The $12000 GT2 stinger rebuild project

[Silvermanor]

I think of it as this way: easy come = easy go. If I wanted liquidity I would have invested in stocks (I did). The stinger is not a painting that you buy and out on a wall, hopeing it will sell for a lot someday. At least mine isn't. Idk maybe others keep it untouched hopeing that it will make them rich in 30 years when gas cars are illegal and no one can even drive anywhere. Anyways I could have bought it new, but then I would be hesitant to mod it due to warranty issues and whatnot. Now I am the warranty, and there will be no issues.
Short story: one of our cars, a 20 something Jetta was smashed when we parked it outside. No one was in it, the other driver wasn't looking. Insurance totaled the car. Paid out 9k. We got it for 5k. Now if we bought it used at it's 8k price, we would have lost money. Just my 2cents

Fair enough. To be clear I am genuinely curious, I love projects like this. I know guys who love to fix up cars from COPART and its not about the money or even about using the car afterwards, its all about the problem solving and the hobby of fixing them.

 

[87and66]

Will you be repairing this yourself or having a body shop do it? If you'd like, I can send you a screenshot of my estimate after I hit a deer. It only probably less than half of that damage, but it might give you an idea of what things will cost to repair. Things like the hood, headlight, oil cooler, ac condenser, front bumper, grilles, paint, crash bar, etc.

 

[DaBears4Lyfe]

I think this is a great project and you should do well on the eventual total costs.

This is the contact for OEM parts from Korea. He gets amazing pricing and fast shipping:



He maybe your best friend on this project. lol

 

[General_Vodka]

Will you be repairing this yourself or having a body shop do it? If you'd like, I can send you a screenshot of my estimate after I hit a deer. It only probably less than half of that damage, but it might give you an idea of what things will cost to repair. Things like the hood, headlight, oil cooler, ac condenser, front bumper, grilles, paint, crash bar, etc.

I have the original repair quote. I will be doing some of the repairs myself however I know a frame guy and a paint guy. If I didn't have connections then this project would have been suicide. How much did the headlight cost you? That I really want to know.

 

[General_Vodka]

I think this is a great project and you should do well on the eventual total costs.

This is the contact for OEM parts from Korea. He gets amazing pricing and fast shipping:

View attachment 37679

He maybe your best friend on this project. lol

Thanks, is he a reliable source? I will send him a PM.

 

[DaBears4Lyfe]

Thanks, is he a reliable source? I will send him a PM.

Very reliable. Hes really big in the KDM community for OE parts.

 

[87and66]

I have the original repair quote. I will be doing some of the repairs myself however I know a frame guy and a paint guy. If I didn't have connections then this project would have been suicide. How much did the headlight cost you? That I really want to know.

headlight was $1667 according to geico

 

[General_Vodka]

headlight was $1667 according to geico

Highway robbery. $1200 oem brand new online. Remind me not to use your shop if I need some parts lol.

 

[87and66]

Highway robbery. $1200 oem brand new online. Remind me not to use your shop if I need some parts lol.

That's geico's estimate. I'm not sure where they get these numbers because I was looking on Kiapartsnow and they overpaid for pretty much everything. The body shop probably made out like bandits on money left over from parts. doesn't matter to me though, I only paid my $200 deductible

 

[General_Vodka]

UPDATE:
So I went and bought a few parts. Dealer wanted $900 for the fender apron assembly, and they didn't even have it in stock because it was a "special item".... so I looked elsewhere: $615 shipped from online. Anyways I spent like 3k on parts and that is just the shell! I am still under what the original repair bill quoted however. Found a $500 headlight on eBay.

 

[Socalstinga]

nice...not sure if it's any cheaper, but I usually get oem parts from kiapartsonline.com

 

[General_Vodka]

nice...not sure if it's any cheaper, but I usually get oem parts from kiapartsonline.com

Yep I ordered a lot of stuff from there.

 

[unintelligible]

I was going to get around to listing this in the classifieds eventually but if you are in need of a driver side airbag, I did the KDM airbag swap on mine a week ago and the original one is still here. PM me if you're interested.

 

[Hoonin]

That's geico's estimate. I'm not sure where they get these numbers because I was looking on Kiapartsnow and they overpaid for pretty much everything. The body shop probably made out like bandits on money left over from parts. doesn't matter to me though, I only paid my $200 deductible

I think the standard for a newer car like this is to quote directly from their local vendor. And since there aren’t any insurance quality aftermarket replacement parts for these, they are stuck quoting OEM (This is a great thing for all of us if we get into an accident).

Also, great job acquiring parts far under the initial estimate! I am hoping to be proven wrong and would love to see this car restored, she deserves it!

 

[General_Vodka]

UPDATE: so engine wire harness got some wires sliced. Like all of the passenger headlight wires and also some power steering wires. I think I will crimp the wires and see if it solves the problem. Not rushing to drop 1k for a new one and then the pain of installing it. Was going to solder them but apparently crimping is a lot better so that's what I will try.
I read some codes with a cheap obd2 Bluetooth scanner. Nothing about the power steering. Anyone had the power steering light come on randomly? I am really hopeing I don't have to recalibrate it...

 

[stasek]

Good luck with your project! I’m a pretty big fan of “rebuilt” cars myself (2 of 4 cars I own have rebuilt title). It might have made sense to pickup another GT2 with rear end damage and sell off the remaining parts, but I guess that ship has sailed .

 

[Hoonin]

UPDATE: so engine wire harness got some wires sliced. Like all of the passenger headlight wires and also some power steering wires. I think I will crimp the wires and see if it solves the problem. Not rushing to drop 1k for a new one and then the pain of installing it. Was going to solder them but apparently crimping is a lot better so that's what I will try.
I read some codes with a cheap obd2 Bluetooth scanner. Nothing about the power steering. Anyone had the power steering light come on randomly? I am really hopeing I don't have to recalibrate it... View attachment 37975

You may want to consider running new wire for some of the wires. If they are going to sensors, your ECM/BCM/etc are more than likely reading ohms in those wires. Crimps typically add resistance to wiring, which can throw off your ECM/BCM when reading different engine parameters, ABS parameters, etc..

Also, you should 100% run a new line for anything steering related, it’s a safety issue. If you get corrosion or a breakage in the future, it could lead to an accident.

 

[General_Vodka]

You may want to consider running new wire for some of the wires. If they are going to sensors, your ECM/BCM/etc are more than likely reading ohms in those wires. Crimps typically add resistance to wiring, which can throw off your ECM/BCM when reading different engine parameters, ABS parameters, etc..

Also, you should 100% run a new line for anything steering related, it’s a safety issue. If you get corrosion or a breakage in the future, it could lead to an accident.

From what I have researched crimps add less resistance than solder. Before I run new wires I have to make sure it's the wires and not the unit. I would rather get new wires than a new MDPS unit lol

 

[Hoonin]

From what I have researched crimps add less resistance than solder. Before I run new wires I have to make sure it's the wires and not the unit. I would rather get new wires than a new MDPS unit lol

Correct about the crimps, if they are done 100% correctly there is very minimal resistance added. I still suggest running new wire though, just to make sure all OHM readings are within the correct parameters when the car is functioning properly. It could lead to a lot of annoying check engine lights and certain parts of the car under/over compensating.

It looks like some salvage yards are selling the MDPS for around 1,100, which cuts the price to just under half.

 

[PAdutch]

I give you credit taking on a big project like this. I have rebuilt two cars, a Miata and an Evo. Neither were as bad as this but anything is possible with enough time and money. I look forward to your updates.