Great start to the day.. advise needed. Whats next?

[jdunc87]

Got a phone call from my wife about an accident. It sounds like she is at fault. She was the one cited. Its being towed to a ford body shop as I feared it going anywhere else. Any one got any tips or end results that are actually good? my insurance company is only allowing for 30 days of rental. My concern is things taking longer due to shortages. (which ill fight tooth and nail, im NOT paying for a rental because stuff isnt available.)

 

[AKgrampy]

Odd question but is your car un-driveable? I had damage similar to yours on an Expedition and the body shop taped it up and I drove it until all parts were in. I will say it appears the damage on yours looks to be a bit more severe so perhaps un-driveable. I took mine in when parts arrived but one part was missed in the order and of course that was exactly at Covid shut down. Took about 4 months to get my car back but I had two others so did not need a rental.

 

[jdunc87]

Odd question but is your car un-driveable? I had damage similar to yours on an Expedition and the body shop taped it up and I drove it until all parts were in. I will say it appears the damage on yours looks to be a bit more severe so perhaps un-driveable. I took mine in when parts arrived but one part was missed in the order and of course that was exactly at Covid shut down. Took about 4 months to get my car back but I had two others so did not need a rental.

It was borderline driveable and not. The front wheelhouse liner was rubbing and I couldnt get much further inspection wise, and just decided to have it towed. They drove it on the tow truck.

 

[AKgrampy]

It was borderline driveable and not. The front wheelhouse liner was rubbing and I couldnt get much further inspection wise, and just decided to have it towed. They drove it on the tow truck.

Then perhaps there is a way for them to make a temp fix and you can keep driving it; although, it will be ugly! Otherwise it is get an estimate on cost and an estimate of parts arrival from the body shop.

 

[sotek2345]

Then perhaps there is a way for them to make a temp fix and you can keep driving it; although, it will be ugly! Otherwise it is get an estimate on cost and an estimate of parts arrival from the body shop.

Agreed - get a partial repair and keep driving it until parts show up.

 

[Jimrpa]

Personally, I wouldn’t risk driving a car with that much damage. First, if another accident were to occur, there would be a long debate over which accident caused what damage. Second, I’d be worried about bits and pieces falling off. Third, I’d be worried about unseen damage that could impact the driveability of the vehicle after a while (damaged brakes or steering components that subsequently fail, or something). Also, frankly, I just hate driving a “taped together” car (I have other, much less polite terms that I won’t use).

 

[jdunc87]

Personally, I wouldn’t risk driving a car with that much damage. First, if another accident were to occur, there would be a long debate over which accident caused what damage. Second, I’d be worried about bits and pieces falling off. Third, I’d be worried about unseen damage that could impact the driveability of the vehicle after a while (damaged brakes or steering components that subsequently fail, or something). Also, frankly, I just hate driving a “taped together” car (I have other, much less polite terms that I won’t use).

You and I are on the same page. I'm not risking her driving it anywhere it does need to go. there is no point in that. they finally admitted there is a policy for part delays. I work for a dealership and have for years, and KNOW since covid there is things in place for it. Im not the type to roll over and know how these processes go, and i think they assumed I didnt know any better.

 

[AKgrampy]

Personally, I wouldn’t risk driving a car with that much damage. First, if another accident were to occur, there would be a long debate over which accident caused what damage. Second, I’d be worried about bits and pieces falling off. Third, I’d be worried about unseen damage that could impact the driveability of the vehicle after a while (damaged brakes or steering components that subsequently fail, or something). Also, frankly, I just hate driving a “taped together” car (I have other, much less polite terms that I won’t use).

I did not have any issues but I do see your point. My thoughts though are if there is unseen damage then the body shop will not order the parts to fix the unseen damage. I did not tape up my car - the body shop did and it held up really well even down to -30F. I could not tell from pics if there was underlying damage. Bottom line this is an insurance issue and not a Ford issue with regards to rental car and I have no idea how that works between different insurance agencies! I do know parts can still be a long time out in some cases.

 

[back_at_it_19]

Unfortunately with supply chain issues, your 30 days' rental coverage might not be enough. But if that's your coverage (most of us), you'll be out of pocket after that if necessary.

 

[jdunc87]

Unfortunately with supply chain issues, your 30 days' rental coverage might not be enough. But if that's your coverage (most of us), you'll be out of pocket after that if necessary.

Oh, I finally got them to admit that there is additional coverage for delays.

 

[romanservices]

We had extra rental days for parts delay last year. The shops I dealt with would not order parts until they had disassembled it. And it makes sense, there may be other damage not visible until you peel back all the layers. Your shop may be the same. Only difference here is we drove it until it was scheduled to go in which was about a 2 week wait. Then about 4 or 5 weeks on all the parts. In the end it's just a car, glad no one was hurt.

 

[Logal727]

Damn this is hard to look at, poor pony

 

[MachEr]

Well that was rude of her to do this.

 

[jdunc87]

Well that was rude of her to do this.

After I made sure she was ok, those were the sentiments I shared LOL.. she wont live this one down for a minute. She usually is on my case about driving and has a tendancy to passenger seat drive, shes gonna be banned from doing that for a while LOL

 

[MacherAWD]

After I made sure she was ok, those were the sentiments I shared LOL.. she wont live this one down for a minute. She usually is on my case about driving and has a tendancy to passenger seat drive, shes gonna be banned from doing that for a while LOL

My wife uses my car everyday, I suppose it might be her car in this case, but she is worried about damaging it, she said "can you just sell it and get a Bolt so I dont have to worry about banging it up?"

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