Garage Door Hit by a Car? What to Do and What Can Be Fixed

A car and a garage door meet more often than anyone likes to admit: a foot on the wrong pedal, a door that closed too soon, a new driver learning to back out. Most of what bends is repairable. The first ten minutes decide whether it stays that way.

What should you do right after the hit?

Safety first. Do not unwind, adjust or remove a spring, a lift cable, a cable drum or a bottom bracket. Never run the opener with a broken spring or a snapped cable, and keep everyone out from under a door that is crooked or jammed. A door knocked out of its track can shift or fall.

1. Unplug the opener. Pull its cord from the ceiling outlet so nobody presses a remote out of habit. An opener pulling on a bent door can drag it out of the track or pull a cable off its drum.
2. Leave the door where it is. Do not force it up or down, and do not pull the emergency release if the door is open or crooked. If the door came down onto the car, call before moving the car if you can.
3. Keep people and pets clear of the opening, inside and out.
4. Take photos before anything moves. Shoot the outside and inside of the door, both tracks from top to bottom, the bottom corners where the cables attach, the rollers, the opener rail and arm, and the car. Note the date and time.
5. Look up without touching. Check the springs above the door and the cables at each side. A loose cable, or a door hanging lower on one side, is a stop sign.

A door that is crooked or out of its track is covered on our off track or crooked page, which explains what is holding it up and why it should not be pushed back by hand.

What usually bends, and what usually survives?

Most hits land at bumper height, so the damage collects low on the door:

• The bottom section. Dented, creased across its width, or split where a hinge is fastened.
• The vertical track. Kinked near the floor, or pushed away from the jamb.
• Rollers. Popped out of the track, or bent at the stem.
• Hinges. Cracked leaves, or screws torn out of the section.
• The bottom seal, torn or pulled out of its retainer.

If the door was closing and came down onto the car, the top section takes the load instead: a bent strut, a bent J-arm, or a crack where the opener bracket is fastened.

What usually survives: the springs, the torsion tube and the cable drums sit above the opening, out of reach of a bumper, and the opener’s motor head is rarely hurt. Cables are the exception to watch, because a door shoved sideways can slacken a cable and pull it off its drum. If you are not sure what to call a part in your photos, our garage door parts glossary has the names.

Repair or a new door: where is the line?

We are not a licensed contractor. Garage door repairs under $1,000 in labor and materials do not require a California contractor license (Business and Professions Code section 7048), and we stay inside that line. A new garage door is a job for a licensed contractor, and we say so.

That line maps neatly onto car damage:

Sections are made to match a door’s make, model, color and panel design. Clopay, for one, asks for the model, the section size, the color and whether the top, middle or bottom section is needed, so we identify the door, measure and quote before anything is ordered. If a section job would cross the $1,000 line, you hear that before the order goes in.

The details are on panel and section replacement. Track work is off-track door repair, and hinges and rollers are rollers and hinges. For the bigger decision, read repair or replace your garage door.

Does insurance cover a garage door you hit?

This is general information, not insurance or legal advice. Your policy wording decides.

• Homeowners. A standard policy covers the structure of your home, and an attached garage is part of it. Most policies also cover detached structures such as a garage, generally for about 10 percent of the amount on the house. Damage from a vehicle is usually a covered cause, and many policies pay even when you were the driver, so check yours for an exclusion.
• Auto. Collision coverage pays for your car. Whether the auto policy also pays for the door varies by insurer, so ask. If another driver hit your door, their liability coverage usually pays for it.
• The deductible. You pay the deductible toward any covered loss. If the repair costs about the same as your deductible, a claim may not be worth filing.

We give itemized invoices, with each part and the labor listed separately, which is what an adjuster asks to see.

Across San Diego

In HOA communities like 4S Ranch and Eastlake and Otay Ranch, the association cares about color and panel style, and builder-standard doors there are often still in production, which helps a matching section. In older neighborhoods like Clairemont, the door may be a discontinued model, and a hit that would mean one section elsewhere can turn into a new door.

Next step

Send photos of the damage and book panel and section replacement. We will tell you what is repairable, what has to be ordered and whether the job belongs with a licensed contractor, before anything is touched.