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Civic Collision with lamp post damage

7K views 48 replies 18 participants last post by  stoo 
#1 ·
I shamefully did this to my Civic and the lamp post won by a large margin! Nobody hurt thankfully.

What are my hopes of the car ever being the same again? A local body shop that a Honda dealership use will be doing the repairs via my insurance company.

The drivers door doesn't meet anymore at the top as closely and the tracking is out as the front wheel had a scrape!









 
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#4 ·
Oh dear, that looks a right mess but it seems to just be panel damage and all of your lights survived. The drivers door sounds like it's been twisted so may well be replaced as a whole unit, rather than re-skinning.

Good luck getting it sorted and keep your eyes peeled for lamp posts!
 
#6 ·
It is a right ole mess! I'm parking it 'good side out' whenever possible as it's embarrassingly trashed!

Has anyone had any experience of what to expect from repairs on this kind of damage?

I've heard things from, "You'll never tell" to "it'll never be the same again".
 
#12 ·
Ouch.... I've seen it happen in our local retail park when the boy racers were meeting and cutting across the spaces clipping bollards/posts.

Feel for you.
I was (and still am) gutted after kerbing mine in week one of owning. Thought it was a write off.:laugh2:

Any word from a repairer-insurance? as to outcome?
 
#16 ·
How long should a body shop take to do this repair?

It's now nearly three weeks since they took the car in and their estimated time of completion keeps changing because they need to order additional parts! Obviously I'd rather they do it correctly, but not sure how long one should expect to wait.

The only info I had was that a small adjustment had to be made to the geometry, no mechanical faults were found and parts needed ordering to continue/complete the repair.

Even with the rattles, it's far better than a Vauxhall Corsa courtesy car!!!
 
#17 ·
At the body shop i go to, a car with damage like that would be returned within a week and a half tops. Recently sent a 3 series in which had reversed into underground car park pillar (damage to rear lights, bumper and boot) all fixed within 2 days of dropping off.
 
#18 ·
It's nearly a month now. The repair was delayed again due to quality control issues with the paint. This then took 5 days to resolve and I was advised yesterday it's now in 'fitment' so all the parts are being put back and all being well I should have it back in a couple of days.

I'm beginning to wonder how competent they are...
 
#19 ·
It's nearly a month now. The repair was delayed again due to quality control issues with the paint. This then took 5 days to resolve and I was advised yesterday it's now in 'fitment' so all the parts are being put back and all being well I should have it back in a couple of days.

I'm beginning to wonder how competent they are...

Personally id rather it was done right, rather than take it back. I have had very little experience with body shops, but once I had a car in one(colleague reversed into mine) and when it came out I had a list of ten things that were wrong with it, including it being completely covered in overspray. The resulting work was so bad I contacted the insurance company and made sure they put a stop on the payment. Mine had to go back in for a week for rectification work, and on the Friday afternoon I went to pick it up the Over spray still had not been removed. At least a fault with yours has been noticed at source.
 
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#20 ·
I had a similar issue. A lorry hit my parked car, the insurance wrote it off & offered me £700, I refused & told them I wanted it repaired. They got it repaired at what should have been a decent repairer but when I got it back there was overspray on the headlights & there was a piece if interior trim broken. I told the repairer, they said the broken trim wasn't their fault as they needed to take it off to remove the broken mirror & it broke! I made them sort it all despite them bitching!
 
#21 · (Edited)
I'm the worlds most critical, so if the workmanship is anything but undetectable I foresee it going back - but after a month I really do miss the car a lot.

Low and behold, before schedule I get a phone call from the 'Accident repair centre'. It's ready!! I was truly elated. I collected and since have had a good look round the repaired areas, compared to the 'non damaged' side and I tell you what it's a hell of a good job. I really can't tell. All the panel gaps are the same as the other side. Colour match is excellent. Alloy wheel is like new. I am very impressed indeed.

One niggle though, the drivers door handle doesn't sit flush. It activates keyless and opens the door fine, but it just doesn't rest in line with the fixed part of the handle. Hopefully it's a relatively easy thing to rectify.
 
#22 · (Edited)
This is the 'niggle'. What has happened here? The bodyshop are taking a look at the photo and will advise when it can be rectified. Which is very reasonable to say the least.



The bodyshop had a look straight away and thought they may be able to improve it. It was marginally improved, but still doesn't sit flush so they are having to order something for the internals of the door to resolve it.

I was expecting more to be critical of than this so am most pleased.
 
#23 ·
Glad it's come out looking good! I had someone reverse in to me and the bodyshop I used made it look like it never happened, they can do some magic I tell you. I'm sure the car handle can be made flush for you, the worse part of it all though is knowing it happened right? At least for me it is.. but remember nobody else has to know :laugh2:
 
#24 ·
Thank you. Sorry to hear about your ding too, but glad yours has been restored to former glory! It really is like it never happened, it's a mirror image of the opposite side (which had no damage), no overspray, just like new. Solus Accident Repair Centres (who did mine) are clearly VERY capable and professional.

The handle is just a niggle so yes I'm sure it'll be sorted.

I'm so relieved, and yes nobody but my wife knows it happened! :smile3: That's the way it will stay...
 
#27 ·
Okay there's a couple of paint issues I've noticed. I think I may be able to sort myself, but not sure as don't have any experience with this.

There's a small 'cloudy' area on one of the door panels, you can only see it from certain angles. It looks like it's in the clear coat layer, and not the colour.

Also along one of the panel edges next to the boot lid, there's a ridge along most of the edge - this also looks like it's clear and possibly the lacquer coat.

Is this worth bothering the body shop for or is it likely some polish will remove both issues?
 
#33 ·
This issue apparently wasn’t straightforward. The bodyshop installed new ‘internals’ for the handle, but it still doesn’t sit flush. It’s exactly the same in fact.

They’re ordering a new outer handle and gasket to try.

They were also talking about a new door possibly!?!! That seems crazy to me.
 
#36 · (Edited)
Oh s... This repair is becoming very problematic. It all started so well with just a few minor finishing touches needed.

Now I'll be without my car for a number of days no doubt whilst they respray, presumably the whole side of the car again otherwise it won't match very well?
 
#37 ·
If they’re a good body shop it’ll match. Especially as their machine mixed the initial batch of paint.

Saying that there will always be imperfections and flaws. No body shop paint job will be able to replicate that of the manufacturer. Main reason being because manufacturers use robots, body shops use people who are prone to making mistakes.

If you’re chasing perfection then forget about it.
 
#38 ·
I'm not chasing perfection, but it seems utterly crazy that because someone has been too enthusiastic with a polishing wheel and removed the paint layer, that it now needs respraying! - They've caused a lot more work for something that could have been avoided completely with a little more care and attention.

The paint match is utterly superb as it stands.
 
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