Bent Pathfinder frame? Advice on repair.

sbroady · Mar 16th, 2004, 11:23 PM

Greetings. Wondering if anyone has any thoughts on my situation. First a little background. My wife was backing up in our 2002 Pathfinder-- probably at 5 mph (maybe higher?)-- and hit a telephone pole. Impact was just off midline towards the driver side. I believe most of the impact was unfortunately absorbed by the tow package (and therefore the frame). Bumper is now depressed by approx. 2 inches all the way around and the tow package appears pushed in slightly, but more worrisome is the fact that the 2nd row driver's side door does not close properly with a slight gap at the top rear corner. Rear cargo door also misaligned. I'm guessing that the frame was bent.

Questions:
1) Do you agree with my assessment?
2) If so, any idea on repair costs to fix the frame?
3) Likelihood that a repair will be successful (i.e. no significant problems down the road)?

Thanks a bunch.

jadcock · Mar 17th, 2004, 07:28 AM

The Pathfinder from that era is a unibody vehicle, which means it has no separate frame. The body provides much of the structure. It looks like in this case, the whole body was tweaked a little bit, which isn't allowing the rear door or hatch to close. I'd take it to a body shop and have an estimate done, either by yourself or through your insurance. It sounds like it'll be a big bill either way.