I got into an accident in november where the front end was heavily damaged. Supposedly there was no engine damage, but the bumper, grill, headlights, left front shock, and frame were damaged. My insurance company would not replace my car, instead they opted to fix it. I picked up the car from the garage today and took it for a test drive. Basically its not the same car anymore. There is a lot of rattling and shaking, especially when going over rough surfaces and bumps. When i go WOT the car vibrates abnormally. The pedals and shift **** (its a 6mt coupe) vibrate insanely as well. Also, the alignment is severly off. This is ridiculous. The car should have been deemed totalled, but the greedy s.o.b. insurance company wouldnt replace the car. What can I do about this? Im sure the alignment problem can be fixed, but what about all the vibrations and rattling? The car was 5 months old before the accident with less than 5000 miles....Basically New. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Sorry to hear of your situation. The reason why the insurance decided to repair the car instead of a total is probably because the repair amount was below what your car is currently worth, considering it was so new at the time of the accident. Anytime a vehicle sustains some kind of structural damage, it will never drive the same as when it was new. The body shop who repaired your G should have given you some kind of warranty on the work they did, so if I were you I would keep bringing the car back to them until you are satisfied with the repairs. If that doesn't work, you can always consider taking a loss by trading in/selling the G for another one. - Mike

 

hey..sorry to hear bout what happen. Yeah, that would sux if the car doesn't drive almost the same as NEW....but I was wondering what Insurance company do you have? But yeah, I would complain to my insurance comp until I was satisfied with the repairs. Good luck.

 

What Insurance co. and the name of shop? You've got to take it back, dont hesitate or delay. Check your invoice for any warranty or " satisfaction guaranteed " service.

 

I would contact the insurance company first... let them know that your car does not drive as well as before and you think there's more damage that what was repaired... they should go back in and total the car and give you a full reimbursement or you will file against them... get in touch with your lawyer as well and inform him of the situation as well in case the insurance company doesn't cooperate...

 

That sucks. My advice is to pursue a "loss of value" claim. There might be another name for it but it is commonly known. It's basically the dollar amount of how much less you could sell your car because it was in a wreck. My wife had someone plow into the back of our Maxima. It was a lot of damage but mostly in the rear. I had a professional appraiser come out after the initial repairs. It cost a little bit but was well worth it. He photographer all the repairs and wrote a full report. If necessary, he would appear in court as an expert. I presented the report to the insurance company and they paid without question.

As the others said, if there is stuff rattling around or driving problems. Take it back to the shop unit it is right. I had to do that once with my wrecked Maxima.