Straightening Rails more than once

[ps1971]

Hi,

I posted in these questions in the wrong forum. Hopefully I have it right now.

Simply a VZ big accident over 2 years ago. Was on the straightening machine. Another accident needs to go on straightener again. Questions, I know it is bad enough to have the car on straightener once but is twice a safety compromise? Surely it could not be as strong as original (pre crash) or having the rails replaced? Would you use a car that has been on the straightener twice as daily ride for your children? i am really worried about structural integrity of the car with my kids in it. I don't trust the straighteners a second time

Many thanks for any help

[Mbro]

yes i would.

there is an appropriate way to get a car back to original and panel beaters have to follow it. hence why its so costly.

but if its done properly then i think it shiould be fine.b

[the_boozer]

I'm of the opinion that after the car has been repaired it wont fold up the way its ment to the 2nd time that the crumple zones wont crumple correctly.
High tensile steel once crushed into itself is very hard to get back to the right shape. Once you have it heated to cherry red and it still wont move what do you do? heat it up more?
therealsteve's Channel - YouTube

[greymatta]

I am a panelbeater and have been for over 10 years and also have a daughter and I would without a doubt say that it would be fine. You shouldn't need to heat the rails up on a late model commodore and if it wasn't written off the damage couldn have been too bad. In my opinion you have nothing to worry about.

[Demoniak]

THink of it like this.... would you use alfoil more then twice after you have scrumped it up?
Unless of course you had a heating gun to remould it.. the answer is fk no

[mint]

You have in your hands one of the very reasons insurance companies write vehicles off.

Just remember it's possible to break a chassis that hasn't been straightened ONCE.

[SHMKVS]

Without seeing the car or the repairs there is no simple answer ,but it really comes down to the shop it was at and more
importantly the guy on the job. A GOOD tradesman would never carry out repairs on a car in a way that he wouldnt both drive it himself or put his own loved ones in.

[exastra]

Putting heat on a front side member (rail) on a vehicle that uses high strength steel should be against the law! The engineers that design cars make them crumple in a way that provides optimum safety to the occupants of the vehicle. They are bulit to Australian design rules that protect the occupants in front on collisions. Look up 'adr 69'. Any smash repairer (or anyone for that matter) that repairs a vehicle without following the MANUFACTURERS REPAIR MANUAL should be ashamed of themselves. Many cut costs to please the insurance companies - AAMI repairers can be really bad. I dont know how many of them sleep at night from some of the stories I have heard. As well as what they wanted to do with our RAV

If a car is repaired and the crumple design has changed, I would suggest that it does not comply with the ADR it was built under.

I had a brand new RAV4. Wife was in a head on, not her fault both parties insured with AAMI. The left front side member on our RAV was a crumpled, kinked mess. The middle part of the rail resembled a piano accordian. AAMI and the repairer 'AUSARC' wanted to straighten it and not replace it. I found the Toyota RAV4 Accident repair manual which said if a section is kinked then it CAN NOT BE REPAIRED. AAMI still refused to replace the section, saying there was no kink. Our 'Brand new' RAV sat for 9 months until it got finally sorted. The first quote that AAMI got was for $12 000. They finally agreed to replace the rail. Total bill for them was 29K (to fix it properly) for the rav plus their legal fees fighting me. I HATE dodgy smash repairers and AAMI Insurance. They are a bunch of %#@$%%'s! AAMI get the repairer to do the job as cheap as possible and them get them to cut more corners! I know this from experience. The repairer will do it if they want the work. I had one of the repairers say to me that if I wasnt happy with the way the car was being repaired take it up with AAMI as they were telling the repairer HOW to repair the car. Then AAMI says, Oh no! we are just going off the quote that the repairer has given us! What a crock!

Check out this example Fifth Gear - Used Car Repaired with Severe Economic Restraint in Crash Test - YouTube
Fifth Gear - Used Car Repaired with Severe Economic Restraint in Crash Test - YouTube

[SHMKVS]

Unfortunately(for motorists)you are completely right,but consider this exastra, in order for ALL repairers to carry out repairs excactly according to MANUFACTURERS REPAIR MANUALS the cost of reapairs can double!!! Who do think will end up covering these costs? I can assure you it will be the consumer which in this case is you-(the insured). Premiums and excesses will both triple therefore making the cost of insuring a motor vehicle impossible for some people.I should also add that having less people on our roads without insurance would also increase the cost of coverage even further through companies(like AAMI) having to recovering repair costs from individuals instead of other insurers.
Instead of naming and shaming a panel shop point your anger at the system as whole .People think trade unions are powerful but they are small fish compared to insurance companies,they run the automotive repair industry and they dictate almost 100% how cars are repaired.
Good repairers DO exsist and some wont do AAMI work because they simply dont make enough out of the job unless they cut more corners out of an already cheap quote! Ask yourself this ,what is the point of having ADR's and proper repair procedures if they are not enforced by law,blame the government- they should be ashamed ,not panel beaters!!!!!!

[pjdm1980]

I've been with AAMI for seven years up until last year, and they were fantastic both times I had to deal with them once when our house was broken into and the second time when they wrote off my RA LT crew cab Rodeo which had a rail that was bent by only 10mm-
http://forums.justcommodores.com.au/...hp?albumid=770. But on topic again, if you don't trust the repairs then get them checked by a third party (a professional assessor) before you pick it up.

[exastra]

Well, in the case of AAMI, if your car needs repair AAMI have it towed to their assessment center and they make all the decisions as to how the car is repaired. Basically you lose ownership of your own car and AAMI take it and give it back when you when it’s done. You have no say in the repair and cannot question them.

I had the QLD assessment manager tell me after I questioned the repair method quote – “If you are not happy with the way we repair your car then just sell it, you don’t have to tell anyone that it has been in an accident.”

NICE!