My little sister's car was hit by a drunk driver. Thankfully she wasn't in it when it was hit but the car was heavily damaged to the point that it ripped the rear bumper off and dislodged the back left tire. The insurance company is appraised the vehicle independently and claimed that there is no frame damage. I'm wondering if that is even possible when a vehicle sustained that much damage and I wouldn't feel safe with her driving a car with a bad frame.

You can't damage what you don't have.

It's quite possible there was no structural issue with the accident and the wheel was a result of some part of the suspension collapsing. Which is fixable.

If you're really worried take it to another body shop and have them check the alignment and repair work.

^^^

Needs to get on a machine.

Thanks for the advice guys. I guess the insurance company appraised it and then dropped it off at the place of her choosing. The people at that shop told her, "Looks like there may be more damage under the car" and I thought that may imply frame damage.

As said above, darn few cars with frames anymore. But a second opinion is always good. Especially one with all he high-tech alignemnet machines, etc.

Definitely get a second opinion. Good luck with getting this resolved.

Cars aren't made with body-on-frame construction any more, but they typically do still have front and rear subframes that the engine/suspension mount to. If the rear subframe is damaged, it can be replaced as a unit. Might not be worth fixing though.

[This message has been edited by madd_ag_05 (edited 12/5/2012 11:11p).]

They're going strictly by the NAAA frame damage guidelines. If they don't meet these criteria, then it doesn't have frame damage:

http://www.naaamap.com/NAAA/documents/NAAAStructuralDamagePolicy_Jan2011.pdf

I stopped reading at: Would an insurance company lie...

But the answer is yes. (particularly when they have the plausible excuse of, "oh, we didn't notice that"). Guess I'm getting a little cynical in my old age though.

JFF tweets about us and now we have bots selling insurance? We in the big leagues!

Insurance companies don't exist to give you good customer service. They cut every corner they can. If the suspension can be fixed or repaired and the car aligned properly, that is all they will have fixed.

If you get hit and after repairing the body, the alignment is off but there is no suspension damage, they will not pay for your car to be aligned. If there is no proof the accident caused your alignment to be off, there is no reason for them to fix it. They take this same approach to everything on your car when accepting a claim.

Try to find a shop just as willing to screw them as they are to screw you...

[This message has been edited by ABATTBQ11 (edited 12/14/2012 10:21a).]

Pisses me off that they don't make you "whole", i.e. restore you to the equivalent state you were in before the accident, if they can get away with it.

quote:

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Try to find a shop just as wiling to screw them as they are to screw you...

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My buddy at Sewell Infiniti/Audi/Fisker/etc on 45 & 1960 in Houston does his best to get everything handled for every customer. He pushes pretty hard but is still limited sometimes.