i was turning right off of a snow and ice covered overpass doing maybe 10mph. the road i was turning onto was pretty much all ice and i slid into a 5 or 6 inch high concrete lane divider and my drivers side front wheel is now noticeably pushed in on the lower half, but not wobbly that i could detect during the drive home.. i took a small jolt and the tire was ok but the rim is scratched up pretty good but the car was ok to drive so i went home. so the wheel is gonna need some work and im wondering just how much this may end up costing me. is this easily fixed or is this gonna turn into a major pain in the butt? could this possibly end up with me needing a new wheel assembly? im just asking cause i may need to file an insurance claim but id rather just avoid that and pay for it. thanks for any replies, yes i can post pics after the snow melts off, but i hope you get the general gist of it. heres to hoping it's easily fixed.

Wheels and control arms are the first things to bend so check those first.

 

When I hit a curb awhile back I had to replace pretty much the whole corner: Control arm, wheel/tire, steering knuckle, wheel bearing, tie rod, ball joint, and endlink. I was going a bit faster than 10mph though. I got all the stuff used and did the work myself though so it cost me less than $300.

 

[...]my drivers side front wheel is now noticeably pushed in on the lower half, but not wobbly that i could detect during the drive home.. i took a small jolt and the tire was ok but the rim is scratched up pretty good but the car was ok to drive so i went home. so the wheel is gonna need some work and im wondering just how much this may end up costing me.[...]

Even if you posted pictures, it would still be somewhat of a guess to figure the cost of repair. You probably should take the car to a dealer or independent front end shop and get an estimate; that will allow you to determine with more certainty whether to file an insurance claim or not.

well yeah its going to the dealer cause theres no indie shops i trust around here tomorrow and im snagging a rental. i was just wondering if anyone maybe had similar experiences or one of the dealer shop guys here could maybe ballpark it for me..assume i dont do it myself and everything needs replaced like the post before yours stated. assume the dealer does all the work. ya see, i always assume the worst, that way im not disappointed.

To replace everything I listed at a dealer would cost thousands of dollars.

 

You probably only need a control arm and wheel.

well yeah its going to the dealer cause theres no indie shops i trust around here tomorrow and im snagging a rental. i was just wondering if anyone maybe had similar experiences or one of the dealer shop guys here could maybe ballpark it for me..assume i dont do it myself and everything needs replaced like the post before yours stated. assume the dealer does all the work. ya see, i always assume the worst, that way im not disappointed.

 

My sister did that and it costed her about $1500 when it was all said and done. The assembly just isnt designed well for lateral forces and several pieces usually end up bending....which makes it difficult to fix the first time unless you replace just about everything. You may be lucky and only have a bent control arm, but that's usually not the case. If your insurance deduct is $500 or less I would go ahead and claim it because you may be going back to the shop more than once.

ok. drivers side front wheel gets replaced, new control arm, new tie rods and thats pretty much it. plus the alignment of course. and the 100 dollar tow to the dealer. and the 05 obw rental at 35/day for 5 days. 1500 bucks or so for a 10-15mph ice ride. and i only have a 250 dollar deductible. that is the only good news i got today. i wonder if this is mother natures way of getting back at me for all those times i peed in the woods when i was a kid?

i wonder if this is mother natures way of getting back at me for all those times i peed in the woods when i was a kid?

 

Lord forbid if that is the case. I'M SCREWED!!!

Yay! i guess im good then with nature Or wait! uh oh!