[barcode]

Hey Guys,

Am writing on behalf of a friend driving a Hyundai Accent who met with a serious accident recently. He had bought the car less than a year ago...

How did it happen? A rock hit the windscreen of his car and he lost control (I guess he would be speeding, he denies so though)...

So ended up with a shattered front windscreen and the underbelly of the car got scratched as he ran over an unfinished pavement. He was wearing his seat belt, but still suffered some minor injuries and bodyache due to the sudden impact.

His car has been lying at the service center for the last one month due to non-availability of something called the "cross member".

The service center guys claim the following key components have gotten damaged:
- Radiator
- Radiator Support
- Condenser
- Chassis bent
- Engine Bay Undercover
- Cross Member
- Grill, Bumper

Currently the car is going thru whats called a "Pulling Machine"... That's what he has been told... This rectifies the alignment issues that the car faced due to the impact.

Now his questions are:
- Can the chassis be straightened?
- What is a cross member?
- How bad is getting the car fixed
- Will it have some nagging issues?
- How good or bad is Hyundai Motor Plaza for such repairs? His insurance guy advised him to actually goto some cheap place and get this done as the damage doesn't seem to be serious!

The total claim is 80 thousand rupees and my friend would need to be around 15k which is for the front bumper, radiator support, grill, etc.

Sorry - but I have not seen the car yet... But he wanted some tech perspective on things...

Hope you guys can shed some light...

BTW - he found the sign-up process a little intimidating!

Cheers!

[greenhorn]

A quick search yielded this
Crossmember - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by barcode

Currently the car is going thru whats called a "Pulling Machine"... That's what he has been told... This rectifies the alignment issues that the car faced due to the impact.

Not going to be 100% rectified for sure. He'll probably face issues regarding straight line driving and wheel/suspension related niggles.

[TheARUN]

The cross member is what connects the chassis.

For example, a railway track. The rails run parallel to each other, what keeps them paraller are the sleepers that connect the rails from under. That's precisely what a cross member does.

Today accident repair has advanced a lot. Any kind of car accident can be remedied and you won't even know the difference.

The Insurance guy was right in a way. Many cheap workshops specialise in accident repair. Their modus operandi is purchasing a 'total loss' vehicle at scrap vehicle and then repairing it and selling it off in the second hand market.

Ask your friend not to worry, for 15,000 his car is going to be as good as new. Could not have got it done cheaper elsewhere, however a lot of time could've been saved though.

[iraghava]

HMP is your best bet in Delhi for such kind of repair & the pulling machine is actually called a Car-O-Liner which is used to straighten the chassis out.

[barcode]

Originally Posted by iraghava

HMP is your best bet in Delhi for such kind of repair & the pulling machine is actually called a Car-O-Liner which is used to straighten the chassis out.

How could I forget the brand ambassador for HMP... Mr Ishan himself in flesh, blood and keys on the keyboard! I hope they do a good job of what appears to be a major alignment issue. If my friend decides to sign-up on TBHP, he might just spam you... He is a worried bunch

Originally Posted by TheARUN

The cross member is what connects the chassis.

For example, a railway track. The rails run parallel to each other, what keeps them paraller are the sleepers that connect the rails from under. That's precisely what a cross member does.

Today accident repair has advanced a lot. Any kind of car accident can be remedied and you won't even know the difference.

The Insurance guy was right in a way. Many cheap workshops specialise in accident repair. Their modus operandi is purchasing a 'total loss' vehicle at scrap vehicle and then repairing it and selling it off in the second hand market.

Ask your friend not to worry, for 15,000 his car is going to be as good as new. Could not have got it done cheaper elsewhere, however a lot of time could've been saved though.

Exactly what I told him.. But I thought it would be swell to take a second opinion from Dr. Team-BHP

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Not going to be 100% rectified for sure. He'll probably face issues regarding straight line driving and wheel/suspension related niggles.

Hmmmm.... I just hope they do a good job so he could perhaps sell of the car in a few months to a used car dealer and buy himself a spanking new car He is a good driver, it was a freak accident!

Originally Posted by greenhorn

A quick search yielded this
Crossmember - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks greenhorn!

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by barcode

How could I forget the brand ambassador for HMP... Mr Ishan himself in flesh, blood and keys on the keyboard! I hope they do a good job of what appears to be a major alignment issue. If my friend decides to sign-up on TBHP, he might just spam you... He is a worried bunch

Don't worry, they're outstanding at what they do & have done accidental repairs on my personal cars too so I speak from experience. If need be, I'll help him out with a contact that'll take care of all his worries.

[ashthedivx]

Originally Posted by barcode

Currently the car is going thru whats called a "Pulling Machine"... That's what he has been told... This rectifies the alignment issues that the car faced due to the impact.

Now his questions are:
- Can the chassis be straightened?
- What is a cross member?
- How bad is getting the car fixed
- Will it have some nagging issues?
- How good or bad is Hyundai Motor Plaza for such repairs? His insurance guy advised him to actually goto some cheap place and get this done as the damage doesn't seem to be serious!

Answers
- Yes it can be straighten with the car-o-liner aka ""pulling machine"
- Something connects with chassis, as other have commented very briefly on the same you must have got fairly idea of the same.
- Nothing much to worry upon, as once chassis is straightened car will behave normally.
- Nothing much actually as all the damaged parts are replaced at Hyundai Service Centers only.
- Do not listen to Insurance guy as HMP is a place where they do not take any chances i.e. they'll replace each and every part for which they aren't 100% sure. And when you are getting every thing covered under insurance why not get best treatment for your beloved car. Though 15000 may sound big at this time, but try to estimate the intensity of accident when caused and 15000 for restoring to original state is not a big amount.

[barcode]

My friend got his car back today. HMP did a decent job... While driving the car in a straight line he can feel some shudder from his front wheels which he claims he never felt before...

I tried the car, and felt that the dead-pedal was vibrating a little more that earlier...

Meanwhile, I had also given my NEW verna for service to HMP, and they returned my car completely OLD!

Details here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...new-verna.html

[aaggoswami]

Although the car is repaired the original strength of the chassis will be not be as good as it was originally.
What did it cost ?

[SirAlec]

Did the trailing arm also bend in the accident?

[barcode]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Although the car is repaired the original strength of the chassis will be not be as good as it was originally.
What did it cost ?

Chassis didnt bend apparently... I will check with him too...
It costed my friend 15k and the total cost was 50k... insurance paid 35k...

Originally Posted by SirAlec

Did the trailing arm also bend in the accident?

What is that
No idea... Will ask him and revert... and also pester him to use the board himself!

[Nikhilb2008]

Car-O-Liner is just a brand. It is one of the companies who sell crash repair systems.

I did my 8th Sem project on this.

Using these Crash repair systems, you can bring a car back to the original shape. If a part cannot be repaired, it is usually replaced. Here, it looks like the crossmember had to be replaced.

[barcode]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Car-O-Liner is just a brand. It is one of the companies who sell crash repair systems.

I did my 8th Sem project on this.

Using these Crash repair systems, you can bring a car back to the original shape. If a part cannot be repaired, it is usually replaced. Here, it looks like the crossmember had to be replaced.

You are an auto-engineering student? Nice!

Well, you're right, the cross-member had to be replaced!

[theMAG]

I would have thought selling the car after this type of a damage would have been a better idea.