2017 Expedition Frame issue

[Lorlainie]

My doctor has a 2017 and his daughter got in to an accident with it (out of his home state on vacation) . She rear ended another car at 65mph on an angle. Repair shop says that the frame is damaged and can't be fixed because it's a unibody. Says he needs a new frame at a cost of $15000 for all repairs. He's concerned his insurance will be totaling his Expedition. Can he replace frame with a used one? And can the original frame be fixed? Any info will be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Dahammer]

My doctor has a 2017 and his daughter got in to an accident with it (out of his home state on vacation) . She rear ended another car at 65mph on an angle. Repair shop says that the frame is damaged and can't be fixed because it's a unibody. Says he needs a new frame at a cost of $15000 for all repairs. He's concerned his insurance will be totaling his Expedition. Can he replace frame with a used one? And can the original frame be fixed? Any info will be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi,
Generally speaking, Auto insurance companies use the book value as a guide for the vehicle and the repair price. If the cost of repairs is more than the vehicle's worth, they consider it a loss. They can also classify it as a loss if the repair can not be structurally safe before the start of the repair. For example, Say you get T-Boned, the dash frame is bent, and the roof is dented because of the auto accident. It can be a total loss. This happened to me years ago on a Honda Accord.

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

Hitting another car at 65 mph...was she going 65 and the car ahead of her slowed and then she could not avoid and hit...did she hit a stationary car at 65 mph??? Sounds like she was lucky.
In general, most insurance companies will total a car involved in an accident that had the air bags set off. As far as the frame questions go, a lot will depend on the insurance company and the track record of the body shop in replacing/straightening/splicing frames. If it were my vehicle (and I were a Dr.) I would prefer to have the vehicle totaled and purchase a new one.

 

[GlennSullivan]

If the vehicle is in fact an Expedition and not an Explorer, it is not a unibody, it is a full frame vehicle. The purchase price of a new frame, assuming it is a standard length Expy is about $3,000 + installation labor, which could be another $3000+.

Hitting another vehicle at 65mph can do a great deal of damage to a lot of different body parts and internal components as well as probably deploying all the airbags. It is tough to say without seeing the vehicle or pictures but I'm going to assume when taking all of the other components into consideration along with body and paint work, that hard of a hit would total the vehicle.

Depending specific model, mileage and condition, the vehicle could be worth between $30,000 and $35,000 before the accident, so it may not get totaled. However I would not want a vehicle back that has had $20,000 or more worth of repair work done to it.

 

[Lorlainie]

Thank you all for your answers. I will let him know what you have said. He did say that the shop said it was a unibody so I will double check with him as to whether it is a Expedition or an Explorer.

 

[Machete]

It’ll be a rebuilt title. You don’t want an extensive repair.

 

[GlennSullivan]

It’ll be a rebuilt title. You don’t want an extensive repair.

I was under the impression that "Rebuilt" title branding was only when the car was totaled and then repaired? I'm certainly agreeing with you that the owner should look to get the vehicle totaled and gone as it will probably never be right and Carfax will show the major repairs. I am just not sure under what circumstances the title get branded as "Rebuilt" or "Salvage" and does it vary by state.

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

Since Carfax has entered the discussion; you might mention to your friend that any vehicle repaired and the accident reported to Carfax will result in diminished value, sometimes a significant one. It's not always in one's best interest to have their vehicle repaired when there is significant damage. So, the choice usually ends up being between A) holding the insurance company to repairing the vehicle and having it end up worth substantially less than similar vehicles without a Carfax report, or B) negotiating with the insurance adjuster to arrive at a "reasonable" value to walk away from the vehicle. It may necessitate having the adjuster go to his or her supervisor for approval as most adjusters I've dealt with were relatively inexperienced and not real knowledgeable about opportunities to reach a solution that would be cost-effective for both parties.

Case in point: several years back, a person with minimum state required insurance lost control of his "beater" vehicle, hit two other vehicles, and injured the driver of one (not my wife). Anyways, long story short and given the limited coverage of the at-fault driver and the extent of the damages to our vehicle we were forced to claim it on our underinsured policy. Our vehicle's value at the time was around $19K and adjuster estimated he could handle all repairs for under $14K, so it would be repaired and not totaled. I offered to settle for $15K and the company declined. At the end of the situation, she was without a car for three weeks after our rental coverage expired, the insurance company spent almost $19K on repairs plus rental coverage, and we traded the car in six months later and the best we could get was $14K in trade primarily due to the Carfax report.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

There are independent insurance adjusters who will extract a check for diminished value from the insurance company. So you get a repaired vehicle and a bonus check.

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

"There are independent insurance adjusters who will extract a check for diminished value from the insurance company. So you get a repaired vehicle and a bonus check." JamaicaJoe

Perhaps in the event that someone else is "at fault" and their insurance policy has adequate coverage; but, when the "at fault" driver's insurance is insufficient to settle the basic claims and other vehicle owners have to fall back on their own insurance companies to repair their vehicle(s), there is no way that those companies are going to cut that check of which you speak of for diminished value.

The accident which is the basis of this thread apparently was the fault of the daughter, so it will be her father's insurance coverage settling the claims. Any diminished value resulting from repairs following an accident she caused is just an other unfortunate consequence.