I drive a 2006 TL. A month ago, my friend drove my car, fell asleep at the wheel and turned into a parked car @ about 20-30mph. The left driver side rim got bent, fender and bumper got destroyed. Everything has been replaced except my mechanic tells me the front cross-member is a little bent and they won't know if my car will drive straight until they check the alignment tomorrow. Would any damage to the cross-member screw up the alignment? How long would it take to replace the front cross-member? How likely would a replacement cross-member also cause misalignment? Sorry if I sound like a n00b, just trying to hear some comforting words. My poor baby.

 

Hmmm.... general rule of thumb. Don't let 'friends' drive your car. I already have a hard time letting my family drive it, but a friend? NAHHH

Sorry to hear though..

 

anything bent can cause problems. Is this the cross member/subframe that goes underneath the engine?

 

Yeah. Thats the one. Somehow made a hard turn into the parked car as he fell asleep. They said it was a little bent, I'm not sure to what extent and they didn't send me a photo. Not sure if you can see it from here

Here's a photo.



And here's the finished work.



4000 worth of work already. Friend tells me 800 more to replace the crossmember if they need to.

 

Many will find subframe damage when the corner of the car is involved in a crash and the tire/wheel assembly is destroyed, or pushed back. The suspension components that attach to the wheel are connected to the subframe, so if the wheel assembly moves, something has got to give, and hopefully it's not the subframe. There are dimensions in the FSM to verify the integrity of the subframe, but when on the alignment rack they should be able to detect a problem.

In the meantime, measure the distance between the center of the right front and center of the right rear wheel, then compare that distance to the left side, they should be the same. Also check the left trans mount as that can take a beating in a left front incident.

 

Unfortunately I haven't gotten the car back yet. They've had it since MLK day. The mechanic is a friend of mine, he wasn't very optimistic about the crossmember, and had to finish up the car and check the alignment before he confirms.

 

I sure hope that your friend is paying for all these repairs.

 

^ yea lmfao... why was he driving and fell asleep.

I would have him pay ALL damages AND COMPENSATION on top of that. unless something justifies that he doesn't have to compensate you

 

He was my designated driver.

 

Sorry about your car, man. Hope everything works out for you.

 

So we see how that worked out... Were you sleeping, too?

 

Wow guys no need to bash the op. at least he had a designated driver

Anywho. It sucks you didn't take the opportunity to upgrade to the newer front end

I've seen that particular part damaged in accidents a lot. Wouldn't be surprised of it was damaged.

 

Car is finally done and I get to pick it up tomorrow. Says the alignment came back good. The only issue that wasn't fixed is a broke shift cable meaning.. I can shift without stepping on the brake.. or accidentally knock it into reverse while I'm driving. Lol. That would have been an extra 800 and more time in the shop which I said I'd fix later on. Just happy that I'm getting my baby back.

 

How does she drive? Any pulling? Sounds like you got off pretty lucky.