Jeep involved accident

[St0rmy]

Hello,

Our 2019 JLUR was rear ended the other day while stopped at a light. The person who rear ended us was distracted and never slowed down. Everyone in the Jeep was fine and we were able to drive it home. I took pictures at the accident and more when I got home. I definitely had some worries prior to crawling up under it as you can tell the entire driver side had shifted down. The force of the impact showed as the body was altered around the gas cap and the gap between the hardtop and body increase as you went towards the back of the jeep. When I crawled under the jeep my worse thoughts were confirmed and the frame was compromised.

We went and received a quote for repairs and it came in around $6500 and will require 17 days of work. The lengthy time is due to a complete frame replacement. Expectedly I am bummed about this as I had been collecting parts for the build for several months now. I do not know if anyone who reads this has gone through something similar but I suppose I have a few questions. Will the frame replacement impact our warranty at all? I am not familiar with how an accident such as this will be annotated on the VIN. Will it be classified as an accident or will it annotate that it involved the frame? Obviously, this would impact the value of the jeep even after repairs so I assume that is something I should talk to the insurance about. Lastly, with such a lengthy time without the Jeep, is loss of us a thing to go after?

If anyone has any experience or information that would be helpful. Obviously I am not too familiar with the car accident process.

Thanks!

EDIT...If better placement is in the technical section please feel free to move and sorry.

Sponsored

 

[Sean L]

Hello,

Our 2019 JLUR was rear ended the other day while stopped at a light. The person who rear ended us was distracted and never slowed down. Everyone in the Jeep was fine and we were able to drive it home. I took pictures at the accident and more when I got home. I definitely had some worries prior to crawling up under it as you can tell the entire driver side had shifted down. The force of the impact showed as the body was altered around the gas cap and the gap between the hardtop and body increase as you went towards the back of the jeep. When I crawled under the jeep my worse thoughts were confirmed and the frame was compromised.

We went and received a quote for repairs and it came in around $6500 and will require 17 days of work. The lengthy time is due to a complete frame replacement. Expectedly I am bummed about this as I had been collecting parts for the build for several months now. I do not know if anyone who reads this has gone through something similar but I suppose I have a few questions. Will the frame replacement impact our warranty at all? I am not familiar with how an accident such as this will be annotated on the VIN. Will it be classified as an accident or will it annotate that it involved the frame? Obviously, this would impact the value of the jeep even after repairs so I assume that is something I should talk to the insurance about. Lastly, with such a lengthy time without the Jeep, is loss of us a thing to go after?

If anyone has any experience or information that would be helpful. Obviously I am not too familiar with the car accident process.

Thanks!

EDIT...If better placement is in the technical section please feel free to move and sorry.

A complete frame replacement doesn't total the vehicle?!?

 

[St0rmy]

A complete frame replacement doesn't total the vehicle?!?

Some states it does. Unfortunately, not in Ohio.

 

[Spdu4ia]

thats crazy... i would have thought frame damage would total it every were

 

[Sean L]

 

[Terminex]

Glad you are OK. Just a couple thoughts:

With a unibody construction vehicle (most cars, as well as most modern SUVs) it is much more common for a vehicle to get totaled with significant frame damage, because there would also be significant body damage since the body & frame are one unit. Since the Jeep is Body on Frame (like most trucks, a body simply sitting on the frame) the frame can be swapped fairly easily. Replacing, vs trying to repair the frame is a very good thing from a structural perspective.

My only worry in a situation like this would be the body damage repairs. I would make sure they are replacing all necessary panels, and not simply trying to fix them. (Body filler is evil) Need to make sure that panel gaps are goo, and test seal fitment to ensure you do not have any leaks from the top after the work is done. use a flashlight and check for water instrusion all around the top after.

A competent repair shop should have not trouble and you should be good to go once complete.

Cheers.

 

[jludave]

Will the frame replacement impact our warranty at all?

No.

Will it be classified as an accident or will it annotate that it involved the frame?

An accident is an accident. To your insurance company, it makes no difference if there was frame damage or not.

Obviously, this would impact the value of the jeep even after repairs so I assume that is something I should talk to the insurance about.

Yes, speak to your insurance company about diminished value.

Lastly, with such a lengthy time without the Jeep, is loss of us a thing to go after?

Again, this is something to discuss with your insurance company. Typically you would have coverage that provides for reimbursement of rental cars, public transportation and/or any other reasonable transportation expenses incurred as a result of the loss of use of your vehicle and/or transportation means. Typical reasonable transportation means are buses, taxis, Ubers, etc.

 

[nerubi]

Seems like a very low cost for a frame replacement plus all of the other work.

 

[Biohazard]

That does seem quite low to fix all that.

If the damage is >25% it will be deemed “salvage” which results in significant loss in value (real world used car dealer experience, the vehicle value is 50-60% of its value if otherwise not salvage).

Two ways to do it: 1) sell it, cut your losses, buy another that won’t have alignment problems, body fracturing and rust/paint issues, etc. 2) dump the extra cash you get into mods, keep it for 10 years and have a great beat around buggy.

 

[Mugzzzee]

Simply glad that you are OK.

 

[wolfdog]

With that damage you'll be "CarFaxed" and when you go to trade if you do the dealer/dealers will cut your value as much as your repairs costs. I had 4k worth of repairs, all jeep parts on a 2010 Jeep Liberty rear ended when I went to the dealer to trade with my figures they said "fine"! They then came back and said "we can't do that figure you have a CarFax we have to take off 4k" !!! I said fine and got up to walk out, they talked and came back and finally dropped to deducting 2k. Nope, I left and went to two other dealers, same deal but those dealers stuck to the 4k I suppose cuz I was not a steady customer?? My own dealer finally only deducted 1600 bad enough for something fixed like new!! I did the deal, really wanted that 2012 JKU!!!

Good luck whatever the case!

Go Jeep!!!

 

[Mid-life Wrangler]

Sorry to hear about your accident. Glad everybody is okay. My wife was rear-ended by a drunk driver on April 24. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/another-member-jlu-collision-report-with-video.50038/

I know my first concern was my wife’s well-being, but I’d be lying if I told you I haven’t worried about what was going to happen with my Jeep. Fortunately, things are very different in Kentucky. My Jeep was totaled because there was body and frame damage. I feel that a person should be able to decide whether or not they want a vehicle repaired or totaled when it involves the frame and/or any repair that is going to diminish it’s value or potentially cause permanent lingering problems. Sorry you’re dealing with this. I know first hand the stress and frustration you’re experiencing. I hope the shop doing the repairs does excellent work.

 

[PunknP]

Hello,

Our 2019 JLUR was rear ended the other day while stopped at a light. The person who rear ended us was distracted and never slowed down. Everyone in the Jeep was fine and we were able to drive it home. I took pictures at the accident and more when I got home. I definitely had some worries prior to crawling up under it as you can tell the entire driver side had shifted down. The force of the impact showed as the body was altered around the gas cap and the gap between the hardtop and body increase as you went towards the back of the jeep. When I crawled under the jeep my worse thoughts were confirmed and the frame was compromised.

We went and received a quote for repairs and it came in around $6500 and will require 17 days of work. The lengthy time is due to a complete frame replacement. Expectedly I am bummed about this as I had been collecting parts for the build for several months now. I do not know if anyone who reads this has gone through something similar but I suppose I have a few questions. Will the frame replacement impact our warranty at all? I am not familiar with how an accident such as this will be annotated on the VIN. Will it be classified as an accident or will it annotate that it involved the frame? Obviously, this would impact the value of the jeep even after repairs so I assume that is something I should talk to the insurance about. Lastly, with such a lengthy time without the Jeep, is loss of us a thing to go after?

If anyone has any experience or information that would be helpful. Obviously I am not too familiar with the car accident process.

Thanks!

EDIT...If better placement is in the technical section please feel free to move and sorry.

Well first I hope everybody is ok. Getting hit is a traumatic event. I had somebody run into me a few years back. The repairs cost over $11000. The insurance company would not total the vehicle. I knew that I would get a diminished return on the vehicle when trading it in because it would be "car faxed". As soon as I got it back from being repaired, I traded it in before it had a chance to be carfaxed. It was a flawless repair. The dealer never asked whether it had been in an accident. I avoided the diminished value from the accident, though I obviously was still a bit upside down on the loan because it was a newer vehicle. Just something to think about.

 

[nerubi]

When you get hit like that it should be automatic that the "at blame" driver should have to pay additional compensation to cover the value loss. But with so many drivers being uninsured, underinsured and not having money to pay damages I doubt that justice like that will ever occur.

 

[Maverick909]

first off. glad y'all are safe!

i would be interested to see how much the frame being replaced would hurt the value. i say this because yet the car fax will show frame damage but it should also show full frame replacement which in turn should lessen the hit of the diminished value of the vehicle. its one thing to try and straighten a frame but replacing makes it like new. other things to take into concentration is control arms, axle tubes, driveshafts, etc.. Hopefully you get fixed up with all new parts and no body filler parts. Post pictures when your able!

Sponsored