so yesterday i was driving during rushhour in the rain we are moving along at about 40mph. there is no reason to slam on the brakes, but the guy in front of me comes to almost a complete stop for no reason. I have no abs and i slid right into him probly going about 10mph. his bumper broke . so i gave him some money and phone number. didnt give him my insurance though. so we'll see if he gets a call back after the estimate since i think its his fault.

But now for the bad news. My head light was stuck up. i fixed that. but now my bumper and front fender and a little crooked. the bumper is touching the light when its down. and the front fender and the hood have a gap about a 1/8" more than it should. the bumper is scratched but i plan on getting a new one when i repaint the car eventaully since its kinda busted up on the bottom.

how much do you guy think it will cost me to get those parts straightened out thats the part i am really woried about. i have no dents its just aligned wrong. like its pushed back.


BTW its an fc.

 

u can try taking the bumper off or looosening it to straighten it out a bit...i doubt theres any real damage aside from the bumper. if u do get a new one it should all be good.

 

that soulds good but what about the the front passangers side fender. or is that just being pushed back by the bumper do you think?

 

Sounds like your re-bar got shifted. If things are misaligned to one side, you may actually have damage to the front frame bar too. Hopefully not...

As for who's fault it was, laws vary from state to state, but in the vast majority of the states, it's almost ALWAYS the guy in the back who's at fault. It's not whether the guy in the front had reason to brake or not...it's about where you were following too closely or not. That's what they hit you up w/...you should be maintaining a safe distance between you and the car in front of you at all times. At best, some states rule it 50/50, but otherwise, it's ALMOST always the guy in the back's fault.

 

i know really its my fault and i learned my lesson the hard way about driving to close. but i dont think my frame is bent, my car drives straght and handles just the same way it did before.

 

You'd be surprised what a 10 - 15 mph impact in an FD can do to the front of the frame. I'm not saying it shifted the entire frame so everything's off, and it's affecting your suspention, but I wouldn't be surprised (from your description) if the front frame bar is pushed or pulled back to one side, pulling the front corner of the fender rail w/ it.

 

its an fc if that makes a difference. do you know how much it will cost to have it straightened out if the frames not bent or can i do it myself?

 

Which is why I never follow anyone too closely even in traffic. I'm guessing ppl in back of me get mad that I'm leaving stopping space between me and the car in front, but I dont really give a f*ck. I've seen too many of these types of accidents.

Your car not having ABS sucks, hope the fix is fast and inexpensive

 

I honestly don't know. You'd need to ask someone who's more verse in this like TurboJeff. But I dunno how familiar he is w/ FC's. I know a friend of mine (Molotovman) did straighten out the front end of his FC before from a minor fender bender, prob somewhat similar to yours. PM him, see what he says. Either way, it can't hurt to get a few FREE estimates from body shops

 

The ABS system in the FC isn't that good anyway. Besides if your FC had ABS, you would of had more confidence and would of been folloing closer.


Gil

 

the bar on the inside behind the bumper was bend back a little and i hammered that back into place and it didnt do anything. i have no idea how the fender got set crooked like it is. looks like a job for the pros.

 

could u get any pictures? if you feel it may need professional attention that may be best...i wouldnt try to whack it out yourself. problem is no matter what you need done bodywise, its always too expensive. at least to me...i used to do bodywork x__x

 

The issue isn't whether or not you can fix it...it's whether or not you can fix it PROPERLY so it performs correctly in a future collision, and withstands the impact. If you just straighten it out so it's visibly ok/intact, but unbeknownst to you, its actually structurally unsound, in the event of another impact to the same area, it'll basically crumple like tin foil, increasing the subsequent damage to your car significantly, or even worse, endangering your life.

 

sorry i dont have a camera. yea i never thought about that fdnewbie. i will just take it to a shop, i know it will be expensive but it will be worth it for it to look good again and be safe.

 

Wise choice Now just make sure you shop around for a good job w/ a reasonable price.

 

i will have to ask around since i have no experience with this. what do you think a fair price is, hopefully not more than 500.

 

It's impossible to say w/o detailed pics...and even then, I'm prob not the guy to tell you. Turbojeff would be able to though. Also keep in mind that for frame damage, usually it's $100 an hour on the frame machine. You also have to factor in parts, paint, labor etc...

 

well that sounds like it shouldnt be too bad then. i need no paint except on the bumper i was going to replace anyways and no parts are broken. so hopefully its not too much.

 

Just so you know, "dumm" has a "b" in it.