Chevy-0 : Caravan-1

71ChargerRT

71ChargerRT

Well-known member
My wife dinged up the Caravan tonight, everyone is fine, no injuries on either side. Caravan is gonna need some body work, but not nearly as mush as the Chevy 1500 that she hit.

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She didn't see the truck coming down the road, I remember the kid, ALWAYS flying by my house, so she may have not seen him, or at least noted him far enough away to not be an issue. She backed out of the driveway and hit him broadside.

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Me thinks he was NOT going 30 like he told the cop, yup that front spring mount snapped off!!! And the gash on the rear door? The rear bumper support cut that, and see how it drops down, like the side of the truck is lifting on this side? Best part, his dad owns a body shop and noticed a crease in the drivers door, where the B pillar is located, and a crease in the roof like the frame is tweaked. There may be a stern talking to over there when he gets/got home :D
 
While I'll agree that the Caravan fared much better, don't be suprised at the estimate to repair the Caravan. Just looking at the rear bumper cover, I think it's going to be a lot more than you think it will.
 
Yeah, the Caravan bill is going to be more then meets the eye. There are underlying structures that got squashed.

As for the Chev, looks like a fleet side, cab corner, two doors, partial rocker, a leaf spring and maybe a rear diff. I doubt very much that the frame is bent, those new body style hydro-formed full box frames are brutally tough!

The father-in-law was t-boned on the passenger side rear door to axle area of his 2008 Silverado by a 2008 F-350 going 45+MPH, caved the door, crushed the cab corner and box in, bent the leaf and the diff and snapped off the axle shaft and sent the wheel and drum flying. $24,000 insurance claim.

No frame damage.
 
No way he was doing 30 mph to create that much transfer of energy from motion to crushing bodies and snapping leaf springs!! Doesn't take a genius to figure that out...just a basic understanding of physics should tell you all you need to know.

Glad the family is fine...sucks about the damage...and claim though.
 
van may be better off than it loks actualy...id love to see the "list" when they do the work..hell id like to see it with the bumper skin off
 
That sucks.
B5 blue on the van? Never saw a blue like that on a Caravan around here.

There won't be much in the way of structural repair needed on the Caravan, perhaps a light pull to the right on the rear panel/bumper mounts.
That's typical damage to the Chevy for a side impact of that nature. His repair bill will be MUCH higher. Despite what people think, pick-up trucks don't take impacts well.
 
No, they don't. A friend's son's 2003 Silverado 2500HD recently got smacked by an old Escort while parked. The Escort bounced off the fender, driver's doors, and got the front of the box. $9,000+ in damage... the insurance company wrote him a $14,600 check as a total loss.

After seeing what happened to my friend's mid-'80s Dodge W250 with a large plow rig, a 440, and oversize tires you'll never convince me of body-on-frame construction. That thing buckled like a belt when it hit a Windstar in an offset frontal crash. The Windstar got fixed; the passenger's-side headlamp on the truck was under the cowl. The frame was Z-shaped, except it would be a really-flat Z.
 
Almost B5, PBD is the paint code. Big items on the van are rear bumper cover and support and probably both mounts, right for sure. Rear hatch assembly and right tail light. Other than a couple small dents that will be covered by the bumper there is only one small dent over the tail light.

Since we don't have full coverage insurance :( I'm thinking about just locating parts and replacing them myself. This would be one time I wish we had a common color :D I bent the body seam straight and the hatch opens and closes smooth and even, so I THINK structurally the van is fine, or at least within the tolerances.
 
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Rounded/rounding up all required parts! $250 for tail light, bumper support assembly, bumper cover and tailgate shell. Once I get the miscellaneous other items together I'll rip it apart and install them. :dance:


Then I'll have to save some money for paint...
 
Hehehe! The insurance co. kept caling Trish, my wife, about the accident and the truck. So today when they called she snapped, and said
"I've given you the information multiple times, and this is becoming a hassle!"
To which the adjuster replied "well, there's a problem..."
Trish snapped back but the adjuster stopped her and said "your ins. co. paid out, but it wasn't to the person involved in the accident"
"huh?"

"The truck was STOLEN at the time of the accident!!!"


Really wierd! But it explains why the kid was sick to his stomach, they didn't want it towed, and a couple more odd happen stances.

Just glad it's over now.
 
thats an intrestingly new angle to make crooked money..steel a car wreck it and get paid the insurance...so they can FIND YOU....
 
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