The other morning my 2013 TL was slammed by a flat truck ... Actually it was the fault of the dump truck they hit the flat bed squarely into the rear of my car - Authorized Acura Collision is reviewing will call me thurs. First glance by collision and ins appraiser ( reviewing pic's) is the cost is probably $12-15 k
Trunk and lights destroyed / pushed in about 12-15 inches, rear wheels at first review look fine and also mufflers as the other cars bumper was higher then most of the rear of my car - The entire car including trainny needs to be thorougly reveiwed

My question is : Will the car run right / same as prior to the accident ?

 

It will never be the same especially the paint, try to get the insurance to take it and replace it with a new one since it is a 2013.

 

^I agree, based on the damage you're describing I think it would be in your best interest if you could get the ins company to consider your TL a loss so you can get a new one.

The problem I see from the info you have provided is that if early estimates are $12-$15K I don’t see them writing off the car.

You should probably let the body shop know that you really don’t want the car back and see if they have any pull with the adjuster. Sometimes they do. Good Luck..

 

if the shop is competent and repairs the car CORRECTLY, it will be the same.

the shop will put it on a body alignment machine. if it's not straight, they will pull it, resulting in a straight body.
then off to the wheel alignment step. making sure all 4 wheels are straight.
if it's a GOOD shop, they can get it back to normal.

my car incurred about $15k in damages from a front end collision with a curb.
both subframes were damaged and replaced.
tranny was replaced.
my car tracks straight and true after the accident.

 

My parents own a 2008 Civic. About two years ago my father hit the side of the garage hard while parking (probably drunk again), they had the car repaired but it has now developed a short that neither the dealer nor an independent shop could trace.

My advice is fix it and trade it off before it hits CarFax.

 

Shops rarely like to write off cars because that means instead of doing thousands of dollars of work they only get an appraisal fee, maybe a few hours to dismantle/put back and the storage fee.

 

Depends of internal structure damage of rear quarters and bottom of the trunk... if no damage, they will fix it but it's your choice to fight to insurance company or not, I would fight regardless

 

I had 13k worth of damage to my front end ....I wish they had totaled it , my car def. Doesn't feel the same

 

I guess it will depend on how bad of the damage but when you are bending metal, it will lose rigidity to some extent.

 

My Sequoia was rear-ended in front of my house by a drunk 6 AM. The insurance did not want to accept a total loss.

The dealers body shop never got the SUV right, they stretched the chassis etc.

The Sequoia was never the same, I had to sell it with 24000 miles.

The drunken drivers car below, driver badly injured

 

some may say that a car is the same after an accident, but i personally believe once you lose the factory seal of anything on the car it is never the same.

my last tls was repaired after hitting a deer at 80 mph on the highway. although it was put back together and looked ok, the car just didn't feel the same again

humans make errors, machines dont, car wont be the same IMO

 

Thank you all for your responses... The collusion shop is autoriz. by acura - presumably one of the best in the NE... Will see... I want the care to be safe an perform as it did in the past... Should I choose to sell I realize autofax will show I had a rear end accident ... curious what auto fax stats.....

 

One of the accidents my 09' TL was involved in was initially appraised as having just 7k in damages. The body shop owner said that based on the superficial damage alone there was no way GEICO would total it out. Little by little, as they took the car apart, fixed and refixed, the bill ran up to 17k... that car should've been totaled.

It was never the same after many alignments.

 

If it is just body panel damage and the frame is untouched it will be fine. $12-15k is not enough to total a 2013 vehicle.

That said, you need to make sure you select a very competent body shop. Being that new, be firm on no or little non-OEM parts used in the repair. Also make sure the shop you selected has a frame measurement system and knows how to use it - do your research and then ask them about it. If they can't eagerly sit down and talk to you for 10 minutes on the specifics of frame measurement and repair then walk away.

Be sure to have the frame measured in the initial estimate - on the off chance the frame is way out of alignment then the insurance company may be persuaded to total it.

Also shop around for shops - if you absolutely are for sure you don't want the car back then find the priciest shop available.

That said, assuming it is not your fault, you may be allowed to put in a loss of value claim to recoup any lost resale value due to the accident. Make this clear to your insurance right away, in considering the cost of a loss of value claim they may decide to total it, that would only be in an extreme case though.

 

damn.. i would have pushed to total this.. it would be a miracle if it actually drove straight.. but it will always be in the back of your head that the car is structurally damaged already.

 

Agree with Potmilkz, even if the body shop can fix the car back to the original form, it will always be in your head that something is not quite right with the fixed car.

 

thank you all so much for the very intelligent and thoughtful responses .... you folks are great
The body shop is both acura dealer and more importantly national acura certified. I will be talking to the owner tomorrow . will provide feed back via this string.. Still curious though if anyone knows should i see what auto fax states n the report about the car.. is it just a rear end collision or does it get granular about the details

 

it will just state it was in a collision.. i dont think its in specifics.. but to whom ever buys it, if they are smart enough will inspect the car throughly.. its easy to tell which part got damage.. Paint thickness gauge can easily tell which part was replaced... but to a normal person, they wouldnt know.

 

VQPower37 is right on the factory seal thing. Heck, I'm hesitant on even changing my speakers out. The dealership fixed my blown driver side door speaker and now my whole driver side door rattles at certain songs... It'll never be the same

 

Regarding your concerns...

1. Sealing... depends what shop and technical is doing this job! If body work is done right, sealing is only 10% of quality

2. Door rattles... door panel has about 10 clips that holding it, plus 4 screwes. If one of them missed you get rattles.

I have done about dozen cars restoration and trust me, these little things can be fixed easy. Ping me with any questions, I'm welcome to help to you...

 

im might not be the same, however it is the rear of the car that needs repairing so it might not be that much of a factor when driving

 

Plastic clips will easily deform during removal and subsequent reuse, and thus may never hold the door panel as tight as original.

Better to use all new plastic clips.

 

Like I said. The dealer did the repairs. I would think the dealer would have gone through the proper steps to ensure it's up to par.

I'll bring it back and have them replace all the clips.

 

Again many thanks for the excellent responses - will be talking with the collision shop owner today and will revert

 

Thanks much ! I may just take you up on this - real appreciate it

 

So much bad info in this thread. If its brought to a quality shop you would never know it was ever in an accident. Everything will be back to oem specs and every bit as strong and drive as straight as new. Im not saying it wont happen, it could happen if not done properly or brought to a shop that just does the work quickly and not properly. That is why its important to ask around to find the best rated shops near you.

This is a stupid statement.

If you bring it to a quality shop you will NEVER know the difference, Especially the paint. I could paint it in my garage and you would never know once i was finished with it that there was ever anything painted.

If done by a quality shop it will drive every bit as straight as new. Why? Modern cars dont have their metal (frame) pulled straight and left. Its Unibody. The bent structural panels get replaced and reinstalled in the same manner and strength as they were originally.

 

I don't think the car will ever be the same.

Imagine an aluminum soda can. It's crushed in an accident. Now you tell me that you can fix the can to be as good as new by pulling the soda can back straight? What about the crinkles in the metal? I know that I can crush the can a whole lot more easily the second time around.

To me, that's what's happening when they have to realign and stretch the frame of a car. It may look the same (as long as you look at the metal frame and the folds), but I just don't see how it will have the same structural integrity.

 

The irony, my buddy had the same thing happen to his Sequoia, except the parked Seq then continued on to rear-end his brand new Prius! Sooo, it could have been worst, but looking at your pics I feel for ya.

 

My TL had $6k of damage to the front (thanks wifey) and it drives like a champ after the repair. That being said, go after their insurance for a diminished value claim if the car isn't totaled. You'll see too big of a decrease in value on a pretty new TL for them to deny you of it!

 

The carfax on my 09' stated having frame damage after the 17k accident. I don't know if that's standard or not but that will definitely will deter potential buyers.

 

OP, what's the word man? And sorry to hear about your misfortune.

 

dang. sucks. hopefully insurance does the right thing.

 

I agree with this. I spent 20 plus years in Auto Body/Insurance repairs. A good shop will not repair a car to less then pre accident standards. All insurance companies have a life time warranty. If a repair shop can not fix it correctly the insurance company will pay to have another do it until it is right. I know there are a lot of hack shops out there but the bottem line is any car can be fixed and painted to factory standards.

 

Yes... exactly as you said

 

As aggravating as it appears to be for posters such as fsttyms and Paul to see members stating it can't be restored to original specs, it's equally annoying for me to see them insisting it can be done as if it's so easy. Good runners can do a 4 minute mile and an ultra elite athlete can run 100 meters in 9.58 seconds. You're making it sound as if any schmuck around the corner has the desire AND skill AND equipment to make it happen. Maybe repairing a car to factory specs is outside of their business model? Insurance companies set the rates and regardless of a shop's estimate they have to repair the vehicle within that estimate + a supplement that may or may not be approved. So can it be done? Of course it can, Michael Jordan can dunk from 15' away, doesn't mean you can.

 

So today i went to the collision shop to meet with the manager and also had the ins adjuster attend as well. $14 - 15K is the level 0 estimate. I was told preliminary review shows no under carriage damage but right rear quarter panel , trunk , bumper sensors and obviously all the other accessories that go with it . Will attempt to get a pic of the car up on this site plus when i get the details of the repair will share this as well . The good news is no strut wheel or muffler damage visible - closer inspection is needed hopefully i wont have a prop shaft singing @ 60 MPH now....

The shop manager believes he can get the car almost entirely back to pre crash condition - Why not 100% as you would expect me to ask ? He is hesitate to say until the car is taken apart but obviously any car sustaining a hit like this may have new sounds that just were not there prior. The manager went on to say the car will be safe to drive at any speed - Expressed my thanks for all he can do to bring this car back to spec - my concern is which an advance model and stiff suspension i just may hear noise never heard prior
Will See .... 25 days to rebuild - stay tuned and again Thank You all for excellent commentary . I try to get the pics up here tomorrow or Sunday

 

Ugh, I hate it. He might be able to do a fine job but that's a huge estimate. I suspect that amount will increase and you might be hit with frame damage on your title as well; good lucking trading that in, selling it for decent money or turning that lease in without getting butchered. Worst of all from my one and only experience with the matter, once the ins dives in and cuts a check that big there's no turning back. They'll throw every dollar your policy allows to try to repair a car that should've been totaled.

 

OK .. How do I attach some pics ?

 

Forget it - I just figured it out

First Pic is when the car was moved to the side by the police - again no suspension damage to speak of - tires not rubbing etc - still needed thorough review

2nd Pic is a side view

my fear is will it drive straight and true and not rattle like a NYC cab

 

Damn! That's a hard hit!