> Did you do the work yourself? About 10% of it yes. Rob Grady and DMC Joe did the rest. > How much of the repair bill paid for the labor? I'd say it's about a 50/50 split. But keep in mind that you get what you pay for when you have the experts repair your car - tremendous piece of mind that it was done correctly the first time - you don't have to try to explain to some local garage kid about how the car is built or how to fix it. It's no different from surgery - would you want to be operated on by the guy who finished last in his class in med school, or the guy who finished at the top of his class? Or, think of it this way - would you go to a proctologist for eye surgery? > So the rule of $20,000 needs further analysis and a new figure (much > Higher) will likely surpass the "old rule of thumb." Anyone can find specific examples to disagree with the "rule". In the case you state, the car was severely damaged, neglected, abused, improperly repaired, etc. The "rule of 20" is just a guideline, of which the majority of people here will attest to, including me. The basis for the "rule of 20" is starting with a decent running car in average condition. As the condition deteriorates from there, the costs increase way past $20k, unless you can do the work yourself and get the parts for a huge discount. -Hank #1619