Car hit curb, wheel messed up and car wouldnt start, booooooo

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soooo, i took a turn too fast and hit a curb with my left wheel, very little body damage, pretty much just the plastic black piece under the bumper is ripped up, and the plastic on the inside of the wheel housing where my car hit, rim is damaged, and i guess the front axle is broke, my wheel is all crooked

so what is needed to fix this? just a front axle? any other components go into this?

also...wondering why my car wouldnt start, i didnt hit the engine or anything, not sure if the car is made not to start if the car isnt driveable or if anything else happend?

can anyone offer any insight?
 
not enough details for us to diagnose.

The is no axle in the front, only the rear. the front has the typical steering and suspension components - that are all likely broken or bent.

there is no reason why the car shouldn't start if the damage is only suspension/steering - so look deeper for damage to the engine, wiring, the fuel filter (which is in the wheel well), the fuel interia cutoff switch (in the driver's foot well), ....

This is $1000s to repair.
 
this is terrible. i have a warranty, hopefully that will cover a good bit of these costs, im going to try to pull up what it covers and post it
 
A warranty doesnt cover an accident, this is considered an accident.

Sounds like your fuel pump switch got triggered and needs to be reset like Quik said.
 
damn i thought they did, mannnn this is ending up worse then i thought
 
yeah i have insurance but i wasnt looking forward to my rates going up.

thought my warranty would cover it but i guess not.

ill take pics if i get around to it, its kinda depressing to look at. im pretty upset.
 
that suxs man your car got stolen and they crashed it:eek: only kidding I would never suggest you try and commit fraud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just how fast where you going when you hit the curb?
 
not much of a discription of the damage but ur prolly going to need new upper and lower control arms.. maybe some brake repaint and electrical and so forth.. i believe the LS uses ceramic or aluminum control arms so when u go wheel first into anything they are the first things to go.. its like a 3-500 dollar fix depending on ur hourly rates at the shops and exactly what the problem is..


i ran into a car rim first and thats where i started.. i would get it checked out regardless.
 
Mine hit a curb on the left front wheel. destroyed the wheel, hub, and lower control arm. The aluminum lower control arm was bent back about 2 inches. Upper control arm and knuckle were fine.
 
Another thought; If you knocked the wheel back far enough into the wheel well it may have damaged or severed the fuel line at the filter, which sets right behind the left front wheel in the wheel well under the inner wheel skirt. I would check that first. Also if you need a lower control arm, just note that they changed the ball joint opening around Feb.2002, the ball joint opening is larger after that. I got my lower control arm from http://www.car-part.com/ it was 75 bucks vs $365 from the stealership.
 
I thought the advantage of a rear-wheel drive car was that you could drive over curbs without causing damage :D
 
yeah the wheel is like sitting crooked, and makes the car sink where the left wheel is (guessing whatever holds it on is broken) and the tire is flat, rim is messed up

how much is one of the factory chrome rims?

also what parts go into the left wheel steering assembly? upper control arms...lower control arms, and what else?
 
take it in.

there are 50 pieces in that front assembly - tie rods, steering, ABS rings, ....etc

Unless you are really good DIYer - it will be very difficult for you to fix it yourself. You will need some unique tools to seperate pieces, ...etc

It will also be tough to eyeball a part and know if it is bent by 2 degrees...
 
I agree with quik... take it like a man and cough up the dough.. ur gonna spend more in the long haul doing it yourself, and it might just be something stupid and cheap to fix. There is no cost for driving in a safe vehicle.
 
Yeah, take it in. If you damaged any of the aluminum suspension pieces (which would be most of them), they have to be evaluated by a professional, and most likely replaced. 'Loomnum ain't like steel; steel will generally deform a lot before it breaks, but aluminum has a tendency to fail catastrophically. When it's intact, the LS's suspension is plenty strong, but if it's compromised...
 
Take it to a dealer and have them inspect it. Aluminum parts can crack and youd never know it just by looking at them. Alot of times they have to be removed from the car and carefully inspected before many problems are found. Even a hairline crack will severely weaken the structural integrity of aluminum parts. If one of those parts were to break later down the road, you would be facing the same problem all over again, maybe even worse.
 
All parts are fairly easy to replace. Most likely lower control arm would absorb most of the impact. If your hub is not broken then probably it is just the lower control arm. Not likely the upper control arm would be damaged. Visually compare it to the right side. The link is about six inches long and bolts on to the front of the LCA, it should be almost vertical if its not you have bent the LCA. Also compare the distance from the back of tire to fender well, both sides should be the same, if not, your LCA is bent. Of course after you replace any major parts you will need a front end alignment.
 
well thanks guys, im just trying to figure out how much i might be looking at. i know im gonna have to get a new rim, im guessing thats around 300 in itself, plus towing charge, thats over 400 before i even get the wheel fixed, lol

luckily the bumper is only scraped so the only body work it needs is the plastic piece under the bumper, and the plastic piece on the inside of the wheel well.

oh, and whatever it costs to make it start as well, engine seems strong like it wasnt to start, but wont turn over...someone said it could be fuel switch
 
the interia cut-off switch likely tripped when you hit the curb. before you turn it back on - make sure your wheel did not damage the fuel line or fuel fitler that is in the wheel well behind the plastic liner on the firewall side.

the cut-off switch is in the driver's footwell - there is a little hole in the plastic that you can see it - if the red plunger is up - then it tripped. you reset it by pushing it down.
 
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