After the Accident....

[2007LEV6]

Question:

After an accident, during a 35 MPH hit with no air bags deloyed, and the front passenger side frame has to be replaced, how safe is the car after the repair work?

The work will be done at Longo Toyota Collision center Southern California, I am assuming a reputable center given all the work they have done.

However, what is involved in removing the front end of the car and repairing it then getting the engine/tranny out and them back in,

How safe is this vehicle after this type of work?

Please advise.

Thanks!

[samarai912]

I'm sure it will be very safe. they will replace by cutting whats called cross cuts into the frame. they look like zigzag cuts that they will cut on the your frame( chasis) and the new section of chasis(frame). Then they slide the cuts into each other and weld. and I don't have a new camry but I'm sure removing the engine and reinstalling it will be no more difficult than others. I'm positive it will be safe. The other thing is the fact that the accident has now devalued your car for resale.

[2007LEV6]

Thanks for the reply!

Devaluation of the car is an assumption as this point. The main concern is the safety of the car and if it is still worth paying the monthly payments on a car that has been in an accident.

However, if like you said, the work is "cookie cutter" and that the modern repair work done nowadays is very good, then I will keep driving it into the ground until I recover the equity of the car from the accident.

Thanks for the input!

Anyone else have any input?

[ebumdude]

I thought if the frame of a car has been damaged it is deemed "totaled" by insurance...am I wrong?

[samarai912]

only if it cost more to fix than the value of the car. blue book wise.

[GT-R]

35 MPH collision, frame damaged, no airbags deployed

The car will be OK after the repair, but your feelings for it will be different.

[FlopShot]

I agree with the above. Once the frame is damaged, I don't feel safe in the car. Personally, I would rid myself of the car and buy a new car.

Depending on your state, I wonder if your title has to be changed to a salvage title since the frame has been repaired?

[dzcustom]

When I had my '04 xb, about 3 yrs ago, I had an accident. The cost of damage was $5700.00. The frame was shifted over (damaged and repaired), the cross member was damaged, bent strut, the list goes on. It was not totaled though. The ride felt like crap afterwards (never the same). I just got ride of it a month after and got a tC.

[BlackCamSe]

[james399]

whether a car is deemed totaled or not is dependent on your insurance carrier...

for example, i know with state farm, the cost of repair has to be above 90 percent of the value of the car in order for them to deem it as totaled,

if your car has had frame damage, then there is a good possibility it will never drive straight... and yes as mentioned above it can turn out like total crap... it might not...

my dads 97 infinite q 45 was rear ended really badly a few years back, bent the entire frame from behind rear axle down by about a foot... the insurance company declared it totaled, and we bought it off of them for like 1500 fixed it and it drove just fine, because it did not impact the rear axles... now if the damage had been to the front or the side, it would have been a whole different story...

on my 99 camry, i have had quite a few accidents in it, where they had to put in on a frame puller, replaced the radiator core support 2-3 times.. etc... still drives straight... lol...

[avholic]

Originally Posted by Camralon2343

This was declared totaled by progressive.