ranjittx

I got into my first wreck about a week ago. I was waiting at a yield sign and there was a car in front of me. It started to move because there were no cars coming and the way was clear. I looked back again to check for cars and it was clear. I took my foot of the brake without looking forward again and I front ended the car in front of me. When we pulled to the side of the road, I surveyed the damage. My whole front end was smashed up. The hood was bent up, both lights were cracked, the grill was half hanging out. When I looked again, I saw anti-freeze leaking. The other car ( it was a Tahoe) had a little scratch on the bumper. Other than that, there was no other damamge. Judging by how fast I was going ( not even 3 mph) , is this damage normal. And also, to the people that have been in the same predicament, do the body shops do a good job? And also, they had to order two new fenders and a hood. Do they match the paint job pretty well? By the way, no one involved was hurt. In fact, I barely felt crashing into the car in front of me.

Souljourner

That sucks.... I actually almost did the same thing to a Viper (!) once. I'm a lot more careful about that sort of thing these days. My 2000 max was t-boned when someone came out of a side street without looking... couldn't even tell when it was all fixed up.

It does sound like a lot of damage, but if you hit an SUV, it was probably because their bumpers are too high, and instead of hitting your bumper it hit higher on the hood. Kinda too late to worry about what's normal damage... what's there is there.

I've always hated that bumpers don't have to be all the same height.... have you ever seen those 18 wheelers? If you rear end one, the "bumper" is going to be so high it'll practically come in the windshield. Dangerous.

-Nate

packetattack

iTrader: (1)

It all depends on the type of paint finish you have. Pearls are the hardest to match.

Most shops will repaint the whole front end, whatever is damaged and the entire hood, just to get it to match a little better.

A 3mph collision should not cause that much damage. The only thing that might be a consideration here is that you hit a Tahoe, who's rear bumper might be slightly higher than your front bumper, so the impact force was different. Just a theory.

I've rear ended someone before (Ford Probe) at 10 mph, and just my grille popped out and my bumper was pushed in, but no mechanical/radiator damage.

My body shop did an excellent job. Its all about finding the right one.

KCMAXX

iTrader: (22)

Id like to see pic of a 3 mph collision. Didnt happen to take any did ya??

Mike_TX

Too bad. But if you're getting all new parts, you shouldn't have any problem with it looking like new again ... assuming you use a good shop. Paint is the thing to worry about the most, and silvers aren't necessarily the easiest to match. Just check it out really well in good light before you give it the final acceptance. And it will help that the new paint will end at the seam of the front doors ... it won't be as obvious if there is a little difference in the paint color.

Mike

lightonthehill

I agree with what Mike_TX said about the paint. A lot depends on how good the body shop is at matching paints. Most shops can do a good job if their best paint man does the work.

That damage is normal for a very low speed impact. You were stopping 3400 pounds (plus your fat posterior) with your grille instead of your rotors. The grille area is not designed with any strength. It is actually part of the built-in 'crumple' zone.

It didn't help that you hit probably the strongest part of the other vehicle (bottom of the rear bumper). The Tahoe should not have been affected to any extent in this crash, as the impact was his '5 MPH bumper' against your 'never meant for impact' cosmetic grille.

The government hopes to have bumpers on all cars and SUVs regulated at the same height by 2008. But that doesn't help you right now.

In a way, your timimg is good, as parts for the '04 Maxima are fairly plentiful now. That was not always true. '04 Maxima parts were sometimes very difficult to obtain in spring and early summer of '03.

A few caveats:

Make absolutely clear you will accept ONLY Nissan OEM parts.

Be sure and watch the coolant/temperature situation when the repair is finished.

Don't accept the car back at night, on a rainy day, or even on a cloudy day. Examine every angle closely in bright sunlight.

Check the horn. Check all lighting functions (even parking lights, turn signals, cornering lights, low/high beams, focusing, etc).

If possible, try to keep the newly painted areas dry for a few days.

Always wait two or three months before waxing the repainted areas (new paint does not 'cure' well when coated with wax).

Let us know how things turn out.

ranjittx

Thanks for all the info. I will be sure to inspect every single angle in the sunlight and make sure everything is working out perfectly. Thanks again.

ranjittx

I received my car back. It looked good as new. The paint was perfectly matched and quite frankly, the car looked like it had never been in a wreck. The only thing is, is that the shop failed to order the radiator cap that hold the radiator in place. The body shop owner said it was safe to drive it around and am going in to get the part tomorrow.

04SEelite

Happy that it worked out!