Had a run in with a gutter coming out of a slippery roundabout yesterday.

Impact was under 30km/hr, however the rim & suspension took all the impact.

Rim and suspension broken and tow required.

My question is what else could be damaged that i should be aware of? Driveshaft, CV etc? I hate talking to reparers/mechanics without knowing what i'm taking about.

The wheel also hit the inner guard/panel and now the pasenger door is 'jammed' hard to open? Would this write the car off (03 TJ exec)?

Thanks.

Theres the very real question now if your chassis is bent/twisted, because your suspension is damaged.

Take it to a mechanic/suspension place and get them to do a full inspection and ask them what they recommend. Do you have full comprehensive insurance on your car?

Best to get it up on a Hoist and have a look. Most likely you will need to replace the driveshaft & (both inner and outer CV's) you can buy these complete off eBay.
You will want to also replace the bottom ball-joint and tie-rod end on the steering rack.

It’s probably easier to drop the whole left-had strut out and go through it, see what’s bent. You will also want to check that it hasn’t bent the body of the car (strut tower, where the strut bolts onto.

The parts aren’t hugely expensive for these, it you did the work yourself you wouldn’t cost too much, providing there is no damage to the chassis.

Sorry guys, should of mentioned i have full comp.

Thanks for the input.

Car is being inspected by insurance company. I want to know what i'm talking about if the car is repairable and sent to mechanic. Repairs are sent usually to the cheapest quote....i want to know what i'm talking about when i speak to the repairer. I'm not putting up with a crabbing car as the chassis might be bent etc.

Its an exec, but i have added Verada rims. I noted on the policy i have alloys rims. Will they have to replace the alloy rim? And tyre as per my other 3 (tyre was flat)?

Thanks.

It all depends on your insurance company re the wheels. If your chassis is bent it will most likely be a write-off. My Mrs. just had a similar accident in her Micra and it was 7k damage!

Magna's are just not worth enough these days: P... Do you have agreed value?

They will either repair or replace the alloy, whatever is more economical.

Best bet would be to get her up on a hoist and get a jig on it to check how straight the K Frame is..

SuFz

Sorry guys, should of mentioned i have full comp.

Thanks for the input.

Car is being inspected by insurance company. I want to know what i'm talking about if the car is repairable and sent to mechanic. Repairs are sent usually to the cheapest quote....i want to know what i'm talking about when i speak to the repairer. I'm not putting up with a crabbing car as the chassis might be bent etc.

Its an exec, but i have added Verada rims. I noted on the policy i have alloys rims. Will they have to replace the alloy rim? And tyre as per my other 3 (tyre was flat)?

Thanks.

If the tyre needs replacing, you need to push them for two new tyres. Having a brand new tyre on the same axle as an old tyre is always a bad idea.

Check your PDS..

eg.

What is not covered under this policy:

Replacement of non damaged parts
For replacement of a whole set or part there of, when the loss or damage occured to only part of the set (eg. Mag Wheels, Tyres)

Who's your insurance with? We can take a look at the PDS on the net and find out what is/isn't covered.

These are the rims i bought off you Dave.. :)

Are they Verada rims? Sorry for my ignorance.

With AAMI.

Car is not sent to the cheapest QUOTE it is sent to the most complete quote.

they will get the rim repaired or find a replacement depends on damage to the rim also if it is suspension damage say good bye to the car becuase it most likely will be expensive

Yeah I am guessing write off as well. Take a look at the cars on mitsfix that are write offs and I tell ya, its bugger all damage.

Just cause the car is Market Value at say $5,000, they only repair up to 65% of the value because of the cost of a wreck that they receive back. So if repairs total say more than $3,250, its cheaper to just pay you $5,000 and for them to sell the wreck for $2,000 so the insurnace company is out of pocket say $3,000. Its cheaper for them rather than repairing it.

My old TH was insured for $9,500, I had $7,000 damage and it was a write off. People seem to think that the damage must exceed the whole cars worth, not the case at all.

Yeah I am guessing write off as well. Take a look at the cars on mitsfix that are write offs and I tell ya, its bugger all damage.

Just cause the car is Market Value at say $5,000, they only repair up to 65% of the value because of the cost of a wreck that they receive back. So if repairs total say more than $3,250, its cheaper to just pay you $5,000 and for them to sell the wreck for $2,000 so the insurnace company is out of pocket say $3,000. Its cheaper for them rather than repairing it.

My old TH was insured for $9,500, I had $7,000 damage and it was a write off. People seem to think that the damage must exceed the whole cars worth, not the case at all.

They would be lucky to get $500 for a TJ exec wreck!

They would be lucky to get $500 for a TJ exec wreck!
Agreed. When my mate crashed my car it was cheaper not to go to insurance and repair it with another wreck which we found (it only had rear end damage). So we swapped all the parts that were broken on mine from it and my car was back on the road in 6 weeks of every weekend working on it. We got that rear end damaged TL for $1400 so yeah. I'm so lucky mine wasn't written off.

Firstly, thanks to everyone who replied.

I don’t write much here, but check out the forum all the time for the last nearly 3 years.

My car is being repaired.

I'm going to call the mechanic where it is being repaired shortly.

Does anyone know the following;

Does a tyre that went flat after the collision have to be replaced? (I really don’t wont to be driving on it after the hit and deflation).

If they replace the tyre I'll have mismatching tyres on the front. I thought this was a no no.

Do they have to use new suspension components?

Thanks.

Aaaah your the dude with the wagon?? Yeah those rims came on special ed models, and optional on all other models IIRC incl verada.

Check your PDS..

eg.

What is not covered under this policy:

Replacement of non damaged parts
For replacement of a whole set or part there of, when the loss or damage occured to only part of the set (eg. Mag Wheels, Tyres)

Who's your insurance with? We can take a look at the PDS on the net and find out what is/isn't covered.

I pushed AAMI for new suspension on both sides after a driver side impact, got the repairers to confirm it was dangerous mixing old and new shocks on one end ;)

Boosty......it isn't 65% with all companies, allianz and cgu both have 80% before write off. (I worked in insurance until recently)

Your alloy will be replaced or repaired, and the tyre too.....good luck trying to get a matching pair, I worked in claims.

And your pay out will be minus the excess and remaining payments if you pay monthly......ie: insured value is $7000....minus $500 excess, minus 5 monthly payments remaining on policy of 48.00 = $6260 (this is just an example)

Also if they do write the car off: If your aftermarket stereo, seat covers, floor mats, etc are not listed on the policy, you won't get paid for them. Ask to take them out of the vehicle, because once that money hits your account, the vehicle and all it's contents are no longer yours.

Thanks to all of those who replied.

Got my car completed yesterday after a huge balls up by both AAMI and the repairer.

All up took 21 days, for a 4 day job.

AAMI put my cliam to the 'investigation department' in error. So on the Friday i was told to pick my car up from the mechanic, the mechanic informs me the car repairs are on hold by AAMI and no parts have been ordered. This is after to speaking to AAMI 3 times during the week and the morning of the informed pickup!

I blow up and AAMI agree to supply a hire car for the week. To achieve this though i go through about 2hrs of hold, being transfered to different departments etc. No one takes responsibility until one bloke fixes it all up for me.

The following Friday i pick the car up. The car is missing the centre cap, the rim is the wrong colour and the tyre has overspray all over it. I didn't realise they were spraying the front quarter panel as i didn't do any damage to it. But beacuarse the chassis took a hit, it must of had to be sprayed. If i knew this i would of sourced a couple of painters quotes myself as the work looks terrible. The whole panel is orange peel.

Anyway, mechanic states its the only rim available and the centre cap will be found and i'll have to come back to pick it up. I take my keys and leave. No point wasting my breathe.

Call the assessor up and tell him the issues except the paint (i can't be bothered anymore). I have found the rim in 20 minutes sourced from Phil Gilbert Mits Parts Dealer myself.......

Yesterday go in and have my correct rim put on, the tyre spun around and my centre cap found and added.

I must admit, i'm pretty forgiving for people making mistakes. But i hate being treated like crap and an idiot. When i turned up and saw the wrong rim, no centre cap and overspray on the tyre they must of thought i was the worlds first blind driver. Cos no-one would accept this sort of repair.

No apologies from anyone in 21 days - nothing! Countless hrs on hold and time spent driving to hire car company and back to mechanic etc.

You can only go back to NRMA etc and ignore the $200 discount from AAMI on the premium next time.....

This is why you really want choice of repairer as part of your policy.

You never really know how good an insurance company is until you go through this process. They are happy enough to take your premiums but you get to see their true colours when you make a claim. Perhaps write someone high up in the company outlining your experience and ask why you should be bothered to stay with that company?

Your experience is why I swap from comp to third party property insurance (about $100 a year) once my car is 10 years old. I want to be covered for damage I potentially can do to an expensive car, but I know that mine would be written off on comprehensive insurance far too easily. If repairable, I'd prefer to do the repairs myself or just replace the car. On comprehensive insurance, you take a bath financially in a crash with a 10 year old car even if they bother to repair it anyway, with excess and premiums in advance, etc - so its not worth the trouble really.

My TJ is having its 10th birthday this month! lol