body shop advice

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Swanny-CG
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body shop advice

Post by Swanny-CG »

Guys,

Last Friday I hit a deer in our car doing about 70. I managed to swerve a bit without rolling it but it took out the driver's side front end. The crumple zones did their job and we didn't feel much impact, and I actually drove the car home from about 45 min away with no pulling, shuddering or anything else. Insurance has come out to the body shop with an initial estimate and cut the shop a check for 9.5k (which doesn't include my 1k deductible) and they expect to have to spend more as they dig in and get some parts pricing.

The insurance guy says the frame is not bent but that it "moved" a little. He says it can be fixed. It seems to me neither the shop nor the insurance wants to total a car since the shop gets no business and the insurance pays more. The shop was one WE chose and was recommended by a trusted friend so I feel I can respectfully ask any questions.

What can I look for to feel confident it's fixed? Insurance said they are including an alignment job as part of the repair. If the car drives fine is that enough? I just want my wife and kids to be safe.

I am at dinner on my phone so if you have questions let me know and I will answer them later tonight.

All in all I feel very fortunate that it wasn't MUCH worse than it was:
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Sarge 1/68th Armor
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Re: body shop advice

Post by Sarge 1/68th Armor »

Two words. Holy friggin crap. That's a underwear check man. Nice to know your gaming muscle memory kicked in and saved the day. Good luck.
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Nightstalker
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Re: body shop advice

Post by Nightstalker »

"The insurance guy says the frame is not bent but that it "moved" a little"

That line bothers me a little. A frame is either straight or bent. I have had a frame bent before and I worked at a dealership at the time that had a body shop. The guy told me he could get the car on the frame straightener and see what he could do. He explained they will get it real close but it will never be "perfect." Now all that to say, your Explorer is a Unibody vehicle meaning the frame is built into the body. They normally have a front clip that attaches to the body at the firewall and will look like your typical C channel or box frame, but nowadays they have gotten away from that too and its all one piece. I can not tell if you have the "front clip" are not, (I am leaning towards not having them by the picture) so but if you do and they are bent, but the mounts are solid, they can replace those with new ones.

Just so you know, its not deer season yet ;) Glad you guys are OK.
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OddJob2021
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Re: body shop advice

Post by OddJob2021 »

The vehicle can be fixed easily and without pain. Your family's well being, not as much. Glad it was a graze and not worse, good reaction time, a lot of people space out in a car. I saw this gif recently and it reminded me of how your situation could have been worse.

http://i.imgur.com/Fk1O108.gif

Come to think of it, you guys have deer to worry about, we have crocs lol!
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Nightstalker
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Re: body shop advice

Post by Nightstalker »

If only this lady's voice was heard ;)

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Tuck
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Re: body shop advice

Post by Tuck »

[quote="Nightstalker"]If only this lady's voice was heard ;)

could this Lady be a close relative of TDog?????? ;) :25: :25: :25: :25:
Ya..I'm an old fart
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Swanny-CG
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Re: body shop advice

Post by Swanny-CG »

I went down to the body shop and they showed me what bent - the fin that holds the weld for the rolled back piece above the wheel got bent out a little and the mount rail for the front quarter panel both got bent a bit and they got them back into shape.

Nothing structural and they only bent it about 3.5 mm. I feel OK about having my wife and kids in there now. The only concern I have it resale value - I'm thinking if the car is worth less because it has "frame damage" on the history, has my insured item been replaced if it's not worth what it was before the accident? It's an interesting question. Anyway, the body shop guy seemed nice and said all the replacement parts (all new, factory OEM parts) were dropping in perfectly with no alignment problems (think screw holes, they're still doing an alignment job on the car).

I just figured I'd give an update. So far the insurance has paid the shop about $12,500 which doesn't include my deductible.

I'm still not 100% on who is on MY side in the financials here but I feel better now that I've done some research and better understand what's going on. Nothing like losing a bunch of money or potential safety issues for your family to make you zero in with laser focus and learn some stuff.

Thanks to NS who got me some answers I needed before meeting with the shop guy and helping me to ask some intelligent questions. This isn't the first time I've relied on the community here for help IRL and just goes to show that over the years we've become more than just a bunch of people who play video games together.
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Nightstalker
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Re: body shop advice

Post by Nightstalker »

I was hoping it was more of the cosmetic pieces. Knowing that now, I can say you should feel 100% comfortable with you and your family driving that vehicle. With it being those pieces, the "crumple" zones built into those panels will be so close, if not the same as brand new. And 3.5 mm is right around 1/8th of an inch. Nothing really in terms of safety but alot when you look at it in how well the gap between the body panels will line up. You would have noticed.

Did they say anything else about the strut mount? Is it going to be replaced/repaired?

Either way, good to hear it is turning out in your favor. Well your vehicle's structural integrity at least. I have no idea about getting the insurance to cover your losses when it comes time to resale though.
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Re: body shop advice

Post by Nightstalker »

Is it back to normal????
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Swanny-CG
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Re: body shop advice

Post by Swanny-CG »

I got it Thursday afternoon and drove to Reno for the weekend. it has a slight pull to the left but something tells me that was a result of the alignment job they did, not the accident. I'm going to have them check it out. That and they found a scuff on the windshield that wasn't there before. Not sure what caused that but they have a call into the insurance folks to see about getting it fixed.
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