Unfortunate Incident...
 

On the way home from work Friday 6/14, a 19-year-old girl decided to test the laws of physics and my Monte was an unwilling participant... As you can see, the exhaust did not fare well. The same shop that did all the body/paint work on my car three years ago has told me that GM has discontinued this exhaust system. I have tried to find an aftermarket system for the Monte Carlo LS4, but only Magnaflow has returned a compatible system. Does anyone know of any other companies producing an aftermarket performance exhaust for these cars? I may end up having to go the route of a custom system or source one for a salvage yard... Thank you all in advance for your help.



https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/monteca...4275b81496.jpg

I cant be of any help finding a replacement, but to be honest that exhaust doesnt look too bad.

If you like the sound of what you've got, and really cant find a replacement, any exhaust shop should be able to salvage that pretty easily. Definitely going to need new tips (any aftermarket ones that are similar should be fine), but they should just be able to cut the bent sections and re-weld some fresh pipe to connect them back together.

I do like what I have. I love that whole damn car. Now I have to return a phone call from an insurance adjuster who left me a voicemail in which he stated he works in the "total loss" department.......... Does that look like a total loss to anybody?!?!?! Hopefully, I'm overreacting......

Isnt the LS4 monte's exhaust the same as the 6th gen SS??

Seems unlikely, but not entirely impossible. Some states have pretty low thresholds, I think down to 60% of the value in a few cases. I'd imagine book on a full bumper replacement and paint (including stuff underneath) could be $1500, the exhaust replacement could book for another grand or even more. Its possible the numbers could come out close depending on mileage.

I wouldn't worry about it too much as there doesnt look to be much damage. Worst case is they total it and give you $4k (or whatever book value is), you buy it back for a few hundred, drop a couple grand on repairs, and you'll be back on the road with some money left in your pocket.

They just called... They totaled it. Initial estimate from the shop was just under $3500, but they weren’t allowed to touch it until they heard from the adjuster. Estimate from the adjuster was around $6600... After actually seeing the car and its condition, they offered me $8200 if I wanted to keep it. HELL YES I WANT TO KEEP IT!!! The initial shop estimate can double and I’d still have a little left over... This may turn out ok after all. Same guy that painted the whole car will be doing the paint work. My blood pressure has gone down considerably in the last 30 minutes...I’ve never been through this process before...

They valued it at $9700+ and charged almost $1500 salvage fee. Good news is in Arkansas, it is not required to have a salvage title because of the age of the car.

Sounds like this turned out in your favor.. Good luck with the rest of the process..

Sorry to here about the accident. Sadly, these cars are reaching a point where not much will total them now. New parts hard to find, used parts questionable. Between availability and pricing that can be a bit hard to nail down, plus a diminishing value.... Sucks. I'm beginning to consider other options for insurance on my Monte (like a stated value insurance).

what was the damage under that bumper cover?? it should not be totaled to be honest it ticks me off that minor damage like that would total out a car that is. I would have fixed the exhaust first and took off the bumper cover to see what is the damage on the bumper rail the true bumper. before contacting the insurance company. I know I pissed off my dads insurance company that I got all his parts from a salvage yard and said I am at the body shop with the parts and they said the bumper cover and rear head light were ready to be put on and ready the bumper cover ready to be painted. pergressive was pissed that the cover was ready to be painted and put on as well as the trunk lid only three things that a sign post did. last time my dad had progressive. they only wanted to give him 2800 for a 09 mazda with 88k on the odometer. took them to court for trying to false and jip him out of a car that only had a 1600 worth of work and the blue book is at 9,850 my monte has only 1600 blue book do to the miles. it stinks that insurance companies will junk a car that has high miles but look like mint. granted the 6 gen doors back are identical to the 7th gen as well as the 6th gen impala has the same type of front end as the 6th gen monte as well as the 7th gen impala has the same front end as the 7th gen monte. it stinks that majority of the parts could not be swappable. as in the bumper and exhaust hangers should not be a problem. only electrical. between the generations as well as the powertrain

Sadly, it's an equation of age, mileage, parts availability (which can sometimes affect cost), and labor costs. I agree, some perfectly good cars are totaled for minor damage. And you being a body guy see that a lot.
Heck, my current daily driver is a 2004 Grand Am, I knew when I bought it in 2014, it was totaled in 2006! All I know, front end damage. I have seen evidence of the repairs and I see NOTHING to explains to me why this car was totaled. Great car. But I also learned, insurance can be really weird about insuring a resurrected car. The term "total" has an incorrect stigma. Some people believe that means the damage was really bad and it could not be fixed. Reality (in most cases), it just means cost of repair was higher than the value of the car.

Back in 2001, I had an ugly situation with Progressive. I was insured with them and so was a driver that rear ended me. Totaled out my 93 Buick Century. I had NO argument about it being totaled, but I have a LONG story about how they were low balling the value and how there report to value the car was incorrect according to my local state law. What a mess. But, long over and done with.