Last week my wife was involved in a minor accident with our Audi A6. The Honda Civic driver decided to run a stop sign and didn't quite make it. Our Audi sustained minor damage to the right front but was driveable. The Honda was not so lucky. The right rear quarter panel, trunk and rear bumper were pretty much used up. Most likely the Honda got totalled. At any rate, the other driver's insurance is picking up the tab for repairs to our Audi. What's kind of neat is that the body repair shop I took the car to has a website that I can see the daily progress of the car.

 

Yeah, german cars are built like tanks. One of the reasons that I drive one... Anyways, have them pay close attention to the electrical and vacuum stuff. There is a evap purge line running along the front wheel well and they tend to get messed up easily. If you get a vacuum/evaporator purge related code, then you will know where to look for stuff, and have the insurance pick up the tab.

 

I had a very similar experience, but replace "Audi A6" with "Honda Odyssey" and "Honda Civic" with "BMW E46 3 Series Touring." I'm on the main thoroughfare, having just turned left onto it from a green light. It is possible, however unlikely, that my turn indicator did not turn itself off, and when I went to turn it off manually, I went to far and accidentally indicated a right turn I wasn't going to take. Traffic is thick, and the next intersection is a stop-signed T into the thoroughfare (from my right) that is notoriously difficult to turn left out of. Some idiot supposedly sees my turn indicator flashing and decides that I indeed intend to turn right. She turns left right in front of me, I swerve left to avoid her, slam on my brakes, she hesitates to get on hers. Hard contact on the right side of my front bumper and her left front fender. The impact couldn't have happened at more than 15 mph, and we were both fine (no airbag deployment). But while the van got away with a misaligned, dented, and cracked bumper cover, the wagon had obvious frame damage and was decidedly totaled.

Moral of the story: always wait to see a left-onconming driver start a turn before making a left turn across traffic.

 

Thanks for the hints. I will test everything out before accepting it. I'm guessing the thing they will probably hose will be the headlight washers. Hopefully the picture came out OK. It is the before it got fixed.

 

I guess the damage is more on the front. It is a hard call, but the insurance company may try to total the car. New bumper, hood, light, and fender may run into $4 to 5K range. As far as they are concerned, it maybe a total.

BTW, have them replace both headlights. If you get one new one and one old one, then the old one just looks... old...

 

You're close. The estimate came in at around $3900 and the insurance company agreed to fix it. Not sure about the undamaged headlight though. I may have to do the Meguir's headlight fix.

 

Unless there is a source of cheap junkyard parts available, that quote of 3800 is going to rise and rise fast. There is going to be hidden damage they are not including in the estimate. I think 5-7k is more likely. Here is a link to what turned out to be 6k on my 00 A6 3 or 4 years ago. The front end of my car shifted sideways about an 1" when my car was hit by the 5th wheel of a dump truck and dragged sideways. There was no frame damage. The original estimate was 1300, which quickly turned into 6k. Take it to the best shop in town, otherwise your car will forever look like a car that has had body work done. Any shop the insurance company recommends is not a good shop for your Audi, maybe a chevy truck, but even then.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink


The more I think about it, 3800 might be correct if they are able to find used parts. The body shop was unable to locate any used parts for my car and went with all new, which drove the cost up. The estimate was based on used parts, just assuming they were available. Plus many parts had to be ordered from Germany and took weeks to get.

 

Good luck with the repair. If for some reason the insurance company decides to total it, let me know. I'd be interested in picking up that driver side fender

 

I got my car back and the final bill was about $3500. Overall, they did a pretty good job. The paint job came out nice. The previous owner had a clear bra on it and there was some residual discoloration because of it. I was able to buff out most of it, but it still had some left. In a way, I got over since the fenders and hood are now newly painted.

 

This is what a jeep cherokee with a brush gard and a driver that didnt look to his left when he " Wipped " Over in my lane, ie ME! LOL no one was hurt and my car barley moved
BEFORE:




After:





After fixed:


Nice and shinny