posted
What's the cost of correcting a car with a bent frame? From what I'm reading online, most cars bent in an accident are totalled because of the expensive cost of fixing the frame on top of all the other repairs. My car has already had several thousand dollars worth of parts and labor completed and its only now that the car shop is admitting to us that the frame is bent.
The car is supposed to be totalled after the cost of repair passes 80% of its value. Right now, repairs are at about 50-60%. The cost of repairing the frame seems like it would push it over the mark but since so many repairs have been made so far, I've getting the feeling they might go ahead and repair the frame.
The insurance company of the guy who hit me has already settled so now they need to reopen the claim and its getting really complicated. Not to mention the fact that my insurance agent is out of town so we've been talking to other people who won't give us a straight answer.
Does anyone have any idea of what's going to happen or what should happen?
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Depends on how bad it is. I'd guess a few more hundred. Some people say if the frame is bent then it's never "quite right" again. I don't really have any experience with that type of damage myself though, so I can't say with any authority.
posted
From what I've been told, it's a bad idea to fix a bent frame. It will never be as strong if it's repaired, so most people don't do it. In my opinion (which is uninformed at best ), the insurance company should re-open the case, total out the car, then go after the car shop for not doing their job and fully inspecting the vehicle. Bent frame is something they should have been able to spot before any repairs were done. If they knew about it but chose to ignore it until after the work is done, they really screwed up.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
My dad's car had the frame bent, but they were able to straighten it out okay. It was just the tail end that bent, so it didn't have any weird structural problems afterward. It was about $1200 in damages, I think.
My old roommate's dad, on the other hand, was t-boned by a motorhome and had about $18,000 in damages to his new truck. The insurance company refused to total it because it was just under the threshold. And he said it was never the same afterwards—for starters, the doors didn't seal, so it leaked whenever it rained. And he kept having to take it back in to have more work done, until he finally got fed up with it and bought a new truck.
So if you're very lucky, you might be able to get away with straightening the frame, but I've heard that it's almost never a good idea.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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), the insurance company should re-open the case, total out the car, then go after the car shop for not doing their job and fully inspecting the vehicle. Bent frame is something they should have been able to spot before any repairs were done. If they knew about it but chose to ignore it until after the work is done, they really screwed up.
