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Mechanic just told my mother her 01 XJ has a frame, NOT a unibody

9

90Pioneer

NAXJA Forum User
Location
USA
My mother who lives in Colorado drives a 2001 XJ. It was rear ended at approximately 30-35mph and spun around twice. Hatch and rear bumper are destroyed.

The shop told her today that her Cherokee has a FRAME, not a UNIBODY, and said the "frame looks straight."

Now, correct me if I'm wrong but this shop has absolutely no idea WTF they are talking about, ALL CHEROKEES HAVE UNIBODYS, RIGHT????


And if it was hit at 30mph in the rear there is a good chance the unibody is bent isn't there???

Also the shop quoted her 3k to replace the hatch and rear bumper. WTF are they smoking???

I told her to take it to another shop first thing in the morning. Was that the right advice to give?
 
In a 30mph collision 3k is nothing. It does need some pull time most likely. My fiance's blazer got hit in a parking lot and the girl did 3k damage. Had to replace 2 door skins and do a lot a paint, which is the expensive part.

I would def go to another shop though
 
no kidding, those guys dont have a clue what they are talking about! my friend just totaled his XJ and the guy that hit him was only going 15 mph! (totaled as in itd cost 7k to repair and thats all it was worth!)
 
3k's not really much. What I have a hard time believing is how much damage it did at 30mph!? I got rear-ended by a Pathfinder that was doin at LEAST 30 w/no brakes involved whatsoever and now I have two very small hardly noticable dents under my bumber lol. I looked in my rear-view and the Pathfinder was draggin its whole front clip along the road HAHA. Maybe I got a special edition XJ that's certified badass... :firedevil
 
You're overthinking this.

Body shops use the term "frame" constantly, regardless of whether you have a frame or a unibody.

Most people don't know the difference, and by saying things like "frame damage" they tend to scare people a bit more into thinking the repairs are going to be very substantial.
 
I agree, most lay people understand the term "Frame" rather than "Unibody". I see the terms thrown around freely here and some folks get their tighty whities all twisted up when you use the wrong term.

As for the amount, estimates are just that, he won't really know until he gets into it.
It never hurts to get two estimates, most insurance companies used to insist on it.

Ron
 
Does she have a hitch on the back of it? If so, and it was hit also, then yeah the unibody would more than likely be tweaked. If not, she may be alright, and it may just be body damage.

Mine's been hit in the left rear quarter panel twice, and aside from a lot of body work, including a new quarter panel being welded in on the last repair, everything is still nice and straight.

And 3K isn't that bad at all. It's not the parts so much that drives the cost up, its all the labor.
 
Unibody is GM's name for monocoque construction, in which the body is the frame.
When your Unibody gets bent, it means the frame is bent.
A big open box gets knocked out-of-square very easily. It's just as easily pulled back into square by a Frame Straightener (not a Unibody straightener).
 
Sweet where did your mom find a framed XJ? =P
 
Take a walk around the whole XJ and look at the spacing between all the joints on the doors, fenders and hood. Get an idea of how it would or should look on a normal non hit XJ then compare the two.
 
PurpleCherokee said:
Maybe I got a special edition XJ that's certified badass... :firedevil
Click to expand...
Nope. Everybody check you're rigs. If it's got a VIN #, then that means it's certified B-A.
:thumbup:






:laugh2:
 
I got rear ended by someone doing about 15. It barely dented the bumper, but punched two holes in the hatch. Isn't the other guys insurance paying for it anyways???
 
take it to another shop for the guy to say the frame dosen't look bent is stupid it would need to be put on a rack and measured. but for the guy to call it a frame is normal there it no such thing as a unibody rack it's the same machine for all cars and its called a frame rack but sorry you are proly close to his level of calling things the wrong name. because mechanics (like myself) don't work at body shops body techs and painters do. is it insured? if so what do you care how much it is 3 grand is reall high for a bumper and a hatch thats proly pull time also.
 
xj2win said:
I got rear ended by someone doing about 15. It barely dented the bumper, but punched two holes in the hatch. Isn't the other guys insurance paying for it anyways???
Click to expand...

I got rear ended twice in parking lots, major issue was pulling my receiver in my tomken bumper out of their grill without getting too much radiator fluid on me.
 
RichP said:
I got rear ended twice in parking lots, major issue was pulling my receiver in my tomken bumper out of their grill without getting too much radiator fluid on me.
Click to expand...
rofl nice
 
I got rear ended while waiting at a stop light...i pulled over the guy took off but i had just enough time to see a huge hole where my hitch went threw his chrysler town & country!:D i just dusted off the little dirt that was on my hitch and went on my merry way...stupid soccer vans :firedevil O and for the record I have a VIN so my truck is also certified BA
 
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