Hi everyone. I have a 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan that was involved in an accident. I’m wondering if the damage can be repaired properly.
The damage is in the rear end and airbags didn’t deploy. Please see the pictures for the
Hard to tell over the internet, had a caravan pushed over a boulder, trans rebuilt 3 times, 2 under trans warranty, the shop did the 2 additional for free under warranty due to leaking trans fluid, said things just don’t line up right anymore, traded it in. Looks serious enough to be totaled to me, take the money and run if offered is my advice.
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Of course it can . Collision vehicles are repaired everyday that look terrible . The insurance company will determine it the cost is repair or total .
If it declared a total loss just let it go . Sometimes people will take a check for the totaled vehicle then buy it from the insurance company . Then you will have a totaled vehicle with a salvage title and you will not get much on trade and might have trouble getting insurance.
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Since it’s rear end damage, it seems like the other driver should be responsible for the cost. If this happened to me, I would contact my insurer and have them take care of it. They would give me a short list of shops they use and the shop or an insurance representative would estimate the damage. They would pay for it and get reimbursed by the other guy’s insurer.
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It looks like the rear structure/floorpan is pushed in. Unless the mileage is very low, it will likely be totaled.
back in 2001 we bought a windstar for my wife to drive the kids around in. a month after we bought it she was sitting at a red light and someone rear ended her. it looked a lot worse than your van. we had it fixed and never had a problem with it as far as the accident. but not sure in your case if they will total it because of the age. depending on your insurance if they do total it they may let you keep the car and also give you the value of the vehicle. you can then decide if you want to fix it or not. I had that happen to me with the same van years later. the rear again. damage was only rear bumper, rear door and taillight. but because of the age they totaled it. told me I could keep the car if I wanted. I kept it. also got the money. I just fixed the light, banged out the door so I could open it and drove it for a few tears.
It should be carefully inspected underneath of course, but with a cursory look at the pic it does not look that bad to me.
Find a used valance and rear hatch (salvage or eBay) in the same color, work out the rear corners, and it should be fine.
No harm asking here for opinions, but this sort of damage assessment requires an in-person inspection by a qualified auto-body technician. My prior sedan, a VW Rabbit, got crunched in a similar manner from behind and the auto shop was able to repair the problem with no adverse after-effects. What you have going for you, collisions from behind are usually kinder to the vehicle than from the front.
Total hogwash about “hav[ing] trouble getting insurance” on a restored salvage vehicle, and no, it is not in your best interest to “let it go” if it can be repaired enough to run and drive safely for much less than the cost to buy a different car. The only real effect of having a “restored salvage” branding on the title is that the manufacturer’s warranty is voided (though they must still perform safety recalls) and that some insurance companies will not offer comprehensive or collision coverage for this vehicle. Some will just insure it for a lesser value. You will definitely be able to obtain liability coverage, medical payments, and uninsured/underinsured coverage for any injuries sustained by you/your passengers.
If this vehicle is totalled out by the other driver’s insurance, I would certainly suggest taking the settlement less scrap value and keeping it, and having it repaired at your expense by a shop which will replace the rear hatch, rear bumper, bumper covers, and lights, perhaps with used parts from a junked Caravan. I am sure you can get this into safe, drivable condition for a lot less than you would pay to buy a different used van.
Should be looked at by a body shop to determine but it doesn’t look as bad as a co-workers CRV after they were rear ended. That was close to being a total but the insurance approved the repairs.
That is a lot of damage. The floor pan is pushed in almost a foot, the bumper mounts are torn from the frame channels, look at that tail pipe. Can’t see the quarter panels, if they are kinked, the damage will exceed the value of the vehicle.
I’ll bet the factory brake lights were more effective than these.