Sharks attack from the bottom. They can leave a perfectly healthy looking corpse above the water but leave devastating damage below.

We had the solemn duty of issuing the last rights to a Crossfire coupe today.
Someone ran their white on berry Limited over a curb. That was the last breath the car would ever take. Who would think that a coupe with bent front suspension would be a total loss?

The car hit a curb with the left front wheel. Hard. Harder than that. Real hard. The major outward sign is the unhealthy angle of the front wheel. The bottom is pushed inwards nearly 6 inches but it didn't break. Naturally, the suspension on that side was destroyed. Then you see the door hit the fender when it was opened. That's a bad sign. No other body damage is visible.
What you don't see from outside is that the frame rail on the left front has been bent heavily. The engine cradle has suffered serious damage.
Then there's the fluids. The two biggies. Engine oil and transmission fluid are weeping out from under the car.
The curb took out both oil pans. It also physically ripped the oil pump off the motor. The pump clung to the timing chain for dear life. That resulted in the timing chain guides being ripped out of the engine block and the camshafts bending under the strain. The engine was running at the time of the collision. lt was completely destroyed.
I have never seen that kind of damage done to an engine without there being serious body damage. The body can be repaired with a little effort. There is no resurrecting the drivetrain. The engine and transmission will never operate again.
The insurance adjuster has signed the death warrant.

 

Well at least it wasn't the little Blue Guy.