Well I had a very scary crash on Tuesday of this week. The repair costs came out too $6,400 I would have prefered it come out closer too $8,000 so the car would be considered "Totaled" Personally I am fed up with this car and am looking towards either a Protege5, Matrix, Vibe, or a pickup truck.
Well the part that bothers me a lot is that the repair shop stated the the unibody frame of the car had been bent in the accident. My opinion is that this usually points to a reduction in structural integrity for the car. Which can not be fixed, but the shop says that they have a machine that bends the frame back into shape. I do not at all want to be driving around in a car that has a structuraly not sound frame.
I am going to complain to my insurance company if they decide that the car is repairable. Please let me know sources of information that will backup my theory that a car that has a bent frame is not structuraly sound and can not be repaired.
I have a lot of pictures of the car and the damage, PM me if you'd like to see them.

Thanks guys.

 

once the frame is bent usualy the car will never drive the same again

id argue it do you know were it was bent

 

Front near front bumper, and rear near the rear bumper. The car hit first on the driver side of the front bumper than hit on the driver side of the rear bumper. I'd estimate (from visual inspection) that there was a 1 inch shift in the front and about a 3/4 inch shift in the back.

EDIT: Tomorrow I am going to call the dealership and ask them about repairing a bent frame. Hopefully I can get a written statement that repairing a bent frame is not advisable, and would not be under the Mitsubishi warranty.

 

tell them the car dont ride the same tl them you want it totaled out

 

il already had a bent fream, but it was only behind the rear wheels, in the trunk.. so a little bit of stretching and everything was fine.. And since it was behind the wheels it didn't alter performances.

Your front hit might change the rigidity tho

Etienne

 

My personal opinion is that any damage to the frame means the car is structually compromised. I think part of the idea of fixing it and not declaring it totaled is because my insurance is hella cheap. Mercury insurance just plain sucks, I used to have Farmers, and boy do I miss it.

Anyone know of any high quality diagrams of the Lancer unibody?

 

Id agree with you..

a car never drives the same once the frame is bent, no matter how good the body shop. My mustang had over $2000 worth of frame damage....if you to look at it after all the work...you wouldnt be able to tell....but it still never drove/rode the same.

 

..don't compromise safety...
get a second opinion if anything...
good luck

 

even with the frame being bent slightly is considered totaled. Same thing happened to a friend of mine in his mustang. The damage to the car wasn't bad, but the frame was bent. TOTALED! He then sold off all the usable parts like the, seats, convertable top, headlights, etc. I wouldn't bother getting it fixed just consider it totaled and sell off the parts. You may be able to make a couple of bucks off it, better then nothing.

On that note, How is the front drivers side fender?

 

i sold the car for about 5000 (88lx 5.0 convertible)....as i said...you couldnt tell if you were to look at it....

 

Well I cant' make the decision, the insurance company makes the decision if the car is totaled or not. That is why I'd like to get a mitsubishi professional's opinion on whether or not fixing a bent car frame is a safe thing to do.

 

Call your dealer then.

 

I agree... car will never be the same!

 

i sell rebuildable vehicles and if it is done right then it doesnt matter. ive sold quite a few and i have no complaints.

 

Just called the dealership. They said that they need to evaluate whether or not the car can be repaired without compromising the structual integrity. So I will try to take the car by the dealership before letting the company start repair work on it. Like I said earlier, I am tired of this car and really want a way out. The total estimate as it stands now was 6,400 only 1,600 more and it would be considered a total loss.

Oh yeah the dealership said that if the frame has been altered the warranty on the car is likely to change. So we'll have to get that checked out too.