Drunk driver rams into my BYD Atto 3; How to fix bent frame?

The service advisor gave an estimate of 7.5 lakhs.

BHPian DreamcarFerrari recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

It's hard to think about the fact that one of my cars is featured in this thread.

On 25th July, my driver dropped my daughter at her school. While returning, an idiot who was drunk at 9:30 AM and not in his senses came into the opposite lane at high speed and hit my BYD Atto 3 head-on.

These pictures clearly show how far my driver pulled out to let that idiot pass, but he was determined to hit my car.

My driver did not sustain any injuries. The other guy had a laceration on his forehead and was shifted to a government hospital, where he was treated and discharged. The police arrested him on charges of DUI and driving without a valid license, causing an accident. He was given station bail.

BYD customer service was good, and even though I'm in a pretty remote location, they got the tow truck to me in 45 minutes, and the car was sent to the BYD service center in Vijayawada.

The next day (26th July), the service advisor gave an estimate of 7.5 lakhs. The insurance guys from ICICI kept postponing the dismantling approval until 6th August.

Once the service advisor got the approval, he started dismantling on 7th August and found that the frame was bent on the driver's side. He wants to bend it back into place, but I strongly objected to this and asked him to get approval from BYD headquarters. I'm not sure how to proceed if that guy insists on bending it back.

What are the best possible options?

Here's what BHPian AJ56 replied:

I’m not a body expert but if the frame is bent, in most cases it’s a write off (assuming unibody construction). It can never be repaired to factory condition and you’re likely to have alignment and tracking/stability issues even if they make it right cosmetically. Also, get a dashcam for every car, it’s a life saver in today’s driving environment.

Here's what BHPian Axe77 replied:

Gosh this is absolutely horrible. How do you prevent something like this. The biggest saving grace thankfully is that this happened after your daughter was dropped and not before.

Also, I assume your daughter sits in the back seat during such trips. An extremely important reminder to all family members that they must have seat belts on ALL the time, regardless of which seat they occupy - even when undertaking short commutes within the city. You just never know when you can have an extremely outlier and unlikely but serious accident.

Hope your car gets repaired soon as best required and encouraging to hear that a new and relatively thinly spread brand like BYD is giving such prompt service even in relatively remote areas. Do keep us updated on the final outcome of how this is repaired.

Thanks.

Here's what BHPian tbppjpr replied:

Sorry to hear about the damage, hope the car comes back in the shape soon.

It would be helpful if you can please start a new thread and post updates on the repairing progress with all details of the damaged parts and their cost.

It will be a new learning for the forum members on how many parts can get damaged in an EV compared to a similar category ICE car and how much it can cost to repair if paid in cash (Insurance reimbursements aside).

Here's what BHPian ajmat replied:

Sorry to hear about you accident and happy that your driver is safe.

Am no expert but the bend is on the flange attached to the chassis rail. You have two scenarios

1: Flange is bent and distorted. It will mean cutting it off and replacing. The flange holds the radiator, front crossmember and bumper assembly, I hope the fit of repaired item is ok

2: Chassis rail bent - If bent, how much is it bent? Is the bend a simple one or is there a twist. Let BYD take that call if it can be repaired or even replaced.

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