My daughter was in a minor accident in which the front of her 2000 Saturn was struck by the rear end of a Jeep. Very little damage to the Jeep. Does it seem likely that her frame was bent or is the body shop just trying to take advantage of her. The car is still driveable and only pulls a little to the right-which could be a sign of needing alignment as well as a bent frame. Correct?
2006-12-03 00:40:51 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
dangerous
2006-12-03 00:42:56 · answer #1 · answered by traveller 7 · 4⤊ 2⤋
well i've read the answers, some good, some not good. the car does not have what is considered to be a typical frame, that does not mean that someone is lieing to you about a bent frame, it is just a generallized term that most shops use for repairs that are going to require the use of a frame straightening machine. this kind of structural damage can be all the way from very dangerous to something you will not even realize. the cost of this repair also is like this. most shops have a "setup" cost for hooking the vehicle up to the machine, and from there, depending on the damage the cost can be very low to very high. one thing that is unsafe is to take anyone's word for whether the vehicle is safe or not without them personnally checking the car out. the best thing to do is get several opinions from several shops, and don't be afraid to ask them if the repair is for cosmetic reasons, or if it is a matter of safety. MOST generally, if the car can be aligned, (4 wheel), it will have no safety issues. you can look it over yourself for some clues, but don't trust your diagnosis, leave that to the pros. clues include strange body gaps such as being very wide at the top of a door, and very narrow at the bottom, and i'm talking about all the body gaps, not just gaps in the area of the damage. if you find these gaps are odd around the car, or if doors are suddenly hard to open, this is a sign of more extensive damage. look at the metal inside of the engine compartment, look for paint "popped" off, this is a sign of a bent structure. a good shop will probably give you what seems to be an evassive answer, and that will be "we will have to put it up on the machine and measure it until we can tell you the extent of the damage, and whether it has to be repaired or not, and that will take some time, and will cost you some money for the labor. a good shop wil err on the side of safety instead of saying, "oh yeah it should be fine to drive."
2006-12-03 02:03:36 · answer #2 · answered by guido 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the frame is bent, usually the auto insurance totaled the car. In this case, 4 wheel alignment is needed. If the vehicle is still pulling to one side, even with the 4 wheel alignment, it is going to be a problem. 4 wheel alignment is harder to correct on the bent frame (or bent suspension). The car has a uni-body construction, meaning the frame is actually the whole car. The car will have a handling problems, which is dangerous to the one driving it. That's the reason why the auto insurance usually totaled the car if they see a bent frame and a bent suspension, because it cost a lot of money for repairs.
2006-12-03 00:56:25 · answer #3 · answered by glen 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
A Saturn (and most unibody cars) have upper and lower rails in front.
The upper rails affect fender alignment with the doors & hood and are usually part of the upper strut mounting. If the upper strut mounting has moved it will affect caster and camber which can cause pulling & tire wear.
The lower rails support the engine and lower suspension mounting points. If one or both are bent at or behind the suspension mounting points, it can cause pulling due to caster/camber issues or a shorter wheelbase on one side. (as in one front wheel is back farther than the other)
A bent frame will not necessarily affect wheel alignment, it all depends on where it is bent. As long as all 4 wheels are in proper alignment, the car will drive properly regardless of any body or frame damage.
Without being able to actually see the car, it's tough to make a call. I would take it to a "good" wheel alignment shop for a 4 wheel alignment. If they can't get it aligned within the factory specifications, they should tell you.
2006-12-03 01:22:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Impossible to tell without having it accurately measured. "Bent FRAME" is sort of a misnomer, as modern cars do not have frames. (except for Ford and Lincoln large vehicles) It takes very little to whack the body out of shape which result in "bent frame" symptom.
A good body shop can pull the body to a shape that would be safe to drive, depending on severity of the bent. Sometimes, it is not financially feasible to do so.
Yes, once the "frame" is bent, alignment will be way off, and it needs to be done once the "frame" is fixed.
2006-12-03 00:52:30 · answer #5 · answered by tkquestion 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
how minor of the accident was it? I'm thinking your body shop is after more money from you, if it only pulls a little, the wheel alignment is probably all you need and is probably all you will get from your body shop. try another shop.
2006-12-03 01:05:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
2000 saturn has no frame its unibody constuction. so it all depends where exactly it was hit. take a look under the hood at the body. and look underneath. it could just be the steering rack is out of wack. yea u cant trust then auto repair places
2006-12-03 00:58:17 · answer #7 · answered by goomnaga 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Damage of this kind definitely needs to be fixed so they're not having you on. It could be dangerous to leave it. The steering and suspension may be affected.
2006-12-03 00:45:51 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
get it straighten or trade it. you will eat up tires in no time.
2006-12-03 00:50:38 · answer #9 · answered by DASH 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋