If you are preparing to get your driving license or getting ready to buy your first car, it's important to understand the basics of car parts and repairs, and that includes having a clear understanding of the importance of the car's body.

Here are three facts about motor bodies that will help you when you are buying your first car and if you ever get into an accident:

1. Motor bodies with crumple zones offer safety to passengers.

When you are shopping for a car, look for a car with a body that has crumple zones. A crumple zone protects the driver and passengers if the car ever collides with anything. The crumple zones allow the car to slowly hit the obstruction, and because they slow down the impact, they slow down the speed at which the passengers hit their seat belts or the car's air bags.

In contrast, if a motor body features a hard resistant metal without built-in crumple zones, the metal does not yield in a crash. As a result, if the vehicle hits an obstruction, it stops immediately, and its occupants are thrust forward more quickly and hit their seat belts or airbags more vigorously than they would have in a car with a crumple zone.

2. Warranties on motor body work protect you from hidden frame damage.

Unfortunately, if you are in an accident, your motor body may take the brunt of the damage. Luckily, a trained motor body repair professional can easily get your car to look like new again.

However, you should always get a warranty for your motor body work. For example, imagine you were in an accident that caused motor body damage, you had it repaired, but shortly thereafter, you discovered it had undetected frame damage.

In this scenario, if you had forgotten to get a warranty for your motor body work, you would likely have to pay someone to remove parts of the motor body and replace and repair the frame. If you had a warranty, in contrast, you wouldn't need to worry about the cost of the additional repairs.

3. After-market motor body parts may not be crashed tested.

If you ever take in your car to a garage for motor body work, you will likely get to choose between manufacturer or aftermarket parts. If possible, always try to choose manufacturer parts.

Made by the manufacturer of your car, these parts are crash tested. Aftermarket parts, in contrast, are made to emulate the manufacturer's parts, but in most cases, they are not crash tested.

 

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