Scary Halloween CURSE

[vonVeezelsnider]

So for the second time in six months my Impala has been the victim of the CURSE. My car was parked in front of a friend's house last night when some dough head in a big GMC Sierra 2500 decided to do a 3-point turn and backed right into my car's left front fender. The upshot is that at the least, the fender is f@#ked in every way imaginable. Driving with a learners permit and didn't even feel the impact. Also the bumper probably needs to be replaced too since the little mounting holes for the wheel well liner are completely torn and deformed. I've no idea how fast the truck was backing up but I would hope that the unibody hasn't been somehow damaged.

Regardless, I'm without my car for at least three weeks and I'm off in Malibu land until then.

So in closing:

F#&%!!

Edited November 1, 2010 by vonVeezelsnider

[A Horse With No Name]

Sorry to hear about it, dude!

[Intrepidation]

That sucks, sorry to hear. Did you get the assclown's insurance?

[vonVeezelsnider]

That sucks, sorry to hear. Did you get the assclown's insurance?

Yeah I got their insurance so I'm not left twisting in the wind... as for the obligatory pics:

I'm not expecting an estimate until Wednesday.

[ocnblu]

Let us know how you make out. It needs a new fender, for sure, and wheel liners, it appears. Can't really see the bumper cover problem from the photographs. Also, to ensure colour match, I'd write to blend colour onto the hood and door. Did you see a mark on the tire sidewall or wheel? If so, it should have a front end suspension alignment.

Edited November 1, 2010 by ocnblu

[vonVeezelsnider]

Let us know how you make out. It needs a new fender, for sure, and wheel liners, it appears. Can't really see the bumper cover problem from the photographs. Also, to ensure colour match, I'd write to blend colour onto the hood and door. Did you see a mark on the tire sidewall or wheel? If so, it should have a front end suspension alignment.

When they came to tow it to the dealership I found most of the wheel liner in five pieces on the ground under the car so that's a given. He did hit the tire sidewall but thankfully not the wheel, so I figured yeah the whole front end needs to be inspected and aligned. The bumper cover problem is that the holes that the wheel liner clip into are deformed and torn right off, and around the mounting points and the wheel well on that side, the bumper is bent out of shape at least noticeably.

[daves87rs]

Ow! That sucks man....

[frogger]

Wow, such a wide residential street as well..

[Camino LS6]

Grim!

I'd make them triple check all suspension components as well as the frame rails.

Sorry to see this.

[vonVeezelsnider]

The estimates are starting to trickle in. Looks like give or take 2000$ for the cosmetic work (New Fender, New Bumper, Paint, Labor). The suspension inspection and any subsequent parts/work is extra and they haven't examined the front frame rail yet so no idea if it's damaged.

[Intrepidation]

That, to me at least, don't look like enough damage to be an issue with the frame. Good idea to check just to be sure of course.

[Camino LS6]

Probably not.

But the way cars like this are built, it doesn't take much to affect structural members.

These days, bodywork is just a thin skin over vital parts of the car's anatomy.

[A Horse With No Name]

+1 on checking to see if the thing is lined up right, and checking the suspension.

[vonVeezelsnider]

I feel that I'm forced to ask. Why bother giving it back to me if you haven't done the job right?

Back to the body shop it goes.

1) Fender not aligned properly with hood or rocker panel

2) They scuffed my hood, A-Pillar, and the new fender while installing it; also chipped paint off the lower leading edge of my driver side door

3) Their attempt to "detail" the interior of my car made it look worse rather than better; the protectant foam they sprayed on my dashboard during said "detailing" coated the automatic light sensor in grease and now my car thinks it's dark out all the time... meaning I can't read my radio when it's sunny out. Also the protectant only made it onto maybe 1/8 of the driver side door. Looks like they spent the sum total of 2mins on my car.

4) The fender they installed has dimples in it

5) The headlight is loose

[ocnblu]

UGH... I'm sorry, on behalf of all decent bodyshops. Question: what kind of fender did they put on the car? Did you get an invoice with parts billed? Was it new GM, new aftermarket, or used GM? Could be important.

[A Horse With No Name]

Welcome to the /USA/Canda, where everything is done (crappily) to the lowest bidder.

Like blu said, on behalf of decent, professional body shops, you have my sympathy.

[vonVeezelsnider]

UGH... I'm sorry, on behalf of all decent bodyshops. Question: what kind of fender did they put on the car? Did you get an invoice with parts billed? Was it new GM, new aftermarket, or used GM? Could be important.

Unless I'm otherwise mistaken it would be a reconditioned OEM part. My insurance company only puts new OEM parts on cars two years old and younger but always uses OEM parts- just not necessarily new out of the box ones. That being said they're supposed to be reconditioned to new condition (IE no dents). We had a big hailstorm in town this July and because of where my car was parked at work at the airport I miraculously didn't get any hail damage (2000$ in damage was done to the 09 Impala and 4000$ was done to the 06 Malibu; this damage was just recently finally fixed since so many cars got dinged at least a bit). Fender must be a Calgary part cause the dimples (I counted 4-5) almost look like little hail dents. Makes me a little cross because there was previously no damage.

[ocnblu]

So it is a used fender, possibly off a hail car, and they didn't fix the dents before painting it and putting it on your car. So nice of them. Hopefully everything gets resolved to your satisfaction soon.

[vonVeezelsnider]

Got it back on Friday PM, this time actually repaired properly. Of course the day after I got it home the battery was toast and I had to have a new one put in. Starting to think the car is cursed but as of today all is well.

[ocnblu]

Good.