Got rear-ended

My wife was stopped behind another car that was turning left. The car
behind her was also stopped and had her blinker on, intending to turn left.
The car behind *her* didn't stop, so she rear-ended the middle car, which
lurched forward and hit our car (Dodge Grand Caravan) in the rear bumper,
with slight evidence of contact on the lift-gate. (My wife doesn't remember
exactly, but she thinks she had just started to roll forward, since the car
in front of her had just made the left turn.)

Driving the car this evening, it seemed to pull *very* slightly to the left.
But that could be because I just rotated the tires over the weekend. It was
hardly perceptible, but enough that I am concerned. We are leaving on a 500
mile trip in the morning. Should I have the alignment checked before we
leave? Or base the alignment on the trip experience and have it done at our
destination?

Thanks,
Craig

On Jun 1, 8:15*pm, "Craig" > wrote:
> My wife was stopped behind another car that was turning left. *The car
> behind her was also stopped and had her blinker on, intending to turn left.

Tire pressure was fine. Thanks.


"m6onz5a" > wrote in message
...
On Jun 1, 8:15 pm, "Craig" > wrote:
> My wife was stopped behind another car that was turning left. The car
> behind her was also stopped and had her blinker on, intending to turn
> left.
> The car behind *her* didn't stop, so she rear-ended the middle car, which
> lurched forward and hit our car (Dodge Grand Caravan) in the rear bumper,
> with slight evidence of contact on the lift-gate. (My wife doesn't
> remember
> exactly, but she thinks she had just started to roll forward, since the
> car
> in front of her had just made the left turn.)
>
> Driving the car this evening, it seemed to pull *very* slightly to the
> left.
> But that could be because I just rotated the tires over the weekend. It
> was
> hardly perceptible, but enough that I am concerned. We are leaving on a
> 500
> mile trip in the morning. Should I have the alignment checked before we
> leave? Or base the alignment on the trip experience and have it done at
> our
> destination?
>
> Thanks,
> Craig

Check your tire pressure first before getting the alignment checked.

Never hurts to have the front end and the alignment checked. Don't
have it done because of the, "slight evidence of contact." Sounds like
it didn't do much damage. If you bent the frame you would have more
damage. You don't have a bent control arm from that slight of a hit.
Getting taped in the back is not gona mess up your "front" aligment.

willy > wrote:
>Never hurts to have the front end and the alignment checked. Don't
>have it done because of the, "slight evidence of contact." Sounds like
>it didn't do much damage. If you bent the frame you would have more
>damage. You don't have a bent control arm from that slight of a hit.
>Getting taped in the back is not gona mess up your "front" aligment.

It _does_ hurt to get it checked, unless you get it checked by someone
who really knows what he is doing. There are too many tire store kids
who just put cars on the machine and do what the machine tells them without
any real understanding of the geometry or what is going on.

So... I would suggest taking it to a body shop with a real alignment guy
and having them check it over. They should be able to look for all kinds
of damage in the rear besides what the alignment machine will show.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message
...
> willy > wrote:
>>Never hurts to have the front end and the alignment checked. Don't
>>have it done because of the, "slight evidence of contact." Sounds like
>>it didn't do much damage. If you bent the frame you would have more
>>damage. You don't have a bent control arm from that slight of a hit.
>>Getting taped in the back is not gona mess up your "front" aligment.
>
> It _does_ hurt to get it checked, unless you get it checked by someone
> who really knows what he is doing. There are too many tire store kids
> who just put cars on the machine and do what the machine tells them
> without
> any real understanding of the geometry or what is going on.
>
> So... I would suggest taking it to a body shop with a real alignment guy
> and having them check it over. They should be able to look for all kinds
> of damage in the rear besides what the alignment machine will show.
> --scott
> --
> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
>

Ditto on what Scott says. I've had tires ruined by getting my car
"aligned." My wife had a similar accident to the OP's, and by the time they
peeled away all the layers, our perfectly-running 2002 Odyssey was declared
a total loss. Be sure to get it checked out thoroughly by a competent body
shop.

Thanks, everyone. I took the car to a well-respected body shop today for an
estimate. The estimator did not think the rear impact would affect the
alignment at all, so we are skipping that part of the repair. We made the
1000 mile round trip with no problems other than a tiny bit of pull to the
left. I attribute that to the tire rotation.

Craig

"MG" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> "Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message
> ...
>> willy > wrote:
>>>Never hurts to have the front end and the alignment checked. Don't
>>>have it done because of the, "slight evidence of contact." Sounds like
>>>it didn't do much damage. If you bent the frame you would have more
>>>damage. You don't have a bent control arm from that slight of a hit.
>>>Getting taped in the back is not gona mess up your "front" aligment.
>>
>> It _does_ hurt to get it checked, unless you get it checked by someone
>> who really knows what he is doing. There are too many tire store kids
>> who just put cars on the machine and do what the machine tells them
>> without
>> any real understanding of the geometry or what is going on.
>>
>> So... I would suggest taking it to a body shop with a real alignment guy
>> and having them check it over. They should be able to look for all kinds
>> of damage in the rear besides what the alignment machine will show.
>> --scott
>> --
>> "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
>>
>
> Ditto on what Scott says. I've had tires ruined by getting my car
> "aligned." My wife had a similar accident to the OP's, and by the time
> they peeled away all the layers, our perfectly-running 2002 Odyssey was
> declared a total loss. Be sure to get it checked out thoroughly by a
> competent body shop.