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Accident - Jeep JL Rubicon Frame Replacement

amiii

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About two years ago when I bought my 2019 JL Rubicon I had an accident on secondweek of getting my Rubicon. I rear ended someone in the highway due to the fact that the guy had a medical emergency and stopped in the middle of the highway. After taking it to a shop that deals with dealership i was told that my Jeep needs a new frame. The cost to fix my Jeep ended up being $30,000 Canadian. Since I bought my Rubicon for close to $60,00, my insurance company refused my request to have the Jeep totaled. The thing that sucks the most is that in Canada in my province you can’t file for diminished value due to an accident. In the past two years and after 10,000 KMS on my Jeep, I have never had a single issue. Seems like the shop did a pretty decent jeep swapping the frame and axles etc. Although I do suspect that the shop did something to the frame in order to get more money from insurance. The accident didn't seem bad enough to have damaged the frame and also i don't recall the bent frame when I went under my Jeep after the accident to access the damage but the shop sent me a picture of the frame which was obviously bent. Not sure if they did that after I dropped of my Jeep at the shop or if it truly happened due to the accident. The first quote they give me was $8,000 which then changed to $30,000 due to the damage. They give me a life time warranty on the frame and whatever that was fixed but not sure if they will honor it with all the upgrades. Now after 2 years the whole accident and frame damage is really getting into me. I regret not fighting harder to have my jeep totaled. Might be the effect of the pandemic and being laid off from work but this whole accident thing is really getting into me after 2 years. How will my Jeep’s resale value be effected by this? If something was wrong I assume it Would have shown after 10,000 KMS? It really sucks to buy your dream truck and then seeing it loose some of its valuesecond week of owning it...


I added some pictures of my accident and frame swap Process and the last picture is my Jeep today with all the upgrades I did since the accident. Tires/Bumper/Wheels/etc.

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Bob Burd

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Be glad you had insurance. It was your fault and it sounds like they did a great job putting it back together. Props to your insurance company and the shop. You think you deserved more but you don't. Get on with your life and enjoy your Jeep.
 

mwilk012

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You didn’t rear end someone because they stopped. You rear ended them because you were following too closely.

If this is your “dream truck” then its resale value is irrelevant.
 

AlgUSF

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Bummer..... Diminished value isn't what you think it is, at least here in the US. You have a nice Rubi, run her till the wheels fall off. I bet a lot of shops here would just "straighten" it. Somebody rubbed up the fender of my wife's brand new odyssey and we got a whole $300US in "diminished value". Not worth getting a liar (er... lawyer) over. In Florida you can't get diminished value if the accident is even remotely your fault.
 

fat_head

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It sucks having your brand new Jeep wrecked. And the resale value will suffer a little. However replacing the frame isn't that big of a deal. It takes some time to do, but it's just nuts and bolts. Your Jeep is 100% fine now. I know it might not feel like it, but it is.

Now keep enjoying it and quit worrying about the little things. 🙂
 

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TheRaven

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What shows on the Carfax? That's what really matters. If it shows as "accident" well then it's just a one-accident vehicle, like thousands of other one-accident vehicles currently listed for sale. Yes it has an effect on resale, but I wouldn't think it would be huge. However if it says "accident - major damage" or "frame damage", that's pretty huge.

When it comes to trading in or selling to a dealer, 100% all that matters is what's on that Carfax. I had a car that was "accident free" according to Carfax, but VERY OBVIOUSLY had serious accident repairs, ANYONE with basic knowledge of cars could easily see that. Nonetheless, because it was "accident free" according to Carfax, it brought top dollar at the dealer. It worked out great for me because I was able to negotiate a great price to buy the car because I could stand there and pick out all the obvious repairs, but at trade-in, the dealer knew they could advertise the car as "accident free" due to the Carfax, so their offer was good.
 

Yogi

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As AlgUSF said, be thankful they replaced the frame instead of straightening it. Straightened frames are never, ever, straight. They will always dog track and no amount of steering alignment will get rid of it.
Yes it will show as an accident on Carfax, if it even made it to Carfax, but there's nothing you can do about that. Even if it did make it to Carfax, a frame replacement is a way better deal than one straightened.
As for pushing to write it off, that was a non-starter right out of the gate. At a 50% repair/value rate there was no way the insurance company was going to write it off. The only caveat, if the airbags went off you might have had a chance.
 

Nailgun

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I had to see for myself what a frame would cost for this Jeep. Turns out to be somewhat affordable at $3377 Canadian dollars for part # 68438094AB .

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CodyDog

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If all the damaged parts were replaced with new, It wouldn't bother me moving forward. it's all good.
 

The Last Cowboy

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Well, you could always trade it for a new one. Then you could sleep at night. An appointment with a counselor would save you a lot of money though.
 

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DavidArmen

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As everyone is saying here, for a body on frame like a jeep, a frame replacement is nothing serious at all. And as you yourself say, the shop did a great job. There is literally nothing physically wrong with your jeep. the only issue is your memory of the accident and whether it’s on carfax, but the jeep could care less as it got a brand new frame.
 

Obi.Wan.Shawnobi

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There is a weird cost differential when it comes to repairing a frame. The frame itself will be rated at repair vs. Replacement. So maybe the cost to pull the frame became great enough to justify Replacement. The weird thing is that then the labor rate blows overall repair costs out the window. Swapping a Wrangler onto a new frame is probably 90% of that 30k cost.
 
 



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