Appraisal/Body Work Recommendations?

[My1stEV]

Hello all,
I drive a 2012 iMIEV and unfortunately I was rear-ended on Sunday 5/7 in Durham, NC (less than two miles from home). The insurance company had it towed to a body shop with in their "Guaranteed Repair Network". The body shop was supposed to appraise the damage and then with the insurance company's blessing get it fixed.

The only problem is that they mentioned to my husband that they don't work on electric vehicles. If they don't work on electric cars, then why are they even doing the appraisal? The body shop is backed up so the appraisal would be tomorrow (5/10) at the earliest. The local Mitsubishi dealership says that they they don't do body work nor could they provide any recommendations. (I should probably mention that I didn't buy my car from them. I bought it from a small used car dealership about 30+ miles away.) It's obvious there is body work that needs to be completed but what if there is other work that needs to be done? Damage was evident in the rear bumper and small damage to the trunk. What if there was damage to the charging ports? (Granted, I know little about cars' inner-workings but the impact site was in the rear of the car and that is where both my charging ports are.) So any suggestions on how to handle this? Any body shops you can recommend? Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks,
My1stEV (aka Viv)

 

[Phximiev]

Advise the insurance company and request that they authorize the work at a body shop that does electric cars.

 

[wmcbrine]

They're almost certainly going to declare it totalled.

Maybe you can find some help here: http://www.pluginnc.com/

 

[My1stEV]

@wmcbrine,
Why would you say that? It was almost drive-able. The rear fender had bent so it was rubbing on both of the tires. Otherwise it seems okay. The airbags didn't deploy. Its valued at $6K-$8K depending on what site you use but I doubt there was that much damage.

By the way, I did reach out to Plug in NC and just got a response. I've reached out to their referral and waiting a response.

 

[My1stEV]

Advise the insurance company and request that they authorize the work at a body shop that does electric cars.

@Phximiev,
Thanks, I've emailed and waiting to hear from them. I wanted to put in writing so there would be a paper trail.

 

[PV1]

Sorry to hear. I have a couple of questions that may shed some light on any damage to the EV drive system.

1. Was the body itself damaged? The plastic bumper cover is a replaceable part, but if the metal where the charge ports are was crumpled, then definite body work is needed.

2. How far was the bumper pushed in? Did it damage the rear hatch?

There is a decent amount of crumple space behind the bumper before any drive components are affected. However, if it pushed the inner fenders into the tires, then it may have damaged structure under the car, but it depends where the bumper was hit (high or low). If you have any pictures you'd like to share, the link below will put them in my Dropbox, at which point I can re-share to the forum.

https://dbinbox.com/pv1

However, what really makes me worry is the difficulty others have had in sourcing replacement parts. For example, a fender bender a couple of years ago nearly totaled an i-MiEV simply because parts couldn't be found. Luckily, a forum member here had the remains of a salvage car and was able to supply the parts needed. That car is still on the road today.

 

[My1stEV]

@PV1,
I've tried to upload pictures to answer you questions. Hopefully you will get them. I don't think the body was actually damaged. It was mostly the fender. Some small damage to the rear hatch but it still opened/closed. Hope that the pictures will give you a clearer idea of the damage.

Sorry to hear. I have a couple of questions that may shed some light on any damage to the EV drive system.

However, what really makes me worry is the difficulty others have had in sourcing replacement parts. For example, a fender bender a couple of years ago nearly totaled an i-MiEV simply because parts couldn't be found. Luckily, a forum member here had the remains of a salvage car and was able to supply the parts needed. That car is still on the road today.

Forgive my ignorance but couldn't Mitsubishi just provide another fender? I know that we they don't see a lot of them but they are still around and available for sale from Mitsubishi so why wouldn't we be able to get a fender from them?

 

[PV1]

Pictures of the damage:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/78sxsr7xsx9ovpq/AABgJXzR9Kro-QH_0CjycRnNa?dl=0

Looks like there is a little wrinkle on the driver's side by the door. Overall, it doesn't look too bad (better than I was expecting), but the shop should be able to give more insight.

I'm not worried about damage to the electric drive system, looks like all bodywork to me.

It just seems that they don't like doing parts runs at the factory. Batteries we can get easily, but body panels seem to be hard for shops to get. Let us know what they say.

 

[My1stEV]

@PV1,
Thanks I'm glad you agree it's fixable. I will let you know how it goes. I'm hoping that you're right about the electric drive system. I don't want another car. I love my iMIEV.

 

[Phximiev]

@PV1,
Thanks I'm glad you agree it's fixable. I will let you know how it goes. I'm hoping that you're right about the electric drive system. I don't want another car. I love my iMIEV.

Looks like ours after we had an accident. Insurance covered it all and good as brand new. See: http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2862

 

[My1stEV]

@Phximiev,
Thanks that makes me feel better. How long did it take to get it fixed? I read your post about the rental. I was trying to get them to give me an EV rental but they said that they weren't available. I have a Nissan Versa for my rental. It's new but it sounds loud. I guess anything seems loud in comparison to an EV.

 

[Don]

It's certainly repairable . . . . but they may still total it - I'd say your odds of getting it fixed are 50/50 at best

We had a much less severe collision which involved the front right corner of one of our cars - A pick-up pulled out in front of my wife and she didn't quite get stopped before they met. No metal work involved, no damage to the hood, none to the steering at all - We drove it home and we drove it to get the estimates. It looked like all that was needed was a new front bumper cover and a fog light, but there was also damage underneath (the bumper support and some other plastic bits) that couldn't be seen until the car was taken apart. In the end, it was repaired at a cost of $3500 - Your damage is much more severe than ours was. I can pretty much guarantee there are going to be parts under the rear bumper cover which will add up quickly when you get a good estimate

It will take 3 or 4 weeks to get it fixed and since you have a rental car for that period, that will drive up the repair costs even more - We didn't request a rental, so that wasn't part of our repair costs. I would guess (just a guess, mind you) that you're looking at between $5K to $6K and if that's correct, it would probably be a total - If the car is worth $7500 and the damage is $6K, the car would be sold for $1500 or so and there you have the $7500 - They would not even consider repairing it because once repairs begin, new things will be found which will drive up the final cost even more than the original estimate - Our estimate was for $2250 and the final repair was $3500 . . . . and there was no metal work of any kind needed. The only paint work involved was painting the new bumper cover

Our insurance company (State Farm) didn't fix the car either, but they gave us the first estimate and they also went to the body shop we chose twice more to authorize extra repairs that their first estimate did not uncover. I think most major insurance companies do their own estimates (and probably make the total/not total decisions) even if the repairs are done elsewhere

Anyway - Good luck . . . . I hope I'm completely wrong (happens everyday) and I hope they can fix your car good as new for less than it will take to total it!

Don

 

[Phximiev]

@Phximiev,
Thanks that makes me feel better. How long did it take to get it fixed? I read your post about the rental. I was trying to get them to give me an EV rental but they said that they weren't available. I have a Nissan Versa for my rental. It's new but it sounds loud. I guess anything seems loud in comparison to an EV.

It was a couple of weeks and I think the total insurance bill was $3,500 to $4,000. Mark Kia's auto repair shop did the repairs. Its right in the same business as Mark Mitsubishi of Scottsdale so they probably knew the car even though they repair all different kinds of vehicles.

 

[jray3]

Sorry to see this, My1stEV! Would you mind elaborating on the accident? I've worried about getting rear-ended while regenning, as there's no brake lights during that significant deceleration.

If insurance does decide to total it out, I hope you'll consider a negotiated buyback. (Yes, you can negotiate with the insurer- I had one car totaled twice, and the second check was significantly larger then the first!) If you didn't want to repair it yourself, me and others on the list would certainly be interested in parts or the whole car. Once our totaled cars get sold at auction, they often seem to disappear and not pop up again on car-part.com or other salvage yard websites. I see lots of 'third world' buyers on the online auctions for trucks and SUVs, but haven't heard of an export or rebuilder market for crashed EVs yet. Mainly its just battery salvage by DIY EV builders and some grid storage applications.

 

[My1stEV]

@jray3,
About the accident: I was stopped at a red light. There were four lanes: the two outside lanes are turning lanes. I heard brakes screeching behind me and before I could look into the rear view mirror I was hit. My iMiEV was pushed in the right turning lane and ended up at the entrance for a Bojangles. I was stunned but unharmed. My air bag did not deploy. The road has a speed limit of 35 mph but people routinely go above that. I was impressed with it's safety. I had nothing more than a headache from the impact. I'm 5' 2", in my 40s and not a particularly health conscious person so I think the iMiEV did a great job as far as safety is concerned. I was able to drive my car further into the Bojangles parking lot into a space so I wouldn't block the intersection or the Bojangles entrance. Then the police informed that it wasn't safe to drive since the rear fender was rubbing along both tires.

I've heard from the insurance company and it will be totaled but I have been given any offer yet. As for the negotiated buyback... I'll have to think about that.

 

[Don]

I've heard from the insurance company and it will be totaled but I have been given any offer yet. As for the negotiated buyback... I'll have to think about that.

Really sorry to hear about that. It doesn't take much of a crash to total many cars these days. A relatively minor front end collision totaled a 2015 Ford Transit Connect on another forum I follow. The Blue Book value on that vehicle at the time was more than $17.5K

As to the possibility of buying back your car. If their offer is indeed in the $1200 to $1500 range, you could very possibly sell that car for at least double that and maybe as much as $3500 to $4K. Pull off the rear bumper cover and I'm sure you could drive it home. It would be very attractive to anyone wanting to build their own EV. The battery and drive system alone would cost many times that if bought new

Are you going to look for another iMiEV or replace it with something else?

Don

 

[JoeS]

It really does look as though simply pulling off the bumper guard will get you home, where you can evaluate the rest of the car at your leisure.

Whatever happened to the cars we used to see with a 2x8 bolted on in lieu of a bumper? :roll: Aesthetically atrocious, but functional. :twisted: I would drill the 2x8 full of holes to make it lighter! :twisted:

 

[PV1]

I had a feeling they would total it. I once found a Tesla Model S with no apparent damage other than the rear bumper cover missing on an auction site.

I've been impressed by the wrecked i-MiEVs I've seen so far. A couple have been in some really bad collisions but held up remarkably well with minimal injuries. At least the car that hit you applied brakes before colliding. Not only did that dramatically reduce the damage done to your car, it saved you from suffering injuries. Because the front of the other car dipped when the brakes were applied, it hit low on the back of your car. That avoided a direct impact to the frame rails, which would've likely rendered the car un-driveable.

If they allow a buyback, please let us know. Even if you don't want to repair it, it's easily worth $3,000 as a fixer or parts car. If you decide to buy it back and resell, I know someone that might be interested.

It becomes more apparent everyday that most drivers out there only look as far as the edge of their hood. I always keep an eye in the mirror as you can't trust the guy behind you anymore, especially with how quick these i-MiEVs can stop.

 

[barrylevine]

Hello,

Was rear-ended the other day, not very hard, but hard enough dislodge the rear bumper so it was rubbing my tires, and also to slightly push in the area near a rear reflector. I just pulled the bumper back and snapped it back into place. It was just some kid coming back from a friend's funeral, (good story, huh?) and after I re-adjusted the bumper, I waved him off. It's not worth replacing anything, although my Precious now has a ding. Could have been worse.

But I'd like to take the ding out of the bumper where it's pushed in near the reflector.

I'm wondering if I can use a heat gun directed behind the bumper to soften it just a tad? (Behind the bumper so as not to damage the paint finish. ) Has anybody tried this? Are the bumpers thermoplastic?

I've a 2016 iMiev, still love it.

Post-script: Used a heat gun on low setting behind the bumper, and wore a leather work glove when pushing out the dent. Worked pretty well.

 

[My1stEV]

Well... it's been a while since I've been on this forum. I just wanted to follow up on my iMiev accident. Unfortunately, my insurance company totaled the car. I loved that car. It was too difficult to find anyone who was qualified to work on it or to find the parts. Even the local Mitsubishi dealership was no help. I ended taking the money that they gave me for my iMiev and getting a 2017 Nissan LEAF. It had an insanely good incentive -- $10K off the sticker price due to an arrangement with the Nissan corporation and the local electric utility. And fortunately we were able to take advantage of the full the $7500 tax credit so it turned out all right in the end. Plus I have to admit that the longer range was a bonus too. I still miss the conversations that my iMiev would start. You don't get quite the same response when driving a LEAF. I do know that I won't ever own another ICE vehicle. Lastly I just wanted to thank you for all of your advice and information on this forum. It's been invaluable. Keep driving green!

Best,
My1stEV