I was hit from behind at a stoplight by a dump truck (then he ran. I’m going to catch him but that’s another story). It was a low speed collision, but it’s a dang dump truck so it was a pretty “energetic” crash. My car looks totally fine (or it’s a little scratched on the back but I don’t care one lick about that) but it’s making weird noises in the front of the vehicle when I reverse the car. Alright: I have to take it somewhere to get it fixed since I don’t know what variety of things could have combined to cause whatever trouble there is (suspension? steering? brakes?), but where do I take it?
I’m feeling way out of my comfort zone here. As soon as something is diagnosed, I feel confident fixing things, but I don’t know what’s wrong and I can’t figure out how to figure that out!
If you have full coverage insurance call them . Also did you report the hit and run to your local police department , if not do it now. As for where to take it that can’t be answered because your location is unknown . Just start calling collision centers ( they used to be called body shops ) near you and check the ratings on the online reviews.
I do have insurance and I’ve contacted them. I made the rookie mistake of doing the photo claim, because I didn’t think anything was wrong with the vehicle yet, just a bit on the bumper. I’m in MI. My understanding is that if I take it to the right sort of place, they’ll work with the store to get it fixed. I have also reported it to the police, and even though I’ve provided them with a photo of the side of the truck, security footage of the accident, and the director of operations of the company who owns the truck they have done nothing. It’s infuriating. I think my main question is - do I take it to a mechanic? collision shop? dealer? knowledgeable friend?
Avoid the friend. Michigan is a no fault state which means your insurance fixes your car. Ask them for collision shops they work with. Start with a collision shop. The collision shop will sub contract any mechanical work required.
I also want to sort of check to see if I’m being paranoid before I get the insurance re-involved. It’s especially frustrating because it’s not a reliable problem and I can’t replicate it, plus I have a concussion and it’s been hard to wrangle all of this!
Yeah, it’s for medical costs not body work-at least in Minnesota and most states. If you have collision coverage, your insurance will pay and they will subrogate with the other insurance to collect the loss and your deductible. That can take a year or more though. So main thing deal with your insurance company and let them handle it. You need an inspection by a good body shop though with frame equipment and also by a mechanic for possible damage to the drive train. That will be tough to prove though. Really though, a dealer has both mechanics and usually a body shop and can provide a full service inspection that should be reliable for insurance. I don’t understand why people shy away from dealers when that’s what they do.
Sometimes the damage can be worse than it appears on the surface. Plastic panels can pop back into shape after a wreck leading one to think the damage is not as severe as it seems.
Some years ago my son broadsided a Crown Vic while in his Camaro. On the surface, the car didn’t look that bad as everything had popped back into place. Even the headlights survived.
Underneath the subframe and floor pan was buckled. Even the firewall was wrinkled. A pro body man bought it to fix up and threw in the towel after taking things apart and getting a first hand look at how bad it was.