Advice on a side-swiped Baja

[phillystyle]

Hi,

My Baja got side-swiped by a car coming from the opposite direction about
a month ago. We were each going about 35 mph at the time so it took quite
a whack. It's in the body shop for repairs right now. The problem I'm
having is that there's a slight bump/bonk/clunk that I experience
sometimes just before the car comes to a complete stop. The dealership
has checked it out: 1. they can't reporduce (and neither can I) 2. they've
checked the engine mounts and some other "usual suspects" that might be
affected in Subarus in this type of collision and found nothing.

My Baja is a 2003 with 111,000 miles on it and I'm concerned that after
"everyone's" satisfied that all the necessary repairs are done the problem
will get more serious and the insurance company will give me a hard time
about it being associated since the case is closed (as far as they're
concerned). The car has some considerable mileage on it -- the type of
mileage where people might start to use as an excuse thinking everything
is going to start going wrong on a car anyway. It's been extremely
well-maintained.

Can anyone out there offer some advice on what I might tell them to look
for -- ESPECIALLY possibly something that might be internal and easier to
overlook?
Has anyone else had a similar collision/what damage did you experience?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[VanguardLH]

Hi,

My Baja got side-swiped by a car coming from the opposite direction
about
a month ago. We were each going about 35 mph at the time so it took
quite
a whack. It's in the body shop for repairs right now. The problem
I'm
having is that there's a slight bump/bonk/clunk that I experience
sometimes just before the car comes to a complete stop.

I'm thinking the spring around the strut. If they didn't turn it so
the end sits in the hole/recess in the cup, maybe the spring is
sliding around. Could also be the plate (bearing cap) at the top is
loose/worn.

 

[Bugalugs]

Hi,

My Baja got side-swiped by a car coming from the opposite direction about
a month ago. We were each going about 35 mph at the time so it took quite
a whack. It's in the body shop for repairs right now. The problem I'm
having is that there's a slight bump/bonk/clunk that I experience
sometimes just before the car comes to a complete stop. The dealership
has checked it out: 1. they can't reporduce (and neither can I) 2. they've
checked the engine mounts and some other "usual suspects" that might be
affected in Subarus in this type of collision and found nothing.

My Baja is a 2003 with 111,000 miles on it and I'm concerned that after
"everyone's" satisfied that all the necessary repairs are done the problem
will get more serious and the insurance company will give me a hard time
about it being associated since the case is closed (as far as they're
concerned). The car has some considerable mileage on it -- the type of
mileage where people might start to use as an excuse thinking everything
is going to start going wrong on a car anyway. It's been extremely
well-maintained.

Can anyone out there offer some advice on what I might tell them to look
for -- ESPECIALLY possibly something that might be internal and easier to
overlook?
Has anyone else had a similar collision/what damage did you experience?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Bitch and moan to the dealer, the repairer and the insurance so that
'everyone' knows there is a problem even though they cannot duplicate it
at the time. And importantly, get it written down on any of the repair
documentation.

That way if/when it reappears there is a paper trail straight back to
the insurance claim.

 

[Dano58]

Hi,

My Baja got side-swiped by a car coming from the opposite direction about
a month ago. We were each going about 35 mph at the time so it took quite
a whack. It's in the body shop for repairs right now. The problem I'm
having is that there's a slight bump/bonk/clunk that I experience
sometimes just before the car comes to a complete stop. The dealership
has checked it out: 1. they can't reporduce (and neither can I) 2. they've
checked the engine mounts and some other "usual suspects" that might be
affected in Subarus in this type of collision and found nothing.

My Baja is a 2003 with 111,000 miles on it and I'm concerned that after
"everyone's" satisfied that all the necessary repairs are done the problem
will get more serious and the insurance company will give me a hard time
about it being associated since the case is closed (as far as they're
concerned). The car has some considerable mileage on it -- the type of
mileage where people might start to use as an excuse thinking everything
is going to start going wrong on a car anyway. It's been extremely
well-maintained.

Can anyone out there offer some advice on what I might tell them to look
for -- ESPECIALLY possibly something that might be internal and easier to
overlook?
Has anyone else had a similar collision/what damage did you experience?

I'm confused. Did the sound happen before or after the accident? The
car is in the shop being repaired now, right? So how do you know the
sound won't be gone when you get the car back? I would just road-test
it after the repairs but BEFORE you sign off on the repair work, check
to see if the sound is still there....

Dan D
'99 Impreza RS2.5 (son's)
Central NJ USA

 

[phillystyle]

Sorry about not replying sooner, I appreicate the answers/suggestions. For
some reason I haven't been able to view new posts for some time. It also
seems like my posts are taking days to hit the board too.


Ok. I'll have the springs/sturts checked out the next time I take it in
to the shop.

As for complaining, I've complained enough and I've had it duely noted at
the dealership and in the notes at both insurance companies that this
sound is a concern and cannot be duplicated on command. I've been told by
both insurance companies that it won't be an issue in the future to address
this if it becomes a significant issue. |



The sound definitely showed up after the accident. I was confident that
the sound wouldn't go away after the reapirs because I mentioned it when I
dropped the car off and even though they couldn't duplicate the condition,
they had the service dept investigate all the components they thought it
might be and turned up nothing, so they weren't planning to fix anythnig
but bodywork.

The work's done, I've got the car back and I've heard the sound maybe
twice. I'm working really hard to try to recreate it. Another clue
perhaps is that the last time I noticed it, I was braking, almost to a
stop and making a slight right turn onto a side street.

Thanks for listening and the input everybody.

-- SUB