Forester Accident Damage

[Al]

Today I was driving my '07 Forester and had an accident. Someone pulled
out of a side street and I ran into them. I jammed on the brakes and slid
into the front right fender of the VW Jetta. Bang!

I got out of the car. I saw a lot of debris in the roadway and expected
the worst. It turned out, all of the debris in the roadway was from the
Jetta. The left headlight was toast. The end of the left front fender was
pushed in. The front bumper come off the Jetta.

I turned and looked a the front end of the Forester. Yipes! NO VISIBLE
DAMAGE. I got on my knees and looked around. Could not find anything out
of place. The only thing wrong was that the plastic grill in the front
was loose at the bottom.

The other car could not be drive as the left front wheel was dragging
against the fender well.

The adjuster will be coming to look at my car on Thursday. What should I
expect and how should I handle it?

Al

 

[Frank]

Today I was driving my '07 Forester and had an accident. Someone pulled
out of a side street and I ran into them. I jammed on the brakes and slid
into the front right fender of the VW Jetta. Bang!

I got out of the car. I saw a lot of debris in the roadway and expected
the worst. It turned out, all of the debris in the roadway was from the
Jetta. The left headlight was toast. The end of the left front fender was
pushed in. The front bumper come off the Jetta.

I turned and looked a the front end of the Forester. Yipes! NO VISIBLE
DAMAGE. I got on my knees and looked around. Could not find anything out
of place. The only thing wrong was that the plastic grill in the front
was loose at the bottom.

The other car could not be drive as the left front wheel was dragging
against the fender well.

The adjuster will be coming to look at my car on Thursday. What should I
expect and how should I handle it?

Al

Could be hidden damage under bumper and if air bag went off, they are
expensive to replace.

 

[QX]

Today I was driving my '07 Forester and had an accident. Someone pulled
out of a side street and I ran into them. I jammed on the brakes and slid
into the front right fender of the VW Jetta. Bang!

I got out of the car. I saw a lot of debris in the roadway and expected
the worst. It turned out, all of the debris in the roadway was from the
Jetta. The left headlight was toast. The end of the left front fender was
pushed in. The front bumper come off the Jetta.

I turned and looked a the front end of the Forester. Yipes! NO VISIBLE
DAMAGE. I got on my knees and looked around. Could not find anything out
of place. The only thing wrong was that the plastic grill in the front
was loose at the bottom.

The other car could not be drive as the left front wheel was dragging
against the fender well.

The adjuster will be coming to look at my car on Thursday. What should I
expect and how should I handle it?

Al

Make sure they check to be sure there is no buckling in the
chassis/unibody/suspension arms whatever they call it. If it is even
the slightest bit out, the AWD will eventually suffer.

Subies need an absolutely square platform. No skewing.

AWD is also why it's so important that all tire diameters be within
tolerances.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Today I was driving my '07 Forester and had an accident. Someone pulled
out of a side street and I ran into them. I jammed on the brakes and slid
into the front right fender of the VW Jetta. Bang!

I got out of the car. I saw a lot of debris in the roadway and expected
the worst. It turned out, all of the debris in the roadway was from the
Jetta. The left headlight was toast. The end of the left front fender was
pushed in. The front bumper come off the Jetta.

I turned and looked a the front end of the Forester. Yipes! NO VISIBLE
DAMAGE. I got on my knees and looked around. Could not find anything out
of place. The only thing wrong was that the plastic grill in the front
was loose at the bottom.

The other car could not be drive as the left front wheel was dragging
against the fender well.

The adjuster will be coming to look at my car on Thursday. What should I
expect and how should I handle it?

Al

Get busy with a sledgehammer tonight!

;^)


I think , even if the airbag did not deploy, you're 'supposed' to get
new seat belt retarctors or something if you're ever in a wreck in which
they 'lock up'.

maybe contact your dealership and see what they feel like is reasonable
to inspect.

glad you're OK, hope the other person is as well.

Carl

 

[Frank]

Today I was driving my '07 Forester and had an accident. Someone pulled
out of a side street and I ran into them. I jammed on the brakes and slid
into the front right fender of the VW Jetta. Bang!

I got out of the car. I saw a lot of debris in the roadway and expected
the worst. It turned out, all of the debris in the roadway was from the
Jetta. The left headlight was toast. The end of the left front fender was
pushed in. The front bumper come off the Jetta.

I turned and looked a the front end of the Forester. Yipes! NO VISIBLE
DAMAGE. I got on my knees and looked around. Could not find anything out
of place. The only thing wrong was that the plastic grill in the front
was loose at the bottom.

The other car could not be drive as the left front wheel was dragging
against the fender well.

The adjuster will be coming to look at my car on Thursday. What should I
expect and how should I handle it?

Al

Some additional comments:
Just get their permission to get repairs done and then have them done by
someone you trust. Don't sign off on anything until you are satisfied
and take full advantage of your inconvenience and get a loaner if needed.

My '98 Forester was totaled 5 years ago and damage did not look that
bad. Insurance companies will pronounce a car totaled when estimate is
above about 70% of book value because there may be hidden damage and
cost of repair could exceed book value. I had to hang tough with
insurance companies. Mine was a PITA and did not look at car for over a
week during which published book value dropped $100. I was using my
insurance company because other driver denied fault even though she was
the one that was ticketed by the police. Her insurance company wanted
to wait 2 weeks for police report and I needed car for long trip the
following month. Fortunately lawyer son dealt with her company and I
got my deductible, medical bills plus settled fast. I was not hurt but
concerned about existing conditions and being on blood thinner wanted to
be checked out.

Another family incident where family member rear ended car and neither
car had any damage resulted in rear ended car driver collecting $225,000
for supposed injuries to spine.