What kind of damage do you think I did to my car here?

[RocketGuy3]

Today I got into possibly the stupidest wreck ever. Not to make excuses, but I have some ADD that has caused a few close calls on the road, usually at slow speeds... But this time the call wasn't close, it made full contact. :(

I was driving down my multi-level apartment parking garage, and basically went into lala land. Then I got startled by a car that was coming up the opposite direction as I was going down a ramp and turning right. I swerved to the right (for no good reason), and made hard contact with a square-shaped, metal pillar. It scraped up my passenger door and rear fender badly, and also caught my rear wheel, bending it backwards a bit. My heart completely sank. I know, completely stupid accident. I'm so unbelievably pissed at myself right now... :doh:

I think most of the damage to the door/fender is cosmetic (but of course still expensive to repair), but I'm worried about my rear wheel/axle... I'm guessing I bent the axle a bit. I didn't notice that the wheel was off-line at first, and carried on my way, but I quickly noticed the car was pulling to the right a bit as I drove. No wobble or anything, just pulling. Came back after making it about 1 to 1.5 miles away. Looked at the car, and saw the wheel was somewhat noticeably tilted to the right.

Is that likely a bent axle? Or what? I'm wondering how likely it is that the shop will be able to return the car to original form... I track this car and need it to be in top shape. I don't think the damage should be so serious that it's unfixable, but I figured I'd ask you guys for your input.

I'm also somewhat worried about loss of value on the car, which I'm pretty sure Geico will not cover for me. :/



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[jasonstang]

It won't be bent axle as there is no "axle" to bend.
What you did is you bent parts on the independent rear suspension.

 

[Super Werty]

Lol bent axle. You track this car yet know nothing about it mechanically? You need to stop driving it asap. Sounds like suspension components are bent.

 

[OutlanderRed]

They might have to rebuild that entire side of the rear subframe. My guess is it depends on what you managed to actually bend.

 

[hiccup]

Haha..barely visible and wont show in pics but...my subframe and suspension bent..come on lets see the pics and we will decide!

 

[RocketGuy3]

Lol bent axle. You track this car yet know nothing about it mechanically? You need to stop driving it asap. Sounds like suspension components are bent.

Lulz, you guys don't hold back...

Honestly, as I was typing that post, I realized something sounded pretty stupid about what I putting together (which is why I added the part about no wobbling). My excuse is that I'm still a little flustered. In any case, I figured there could be some serious/expensive damage causing the problem.

I swear I'm actually an engineer...! I have some capability of understanding these things, I'm just more ignorant than I should be. Partly because I rarely have worked on any of my cars (wasn't much need to other than simple maintenance), and know most of what I know from wikipedia/howstuffworks/internet forums.

They might have to rebuild that entire side of the rear subframe. My guess is it depends on what you managed to actually bend.

Oh lord I hope not... I hope I couldn't have done that much damage pulling by that pillar at 5-8 mph. :frusty:

Haha..barely visible and wont show in pics but...my subframe and suspension bent..come on lets see the pics and we will decide!

I'll take some tomorrow once it's light out... *sigh* not looking forward to having to take another look at my poor car in this shape. God this was so, so stupid and unnecessary.

 

[hiccup]

Lulz, you guys don't hold back...

Honestly, as I was typing that post, I realized something sounded pretty stupid about what I putting together (which is why I added the part about no wobbling). My excuse is that I'm still a little flustered. In any case, I figured there could be some serious/expensive damage causing the problem.

I swear I'm actually an engineer...! I have some capability of understanding these things, I'm just more ignorant than I should be. Partly because I rarely have worked on any of my cars (wasn't much need to other than simple maintenance), and know most of what I know from wikipedia/howstuffworks/internet forums.




Oh lord I hope not... I hope I couldn't have done that much damage pulling by that pillar at 5-8 mph. :frusty:




I'll take some tomorrow once it's light out... *sigh* not looking forward to having to take another look at my poor car in this shape. God this was so, so stupid and unnecessary.

Sorry for your mishap. ..would make me sick also.

 

[klumpikat]

ADD sucks :(

 

[TTony91]

Check out the lower Aluminium H arm that could be bent or the Toe link.

 

[SpeedLu]

Take medication bro. It will change your life.

 

[GT Pony]

Dang RocketGuy ... hope it's not as bad as it seems. The dealer of a good chassis/suspension shop will have to determine damage caused by the wheel hitting the post.

 

[Brando]

Unfortunately yes, 5-8 mph is enough to do that kind of damage. The suspension should all be bolt on/bolt off parts that can be replaced. Your insurance will probably still cover it. Don't say you were in la-la land, just say you misjudged the distance of the pole from your car while passing it.

And pics or gtfo.

 

[murphy]

Take medication bro. It will change your life.

This.
OP, get some meds, wake up, and pay attention. If you're drifting off into la la land while driving you're putting others at risk. Sorry to hear about the car, that sucks.

 

[SK GT]

This.
OP, get some meds, wake up, and pay attention. If you're drifting off into la la land while driving you're putting others at risk. Sorry to hear about the car, that sucks.

This. Drifting into la la land while driving a 4000 pound vehicle on public roads sounds like a smart idea.

 

[RitzGT]

Unfortunately yes, 5-8 mph is enough to do that kind of damage. The suspension should all be bolt on/bolt off parts that can be replaced. Your insurance will probably still cover it. Don't say you were in la-la land, just say you misjudged the distance of the pole from your car while passing it.

And pics or gtfo.

Yep, 5-8mph is plenty. Consider that the car weighs nearly 2 tons. That's a lot of kinetic energy to get absorbed by "something" when you hit an immovable object. When he takes it to the body shop, I'm sure they'll be able to eyeball what's hosed on the rear suspension. Between that and the body work, it sounds like it's going to be an expensive lesson.

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