Crash Club + Parts Question

Ok, so I joined the not so great club of crashed VX's today. Guy in front of me stops really fast 40->0 in like 4 to 8 seconds with no turn signal. Luckily, I hit the brakes and stop within about 6 inches of his bumper. I'm looking in my rear/side mirror and see the lady behind me and she stops within about 1 inch (I'm guessing since all I really saw was her doors in my side mirror). Then the guy in front of me finally turns after about 5 to 10 seconds of having a free turn. 1 or 2 seconds later I hear a huge screach I hit the gas only to then hear a crunch and then a wham to my back end. Luckily me and my passenger seem fine, alittle sore mainly in our backs, but the middle car took the brunt of it, with both being taken to the hospital. They totally screwed up my back bumper and driver side quarter panel. I don't know what type of unseen damage is underneath. There is also a really bad rattle and shack when I come to a stop while turning.

I think we definatly came off with the better end of the stick since about 3 minutes before this I passed both cars and ended up in the front instead of being behind them. I thank God I wasn't behind them. With them still wrecking and me being the one in the back totalling my front end. Not to mention a 4000lb truck raming them would have been much worse then me just basically stopping the car behind me. They ended up just missing my back bumper and caught more of the plastic then anything or at least I'm hoping thats all they caught and didn't damage the frame.

The middle car was a mid-size chrysler and it was folded together to the size of a miata, they couldn't even get the passenger door open it was pushed together so badly. The trunk was basically inside the back seats. The last car was a dodge stratus that pretty much pushed her front end up into the firewall and down onto the ground, they couldn't even get it out of drive because it was so damaged.

So, for those of you that have crashed did you have a good source for parts? I know I'm gonna need at least a rear bumper, quarter panel and maybe tail light, it looks pushed up and bent but not cracked. It also caused the front dash vent clip to break and come flying out. The drivers side door panel + window is also loose and rattles as well as the front hood wont stop squeeking, damn grease wont fix this one.

I was thinking maybe if I gave the body shop St. Charles # or even contacted them myself and found out parts + prices, maybe it would save them some money and time in getting everything. Any ideas?

I'm not glad it happend, but I'm really glad I drove my VX and was as protected as we were. Rather than my friends little hybrid honda civic, I'm pretty sure we would have been toast in that cause the force of the crash would have thrown us into oncoming traffic.

I would definitely pre-order all the parts - it'll save you time in the shop (unless it's an insurance job - you may not have a choice).

Are any of the metal areas of the VX messed up, or is it all cladding?

-- Best, John

Glad your okay!

If you are doing any of the repairs yourself...or maybe just looking for parts, VISIT: Junkyard

I'm hoping its just cladding and no metal, it didn't look like there were any paint scratches, dents or even inperfections in the surface of the sheet metal, but I couldn't really see under the cladding. I know they might need to fix the bumper itself, but I'm about 80% sure its cladding damage. Besides the rattle and the flying vent :(

Its definatly an insurance job, my insurance company has preferred shops and they guarantee all the work done at those shops for the life of the vehicle. So, If I get it "fixed" and it has any problems they will keep sending it back till its right, or they will even send it to a totally different shop.

I'm mainly asking for parts like the cladding cause I know those things will be most rare, while the other stuff like steel bumper and anything affected by the rattle will be basic "trooper" work. I also figured that if I can give them a source for parts like St. Charles or any other recommended place by you guys it would speed up the process of getting it repaired and within a reasonable amount of time. I'm guessing it would take about a week or two to complete repairs if the rattle isn't some serious issue and if they can get parts within a reasonable amount of time.

BTW, are there any suggestions you guys have for the shop to know? Like you ran into ?these? problems and it delayed repairs or you had ?this? situation and it caused other issues? I'm not to worried about the cost of repairs only that it gets done right.

Glad to hear you are OK.
When I had mine in for the fender, they did the estimate and ordered the parts and I was called when they came in to make the appointment to have the work done. My VX was still driveable of course. It took about 2 weeks to get all the parts in and about a week for them to fix it all up. I would definately let the shop order the parts. It may only look like cladding damage, but there very well may be damage underneath the cladding. And I used the insuracne companies prefered shop too. Like you say, you can keep taking it back if there are problems and insurance company will back you. Hopefully.

WOOHOO!! I got her back today. She looks and runs good as new. So far I havn't noticed any problems, I drove around for about an hour just to get used to her again. I can't believe how much I missed and love to drive her. I'll be glad to break her in again. The difference is night and day compared to the '05 chevy impala I've been driving for the past weeks. At one point I was sitting at a light with 3 other impala's right in a row, makes me love the vx's uniqueness even more.

Happy day! Congratulations on getting her back and in good shape.

Love a collision story with a happy ending.