Collision repair advice

[Big McLargeHuge]

Hello, everyone. I have an 06' Mustang GT, and unfortunately was involved in a front end collision last week. The hood, the front bumper, and the left and right fenders were damaged(among other things), but the frame was also bent a bit. This is the part that really concerns me, even though the body shop and the insurance company are confident that they will be able to repair it(and repairs are in process). I keep getting told there shouldn't be any problems in the future with this, once the repairs are done and the car is back on the road, as they say the frame will be restored to within manufacturer specs.

Should I believe this, or what sort of problems could I have(wheel alignment, etc)? I always thought that fixing frame damage would weaken the integrity. I'm not very knowledgable in these matters at all, so any advice people can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[JLTucker]

I did collision repair for 17 years, let me give you my point of view.

Are they right? Yes.
Will it look good? Yes.
Is the frame ok after the fix? Most likly yes. Depends on how bad it's bent.

Will your car be EXACTLY the same as before??? No. not in my opinion.
You don't have much choice as this is how insurance works. There going to fix it up to 70% of the cars value.

Look, most bodymen will tell you they can make it just as good as it was, Crap. No matter how good you can do it NOTHING is like factory paint, welds, primer, nothing! This is fact.

I did the work for a living until JLT and still do it here and there, but I won't own a car/truck that has body work in it.
My opnion is to have the work done at the dealer you got the car from. Tell them you want to trade the car in on a new GT when it's done. Find out what they will give you on trade and if it's lower then book go to the insurance Co. and bitch about depresated (sp?) value. If you can't get what it's worth un wrecked, they should pay the differance.
Be a pain in there a$$. Tell them you'll never be happy and will pick it apart until it's perfect.
They don't like to here all this and will do what it takes to get you off there back.

Just my thoughts.
Good luck.

Jay

 

[bigcat]

as an ASE certified Master collision tech, MOST people wont be able to tell the car was wrecked IF it was repaired at a quality shop. these are VERY HARD to find. talk to mercedes owners and see where they take thier vehicles. to be a mercedes certified repair shop take much more training and experience, as well as top notch equipment. this would be your best option for repair. some shops make it look good on the outside, but underneath that extra undercoating they put on is a mess.

IF you can find a quality shop, dont worry about the repairs. if you just take it somewhere without research, good luck. you will need it.


(jay, that must be where you got the painted intake ideas...the details are falling into place now )

 

[JLTucker]

(jay, that must be where you got the painted intake ideas...the details are falling into place now )

Sikkens certified painter.
I no nothing about chroming plactic, but I can cut, weld, sand and paint the heck out of it.

Agree on what you say. Go to the best and you will never tell.

Jay