(Pictures Included) Am I getting ripped off by the dealership for a repair?
 

So I tried drifting in an empty street like a dumbass, and ran into a curb (I know I'm stupid, do your worst).

The front-passenger side rim hit the concrete and a chunk was taken off by the hit, which made it immediately obvious it shouldn't be driven. I drove it about a quarter of a mile to a better spot to wait for a tow truck, although I felt something scrape slightly at where the impact was.

The local Subaru dealership took the car in, and they tell me that the front lower control arm is probably bent but will have to do a diagnosis ($100) if you don't repair at the dealership) before giving a final estimate. Then they do the diagnosis and tell me that the front LCA is definitely bent, can't tell if the tie rods are bent but should replace them anyways, and quotes me for a $700 repair job to make the car safe to drive with a spare tire. They also assured that the steering rack was fine.

However, he calls me a day later saying that the damage was even worse as the "wheel was pushed in by about an inch" and wasn't really clear about what exactly needed to be replaced, but the "frame needs to be pulled out and aligned".

Then he immediately tells me to contact the insurance and was very persistent for me to do that, even after telling him that I need to see a detailed estimate first because my deductible is set high. Then he proceeds to suggest I lower the deductible before making a claim, which I'm pretty sure is fraud.

Anyways, I'm a bit suspicious about what's happening and thinking that he's gonna try to overcharge me for parts and repair. You can see the pictures of the damage below that were taken by the dealership. I am wondering if any experts here can take a look and explain what is going on, any help is truly appreciated.

http://i.imgur.com/LefaJ51.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/TLHetno.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/vvBLVDT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/BYIysvj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/lrwfEfR.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/mnWX24w.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HIV1S1q.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/EGhHWGM.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/hxKQh6r.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/UNYs26S.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/XJ9Bygi.jpg

Yeah..... Well, you don't really need to let them do the work. You might want to just eat that $100 and have it either towed home or to another shop. The dealership isn't the only place where you can repair your car.

If your going to pay out of pocket then is best to find the lowest price. As far as insurance, any repair shop loves insurance claims. Just as you suspect they make more money from that, then when people pay out of pocket.

I would call other shops, tell them how much the dealer quoted you and see if they can get it lower.

$100 pre diagnosis to the actual diagnosis? Head for zee hills!!

call another dealer or a mechanic that knows these cars.

The initial diagnosis sounded feasible and likely but I lost all faith in the rest as soon as you said the frame was bent. Suppose it is possible but if you hit hard enough to do that then the rest of the damage should have be major and easy for them to spot in the first place.
I would kiss that rather exuberant inspection fee goodbye and haul it someplace else. Even if they are right the fact they didn't catch all that damage in the first place woul make me wonder about their skills.

Well, @chezzy79 it's too bad you banged up your car ......:(

Although, you took some good pictures, it's hard to determine the extent of the damage.

What is your deductible .. ??

I have a feeling the repair cost is going to be much more than you might think.

To give you a reference point, I slammed my wife's Saturn into a curb at about 10mph on a subdivision street. She actually drove it for a couple of days before I took it into get it ..... aligned. Yea, right.......:bonk:

By the time the shop (where I know the fellows) finished with it, it took:

RF LCA

RF wheel (rim)

RF wheel bearing

RF strut

RR wheel bearing

Alignment

I doesn't seem to take much sideways slamming, to mess up modern day cars ...... :sigh:


humfrz

The real issue is you drove the Saturn and still called yourself a man afterwards.

Welp, it was my wife's Saturn and obviously, I didn't do too good a job driving it ....... :cry:

Now, I don't have to be worried about that "man" thing, by driving a Saturn anymore, ..... cause ...... she won't let me drive it anymore ....... :sigh:


humfrz

https://media.giphy.com/media/2CcKiHPDsJqVi/giphy.gif

shots fired.

Common thing to do is probably have a few different mechanic look at it and tab the most common issues each of them mention to narrow down broken parts. After you're more convinced buy the replacement part and either DIY or take part to the shop or mechanic, and have them install. Finally go do an alignment.. this is if you pay out of pocket.

If you're going the insurance route.. let them handle it.

Not going to be cheap either way but, maybe one way s cheaper than the other

A lot of dealers will charge you a diagnostics fee that is applied to any labor work performed. It's just how they weed out bogus customer inquiries.

-alex

Not only that.


I once wanted to lower my deductible, not because the car was damaged, I just thought I'd prefer it lower. They said fine, but we must have a look at the car to see if there is no damage.

Get it away from the dealership as fast as you can and take it to the best auto body repair place in your area. the sad part about all this is that our cars are not particularly robust do to try to keep them lightweight. When I wrecked my first BRZ I didn't think it was that bad. Until I went line-by-line with my favorite repair guy. became very evident these cars do not like to be bent. Good luck

The front lower control arms have three connections.
The ball joint on the bottom of the wheel upright.
The vertical bolt at the front of the engine bay directly to the chassis.
The horizontal bolt at the rear of the engine bay on the front subframe.

I think what they were trying to tell you, is that the subframe has shifted. This happens on other cars that have subframe designs like these cars do after hitting curbs.

Considering how badly bent that control arm is, a shifted subframe is not unreasonable. Only way to tell for sure is to take some measurements of the subframe with reference to parts of the chassis on both sides of the car.

Go out again and drift the other side?