$20,000 to fix my truck when it got rear-ended

[donguess]

Anybody else have this happen? I was rear-ended at a slow enough speed as not to deploy any airbags in my vehicle or the Chevy Traverse that hit me. I was a little sore the next day. No big deal. However, not a happy camper since the truck was new. I was pushed into the car in front of me which just caused minor damage to the front. Dash cam showed I got stopped in time.

You can see by the pics it looks like a minor fix. The original quote was for around $3,200. I put the truck in the dealership for repairs and soon got a call from the rep that the frame was buckled on the right side just behind the cab. To repair, they whole bed, suspension, rear-end and everything else had to be removed from the cab back so the old frame could be removed and a new frame section welded in. All this from the minor damage you see in these photos.

I went by and saw the buckled frame. The dealer rep said he's seen it before in these types of crashes. He thought it was because the way the bumpers were attached to the frame. They are not mounted to the end of the frame, but with brackets mounted to the frame underneath. I have no idea if that's true, but that's what he told me. When the bumper is pushed down in a crash, it will sometimes exert enough force to buckle the frame. In the end, it totaled just a tad over $20k for repairs and 3 months in the shop.

If you get into a rear-ender like this, have them check the frame.

Truck has been fine ever since with no issues.

Edit: Forgot to mention the bolts holding the hitch got pulled through the frame as well.

Forgot I had video

 

[Mooseman]

I thought that bumpers, by law, were supposed to be able to absorb an impact up to 30mph or something. I remember when they had to add shocks to them in the 70's. Frame buckled? That is unacceptable!

 

[donguess]

The tech said it probably wouldn't have been a problem if the bumper was pushed forward. In this case, it might have been pushed forward, but it was mostly pushed downward toward the pavement. I still can't believe it did that to the frame when I ran back across these pics recently.

 

[jjs34748]

Part of the dissipation of impact to a rear bumper is taken by buckling of a section of the frame. The rear most section of the frame is designed for this and it is also designed to be replaced in the event that it may have buckled from impact. The OP states that they have to weld in a new section of frame, but does not state what section the shop stated they need to weld in. The tails of frames are not usually welded into place since they are designed for replacement because of impact. If the portion of frame that needs to be replaced is forwrd of this designed section, you should absolutly push for either a complete frame replacement or for the truck to be totaled. you do NOT want to have a frame that hase been welded together from different pieces that it is not meant to be. I don't care how good the body shop is, this will not allow the frame to be as it was built.

 

[Marvin24]

And if they did weld a portion of the frame in place why would it cost 20,000.00, taking the bed off of one of these trucks especially being new, would be very easy, half a frame can't cost that much, seems like a scam to me!