What happened:
Well, I was driving in a parking lot after it snowed a few inches and honestly, I was going a bit faster than I should've been. I hit a patch of ice that was obscured by the snow during left turn and I spun out a bit. The passenger side rear wheel smacked up against a curb.
The damage:
The wheel now has a big chunk chipped off and the bottom of the wheel is tilted in a bit (the wheel still spins straight, not wobbly). The tilt to the wheel is not even noticeable if you just glance at it unless you are looking for it. Also, there is a humming/grinding noise coming from the wheel when driving, I was guessing that it's the bearing. The car also tracks a little to the left which I'm pretty sure it didn't do before.
Estimate from dealer:
I took it to the dealer just to see what they would say about it and to get an estimate, I probably won't get it fixed there since they are always busy as hell and overcharge. Anyways, the estimator person bent down on the ground and looked underneath the car. The final estimate was $800 to replace the wheel, bearing, 2 control arms, labor, and an alignment. I probably won't file a claim with my insurance since my deductible is high and I don't want another accident claim on my record.
My experience with other shops:
I then took the car to a locally owned collision shop and they said they couldn't do anything for me besides replace the wheel. They don't do their own suspension work and only have one lift and usually send suspension work to someone else if they needed it done. They recommended for me to go to Midas since they have an alignment machine. I went to Midas, they put the car on a lift and had multiple mechanics stare at it and examine it for about 20 minutes. They finally told me that they couldn't tell which control arm was bent and that I should try somewhere else (they recommended Maaco which was around the corner). I went to Maaco and that mechanic took a look under the car int he parking lot, looked up some info and told me that he didn't want to do the work since he didn't have an alignment rack and didn't want to guess which control arm was bent. He also said that it was strange that Midas said they couldn't do the work either since he said they had an alignment rack that could tell which part was bent (similar to what the first shop said about Midas). Anyways he recommended another locally owned shop that he says does good work and has an alignment rack. I called them up and set up an appointment two days from now to get the car on the alignment rack for $55 which I would have to pay for anyways if I got the car fixed there.
I now have to wait 2 days before I can get my car to that shop. Meanwhile, I HAVE to drive my car, I'm worried a bit that the tire will pop off or something or that my wheel will fall off from bearing failure. I'm driving extra slowly and avoiding all potholes and bumps. Anyways, does anyone have any advice on anything else I should do at this point or advice on getting it fixed?
UPDATE: I just took it to another independent shop and they recommended replacing all 4 control arms, bearing, a knuckle, and the wheel for a total of $900 (including labor).
UPDATE 2:
So I went to the shop with the alignment rack this morning and here's the price they gave me:
$55 aligment (to get the wheel straight again)
$130 Wheel
$200 Bearing
$100 Labor
+Tax
=~$500
I'm not 100% sure if I should get the work done here. They said that the control arm was not bent enough to warrant a new one and that they can just do some sort of alignment and it is enough to get the wheel straight again. Since a couple of the other shops I went to couldn't even tell (visually) which one was bent, I guess what they are saying isn't unreasonable. What do you guys think?
I don't really care that much about this car since it is pretty beat up already, I just want to get my car running decently. The main thing is that I want to try to save money and this shop is the cheapest.
Thanks
Well, I was driving in a parking lot after it snowed a few inches and honestly, I was going a bit faster than I should've been. I hit a patch of ice that was obscured by the snow during left turn and I spun out a bit. The passenger side rear wheel smacked up against a curb.
The damage:
The wheel now has a big chunk chipped off and the bottom of the wheel is tilted in a bit (the wheel still spins straight, not wobbly). The tilt to the wheel is not even noticeable if you just glance at it unless you are looking for it. Also, there is a humming/grinding noise coming from the wheel when driving, I was guessing that it's the bearing. The car also tracks a little to the left which I'm pretty sure it didn't do before.
Estimate from dealer:
I took it to the dealer just to see what they would say about it and to get an estimate, I probably won't get it fixed there since they are always busy as hell and overcharge. Anyways, the estimator person bent down on the ground and looked underneath the car. The final estimate was $800 to replace the wheel, bearing, 2 control arms, labor, and an alignment. I probably won't file a claim with my insurance since my deductible is high and I don't want another accident claim on my record.
My experience with other shops:
I then took the car to a locally owned collision shop and they said they couldn't do anything for me besides replace the wheel. They don't do their own suspension work and only have one lift and usually send suspension work to someone else if they needed it done. They recommended for me to go to Midas since they have an alignment machine. I went to Midas, they put the car on a lift and had multiple mechanics stare at it and examine it for about 20 minutes. They finally told me that they couldn't tell which control arm was bent and that I should try somewhere else (they recommended Maaco which was around the corner). I went to Maaco and that mechanic took a look under the car int he parking lot, looked up some info and told me that he didn't want to do the work since he didn't have an alignment rack and didn't want to guess which control arm was bent. He also said that it was strange that Midas said they couldn't do the work either since he said they had an alignment rack that could tell which part was bent (similar to what the first shop said about Midas). Anyways he recommended another locally owned shop that he says does good work and has an alignment rack. I called them up and set up an appointment two days from now to get the car on the alignment rack for $55 which I would have to pay for anyways if I got the car fixed there.
I now have to wait 2 days before I can get my car to that shop. Meanwhile, I HAVE to drive my car, I'm worried a bit that the tire will pop off or something or that my wheel will fall off from bearing failure. I'm driving extra slowly and avoiding all potholes and bumps. Anyways, does anyone have any advice on anything else I should do at this point or advice on getting it fixed?
UPDATE: I just took it to another independent shop and they recommended replacing all 4 control arms, bearing, a knuckle, and the wheel for a total of $900 (including labor).
UPDATE 2:
So I went to the shop with the alignment rack this morning and here's the price they gave me:
$55 aligment (to get the wheel straight again)
$130 Wheel
$200 Bearing
$100 Labor
+Tax
=~$500
I'm not 100% sure if I should get the work done here. They said that the control arm was not bent enough to warrant a new one and that they can just do some sort of alignment and it is enough to get the wheel straight again. Since a couple of the other shops I went to couldn't even tell (visually) which one was bent, I guess what they are saying isn't unreasonable. What do you guys think?
I don't really care that much about this car since it is pretty beat up already, I just want to get my car running decently. The main thing is that I want to try to save money and this shop is the cheapest.
Thanks
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