Last night my buddy took a corner too hard and hit a curb pretty bad. It appears that everything related to the wheel and suspension components are bent, the sway bar, the axle, even part of the caliper etc. The rim actually has a nice chunk out of it. It seems that part of the frame is bent as well. It's a 2001 Saturn SC2 (5 speed) with about 105k miles, great shape besides this mishap. The motor runs great. Is it worth it to fix, or should he part the car out? I'm thinking the cost to buy all the parts and get the frame pulled out would cost more than the car blue books for. Would he make more money parting it out (motor/trans, etc) or selling as a whole? He doesn't have money for a new car, and needs to make the most out of this that he can. I found this forum thinking I would get the best opinions here. Thank you in advance for your help, I look forward to your responses.

 

Depends on how handy your bud is with tools, and how sharp a wheeler-dealer he is when it comes to buying parts from a U-Pull-It yard.

 

What should you do ........... I'd say thats up to you.

 

My buddy is not handy in that area, I would be the one doing the work. I've been through a few motors but mostly LT1s and LS1s (F-body guy) and I've done repairs on many other vehicles, just not this motor in particular. I'm confident in my abilities but I have yet to replace an axle on a front wheel drive vehicle. The only thing I'm worried about is if the parts will line up with the frame being slightly bent. Any idea on how much it would run to get a frame bent back?

 

It's called an engine cradle, you replace not bend back. Price your local salvage yards.

 

Financially? A 10 year old Saturn at the moment might Blue Book out at between 2-3 grand.
That might be what it would cost to buy from a dealer.
To an owner, the same car might be around $800 to $1000. Wrecked, maybe $150.00 a ton.
Is it worth fixing, probably as said earlier junk yard parts, some knowledge of how to swing wrenches and not hurt yourself and a place to work on it. Pure dog job.
I've done most of that except replace a cradle. I even have pieces sitting here as spare parts for the right front suspension.
For me, I'd probably fix it because I can.
Frankly, I would not recommend it if you have to ask the question.