Does Your Car Have Frame Damage? What Does It Mean?
Blog/ Does Your Car Have Frame Damage? What Does It Mean?
AuthorSarah RobinsonCategory Car Advice
Is Something A Little Crooked With Your Car?
Your car may be suffering from frame damage. Knowing what frame damage is, what it looks like and how it can affect your car is important. Knowing what to do with your car after it has frame damage is even more important. Frame damage is a scary term for any car owner but knowing what it means and what to do will make you better prepared should you end up in car that’s riding a little sideways.
What is Frame Damage On A Car?
You’ve probably heard the term frame damage but may wonder exactly what it means. What is considered frame damage on a car? To put it simply, frame damage on a car is any damage to parts of the car that support the overall structure of the car. More specifically, any damage to the core section of the car that supports the body, fenders, roof, trunk, hood, engine compartment, or wheel welds.
In cars, the frame is typically considered the support structure underneath the car that supports the entire body of the car. These are usually made of iron or steel and come in a variety of types. The most common type of frame is the ladder frame (named for the shape of the frame) or the Unibody frame (named so because it is all one continuous piece).
Frame damage can be caused from almost any impact to the car from a minor pothole to a full on car accident. Even low speed accidents can result in frame damage. Frame damage can vary from slight bending of the frame, to complete breaking or loss of structural integrity. In most cases frame damage will cause the car to not be level and even ride sideways. A bent frame on a car occurs when the frame is damaged bad enough to bend the metal of the frame out of place and cause the car to no longer sit properly on the ground.
Things that cause frame damage:
- Potholes and dips in the road
- Slow speed collisions
- High speed collisions
- Speed bumps, railroad tracks, and other road hazards
- Curb impacts, parking lot collisions, etc.
Figuring Out If You Have Frame Damage
Sometimes it can be difficult to tell whether or not you have frame damage. In the case of minor damage, you may not notice just by driving your car. To inspect the frame you have to get underneath the car and look at the frame itself from the bottom. In the case of a bent frame on a car, the damage is usually much more noticed as the car itself will sag or ride incorrectly. Because it is hard to diagnose without a visual inspection, it is sometimes hard to get frame damage reported on a vehicle. This means you won’t know what kind of shape a car is really in unless you have it checked.
If your car has frame damage it can be very damaging to rest of your car as well and you will likely need to stop driving your car and go have it checked out. Once you have determined whether or not you have frame damage you can determine what to do next.
How Much Does It Cost To Repair Frame Damage
You might have already guessed but frame damage is serious. Even minor damage to your car’s frame can cost several hundreds of dollars to fix. A lot of times they will have to put your car on a lift just to diagnose the damage and then fixing the problem will require specialized tools. This means that the cost goes up accordingly depending on the damage.
Bent Car Frame Repair Cost
General frame damage is expensive enough to fix. A bent frame however can cost thousands of dollars to fix and can leave you without a vehicle for a considerable amount of time. Depending on the degree of bend, the car may end up unable to be salvaged. In most cases, they can straighten the frame back to close to what it was when it came from the factory, but for very severe bends or crumpling, your car may be beyond hope.
There’s a lot to consider when determining whether or not to pay to have that frame damage fixed. Regardless of how bad the damage is, you’re looking at a significant investment of time and money.
Sell Your Frame Damaged Car With SellMax
Sometimes the best option is to sell your frame damaged car. SellMax can give you an instant offer right from our website. SellMax offers fast cash payments for damaged vehicles with no liability. This means we take care of the damaged vehicle so you don’t have to. We deliver hassle free same day service so that you can get rid of that problem car and get on with your business. If you have a vehicle with frame damage and are considering what to do next, consider selling your car to SellMax instead of paying thousands of dollars in repairs.
