My car got hit by something

[He Man]

Last week on the 19th, I went to my car expecting a uneventful drive to the city. About 2 minutes into me struggling to get out of my parking spot (i was parked ontop of slippery snow that had fallen 2 days earlier), a driver comes by and says my wheel aint right. I stepped out of the vehicle and noticed my driver side front wheel was not connected to my steering rack. I took a look below and the inner tie rod was snapped off the outer tie rod end,

I couldnt see much and had no way of fixing it myself right then and there so Chevy came and towed it to the dealership. The dealership saw that the tie rod threaded end was bent 90 degrees and said it wasn't warranty able since it was clearly impact damage. I couldnt wrap my head around how bent the part was but I agreed that this was not warrantyable, but had no idea how it could have happened.

Suddenly last night I put 2 and 2 together. There is a mark on my fender (which is not unusual in NYC, my car has been bumped 100 times by now). I think a snow truck's plow scooped my wheel and made a small dent into my fender and hit my wheel with enough force to have snapped the tie rod.

Although the tie rod was replaced and an alignment was done, the car still pulls to the left on the highway. I called my insurance up and they said they can file a claim.

What would you guys do now? Its a 2018 Chevy Colorado V6 and I owe less than the KBB value of the car. I'm going to do my own visual assessment of the shock tower, rim and bring it back to the dealer and check out the alignment report. But the insurance said my rates may go up if I file a claim and in most cases it seems that my rate might go up by 30%.

Im not sure how much damage is done, but if my car got hit at the wheel hard enough to bend and snap a tie rod, Id imagine that my shock tower and steering rack aint too happy either. Im concerned about structural damage since I finance the vehicle and intended to keep it long term. Should I file a claim or should I bring it back to the dealer and have them tell me what else is wrong? I already spent $500 on the repair and my deductible is $1000. Assuming the alignment was correct and there is some other damage, I think I would blow past the $1K and 30% raise on my rates pretty easily. But i quickly start to feel that I no longer want to own the car anymore.

Whatcha all think?

Some photos of the damage and what I think happened.

[stopintime]

Chicken grease? 

[ducpainter]

Take it to a frame shop. They have specs to check dimensions that an alignment shop/dealership doesn't bother with because simple alignments don't require it.

It's possible that the tower was tweaked, but IMO much more likely that the front knuckle (the part the tie rod attaches to) or wheel is also tweaked.

[Howie]

First, needless to say, follow Nate's advice.  Once you establish your frame is straight or it gets the needed yank to get it straight you want to get it to a good wheel alignment specialist with a good understanding of interpreting specs like toe out in turns, SAI and included angle to determine what component in the steering is bent.  ...just thought of something.  Your dealer might not (dealers often aren't)  good at wheel alignment.  When adjusting toe if the steering gear is not properly centered the pull can be caused by the power steering.  Many years ago I had a student with a hot rod Camaro that wouldn't go straight after a trips to to more then one wheel alignment shop.  That was the problem. 

[He Man]

Thanks for the advice Nate.

Is this something I should be doing out of pocket and then using it to support my claim later? I found one shop that appears to be reputable but they quote me upwards of $500 of shop time to really check out the car.

I sort of feel like I should file a claim and have the adjuster come out first but hes not going to see anything. I spent a good 30 minutes looking for crimpled panels, ovaled holes for screws, screw tearout, mis alignment between head and shank of bolts etc. I also inspected the control arm and the outer tie rod knuckle. Didn't see anything so the adjuster might think im full of shit or nuts. As nate pointed out, only a computer can really see the type of damage Im looking for.


There is luckily is a building with a camera pointed to where the car was parked. Im trying to call the building super and get a copy of the video. If anyone has ever tried to do that in NYC, they would know that most people dont want to be bothered so this is starting to become a chore. I dont know how fast the impact was or how hard it was but hopefully I can find out before the video wipes it self out.


Howie, I think thats sound advice to take it to a wheel alignment specialist. Im not sure how the dealer does it but its not within their core competency to do anything outside of routine work id think.

I bought a new truck and even moved to a "better neighborhood" to avoid having to deal with all these issues .

[ducpainter]

Only you can answer whether it's more cost effective to pay OOP, or file a claim. If, as you said in your OP, they raise your rates by 30% for 3 years, the $500 will look like small change.

The other thing, is as howie said, typically dealerships don't have the talent/inclination to determine if the rack moved, or was damaged, and with that kind of impact, it's very possible that it did.

[Howie]

Might be a good idea to look at the scene of the crime for cameras that might have captured the incident.

[ungeheuer]

Chicken grease? 

ouch 

[Howie]

I was thinking about the 30% increase.  I realize insurance companies get away with a lot more than they used to, but to the best of my knowledge the increase, in your case, would be only on the comprehensive portion of your policy no your whole policy.  Liability should not be affected since there is no claim against you.  Obviously this is not fire or theft.  Nor is it collision since the truck was parked.  30% seems excessive for one claim.  A few years ago my wife drove into the garage twice, causing costly damage.  First claim, no increase.  Second claim 10% and no loss of good driver classification.

I ain't no expert so do check with a real expert.  That said, I wouldn't file a claim until I knew what the damage is.

[Popeye the Sailor]

Thanks for the advice Nate.

Is this something I should be doing out of pocket and then using it to support my claim later? I found one shop that appears to be reputable but they quote me upwards of $500 of shop time to really check out the car.

I sort of feel like I should file a claim and have the adjuster come out first but hes not going to see anything. I spent a good 30 minutes looking for crimpled panels, ovaled holes for screws, screw tearout, mis alignment between head and shank of bolts etc. I also inspected the control arm and the outer tie rod knuckle. Didn't see anything so the adjuster might think im full of shit or nuts. As nate pointed out, only a computer can really see the type of damage Im looking for.


There is luckily is a building with a camera pointed to where the car was parked. Im trying to call the building super and get a copy of the video. If anyone has ever tried to do that in NYC, they would know that most people dont want to be bothered so this is starting to become a chore. I dont know how fast the impact was or how hard it was but hopefully I can find out before the video wipes it self out.


Howie, I think thats sound advice to take it to a wheel alignment specialist. Im not sure how the dealer does it but its not within their core competency to do anything outside of routine work id think.

I bought a new truck and even moved to a "better neighborhood" to avoid having to deal with all these issues .

Your insurance company might chase down said video if you filed a claim. That way they can pass the costs on to someone else.

You may still get hosed on the rate increase.

Good luck.