When you’ve been involved in a major accident, the effect on your car can be considerable. Hopefully, you and the other driver will have walked away unscathed, but the major accident may have spelt total disaster for your car.

Degree of Damage

Major accidents and their effect on your car will depend on a number of factors, such as the angle of the impact during collision, the speed you were driving at and the general road conditions at the time.

Direct or primary damage will be determined by the direction of the primary impact. For example, in a side to side collision between two cars substantial damage is likely to be caused along the full length of each vehicle, damaging wings, rear quarter panels and doors in the process. Indirect or secondary damage may end in damaged dash panels, broken seat frames and twisted steering wheels.

Visible damage can easily be inspected, as this will be the area of direct contact between the car and the other object, be it another vehicle, wall or fence. There is likely to be damage to the bumper, the bonnet, the grille or the front wings.

Concealed damage is far more difficult to inspect and typically involves a detailed investigation by an expert. The most common damage areas are the boot lid, the rear panel, the quarter panels and the bumper. Other damage may have occurred to the frame of the vehicle or even the engine.

Roll-over damage occurs when a car rolls over completely ending up straight back on its wheels at the end of the roll-over. Although much has been done in the last decade to re-enforce roofs and overall frames, protecting the life of the driver and passengers, this type of major accident is likely to cause damage to all the panels.

A major accident effect on your car may well end up in a total write-off. Insurers will determine the extent of the damage, before they will tell you how much, if anything, will be paid out to you under your insurance cover. Typically, a total write-off is declared when your vehicle has suffered 5% damage to each door or side panels, 65% damage to the front containing the engine and 25% damage to the rear boot or trunk.

Angle of Collision

The angle of collision in major accidents will have an effect on your car, too. Insurers typically differentiate between direct side damage, front-end damage, three-quarter frontal damage and parallel side damage. Insurers and police are likely to use the angle of the collision to determine who caused the accident and why.

Psychological Effects

Many people who have been involved in a major accident feel that, even though their car was fully repaired and made roadworthy again, their car is “not the same” as it was before and they feel uncomfortable driving it.

Reference: Auto Transport > Garage > Damage as a Result of an Accident