Is Damaged Tridion Cell Repairable?

[Westfield 11]

The thread about the fellow in Texas who was rear-ended at a stop light got me to thinking: would a dent in the safety cell result in a totaled car? The smart is the only car that I know of that has an exposed frame, should it take a hit, can it be repaired? I know you can slather it with Bondo and then repaint, but I don't consider that an adequate fix for a "safety cell". Does anyone know what the smart body manual says about damage limits?

How would a frame shop go about aligning a tridion cell that was warped?

The $1850 estimate for repair to the Texas car seems awfully high since the fender is only about $185 IIRC. Labor should be very low too given the way the panels just snap into place, there must have been extensive damage to the underlying structure. Or is it a case of the bodyshop and insurance company applying the old ways of repair to a new type of car?

[SmartCard]

Good question. Certainly a surface "blemish" perhaps can be treated like any other piece of sheet metal and pulled out, painted, etc. But what if the damage is more substantial? I bet most body shops haven't seen the likes of a smart tridion!

BTW, the $1850 estimate involves much more then just replacing the fender. Looking at the original photos, I assume the tail light could have been damage, and looks like issues with the wheel well as well. So, $1850 may be what it takes to be "as good as new".

[wrumbarger]

Howdy all
If you remember the "cutaway" smart frame from last years "roadshow"?

The silver or black part that we see is NOT the actual Tridion.

It is a cover over the Tridion underneath that is a traditional "tube" type rollcage.

The Tridion is orange in this pic.
http://media.bzresults.net/assets/2137/704.jpg

The cover can be repaired.

[Westfield 11]

Great response, a picture is truly worth a thousand words! From the picture is seems that the cover can be fixed, but what about the tubes below it? Is there a chassis repair manual out there in smartland?

[randyzimmer]

repair parts in sections are offered in the parts book.

[letsgoskatepool]

My cover is dented, anyone know how to remove it to fix it?