sale in your area you can buy another one or if not look for gen one speed 3, they are as much fun as a speed 6.

[Bingo]

Sorry to hear that, and glad no one was hurt. Now, honestly, at the risk of being blunt, this is not the end of the world. It’s a car. If you liked it, go get another one. They’re rare, but they’re not unicorns. Now in terms of money, it’s probably be most cost effective to completely part out the car, but I suppose that’s up to you if it’s worth the headache.

Now you’re worried that this will ruin cars for you? What? I know this sucks, but do you think that no enthusiast has ever crashed a car they loved? Pull yourself together man, again it’s not the end of the world. Get some money for the car, go buy another speed, or any other car you’ve had your eye on and get back at it. This is what insurance is for, something like this shouldn’t slow you down.

Sorry for your loss, and good luck.

[TheSixthSpeed]

Thank you Bingo and Turbosuby.

I'm going to get it checked out by a body shop technician. I checked out some frame repair videos on youtube and it looks possible to straighten the front frame rails and the ripped off bracket that goes on the frame for the crash bar to bolt on to can be purchased from Mazda for like $15. So I think I'll be able to repair this car completely. We'll see how this goes. I hope I can get a second chance with this car.

[Pu Manchu]

Originally Posted by TheSixthSpeed I know the engine is worth $3,000 even used and the gearbox/transmission can be worth between $1,000 and $2,000.

maybe you're still in shock from the accident, but those numbers are way off.

a good used motor with 100k is maybe $1800-$2000, but yours with "leaking piston rings" is pretty much just a core for a rebuild so cut that number at least in half.

as for the transmission, there's a speed6 transmission on the local craigslist for $100 and it hasn't sold yet in 6 weeks. i see another on local LKQ for $525.

could you get more than 4k out of parting out the whole car? maybe, but you'd have to take the whole car apart and sell everything just to find out.

[TheSixthSpeed]

Originally Posted by Pu Manchu maybe you're still in shock from the accident, but those numbers are way off. a good used motor with 100k is maybe $1800-$2000, but yours with "leaking piston rings" is pretty much just a core for a rebuild so cut that number at least in half. as for the transmission, there's a speed6 transmission on the local craigslist for $100 and it hasn't sold yet in 6 weeks. i see another on local LKQ for $525. could you get more than 4k out of parting out the whole car? maybe, but you'd have to take the whole car apart and sell everything just to find out.

Yeah, I got those numbers off an instant eBay search, lol. I see that craigslist is a better place to look.
Thanks for the info!

[Izapyou]

Wanna sell your rear axles? Sorry about your loss.

[TheSixthSpeed]

Originally Posted by Izapyou Wanna sell your rear axles? Sorry about your loss.

I'm gonna see how the insurance goes. That will decide if I will end up parting out the car. I'm leaning more towards fixing this at all costs. I hope it wont be so much.

[LenSpeed6]

sorry to hear about your car, your still here and thats the most important part.

if you look on face balls people part these cars out when they need wheel bearing it seems. if your able to find another one with a good shell you could always rebuild your engine and swap the drivetrain over.

[TheSixthSpeed]

Originally Posted by LenSpeed6 sorry to hear about your car, your still here and thats the most important part. if you look on face balls people part these cars out when they need wheel bearing it seems. if your able to find another one with a good shell you could always rebuild your engine and swap the drivetrain over.

Lol. Cool, I may take that route if It's too expensive to straighten the frame rails. Thanks for the info!

[Thor Hammer]

Originally Posted by TheSixthSpeed Lol. Cool, I may take that route if It's too expensive to straighten the frame rails. Thanks for the info!

Yes, you could fix the frame. But what else has been compromised as a result of the crash. It will just never be, or feel the same IMHO.

You may find you have a hard time getting the alignment back in spec after all that work. If you're intent on fixing it get it done at a professional shop. Or at least get a quote and opinion.

[Jayzon]

damn, that royally sucks. Sorry to hear about the loss

[shawnmos]

What did you end up doing with it? I know they cars aren't exactly rare but they aren't all that common either.

I wonder how hard it would be to swap engine, tranny, computer, cluster, and whatever else from your wrecked speed6 into a cheap regular 6 with a good body (possibly one with a dead engine/tranny so that it would be dirt cheap)?

[Izapyou]

Considering these cars were limited production and only 10500 were known to make it to the states that makes them pretty rare. Now after 13 years these cars have been totaled, parted out etc which makes them even harder to find. I'm guessing they totaled the car out gave him a check and the insurance took the car. Without spending a ton of money it's very unlikely these cars could be swapped to a non-turbo model. The speed 3 isn't rare at all but hey to each their own.

[TheSixthSpeed]

Originally Posted by shawnmos What did you end up doing with it? I know they cars aren't exactly rare but they aren't all that common either. I wonder how hard it would be to swap engine, tranny, computer, cluster, and whatever else from your wrecked speed6 into a cheap regular 6 with a good body (possibly one with a dead engine/tranny so that it would be dirt cheap)?

The chassis is different from the regular 6. There are quite a few parts that are larger on the Speed 6 vs the regular 6. The front axles, seals and even suspension components and bushings are larger on the Speed 6. The speed 6 chassis is also like 30% more rigid than the regular 6. Even the radiator of the regular 6 doesn't fit with the stock 6 fan shrouds(I know this by experience).

A friend of my step dad that owns like 3 large junkers saw the car said it was an "easy $3,000 fix" and took the car to his shop. We'll see... I don't have very high expectations. He said he was gonna cut and weld a section of the damaged frame rails.

If it were up to me I would have just bought the whole frame rail assemly parts from the official Mazda dealer and got that welded via computerized measurements, but that would require me to ship the car to the states were they have that equipment.

Another choice I had was to buy a used Speed 6($7,500) and swap out the parts, even thinking about buying it from the US and shipping it over. I would have to see if the repairs and shipping would get near the cost of just buying another Speed 6. Lets see if the quoted $3,000 will do the job, I doubt it and I'm expecting the end results to be a car that doesn't handle right... but whatever, I'll just see what the guy pulls off... Let's see if he can convince me with the end result.

[Fstrnyou]

Easy fix wouldn't cost $3000.

You can find blown speed6's for under $2000ish.

[Vansquish]

Originally Posted by Fstrnyou Easy fix wouldn't cost $3000. You can find blown speed6's for under $2000ish.

^^^What he said.

I had a minor fender bender in my MS6 last summer that involved the right front corner, including the headlamp, hood, fender, bumper cover, and radiator shroud. There was no structural damage at all though, so I got lucky there. The total repair cost for the damage my car suffered was over $5,000.

@TheSixthSpeed;, you've got much more significant damage than I had, so your repair bill should be higher too.

[TheSixthSpeed]

Originally Posted by Fstrnyou Easy fix wouldn't cost $3000. You can find blown speed6's for under $2000ish.

For $2,000 I would totally take a blown speed as I was planning on removing and rebuilding the engine anyway. Shipping it from the states would cost me around $1000-2000 so it's still cheaper than going the full rebuild route according to Vansquish which I trully believe.

Well... I think it's too late for that now... What I'm imagining is one hell of a hack job of welding and installing parts off a regular 6. Since it's the owner of various junkyards. I'm even imagining there is going to be a regular 6 bumper hacked into place when I get the car back along with a much bigger bill...

[TheSixthSpeed]

Update: It's been nearly a year but the car is coming back from the mechanic with a damaged compressor pulley(and probably the compressor) and some electrical plugs including the radiator fan connectors. I'm gonna check out a wiring diagram and sort it out and replace the compressor.

I didn't get the car 100% squared away because the car I was daily driving had a transmission failure and I had to rent a car for a week. It's just missing some wiring, an A/C compressor, the fog lights and the grill. I have all the parts I just need to get the front grill painted before I mount that.

I joined a Mazdaspeed 6 group Facebook as was able to acquire parts from various totalled cars. A very nice guy at Florida gave me over $2,000 is parts for just $180. Overall, I paid around $2,000 for parts including shipping and taxes. I got a shipping company "La Rosa Del Monte" to send the parts over. I would just give out their warehouse address when buying the parts from US junkers and even got LRDL to do a local pickup at one of the FB sellers home.

I paid about $2,000 for labour costs because my step dad had a long time friend that owned a junker a very skilled body shop technician. The insurance gave me $3,800 so I estimate I will only about $1,000 out of pocket.

Also the insurance companies in PR don't tend to get much claims so they get taxed heavily and in return have very low insurance costs. like around $100 a year for up to $4,000 in insurance coverage and rates don't increase even when having multiple accidents in a short period of time, lol.

I'm going to sort out the wiring, change the A/C compressor, get the car aligned and take pictures and then post and give an update on how the car feels to drive.