Hi guys,

So yesterday night I was on my way home going east on 237. They've been doing construction in this area which never appears to be making any progress. But because of this, there is a 45 degree lane shift. Its always been amazingly dangerous in my opinion and last night it just wasn't well lit. Needless to say, I either clipped the barrier or overcompensated and hit the soft median. Back end broke loose and spun out 180 across 3 lanes. I guess I'm still in shock considering I'm not quite pissed about this situation yet, but I'm definately worried about how well the repairs will turn out.

Let me know what you guys think. Definately, both driver side rims are gone. Rear bumper and driver side tail light is gone. Biggest thing is the rear driver side quarter panel, it is crunched and the driver side rear wheel. It now has an opposite camber and it toed in to the right.

Although body-wise, the car still looks fairly solid, but I know there will be issues under the sheetmetal. Possibly frame, diff, and brake damage... but definately suspension and rear axle.

Another question I have is how will insurance handle this. I'd like a Infiniti/G/Z specialized shop to work on the internals. My friend told me about ZcarGarage here in SJ and I'll be calling them up. As for body work, I'm planning on searching up a good shop. Will insurance let me take it to multiple places or does one place have to coordinate all the repairs?

Also, if there are any recommendations on a body shop here in south bay or penninsula, please let me know.

Thanks!

 

I know exactly where you are talking about. I work in san jose right next to milpitas. That construction will never be finished. About the insurance thing. I know that you have to get 2 or 3 quotes and show your insurance which one you want to go to and they will say yes or no. At least thats how my insurance works. I like Shiro's Auto Body. They do really good work.

 

Another victim of terribly marked highway construction work zones.

(I'm a highway engineer- the only state which does a good job with work zones is Illinois.)

 

I called up my insurance provider just a little while ago (Mercury)... and the lady I spoke to knew exactly which area I was talking about. Apparently she used to live in the area... kinda funny.

Does anyone have experience with ZCarGarage? I want to take my car to some place that specializes on working on Z's/G's. Especially for something like this suspension work. Apparently they're pretty busy. The guy I spoke to (Rob?) said he couldn't even look at my car for a couple of weeks. The insurance rep suggested the dealer since they can readily get parts, but I really don't trust dealer workmanship.

 

i guarantee you'll need to replace the radius rod back, and the lateral bar back. your rims could be bent as well. best thing to do is go through insurance. get your wheel and tire balanced again, and see if it's bent. it is possible to have bent sub frame, but that is fixable. good luck. i hope your insurance is good peoples.

 

Make a claim to the Highway Authority, or ask your insurance to do it (they should know). They have insurance companies that deal with these kinds of claims because the states have the duty of keeping the roads safe. If visibility was bad, or there was another safety issue, they are at fault.

 

35blaze:

Is this the shop you were talking about?

Auto Body By Shiro's
125 S San Tomas Aquino Rd
Campbell, CA 95008
Tel. (408) 378-6956

I'll look into them if so.

 

Get the required number of quotes then pick the shop you want. Your insurance company can't tell what shop to use. That is entirely up to you.

 

OverDrve - yeah thats the shop im talking about. They did body work on my last car. Its a small shop. They dont specialize in g35s or Zs but they do good work.

 

The G35 uses an aluminum frame to hold the differential and all of the suspension components in the rear. you can not bend this back, it has to be replaced if it damaged, the subframe costs about 500 and u need to take the whole rear end and components out of the car to do so.

 

Zcar and SP aren't really body shops for G's/Z's... i wouldn't recommend taking your car there for this work... although others may chip in with diff opinions.

 

absolutg, that's right. I'd have the suspension and possibly the diff/drivetrain damage looked at by ZCarGarage. All things mechanical mainly. I'd have to find a bodyshop to deal with the rest. There are actually a number of bodyshops near my office in San Mateo. One of which I always see BMWs and Mercedes parked in their garage. I walked over there today and saw an 05 G35 with work being done on the rear end. I spoke to the guy there and basically the damage was almost exactly like mine. Crunched rear quarter panel and bent suspension. I took a closer look and they seem to do good work. The guy also said they are ASE certified and could do the suspension work for me too. But I might still want to get Zcar to do it since they pretty much only work on our cars. Problem is the earliest appointment is July 17th. I really want to get this done right as I was hoping to keep my G for a while. Something like the suspension and drivewheel repair to me anyways seem to be top priority.

However, what can I expect having 2 shops working on parts that are basically in the same area of the car? It would seem like everything would just fit into place better if one shop did all the work. However, how reliable would be the mechanical work done at a bodyshop? I mean, they're expertise is paint and body work. ZCar's specialty is mechanical. Seems like a simple choice, but I don't want each shop working at different times and realize things don't fit back together well.