Driving in the snow Saturday morning -- avoided a snow plow doing a driveway --- looked away from the road for a sec -- when I looked back I saw a hair pin curve to the left --- swerved to avoid --- fish tailed sideways and BANG ! -- front right wheel took the brunt of the impact and the right rear wheel also took a shot. I was doing about 10 - 20 mph.

DAMN !

Front End definitely out of alignment as I "limped" home. Brakes making crazy noise when I depress the pedal.

Has anyone ever done the same type of thing ? Anyone in NJ who could recommend an ace mechanic in this area I should use ? Approximate costs to repair ? Words of condolence and support ?

Dealership guy called this morning and says " Are you planning to use insurance to pay for repairs ? ....blah blah blah"

Never should have taken it there -- he is "farming" the work out to local suspension shop -- any and all comments appreciated.

 

words of condolences.. did the same thing in a sedan a few years ago, lost control trying to get down a hill, bumped the curb = 800 for re-alignment.. it sucks when something so small makes such a difference and costs so much

 

Did the dealership tell you what you needed/ broken? Sorry about your luck. Next time just drive over the curb less damage done usually.

 

point at the trail rated Icon and say "warrenty that bitch"

 

Condolences: Hey it couldve been worse, you couldve hit the plow right? lol

I think its fair to say that it is impossible for anyone to give you any kind of accurate or even ball park estimate based on your squeeky brake discription of the damages. But my guess is that you probably did some serious damage. I'm also assuming that since you said you were doing 10-20mph (Huge difference in speeds) you were prolly doing closer to 20mph. So I'd prolly say that you did some serious damage, you might have broken the axles, differencial, yokes, shafts, bent rims etc. However I think you did the right thing by taking it to the dealer assuming you are going to put a claim into your insurance.

Put a claim in with the insurance let the adjuster look at it at the dealer this way adjusts it on the high side (since dealerships are always way more money than regular shops) after the adjustor leaves he will call you and tell you what he assessed the damages for. With the money you get take the jeep outa the dealer go to a local 4x4 shop and tell them to replace everything thats broken with upgraded aftermarket stuff.

I mean for what a dealer charges for a factory rim and tire your at 600 rght there. Source out some wheels and tires on the forum etc. You'll end up with your dream jeep if you play your cards right.

Good luck. Lets see some pics of that beast when shes all done.

 

HAHAHA, but this actually is great advice. Only jeep people "hope" for an accident to get awesome aftermarket stuff. Lets see how you do.

 

if you don't own the jeep outright, i.e. still making payments on it, then your insurance won't write the check out directly to you, they will write it out to you and the name of the repair shop you intend to use and the two parties cosign the check for use to prevent you from just taking the money and using it for something else like not fixing the jeep...they do this to prevent fraud and to protect the lienholder on the jeep...if the jeep is paid off and you own the title then happy upgrading as is mentioned here, otherwise it's still good advice to get the dealer estimate because his estimate will be higher, just make sure to let your insurance company know that you intend to have the work done at whatever mechanic or 4x4 shop you choose so that they can make the check out to the right parties...it's not a problem if you don't know who you are using yet as they can re-write the check when you choose or if you change your mind to a different mechanic, just know that you will have to wait until the new check comes in the mail....also, your check will cover the cost of repairs minus the deductable so the higher dealer estimate will likely just offset the cost of your deductable rather than enable you to afford upgrades i would guess...even if you own the jeep and title then the check is less the deductable...as far as the poster that mentioned warranty, good luck, warranty doesn't cover acts of god such as icy roads that the dealer will say you shouldn't have been driving on and not his problem....oh yeah and my condolences....thank goodness for insurance i suppose...

 

ummmmm, simply not true. Maybe it's happened to you, but it's not true everywhere.

I was just in an accident a few months ago and I told the adjuster that I didn't know where I was going to have it fixed and that I was going to do part of the repair work myself and tracking down of parts, he said no problem, did the estimate, then wrote me a check minus my deductible right then and there and I had it in my checking account in less than 30 minutes.

And, I'm still making payments on it.

 

good luck with the repairs!!!!

If I did it.. Id tear it apart and see whats up...

you can crawl under it and see if stuff is bent.
take off a wheel and it should show you why your brake is making noise.

I wouldnt call insurance unless you find out you need a new axle tube or something

 

This is not always the case. I was in two accidents in my previous vehicle one where I got hit in the door by some old codger who darted out of a parking spot into my lane. $3600 bucks got the check from his insurance company Made out to me and BMW Financial Services (the check is written to the driver and the lienholder) I simply signed it and took it to the bank with no problem.

Then a year later same car some guy blew a stop sign I swirved and hit a tree head on they ended up totalling it on a supplementary adjustment but the initial adjustment had $10,850 in damages again check sent to me written to myself and BMW financial services. Most body shops (at least in NY) have you sign a form which they in turn will give to the insurance adjustor. You are basically signing that you want the insurance company to pay the shop directly. While it may be common practice it is certainly not the law or something that has to be done. The body shops prefer t do it this way so that they have the money before releasing the car or even prior to releasing it so they have the cash to lay out for parts etc. Especially when it is a case where liabilty is questionable.