Accident - car pulls to one side

[Paul_B]

Our car got side swiped by a truck turning a corner and apart from visual damage like dents/scatches along the bodywork and on the alloy wheel the car seems to have had it's steering affected. I haven't driven it only my partner and it needs constant steer to one side to keep it straight.

Now I have told her to take it to the nearby main dealer (closest good garage to where it is parked) for a check over. I would be happier for her not to drive the 2 motorway junctions home but nip through by normal roads but we will see what the garage says.

BTW the accident was on a fully and legally parked car so the company who owns the truck has told us to go to a local bodywork specialist and they would pay. No quibbles on that and no insurance involvement (unless we inform ours as I think we should). The company was making a delivery and the driver just took a chance on the bend rather than knocking on one of the doors (only houses on one side of the road) to see if the cr could be moved. We would have moved it for them. The gap between cars on both sides of the road is sufficient for at least a transit van and something bigger like dustbin lorry. The truck did go past the car the other way but due to the bend and constriction it is harder to leave the dead end street than enter it! In 15 years we have never been hit by the dustbin lorry and other delivery trucks so it was his driving at issue.

Now you guys know more than I do about cars but is this likely to be a major steering issue. I am thinking it could be the steering (as in rack and pinion or whatever it is) or perhaps the steering rods. I doubt it will be just the bushes or something like that. Either way it is not cheap to fix.

Anyone got any ideas/advice.

 

[Disco1]

Might be worth phoning your insurance company and explain to them what's happening. What if the repairs are not good enough what then?.

 

[nunzionuk]

Call your insurance, car doesnt sound in a safe drivable state.

 

[homesicksteve]

Insurance job. Recovery truck to collect car, & replacement vehicle while it's getting sorted....

 

[forrestdweller]

i hope the truckie gets the punishment he deserves....

 

[Mesquite]

i hope the truckie gets the punishment he deserves....

And what punishment should it be for making a mistake?

He was honest and owned up to the accident right away so the OP isn't out of pocket or anything.

 

[boatman]

Watch your no claims bonus. The insurance company might try to penalise you even though the injured party but you must involve your insurance company and not drive it.

 

[Paul_B]

I told my insurer on the last car I had which was hit by another car. That driver paid full up front once I had got the final price to repair. I still told the insurer straight away and told them after the work was successfully done. Then after I changed insurer I got asked about the accident. Seems it was still recorded as a claim so that whilst it did not increase premiums with the existing insurer it did with any new one. What a rip off.

The bodywork specialist I have been told to go to is a local company with a good reputation who does insurance work. I went there for a price when my last car was damaged. He charged £800 and would have to wait 4 weeks for it to be done, the place I went with cost £500 and could do it in a week and half. I went witht he cheaper and it was a decent job (a couple of issues got sorted out afterwards but it got done ok in the end). At that time the most expensive of the 5 places I got prices from was £1600+ without a courtesy car and would not be started for at least 8 weeks due to workload.

The car was parked legally where a side road turned into the end of my road on the outside of the turn. In over 15 years I have never had any accident or even a scratch. Last year my neighbour had his first dent. So the road is wide enough and the driver of the truck is at fault. The dustbin lorry makes the turn every other week and for the first 5 years I lived here it was weekly all without hitting any vehicle. The driver should and could have knocked on any of the two nearest houses and either my partner in one would have moved it or the other neighbour would have directed them to my house. There is simply no excuse or way to get out of this for them. If the insurer got involved we would end up getting money from the company's insurer for it.

The operator of the truck is a trading arm of a large group and apparently the local branch has an account with this respected local repair shop. When called they were expecting the call and the driver even told my partner to go to north road and they would pay. That was repeated by the local branch office. I think we will be covered but I am really keen to get a bit of information on what could be damaged with the steering by a hit to the drivers side front wheel. The car was lifted up by the impact so it was not a simple scratch and dent. What could be causing a pull to the side that needs a steering correction by the driver? I reckon it could be dangerous and the car should not really be driven.

One more question, body repair shops are also effectively mechanics too I guess in that anything mechanical they can also fix? If it is serious with the steering will they pass it on to a garage or do the whole work themselves? I've never had a mechanical issue with any prang I've been involved in so not sure what is involved and who does such work.

 

[Paul_B]

I know about informing the insurer. I believe it is a legal requirement even if the other party is putting it right.

My no claims is protected so I should be ok with that since it allows 2 accidents in IIRC a 5 year period and I am over 5 years since the last accident (non-insurance claim). The no claims is not affected but the premiums will go up if I switch. If I don't swith they will go up anyway, always do and often by a lot. I usually end up switching or getting the same insurer to give a better deal. I am sure it will go up just because it is on record even though no cost to the insurer. That to me is a real rip off.

I have got her to take it to the local main dealer which is the nearest decent garage. I agree that it is likely that it will not be driveable which either means the local garage will need to collect or the other party pays to get it there.

All this is not what I need right now. A real pain. Still it seems my partner is doing the legwork on this with the phone calls. I will need to get involved though.

 

[Zingmo]

I once had a simple rear end shunt. The other car was a bit dented round the front but I couldn't see any damage at all on mine. I didn't see the point of making a claim so I let it pass.
Eight months later the car went for its MOT: The chassis was buckled. It was an old car so was only good for scrap. I had lost the guys details in the intervening time so no comeback.

My advice: Ignore the whining and pleading of the truck company who are only trying to keep their insurance costs down. Do it by the book.

Z

 

[santaman2000]

The main dealer would have been my first choice in this case. Both for the body work and any mechanical issues. As they have (or should have) both a body shop (or a contract with one) and mechanics in their maintenance department and are in the best situation to diagnose your problem.

A bit late now but I would have also asked for a traffic cop to respond to the site before moving the vehicle from the crash site but it sounds as if the company involved is trying to make it right. Just a little worried that they don't seem to want to involve their insurance (if I read your posts right)

 

[Paul_B]

The body shop has all the accreditations from appropriate trade and insurance bodies so if it had been my insurer sorting it out I could have gone there. I have no doubts about going to the body shop the truck company advised because of the reputation it has. I was told last time a car needed repairing that it was a good place to go to. Besides, you really should see their last van's paint job. Seriously it was a work of art. You know those custom car shows where they take a junk car owned by someone and turn it into a real custom car with all those fancy gadgets and stuff with a paint job to match. Well that van was up there with the best of those shows' paint jobs. One of those irridescent paint jobs that look different colour depending on where you are looking from with metallic effect (looks almost like flakes deep in the bodywork). They do custom paint jobs for a custom car shop nearby I understand as well as straight insurance jobs and touch ups for people.

I do not think the truck company (would like to say who but not fair because they sound like they are being reasonable to my partner over this. She said she was taking it to local main dealer for a check up and they said it was fine. We are thinking that if the dealer says it is safe to drive back to the other shop we will go there. This company is part of a large trading group so I guess not dodgy. To them this would be peanuts and they probably use them a lot for one thing or another. IIRC the parent/holding company has 20k+ employees around the UK and Ireland. Although that does not guarantee anything but from what I can gather they seem to be making all the right noises. The driver said about insurance but I think the branch office just said take it to that shop and they will sort the bill out.

 

[santaman2000]

The bottom line is that you're satisfied once all the repairs are done and that they're done in a timely manner. If you're confident with the bodyshop they recommended then that's all that matters.

Most body shops over here are competent or they don't stay in business very long; I expect that true there as well. the only reason I would have preferred the main dealer is that they have both the body shop and the mechanical shop in one complex. It probably doesn't really matter. Good luck.

 

[Paul_B]

Our main dealer doesn't do bodywork but they can arrange for a third party to do it, no doubt for a fee. TBH I think over here that is kind of the way of things in most areas. Specialist body shops and accident repair centres fully approved by insurance firms. From my few claims I have made uit is often that the insurance company sends you to the nearest reppair centre on their books, basically ones that suit them. The last two times I went through insurance I got sent to the next town away, not even close to the nearest shop in one case. I think I drove past about 3 or 4 shops with insurance approval to get to the ones recommended by the insurance co at each time.

Interesting point that I guess there must be a lot of differences between US and UK garaging in terms of accident repair shops and garages/main dealers. I wonder what the national differences are, many similarities but it sounds like the main dealers are a bit different over there. Guess regional dealers here compared to say large cities especially London way over here are probably different too. I know the Ford main dealer where I used to live had a body shop, tyre centre, garage services as well as the obvious sales side all at the same place.

 

[santaman2000]

Generally here (in Florida) I report the accident to my insurance (or the other parties if they're at fault as it sounds is your case) then I pick the repair facility (whether it be the main dealer or an independent body shop. If the shop has an agreement in place with the insurance company then the insurance will accept their cost estimate; otherwise the insurance company will send out their own adjuster to make the estimate.

Either way the shop and the insurance companies will work well with each other (providing both are reputable) The insurance claims agents and the reputable body shops pretty much know each other by name and try to maintain good working relationships. At least within a given geographic area.

A "courtesy" car while yours is being repaired would be dependent on who was at fault. If the other party's at fault then they or their insurance would be required by law to provide you with one. On the other hand if it were you at fault then it would be dependent on the terms of your policy (mine does cover that)

 

[santaman2000]

..... I know the Ford main dealer where I used to live had a body shop, tyre centre, garage services as well as the obvious sales side all at the same place.

That would be almost every main dealer I've ever seen here. A very, very few smaller ones might contract the body work but I've never ran into one yet. The last time I had body work done was a similar situation to your; my truck was sideswiped while legally parked. The driver of the offending vehicle's husband was a salesman at a local Ford dealership and requested I get it fixed there so he could pay out of pocket without filing a claim against his insurance. I had no qualms about allowing them to do the work as they were a reputable shop (as are almost all the dealerships) The manger of the dealership bodyshop took a look and advised him to go ahead and file the claim as it would be more than he'd want to pay out of pocket. She (sain manager0 then asked me if I still wanted them to do the work; of course I had no objection and was quite satisfied when they finished.

 

[Steve27752]

If the vehicle has been 'T' boned and now pulls to on side. I would say the chassis is bent and the car will probable be a write off......................Also should not be driven as it is not not safe to drive.

 

[Paul_B]

If the vehicle has been 'T' boned and now pulls to on side. I would say the chassis is bent and the car will probable be a write off......................Also should not be driven as it is not not safe to drive.

It was no T-boned as ssuch more a sliding swipe along the side.

I got home and checked it out, there is a lot of bad scuffing around the front wheel arch from the bottom round to the front. The wheel arch sticks out more than the side of the car so there is really very little on the main side panel other than the edge of the wheel arch (at one point that has a sharp edge that has rippled up a bit. Due to the bumper sweeping round there is a lot of the wheel arch consisting of the bumper which is not deformed just got deep gouges or scratched in it around the arch. I think the side panel and bumper might need replacing since I can't see how you can make them good around the edge. The alloy wheel has a few big gouges in the edge which makes me wonder how the tyre survived. It is a new tyre and a good one too. The alloys are OEM and rather nice so I will expect a like for like replacement as you can not make good that badly scuffed alloys.

Then there is the steering issue. I think it is less of an issue than I was first led to believe. Turns out it is not really a pulling to one side just that the steering wheel is no longer properly aligned. Basically when driving straight the steering wheel is like it was steering to one side. I had that after a main dealer (ford) had replaced my tyres once. I had to go back and they sdjusted it so the steering wheel was straight. They said it was not an issue and was safe like that but this case is different being an accident.

Well we are going to take it to the repsected local body shop. The main dealer doesn't do body repairs but could repair the steering issue later in the week. They did not take a proper look just a basic look and said they would have to get it in to check it out later in the week. Now they have not expressed an opinion but I would think if they had any doubt about it's safety to drive they would have said. The garage seems a good one and is a long time main dealer too. They also recommended a body shop down the road but said it could be better to go to the more local one and it is better to get all the problems sorted at one place. Accident repair shops must also do mechanicals afterall.

We are due a service so I reckon I will take it into the main dealer for that after fixing. Perhaps anything that is not right will show up, they make a big deal about how they go the extra mile with their services, right down to wheels off checking of brakes, steering and suspension, full valeting and latest product/software updates or enhancements (whatever that is). Do cars have firmware updates these days???

No matter what, this car will not feel the same, I find after accidents of any kind I tend to lose the connection to the car. What I mean it no longer becomes a pride and joy that you love to drive but a machine to get from A to B. That usually only happens after a few years of ownership for me. BTW I lasted longer than the 2 weeks with my last car - someone backed into me 2 weeks after buying it. Annoyed was an understatement.

 

[Steve27752]

In my opinion, the car should not be driven on the road in this condition. it should be checked by a garage first.
If the steering wheel is not aligned, damage has been done that may affect it's road worthiness.

 

[Paul_B]

It is only going round the corner to the shop today, but yesterday it was driven a bit further to a main dealership to eb checked out. It was on that drive that the misalignment of the steering wheel was noticed which raised concerns.

At the end of the day we would not want to jeopardise things should it move to a full insurance settlement. It is being driven very little. TBH it doesn't get much mileage in except at the weekend normally so it is not an issue to not use it for a while. I use the train and my partner can work from home and mostly does so. I'm usually a cycle commuter but for a few reasons am taking public transport. We started doing this spring last year and I think it helps save a lot of money to use the car only when necessary. Plus cycling is great for the waistline and health.