Driver Side Passenger Door Misaligned Post Accident Repair

[DeerTicking]

Hi All,

First post and unfortunately it's one that is prompted by a post accident repair issue. My 2023 Expedition Max was reversed into by a large delivery truck that was traveling at pretty decent speed (apparently he realized he missed a stop and floored it in reverse as my wife backed into the driveway). The damage was substantial enough that the passenger door was crushed and the driver's door would no longer open. Fortunately no airbag deployment but I feared it was imminent so we got a tow.

After two months of waiting, I finally got the car back and was happy with it after a brief once-over during pickup. Then I parked it in our driveway and noticed that the replacement door is not aligned laterally and appears to sag below the driver's door at the B-pillar. I've already contacted the shop and will be going in shortly for them to take a look, but I can't help but be concerned that there may be some undiscovered damage to the B pillar that the body shop either overlooked or disregarded upon realization that the new door was not lining up.

I have attached some pics. It appears they reused the original door brackets, the lower one which still has a gash with exposed metal that was not even repainted (and I will certainly be pointing that out). I'm hopeful that it's just slightly bent and replacing it may be all that's needed, but I am interested to hear everyone's thoughts before I go express my disatisfaction at the body shop. Thanks in advance!






You can even see a small paint chip at the top of the rear door, leading me to believe that it happened when the door REALLY didn't align when they first installed it.

 

[DeerTicking]

And a pic of the post repair bracket, for reference...

 

[ccssid]

It can be repaired properly. Do not give up on getting the shop to fix it. I bought a used 2021 that had been in an accident......both passenger doors were caved. Dealer purchased the "repaired " vehicle ....the repair looked good....I bought the car from dealer......looked good to me. I did, however, have a discussion with the sales manager that once I get the car home and have a chance to drive it and really look things over.....we agreed he would take care of it. Bottom line , much of the weather stripping had to be replaced and 3 separate trips to their body shop to realign the doors. But, I had to be the one to point things out to them . Even had a new paint ding that showed up on one of the doors. Don't get me wrong, the dealer was great to work with, but had I not pushed the issue, I would be driving down the road thinking my doors were never completely closed.

 

[Dahammer]

https://www.motorcraftservice.com/Home/SetCountry?returnUrl=/Judging by the photo, IMHO, the rear hinges should be replaced, and once that's done, the front door and rear door hinges should be loosened and reset together. Enclosing pictures from 2018-2021 body side gap measurements. You can go to Motorcraft service and pay for a 48-hour service manual view.

 

[DeerTicking]

Thanks guys. I dropped by the shop today and they agreed to take it back to address the problem, but I still worry they are not going to truly fix the cause but rather bend/pull/push/add washers and whatever they can to make the door sit flush.

I took a couple pictures today to compare the driver side vs. passenger side brackets and, as you can see, it appears the driver side bracket was pressed into the body when the car was hit, leading to the bracket mounting surface not being level like it is on the passenger side. If you agree that it looks as though the bracket was pressed into the body, is this a straightforward fix? Will they be able to pull out the surface and make it level like the passenger side and then simply mount a new bracket?

 

[Samantha1]

Not only is the bracket pushed in, but it's not perpendicular to the door frame - it's bent down. That will make a difference in the door alignment. Was it a Ford dealer or a private body shop?
Samantha

 

[SyndicateZ]

the reused bracket definitely looks off kilter compared

 

[DeerTicking]

Not only is the bracket pushed in, but it's not perpendicular to the door frame - it's bent down. That will make a difference in the door alignment. Was it a Ford dealer or a private body shop?
Samantha

It was a private body shop that was recommended by our insurance. They had good reviews but clearly they did not do good work in this case. I'm most annoyed that we are going to be out of our car again for some period of time.

 

[SyndicateZ]

It was a private body shop that was recommended by our insurance. They had good reviews but clearly they did not do good work in this case. I'm most annoyed that we are going to be out of our car again for some period of time.

Insurance companies always recommmend the cheapest options

 

[Fastcar]

That looks like a pretty hard hit at a not so good place.I agree with the other folks as well. Were it me, I'd have that puppy on a frame rack for some measurements. I'd take a good look at the roof, all that energy has to go somewhere.