Here we are with a 97 GXE maxima. Basically, driver was somewhat tail-gating a person who immediately stopped in an intersection right when the light turned yellow and so my friend rear ended him. Car that was hit was just fine (driver wasn't, he was using an expired license -_- )

But anyhow, the damage might look severe, but after looking at it, it wasn't so bad.

Primarily, the right (pass) fender was gone, hood, and front part of the frame, along with a/c condenser and radiator. The bumper is only lightly scratched and being kept, and seems as if the re-bar behind the bumper wasn't touched at all.

So far, we found the same color fender already at the junk yard, as well as headlights, radiator, and condenser, everything needed pretty much for the car to get running again, with the exception* of the hood of course (PM IF YOU HAVE ONE, matching paint not necessary)

So, below is the link to the pictures, I'm just wondering what is it going to take to fix up the crumpled (upper) front end....and the slight crumpling of the frame on the pass inner fender, we love this community and all feedback is appreciated!

Link http://picasaweb.google.com/m00njal/TerryMaximaCrash

 

Oh, and also, feel free to comment here or on the photos on picasa web albums, thanks

 

Did the airbags blow if so, PART OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

air bags did not blow.

Part out? ouch, so extreme, Car even runs fine now...its just a smashed front.

 

I'm no expert, but this will be expensive to repair. I'd suggest buying a used 4th gen, and moving on.

You can get a decent used 4th gen for $3,000-6,000, Getting a new hood, fender, bumper, rad support, radiator, bumper retainers, headlights, and getting them painted will cost you in the neighborhood of about $1,500 alone. Then it looks like you'll need parts of the frame bent back into shape, and installation.

if you do go the junkyard way, etc... Pieces you'll need to rebuild the front end will include everything you mentioned, impact styro foam (if yours is damaged), I can also see bent bumper retainers (the piece that runs across the middle under the headlights) and you'll probably need a p/s retainer as well.

 

Hmm, I see

Friends dad is a mechanic and one of my clients is a body restoration person by hobby.... but I did get the other parts from the junkyard already...and paint is something that will be done last of course....only think I'm wondering is what is the radiator support and bumper retainers exactly? Much appreciated, thanks.

 

here in florida, we drive 2 seconds behind the car ahead. =)

 

since when????

 

It can be fixed. I fixed one with similar damage. Average cost using new parts runs around $2000 to 2500 with DIY labor.

Used parts/ebay would be around 1000 to 1500 w/ paint.

I'm currently working on an I30 with similar damage.

 

^^Awesome, can you guide me as to possibly what needs to be bought or how to fix the damaged frame parts?

I'm clueless for that stuff, have all the parts that need to be replaced already though.

edit: BTW, your input would be really appreciated, not only the color, but that i30's damage is nearly identical to the max, before everything was removed...

I guess that's nissan crash/design engineering.

 

To fix the bent frame pieces, it's best to sawzall off the piece that got bent and find a donor vehicle and cut off the same piece to weld on.

It won't be likely taht you're going to be able to pound those back into place.

In the case that you can't find a donor vehicle, it's time to get creative and cut out some same thickness sheet metal to form the shape of what it looked like before and do some welding.

That portion just supports the fender, I would be more concerned if the front support frame is bent and it pushed your engine back. Then you're really fuct.

 

bumper retainers hold the bumper onto the car. there's a retainer on each side holding it to the fenders, and one that runs across the top of the bumper, all the way

 

I will check the front support frame, but off hand I think its ok and it didn't push the engine back,

if it was pushed back, would that affect the engine's ability to run? because we did turn it on a few times (only a few minutes at a time) to move it around and park it, etc.

As for donor car, I believe we have already found two, with good front ends that I can chop off, the rest is welding, which I can have a shop do for me if I chicken out, neh neh?

Thank you so much again, I'll get "terry" on here to give credit to you guys also, being his car after all.

 

Is this a black bar that goes across the top of the bumper? If so, we already scrapped one of those from the junk yard too.

Edit, I guess we only got the top retainer... hmm I'll have to take a look at the side ones, can they be removed from a donor car?

thanks thanks thanks thanks again guys.

 

I am fairly certain the front support is fine. Not sure about the side ones, it's only 1 black bar that holds the bumper in place. Everything can be removed from the donor car if you have one. Then it's a real easy fix.

 

sweet! I'll be sure to update this thread asap, potentially with pictures of the donor cars, with a go from that, we'll throw ourselves into this adventure!

 

Hi there everyone, my name is Terry and I just want to say Thank You Very Much for all the tips and advice, really appreciate it .

 

^^Learn not to tailgate from this guy, nukka who crashed!


Anyhow, pics of donors tomorrow!

 

since columbus killed our natives.

 

I dont know if this has been mentioned, but my other max was involved in a head on, air bags did not blow, they were broken. great... broken arm.. lol

anyways, Its fixable to a point if the subframe is bent, take the rad out, and the entire bumper assemblies, your going to have to rip all the fron peices off.

You will see two major frame beams. these are what bent on mine, if these are bent, even slightly, its a write off, quoted over 3000 to bend the frame back and straighten parts, the engine was undamaged and ran even. but the major frame beams connect so many peices that it twisted body pieces all the way to the trunk.

get picks with the hood off

 

got max....I believe I posted a link to all my pictures which had the hood off... ?

 

scrap it and start new. car with front end damage can have a whole myriad of hidden damage that you wont notice till one day the environment will be right.

 

*sigh* same thing happen to me couples of years ago. I let one of my friend drive my car and he totaled it. The whole front mess up. I never forgive him for that. It was my first max, but now i got another max. I wish I had toll the car to my house so i could part it out but instead ( my dumb self) I told the police to junk it.