collision repair: strut too high
#1
collision repair: strut too high
Hello!
my apologies if this issue has been addressed before, couldn't find anything about this so if this issue has been discussed in another thread sorry for a double post.
2 months ago my 2015 Honda Fit was in a collision. A car hit the front passenger corner head on, the wheel was diagonal, the door was misaligned, that corner of the vehicle was pretty banged up.
It's been in the body shop (Gerber Collision & Glass) for more than 2 months due to delays in receiving parts, staffing issues, etc. (so they say.)
A couple days ago they said my car is ready and they are driving it to a location close to me for me to pick up.
As they are driving it, they inform me the windshield cracked when the car hit a bump.
They tell me this is due to a manufacturer defect, that the strut was 8" too high and caused it to hit the windshield, cracking it.
Prior to the collision, I had driven this car 12k miles with zero issues.
Is this "strut too high" thing BS? Related to the collision? Or actually a manufacturer defect?
I don't know anything about cars, in fact it's my first car. So you can imagine my distress. I'm worried this body shop is giving me the run around and might be screwing up my car, making it unsafe.
If anyone with some more knowledge than I could weigh in, it would be greatly greatly appreciated.
my apologies if this issue has been addressed before, couldn't find anything about this so if this issue has been discussed in another thread sorry for a double post.
2 months ago my 2015 Honda Fit was in a collision. A car hit the front passenger corner head on, the wheel was diagonal, the door was misaligned, that corner of the vehicle was pretty banged up.
It's been in the body shop (Gerber Collision & Glass) for more than 2 months due to delays in receiving parts, staffing issues, etc. (so they say.)
A couple days ago they said my car is ready and they are driving it to a location close to me for me to pick up.
As they are driving it, they inform me the windshield cracked when the car hit a bump.
They tell me this is due to a manufacturer defect, that the strut was 8" too high and caused it to hit the windshield, cracking it.
Prior to the collision, I had driven this car 12k miles with zero issues.
Is this "strut too high" thing BS? Related to the collision? Or actually a manufacturer defect?
I don't know anything about cars, in fact it's my first car. So you can imagine my distress. I'm worried this body shop is giving me the run around and might be screwing up my car, making it unsafe.
If anyone with some more knowledge than I could weigh in, it would be greatly greatly appreciated.
#3
Hello!
my apologies if this issue has been addressed before, couldn't find anything about this so if this issue has been discussed in another thread sorry for a double post.
2 months ago my 2015 Honda Fit was in a collision. A car hit the front passenger corner head on, the wheel was diagonal, the door was misaligned, that corner of the vehicle was pretty banged up.
It's been in the body shop (Gerber Collision & Glass) for more than 2 months due to delays in receiving parts, staffing issues, etc. (so they say.)
A couple days ago they said my car is ready and they are driving it to a location close to me for me to pick up.
As they are driving it, they inform me the windshield cracked when the car hit a bump.
They tell me this is due to a manufacturer defect, that the strut was 8" too high and caused it to hit the windshield, cracking it.
Prior to the collision, I had driven this car 12k miles with zero issues.
Is this "strut too high" thing BS? Related to the collision? Or actually a manufacturer defect?
I don't know anything about cars, in fact it's my first car. So you can imagine my distress. I'm worried this body shop is giving me the run around and might be screwing up my car, making it unsafe.
If anyone with some more knowledge than I could weigh in, it would be greatly greatly appreciated.
my apologies if this issue has been addressed before, couldn't find anything about this so if this issue has been discussed in another thread sorry for a double post.
2 months ago my 2015 Honda Fit was in a collision. A car hit the front passenger corner head on, the wheel was diagonal, the door was misaligned, that corner of the vehicle was pretty banged up.
It's been in the body shop (Gerber Collision & Glass) for more than 2 months due to delays in receiving parts, staffing issues, etc. (so they say.)
A couple days ago they said my car is ready and they are driving it to a location close to me for me to pick up.
As they are driving it, they inform me the windshield cracked when the car hit a bump.
They tell me this is due to a manufacturer defect, that the strut was 8" too high and caused it to hit the windshield, cracking it.
Prior to the collision, I had driven this car 12k miles with zero issues.
Is this "strut too high" thing BS? Related to the collision? Or actually a manufacturer defect?
I don't know anything about cars, in fact it's my first car. So you can imagine my distress. I'm worried this body shop is giving me the run around and might be screwing up my car, making it unsafe.
If anyone with some more knowledge than I could weigh in, it would be greatly greatly appreciated.
#4
Yes. That sounds ludicrous, right?
I'm pretty concerned at this point. They are not inspiring confidence in the repair quality at all. This is the body shop that my insurance recommended and they said the work would be guaranteed for the life of the car.
But I feel like other issues could come up, or, even worse, the car may not be safe.
Do you have any ideas what I could do at this point?
thank you
#5
What do you mean? this situation is pretty exceptional?
I'm pretty worried about the safety and quality of the car they're ultimately going to give back to me.
#6
you have any pics of the car? sounds like a dodgy fix. sorry you are going through this.
Last edited by rodney; 01-14-2016 at 07:45 PM.
#7
It is ludicrous to suggest that the car came from the factory with the strut misplaced by eight inches. I think they are feeding you a lot of baloney, and either the collision or their repair work (or some combination of them) are to blame for the windshield cracking. What they said, at least as you've relayed it here, makes no sense whatsoever.
#9
*** hope this doesn't go through as a double post, I tried to include some images in the forum interface but it didn't seem to work. ***
thank you all for the quick replies and the sympathy— I really appreciate it—
they gave me an updated explanation just now:
they’re not saying it was a manufacturer defect, they say that the *bearing* in the strut was destroyed in the collision but that this is not visually obvious, so they used the one that was in the car before the collision.
when they were driving the car and it hit that bump, the bearing failed and caused the strut to move upward and put undue stress on the windshield, which cracked it. they’re saying that this is a “wonky design” that caused this, and they haven’t seen such a situation before.
so they said they replaced the bearing and double checked the strut assembly and replaced the windshield now.
I am pretty suspicious of the quality of the repair job.
photo album of just after the collision: Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet
thank you all for the quick replies and the sympathy— I really appreciate it—
they gave me an updated explanation just now:
they’re not saying it was a manufacturer defect, they say that the *bearing* in the strut was destroyed in the collision but that this is not visually obvious, so they used the one that was in the car before the collision.
when they were driving the car and it hit that bump, the bearing failed and caused the strut to move upward and put undue stress on the windshield, which cracked it. they’re saying that this is a “wonky design” that caused this, and they haven’t seen such a situation before.
so they said they replaced the bearing and double checked the strut assembly and replaced the windshield now.
I am pretty suspicious of the quality of the repair job.
photo album of just after the collision: Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet
#10
mad camber yo!
#12
Just let your insurance agent know about the whole ordeal and see if maybe you can have them take a look at it since you're really uneasy about the quality of the body shop's work.
Good luck! Just be alert while driving for any weird behavior!
Good luck! Just be alert while driving for any weird behavior!
#16
thank you everyone for the feedback and comments...
got my car back on friday. they made quite a production of introducing me to the regional manager of Gerber, who said he found this thread (!?)
they were extremely apologetic, are covering a large portion of my rental costs, and explained to me in detail what happened...
but I will absolutely call my insurance and have someone else inspect it.
and the back right door is scraping the new front passenger door when opening and closing now.
i have not noticed any abnormal driving or handling behavior.
any tips on getting that touch up paint smell to go away?
got my car back on friday. they made quite a production of introducing me to the regional manager of Gerber, who said he found this thread (!?)
they were extremely apologetic, are covering a large portion of my rental costs, and explained to me in detail what happened...
but I will absolutely call my insurance and have someone else inspect it.
and the back right door is scraping the new front passenger door when opening and closing now.
i have not noticed any abnormal driving or handling behavior.
any tips on getting that touch up paint smell to go away?
#17
Time…
#20
I learned all this the hard way over the years.