Yidney

I guess my car is not red enough because somebody drove from a full stop at a four way stop right into the side of me as I was crossing in front of them. Old POS 2000 Hyundai Elantra that luckily has a low nose and literally did not touch my sheet metal. Other than my rear bumper cover will need to be painted (and maybe some hardware under there), the right rear wheel took the whole impact. Only 10mph or so. Wheel is quite visibly crooked, but the wheel itself is not bent - or very little, so that means various control arms are bent. I have more than an inch each of negative camber and toe out now. I can recognize a bent arm, but what else should I look for? No noises or anything. It does say my "ESP is not available", so I'm guessing the speed sensor at that wheel is not reading, but not sure why. How likely is it that it's anything more than a bent arm or two or three at that speed?

On a funny note, the steering wheel is cocked at least 20 degrees right to compensate for the way the rear wheel is tracking, yet if I take my hands off the wheel the car goes just as straight as before. Weird.

BigMike62

Damn, sorry to hear that you got hit. At least it was minimal damage.

Are you planning to let a collision place fix it? I certainly would. Good luck with the repair.

Yidney

I'm sure I will let somebody else do it, but I want to evaluate it carefully myself so I go into it knowing as much as I can. Still waiting to see if the other person really has coverage. If not, it will be the second time this year I've had to use my insurance because somebody else hit a car I own. And I carry $1,000 deductibles because I figure it saves me in the long run. This year I'm on the losing end of that bet. Oh well.

koolavz

Damn man. Tough break :/ sorry to hear about that. I'd go ahead and budget around 1500-2000 for it just in case something more than a control arm is needing replacing. The ESP not available could be many things. I had it come up on my car when the idiots who changed my tires didn't bolt the front right tire on all the way so it was actually wobbling and my car shut off the front brake system so it didnt destroy itself. Needless to say I had them fix their mistake.

Yidney

I took the wheel off and an expected to see a kinked arm. Nothing. The whole hub/brake disc assembly is clearly bent, but no arm is clearly bent. I think the hub assembly itself is bent.

koolavz

That doesn't seem too bad. I'd still not be surprised if you took it to a shop and they told you more though.

Rudeney

Damn! Sorry to hear about that! Maybe this is a CLK thing - I always swore that mine was invisible. Except to cops, of course.

It probably damaged the wheel speed sensor inside the hub (hence the ESP error). It's not going to be a bad repair, even if it means replacing the hub, several of the links, and the shock or spring. Just make sure after the work, that you take it to a good shop for an alignment - one that knows MBZs. If it can't be brought within specs, then make the insurance company pay for more work until it does.

xsever

Glad you are safe Yidney!

DanielFD was into a similar collision earlier this year. I'm sure he'll chime in about his experience with the repair.

BenzAMG99

Sorry dude, but if the wheel is bent or not straight you should just get new ones or used ones. I wouldn't risk it.

BigMike62

How can a person without insurance hit you and not be arrested for driving without insurance?

DanielFD

Oh damn. Glad to see your alright. Sad to see where he hit you. I ended up replacing 2 control arms that were visibly bent. then it went in for an alignment which it didn't pass they then changed the wheel hub. Which it also didn't pass. Then they changed the whole rear subframe. My accident was a lot more serious (i hope), so maybe you wont go so deep as i did. But after i changed all those parts my car was spot on alignment. Also i got an esp error. I didn't change the speed sensor in the hub. I just cleared the error after everything got reinstalled and it never came back.

ALFAitalia

Just what I was thinking. Maybe the laws are different over there but third party collision damage cover is the bare legal minimum over here. Over here, one call (or quick search on your phone) to askMID and you instantly know if that person is covered. Cant believe that even in a semi developed nation like the US (joke) does not have similar!

Yidney

Well, that presumes the Denver police department non-emergency dispatch ever even answered the phone. If I had waited for police, I might still be standing there, eating tree bark to survive. So I tried to file a report online but the site won't work. Wasn't even her car. It was supposedly a cousin's car, who shows up in a wheelchair from a few blocks away with only a state ID, no drivers's license. So why does he have a car? The car was on nearly expired temp tags. And she had no license either. But she left after 15 minutes to go pick up her kids - plural - and looked about 19. Life in the big city.

Yidney

Insurance here is a creature of state law, not federal law. In Colorado you are required to carry at least $25,000 in liability coverage. Estimates are that 25% of drivers have none. You are not supposed to be able to register the car or renew tags without proof of insurance. I think I've been asked for proof one time ever.

BigMike62

Bunch of damned hippie pot heads running that state

Rudeney

Same here in Alabama. But no worries for those who don't want to pay for insurance - the insurance industry has come to their rescue! Companies like "The General" offer cheap insurance. You pay by the month, but they give you a card good for a year. Of course if you never pay again, you still have the card. And guess what? Our law is not worded in such a way that you are required to have insurance. No, you are only required to "show proof of insurance".

The cops here ALWAYS as for insurance cards when you are stopped. And here's the rub - even if you have insurance, but don't have the card, you have thus broken the law. The fine can be as high as $700! Give our local municipalities need to fill their coffers, these are easy ticket to write and you can't get them dismissed.

ALFAitalia

Interesting....we could not get away with that here. We have auto number plate recognition cameras on our roads....If your car drives past the plate is read....if its not road taxed, inspected and insured the first thing you will know about it is the fine dropping through your letter box. Driving without insurance is irresponsible IMO.....if you killed or seriously injured someone you could be paying that off for the rest of your life.

Yidney

Yeah, we get asked for it if we get pulled over. I meant that nobody asks at the front end when you register or get new plates.

Yidney

The problem is that most people who have no insurance also have no assets, and since they have no assets, they typically have no longstanding address or job. So even if they kill somebody, they rarely pay for it in any real sense. They just disappear into the cracks of society. They are a moving target, but are not worth looking for because they would have nothing even if you found them. At some level, you have to ask why you have insurance (setting aside it being the law). People with assets buy it to protect their assets more so than because it's "the right thing to do." People with no assets not only do not have that motivation, they really don't even understand that motivation. So the only motivations are a weakly enforced law or some sense of morals, which are not going to result in a lot of insurance buying.

koolavz

Sad but I understand where you're coming from. My 05 clk320 was totalled by a scumbag who didn't have insurance. I ended up footing the bill. On top of that he tried to sue when the accident was his fault. Needless to say, I don't have a good track record with insurance companies.

ALFAitalia

To be honest protecting my assets (my car) is the least of it because that could never cost me more than a few thousand. Its more in case I make a mistake (and we have all had that lapse of concentration to create that "crap that was close" moment!) or really hurt some one or worse still kill them. That could cost me millions and since I could not pay I would be in debt forever trying to pay it (under court order) or, if I refused to pay it...prison! Not worth the risk over here....and of course as I said you wont get far without insurance here....whether you have an accident or not!

koolavz

The type of people running around without insurance over here don't care to be court ordered to pay a bill for the rest of their lives... They don't have a source of income most of the time so the money isn't ever really taken form them. So no punishment in their eyes.

ALFAitalia

That's another good thing we have here....if you get hit by some uninsured idiot you will probably not have to pay. All the insurance companies contribute to a pot of cash for that sort of thing .....If I get hit by an uninsured driver as long as I get the make model and registration number of his car I'm covered. Premiums are more over here than in the US but theses extras are what you are paying for.

Gary C

Cars can be fixed. Glad your ok Yidney.

koolavz

Wish I could say I trust the insurance companies over here as much as you trust yours. That's how it should be.