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On the evening of October 25 2013 I was on the freeway in the fast lane when the truck in front of me suddenly braked, hard. I also braked hard in time to avoid an accident, but unfortunately a second later, my car was rear ended. Since I was in the fast lane, I was able to swerve to the left into the emergency lane to avoid hitting the truck in front of me, but the damage had been done.
Here's a picture of the damage, taken the next day. The car behind me hit me so hard that he popped his air bag.
Not shown here is the damage inside. The cargo floor got pushed into my rear seats and both side plastic storage bins were broken.
More damage makes itself known when the hatch and rear fascia are removed. The repair bill was $8400, covered by insurance.
It turns out the frame is not bent, just the rear panel, sub bumper, and bumper supports. These and many other new parts are ordered, and when they arrive the repair work begins. Some panels, such as the left rear quarter panel and the spare tire well panel, are retained and straightened.
(I got my car repaired at ACC Auto Collision Center. They use a Shark body measuring machine which employs lasers and special receptors to precisely measure where to pull and how much.)
This picture shows the new rear hatch being test fitted, and the new rear panel being positioned prior to welding. The old rear hatch is on the floor.
The weld seams are sealed and the car is primed prior to paint.
This picture shows the sealed inside seam between the straightened spare tire well panel and the new rear panel.
(I think that ACC Auto Collision Center did a great job on my car.)
After 21 days, the repair is done. My car seems to drive fine. Since the red LEDs on the rear window and the rear underglow were damaged by the repairs, I redid them.
(shots taken using shutter priority 1/40 to better portray darkness)
On my rear window, I replaced the strip of 57 type 0603 red LEDs with a strip of 66 type 5050 red LEDs.
For the rear underglow, I replaced 21 type 3528 white LEDs with 63 type 3528 white LEDs.
Total LED count is now 170 from Light Frenzy + 246 from Light Frenzy 2, Improved DRLs, and Revised Fender Vents + 10 from Front Lights upgrade
= 426 LEDs
==> (looking up at the rear underglow, from the driver's side)
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