Car accident.. shop didn't fix the car properly

DOHC1

DOHC1

Well-known member
My sister recently crashed her brand new 2013 Hyundai Elantra. The car was brand spanking new..only 6000 km on it. It was t-boned, and taken to a shop for repairs (won't name the shop on here till the whole situation is figured out). The car was in for repairs about 1.5 months, and when it came back there was over spray on black trim panels and the car pulled to the right. They mentioned that there was frame damage. Returned it to the shop, they said it needs an alignment (they should have done this prior to handing the car back). They do the alignment, and get the paint off the panels..and one day later the car still pulls to the right! Call them back, and they say they will pick up the car and check it out. They drop the car back, and say they "filled the tires with air" and the problem should be fixed. Well...its not. Now they are saying that Elantras pulled to the left from the factory, so for the newer ones they "over compensated and now they pull to the right" What the F**?!?!?!? the car is BRAND NEW and didnt pull to the right, left or any other random direction prior to the accident. I am going to call the insurance company tomm on behalf of her, any tips on what I should be looking for in this situation? Apparently the car was *almost* totaled but they fixed it. The shop is clearly taking advantage of my sister. What are our options at this point? :mad:
 
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Most of the time, if not 100% of the time, frame damage constitutes as a write off cause you obviously don't want your frame cracking down the road. It seems like the mechanics are pulling **** out of their *** to try covering their own *** by saying that its supposed to pull to the right/left.

If there really is frame damage and the insurance company doesn't know about it, get them to get their "approved" mechanics to check out the car for you.
 
Ask her insurance company company if you can take it to another Hyuandi dealer. I brought my mom's to the one at Morningside auto mall when she was rear ended and they did a great job the first time.
 
Surprised a T boned car isnt written off.

The insurance company will tell you it was like that before the accident and they wont pay to fix it. A friends car was rear ended while parked and the frame twisted, the insurance company told him it was like that from the factory and didnt want to pay. He even showed them an alignment test he had done 2 weeks before the accident when installing new tyres in the states and the figures show the frame had twisted since then. Insurance still wouldnt pay to fix it.
 
I can sense a "mint, all original, no accident, lady driven" hyundai for sale very soon :D
 
contact the insurance ombudsman. sounds like that car should be a write off
 
PSY said:
contact the insurance ombudsman. sounds like that car should be a write off
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This. It astounds me how many people let insurance companies take them for a ride.
 
How did this become a rant against the insurance company when the body shop didn't fix the car properly.

1) Frames often get damaged in accidents. That's why they have frame racks to fix them.
2) It's quite possible the body shop who fixed the car didn't have the properly skilled technicians to fix it.
3) If the body shop was one recommended by your insurance company then definitely involve them in the problem, if it was your own body shop and they screwed up the repairs this is between you and your own body shop
4) Just because a car gets t-boned, and just because there is frame damage doesn't make it a write off.

Nobody here has nearly enough information to comment on whether or not this car should have been a total.

Best of luck with the situation.
 
I used to work for Hyundai (tech) and I will tell you that the drive straight down the road. some people would complain about a pull and I would align the car and it would be perfect.

what you need to do is this.
1, ask for a copy of the alignment, if they dont have one then they cant prove they did one and need to.
once they do the alignment or provide a cop you need to look at it. main thing being is that most places will do a quick alignment and call it a day by just adjusting the TOE.
You need to see that the
CAMBER was checked and in spec - there is no adjustment on your car and will need camber bolts installed to adjust
TOE - cant be set properly unless the camber is right (and i bet the camber is off)
THE big one here is the CASTER, most of the time it is not check because it takes longer to check (and has no adjustment on your car) but if the caster is out then so is the rest of your alignment.

if you dont see all 3 readings then the alignment has not been done properly and the car will pull.
you will see other numbers as well .

the rear of the car has to have the alignment set first (camber and toe) then the front of the car is set to the rear.

unless you have a bad tire (i bet u dont) or seizing brakes (i bet u dont), then a proper alignment has to make the car go straight
 
That's helpful information and factually stated. Thanks Zeniceguy.

And dare I say it not the insurance companies fault who likely included an alignment as part of the repairs for this vehicle. (And I can 99.99% guarantee an alignment was part of the repair estimate the insurer paid for this car).
 
I did this job for years, there is an excellent chance an alignment was on the repair estimate and dropped by the adjuster/appraiser if the collision didnt impact on a wheel. Yes thet do that. Then if it doesnt drive right they'll do an add on. But the cheap fix wont be a four wheel alignment, which is what you want. And you want it done by a guy knows how it should all work, not the guy that works the alignement rack and does oil changes while its up there (that would be the wrong rack)
You dont need an ombudsman, call the broker you deal with and tell them its not right. This is what you pay them for.
 
it sounds like a load of BS. Is your sister dealing with the mechanics herself? If so, that may be why they think they can say whatever BS to her.

Happened to a couple women I know as well. One dealership even told one of the woman that the complimentary "engine shampoo" is done on the "inside of the engine" when she complained that the engine bay hadn't been washed at all.
 
BusaBob said:
it sounds like a load of BS. Is your sister dealing with the mechanics herself? If so, that may be why they think they can say whatever BS to her.

Happened to a couple women I know as well. One dealership even told one of the woman that the complimentary "engine shampoo" is done on the "inside of the engine" when she complained that the engine bay hadn't been washed at all.
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HAHA did they drain and refill the headlight fluid too?
 
DownUnder said:
HAHA did they drain and refill the headlight fluid too?
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It's a sad fact that if you don't know about something, people are going to take advantage of you.
Most women I know, know next to nothing about cars...sadly, lying scum will take advantage.
 
BusaBob said:
it sounds like a load of BS. Is your sister dealing with the mechanics herself? If so, that may be why they think they can say whatever BS to her.

Happened to a couple women I know as well. One dealership even told one of the woman that the complimentary "engine shampoo" is done on the "inside of the engine" when she complained that the engine bay hadn't been washed at all.
Click to expand...

hahahaahahah
 
Thank you so much for your input everyone. I will be contacting insurance and be dealing with this myself. Correction to my initial post.. there was NOT frame damage. (stupid mistake on my end for the typo). However the car still doesnt drive straight. I will update this thread when I get in touch with insurance
 
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