Need some help to determine the damages

[chonmoreno]

Long Story short, i was driving on the freeway, then in order to avoid an accident i hit a small island with the passenger side wheel. The impact must have been around 50-60 mph so i took some pix. Any help is appreciated. Im not sure if the frame got messed up or not, but let the pix tell the story. Thank you all Niconauts.

i kno it's not pretty to see, but at least no one got hurt.

[DevonD]

I am not very familiar with G's at all but I can even see. Your oil filter is dented so needs changing soon! At least the one side stabilizer connecting rob has snapped and what looks like the front suspension cross member is destroyed...

It looks like with the oil filter destroyed its pouring out oil from somewhere so I don't know If I would be driving it. Im sorry to see these pictures but yeah it is good nobody got hurt!

I wouldn't be driving it anymore and I think you need to have it towed somewhere they can properly evaluate the damage. Sorry about the car!

[TeflonG35]

It would have to be checked in person. Pictures could miss vital details. Sorry if we aren't much help. It needs to go on a lift and be properly inspected.

If your speed is what you say it is then you could have caused some real damage.. Or you may be lucky. Get it looked at by a Pro.

[chonmoreno]

Yeah guys, well the car is not driveable of course. After the hit it wouldnt turn on any way so it was towed to my place. I already have an appointment at this great shop Corner3 in Socal (those guys are great) but i just wanted an idea for the mean time. Fortunately, i was lucky and nothing happened to my passengers or my self. Thank you guys.

[Beancooker]

DEfinitely get it up on a lift and have a shop that has dealt with frame/unibody damage look at it. It may be a fairly inexpensive replacement, it could be a major problem. Best to have a pro diagnose that one.

The car wouldn't turn on?

[chonmoreno]

thats right it just clicks thats it, but im thinking the oil pan got busted so could that be a reason? maybe theres no oil pressure or something. I have no clue. Definitely this is for the pros.

[Sentientbydesign]

Call up the insurance. You did what you needed to avoid the accident. They need to fix you up. The alternative is that they paid for you hitting the person in front of you...You weren't getting R**D H**D were you?

[G_whizz]

Aarrgghhh my eyes!!!

Glad you and your passengers are ok!

Good luck!

[joe603]

Glad nobody was hurt! Let us know the results...

[telcoman]

Yeah guys, well the car is not driveable of course. After the hit it wouldnt turn on any way so it was towed to my place. I already have an appointment at this great shop Corner3 in Socal (those guys are great) but i just wanted an idea for the mean time. Fortunately, i was lucky and nothing happened to my passengers or my self. Thank you guys.

Sorry to hear what happened but based on my previous experience in using independent shops no one works on more G's than the dealer and they have factory support behind them.Just not worth the aggrevation if the independent shop misses something or uses cheaper parts.INMHO, have it towed to an Infiniti dealer. Just my $.02

Telcoman

[Sentientbydesign]

Telco,

I agree that the Infiniti Techs "should" know more than an independent shop, but this, unfortunately, is not always the case.

I would take the car to the dealership for the frame portion and take it outside for any body repairs. Dealership recommended bodyshops sit very low on my list.

[telcoman]

Telco,

I agree that the Infiniti Techs "should" know more than an independent shop, but this, unfortunately, is not always the case.

I would take the car to the dealership for the frame portion and take it outside for any body repairs. Dealership recommended bodyshops sit very low on my list.

Well you have to make sure that the top Infiniti tech is the one that inspects the vehicle. Using another lower paid tech to replace individual parts is ok as long as the senior tech is running the show along with the service manager.

Under my G35



Telcoman

[Tampa G35 Sedan 6MT]

I do think that parts of the crankshaft while the motor is on dip very low into that oil pan. If that roll bar is smashed into it then you have major problems... as that is why you get only clicking and not truning over! The crankshaft is probably jamed! by the oil pan

I would call the insurance company either way!

Tell them that you avoided an accident and you hit something! Take pictures of where it happened! Then you can have it fixed properly!

You never know but that might be something that they total the car for!

You can check your doors and sunroof for air/water leaks. If the doors don't shut as they did before the accident then you have bad frame damage!

Good luck

DJ

[chonmoreno]

I will find out this week end. I have never had an accident before so i really dont know what to do. So i assume that calling the insurance is a priority? but then my premium will go up like crazy wouldn't it? Any advice ont his matter would be greatly appreciated.

[TeflonG35]

Well what if it costs a crazy amount to fix? Would you rather get stuck with that cost? Also like someone stated before, What If it is bad enough that the insurance company would deem it totaled. You could get a new car and not worry about fixing this one.

[Sentientbydesign]

I will find out this week end. I have never had an accident before so i really dont know what to do. So i assume that calling the insurance is a priority? but then my premium will go up like crazy wouldn't it? Any advice ont his matter would be greatly appreciated.

2 things. 1) You're probably violating the law and your insurance contract by not reporting it. 2) Not all insurance companies raise your premiums because of an accident. Some definitely do. Others don't blink and eye.

Either way, I'd rather pay $50 + month more for 3 years ($1800) than $3000 right now...and run the risk of having future problems.

[SteveTheTech]

Good to see your safe, your car on the other hand is going to need some serious help. Right above the circle in the first pic you can see there is a large tare in the subframe. While that in itself is not the most expensive part that looks broken its a good indicator of the extent of the damage. I see that the stabilizer link is completely broken, that means your lower control arm is also wasted, the bearing and hub may also have to be replaced, the rim (maybe both front) are probably gone. That's not something to base an estimate off but it's what i can see from the pic, I have spent several years working on Infinitis from body shops and they get pricey when they wreck.

Also it looks like you have had a preexisting oil leak from either your lower oil pan or OPS. It could be from using the wrong drain plug gasket. Jiffy Lube likes to replace the OE copper crush washers with either plastic or cheap metal ones. Call your insurance you won't want to see the estimate.

I do think that parts of the crankshaft while the motor is on dip very low into that oil pan. If that roll bar is smashed into it then you have major problems... as that is why you get only clicking and not truning over! The crankshaft is probably jamed! by the oil pan

The only part that is lower than the crank pulley on the 3.5 is the oil pump and that only ~4 inches at most. The strainer reaches down to the lowest part of the oil pan.

[C-Kwik]

Call up the insurance. You did what you needed to avoid the accident. They need to fix you up. The alternative is that they paid for you hitting the person in front of you...You weren't getting R**D H**D were you?

If he has collision coverage, they'll pay for the repairs less the dedcutible regardless of fault. BUT...generally speaking, if someone hits a fixed object without contact from another vehicle, they will usually be found at fault. The only 2 circumstances I've seen where this wasn't the case was in avoidance of a head-on collision at 60 mph (presumably both cars going at least 60) and in a case where a child ran out into the road. Both cases involve a very large likelihood of severe injury or death. Someone coming into your lane going in the same direction typically doesn't apply.

Just so you understand the theory behind this, when a person avoids an accident, they are still required to maintain control of the vehicle. Swerving and hitting a fixed object technically means the driver swerved too much. Had an impact with the other car occurred regardless of if the driver hit the fixed object first or not, it would be clear that the cause would be the other driver. It is a judgement call, but typically it goes against the driver hitting the fixed object if there is no physical contact with another vehicle. This is under the assumption we are talking about a lane change type of situation. If its to avoid rear ending the car ahead, your at fault either way.

Telco,

I agree that the Infiniti Techs "should" know more than an independent shop, but this, unfortunately, is not always the case.

I would take the car to the dealership for the frame portion and take it outside for any body repairs. Dealership recommended bodyshops sit very low on my list.

Few Infiniti Techs will have any real knowledge about performing body work. Frame, body and paint repairs tend to be a blend of technical and artistic abilities. And further, require a very different set of skills to perform. There is some overlap, of course, but I would prefer to find a good body shop rather than an Infiniti technician to do my body work (other than bolt-ons). Frankly, few dealerships have body shops on sight and even when they do, they likely just occupy the same space (perhaps under ownership of the dealer). Every body shop I've worked with located within a dealership will take almost any make and model to repair as the repair methods are fairly universal. In fact many direct repair facilities for insurance companies are dealer body shops.

A last point to think about is that many dealers don't have body shops on site. Which means they don't have access to a frame alignment machine. They would have to outsource checking it and having it repaired if necessary.

It is a bit of a toss up in this particular case though as it seems the damage appears to be mostly related to the suspension.

Also, did anyone else notice that the shock looks like it is bent. Maybe the camera lens is causing a bit of a fisheye effect, but I'd make sure that is straight as the part that looks bent looks to be right about where that sway bar might hit it. And its pretty obvious the sway bar deflected quite a bit.

[SteveTheTech]

Few Infiniti Techs will have any real knowledge about performing body work. Frame, body and paint repairs tend to be a blend of technical and artistic abilities. And further, require a very different set of skills to perform. There is some overlap, of course, but I would prefer to find a good body shop rather than an Infiniti technician to do my body work (other than bolt-ons). Frankly, few dealerships have body shops on sight and even when they do, they likely just occupy the same space (perhaps under ownership of the dealer). Every body shop I've worked with located within a dealership will take almost any make and model to repair as the repair methods are fairly universal. In fact many direct repair facilities for insurance companies are dealer body shops.

A last point to think about is that many dealers don't have body shops on site. Which means they don't have access to a frame alignment machine. They would have to outsource checking it and having it repaired if necessary.

It is a bit of a toss up in this particular case though as it seems the damage appears to be mostly related to the suspension.

Also, did anyone else notice that the shock looks like it is bent. Maybe the camera lens is causing a bit of a fisheye effect, but I'd make sure that is straight as the part that looks bent looks to be right about where that sway bar might hit it. And its pretty obvious the sway bar deflected quite a bit.

I agree with C-Kwik technical and body repair are two different completely different trades. I know from what I've seen even the best shops have there bad days. I would recommend calling them to see if they do that type of work I know of a few places that don't even touch suspension damage. Typically they will fix the suspension then send it for body repair, its much easier to paint a car that rolls or better yet drives. The body shop will sometimes sublet the work to the Infiniti dealer.

The damage in this case is pretty extensive and pictures cannot really give it justice. Although I agree its not pretty, but it can be fixed.