Elantra in a crash -- help! Advice needed.

Discussion in 'Hyundai Elantra / Lantra' started by Brother dell'Ombra, Nov 2, 2008.

  1. Hey all!

    My beloved 2003 Elantra was recently involved in a front end
    collision. The damage was mostly confined to the front driver's side
    fender and quarter panel, and the worst of it was that the front
    driver's side tire was pushed back about an inch, so that it was
    almost touching the wheel well. I just got it back from the repair
    shop and was told they had to replace the control arm, spindle and
    strut. The tires themselves are only a year old, and in great shape.

    I took the car to a trusted local mechanic for an alignment and he
    double checked the work the body shop had done, noting they had fixed
    the problem with used parts. As far as he could tell, he thought they
    did a decent job. After the alignment the car drives fairly well,
    though I can feel a few more bumps in the road than I did before. But
    there is one problem giving me some serious concern: when I make a
    very hard right, the steering wheel and the tires basically stay put
    and I have to more or less "force" them gently back into place. Left
    turns and a soft right are no problem, but the steering wheel and
    tires don't respond well at all after a hard right.

    Does anyone have any idea what could be going on? I asked the local
    mechanic and he's thinking the parts they used were faulty, but
    wouldn't even hazard a guess beyond that. Between friends and sites
    I've found online, I've heard everything suggested from bushrings to
    tie rods, from ball joints to a faulty steering rack, and my head is
    spinning.

    I'll bring it back to the body shop soon, of course, but I wanted to
    go back armed with at least a little information, a suggestion or two
    for them to check out, something they perhaps missed. Forgive me being
    an obvious novice. I'm not great at all with cars, and this is the
    first accident of this kind which I've ever had in over 20 years of
    driving.

    Any advice, guidance, insights at all would be greatly appreciated!
    And if I need to clarify anything, please ask away...
     
    Brother dell'Ombra, Nov 2, 2008
    #1
  2. Brother dell'Ombra

    Victek Guest

    My beloved 2003 Elantra was recently involved in a front end
    It seems like the first issue is the question about repairing the car with
    used parts. If you're certain that's true then I would think bringing it to
    the attention of the body shop would be the place to start. Regarding
    alignment, perhaps the frame also needs to be checked?
     
    Victek, Nov 3, 2008
    #2
  3. Brother dell'Ombra

    Mike Marlow Guest

    Repairing cars with used parts is both common, and an approved practice.
    Insurance companies are not bound to use new parts to repair cars. They are
    obligated to restore a car to its pre-accident condition. For a 2003
    vehicle, the use of used parts would be very appropriate.

    The steering wheel not centering properly sounds most to me to be a strut
    bearing. Pretty common symptom.

    The OP made no reference to alignment problems.
     
    Mike Marlow, Nov 3, 2008
    #3
  4. Brother dell'Ombra

    hyundaitech Guest

    A very thorough alignment check should be done by a shop with the to
    credentials in alignments. Hopefully, the shop that did the alignmen
    work checked the toe, caster, and camber, as those are all important, bu
    steering axis inclination (and also possibly included angle) is als
    important in this case.

    I never got that deep into alignments, so I'd need to do some research t
    refresh myself (or even do some new learning), but there are othe
    potentially bent parts that could be causing this issue.

    The only time I saw a car where the steering wouldn't recenter on its own
    the issue was with the steering rack
     
    hyundaitech, Nov 3, 2008
    #4
  5. Brother dell'Ombra

    Victek Guest

    It seems like the first issue is the question about repairing the car
    I've never heard of repairing cars with used parts unless they are
    specifically offered, usually as a cost saving measure. Even if one cannot
    make an issue of the fact the parts are "used" it seems like a good idea to
    confirm they are fully functional and not responsible for the problem the OP
    is having.
     
    Victek, Nov 3, 2008
    #5
  6. Brother dell'Ombra

    Mike Marlow Guest

    It's not so common in your basic break/fix environment, but it is a daily
    occurrance in collision repair. Don't take my word for it, ask any
    insurance adjuster.

    That's true, but as the OP stated, the parts and the work appeared to be
    good as reviewed by his trusted mechanic. Could still be an adjustment
    somewhere, could be a bad part, could be a lot of things. Hard to tell from
    where I sit.
     
    Mike Marlow, Nov 4, 2008
    #6
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