Collision Repair Costs

[mellobob]

So ... last week a 770 pound elk and my 2018 PHEV had a meeting. I think the elk is most likely in the next world. My car is completely driveable, but is damaged. Needs a new hood, front grill and headlights (the little bracket holding the headlight to the grill snapped).

I'm fine ... just got a little excited. My replacement cost insurance is covering the cost, rental car, etc. So, no problems. But, I was more shocked by the repair estimate than the collision! Over CDN$9000.00. Wow. Hate to think what it'd cost to build a car in a body shop

Just wondering if this is just a Canadian thing, or is it the way in the world? I've not been to a shop for this stuff for several decades so I'm probably out of touch.

 

[Regulo]

Locally to me there's a compound for damaged insurance write-offs. The cars I see being transported there seem to me to have minimal panel damage that would have been bashed out routinely back in the 60's and 70's. I don't think it's a Canadian thing, just a global problem of cars being so complicated that it's easier for insurers to write them off, and put up everyone's insurance premiums to cover it!

 

[jaapv]

It is simply the way cars are designed nowadays... One headlight unit can cost up to 2000$ for instance.

 

[Tai626]

One more thing, now your car worth less (not worthless) because there is a score in the car record. So you can claim the diminish value for it. At least, it is what we do in the USA.

I am still trying to visualize how big is a 770 lb animal...

Tai

 

[stripey]

I am still trying to visualize how big is a 770 lb animal...

Tai

A medium size dog weighs about 50 pounds. Think of fifteen of them!

 

[yardbird88]

They don't made it in steel anymore, everything is plastic including the clips & rivets and the hood is designed to be collapsible so $9,000 CDN is reasonable. Any sizable collision will run around 10k easily, especially in the front. I fell sorry for the elk though, Aman!

 

[mellobob]

One more thing, now your car worth less (not worthless) because there is a score in the car record. So you can claim the diminish value for it. At least, it is what we do in the USA.

I am still trying to visualize how big is a 770 lb animal...

Tai

I talked to the insurance co about the diminished value and, basically, they told me to suck rocks. And, no, in Canada you can't even insure for that. I talked to the dealer and he said it would have an effect, but due to the minor damage it would not be too great.

As to the size of a 700 lb elk ... they are much bigger in the middle of the night when you hit them than they are on the side of road. I hit the brakes and slowed to about 10mph and his belly polished the hood and then he did a somersault off. But, he most likely went into the forest and died.

 

[mellobob]

They don't made it in steel anymore, everything is plastic including the clips & rivets and the hood is designed to be collapsible so $9,000 CDN is reasonable. Any sizable collision will run around 10k easily, especially in the front. I fell sorry for the elk though, Aman!

I had no sympathy at all for the elk. Damn thing should have stayed off the road

It was a funny accident ... I was on my way home, middle of the night, and I saw him on the hillside. I had the conversation with myself on what to do ... speed up, swerve or brake. I decided to brake. He decide to run out in front of me.

BTW, in this situation ... do not swerve. If you end up in the ditch or wrapped around a tree it is considered a collision and you will have the higher deductible to fix the damage and you get points on your license and you face increased insurance costs. Hitting the animal head on it is claimed under comprehensive ... lower deductible (only $300 in my case) and no increase in premiums.

 

[Regulo]

It's human reflex to swerve to avoid anything in the road, just as it's impossible not to blink if something's coming straight at your eye. If you don't have time to evaluate your options, that is. Insurance companies seem harsh in some of their decisions.

 

[greendwarf]

Locally to me there's a compound for damaged insurance write-offs. The cars I see being transported there seem to me to have minimal panel damage that would have been bashed out routinely back in the 60's and 70's. I don't think it's a Canadian thing, just a global problem of cars being so complicated that it's easier for insurers to write them off, and put up everyone's insurance premiums to cover it!

They also used to cut cars in half and weld a good front to a good back and hope it didn't come apart at speed - in the "good ol' days" :lol:

 

[mellobob]

Took my sad Outlander to the bodyshop today. They gave me a '14 Chevy Sprint for a loaner. Makes one very grateful to drive an Outlander! Hope I don't need to drive this POS for too long

 

[maby]

I lightly nudged a plastic garbage bin that had fallen over next to the car (didn't notice it) and it buckled the front wing to the point where it needed replacement - £2000. The PHEV is a very lightly built car and a small nudge is enough to put in a large dent!

 

[mellobob]

I lightly nudged a plastic garbage bin that had fallen over next to the car (didn't notice it) and it buckled the front wing to the point where it needed replacement - £2000. The PHEV is a very lightly built car and a small nudge is enough to put in a large dent!

I was talking to my service guy and he said it was an unusual case where ANY body work damage came in under CDN$5000.00. Guess I'm living in the past where a guy would beat out a fender and give it a quick spray

 

[maby]

I lightly nudged a plastic garbage bin that had fallen over next to the car (didn't notice it) and it buckled the front wing to the point where it needed replacement - £2000. The PHEV is a very lightly built car and a small nudge is enough to put in a large dent!

I was talking to my service guy and he said it was an unusual case where ANY body work damage came in under CDN$5000.00. Guess I'm living in the past where a guy would beat out a fender and give it a quick spray

I'm afraid you are. Labour costs have certainly increased, but I think that a lot of the problem is that cars are just built so lightly these days. I was horrified at how thin the panels on the PHEV are - not much thicker than aluminium foil. Almost any impact will do significant damage. I have been a driver of big, heavy off-roaders all my life - Landrovers, Rangerovers and Landcruisers - they were built to take some punishment. The PHEV is described as a SUV, but if you treat it like a Jeep or Landrover, it will soon look terrible.

 

[BCbackroader]

I'll post damage estimates when I take my '18 in for repair. In a dark shopping mall parking lot this evening, I clipped a shopping cart that someone had left right against the passenger door. I couldn't see it above the side door, but as I pulled away, the wheel opening grabbed a corner of it, throwing it up against the door. I expected a couple of scratches, but was horrified to see several significant dents in the feature line just below the passenger window, in the chrome trim right at the lower edge of the window, and several more, though smaller, in the fender, just ahead of the mirror mount. That means 2 panels and a trim fix.


I'm already booked next week for my second windshield, thanks to rocks thrown up by the multitude of gravel haulers on my daily route. The first cost me my $200 deductible, and the provincial insurance monopoly paid the balance of an astounding $2188 !! Less than 2 months later, I'll be out another $200, and the ICBC corp another $2188. No wonder our premiums keep going up !


The deductible on body damage is $300, so I've now got that to look forward to.

 

[maby]

I'll post damage estimates when I take my '18 in for repair. In a dark shopping mall parking lot this evening, I clipped a shopping cart that someone had left right against the passenger door. I couldn't see it above the side door, but as I pulled away, the wheel opening grabbed a corner of it, throwing it up against the door. I expected a couple of scratches, but was horrified to see several significant dents in the feature line just below the passenger window, in the chrome trim right at the lower edge of the window, and several more, though smaller, in the fender, just ahead of the mirror mount. That means 2 panels and a trim fix.


I'm already booked next week for my second windshield, thanks to rocks thrown up by the multitude of gravel haulers on my daily route. The first cost me my $200 deductible, and the provincial insurance monopoly paid the balance of an astounding $2188 !! Less than 2 months later, I'll be out another $200, and the ICBC corp another $2188. No wonder our premiums keep going up !


The deductible on body damage is $300, so I've now got that to look forward to.

Similar circumstances to the damage to mine - in my case a wheelie garbage bin had fallen over on the passenger side of the car and I didn't notice it before I pulled away. A corner of it clipped the wheelarch and buckled the entire front wing. When I grumbled here about the flimseyness of the body panels, someone suggested that they are just decorative, not structural and, hence, can be very light weight. My answer to that is that I'm happy for them to be effectively disposable provided the cost of replacing them is commensurate. As it is, they seem to cost as much to replace as the panels on our Landrover or Landcruiser, but those can withstand a siginficant impact with little more than a scratch!

 

[richr]

It's all about dissipating the energy of an impact by allowing panels to crumple and crush on modern vehicles. Far better to absorb the energy than punt a pedestrian down the road, or transfer it to the occupants of another vehicle to cause injury.

My 1991 Pajero has big steel girders and tubes under the bodywork so that too survives minor bumps without much damage, but I'd hate to be in anything hit by it. There's a 5th Gear or Top Gear video somewhere of a Mk2 Pajero hitting a Honda Civic from the side at 30mph - it goes virtually all the way through, pushing the passenger side door right up to the steering wheel. I would imagine the Outlander would only push the door 30cm or so at most in the same test, which would be far more survivable for the occupants.

It does of course mean cars are easily damaged as a result though, and they've not got equivalently easier to repair unfortunately.

 

[maby]

Ha! My Landrovers were always fully armoured with bull-bars, light guards and side guards - the Civic would have disappeared without a visible scratch on the Landy...

 

[greendwarf]

Ha! My Landrovers were always fully armoured with bull-bars, light guards and side guards - the Civic would have disappeared without a visible scratch on the Landy...

Which reminds me that I was passed by a PHEV on the M1 last week fitted with full bull bars at the front. I thought from posts long ago that the consensus was that there is nothing substantial on our cars to fix one to - so a front impact will just create more damage, as it pushes back into the engine bay. Alternatively, if it is fixed to some sort of sub frame, the lack of energy absorption just twists the car out of sharp for even more costly repairs.

 

[mellobob]

Ha! My Landrovers were always fully armoured with bull-bars, light guards and side guards - the Civic would have disappeared without a visible scratch on the Landy...

Which reminds me that I was passed by a PHEV on the M1 last week fitted with full bull bars at the front. I thought from posts long ago that the consensus was that there is nothing substantial on our cars to fix one to - so a front impact will just create more damage, as it pushes back into the engine bay. Alternatively, if it is fixed to some sort of sub frame, the lack of energy absorption just twists the car out of sharp for even more costly repairs.

Yeah, but it looks so, so cool