Sc300 Accident...

[dannycwu]

hey all...

got rear ended by a 03 volkswagon jetta last week which pushed me into a jeep grand cherokee in the front with no damage to the jeep and grill/bumper/light damage to the jetta. so far it looks like cosmetic front and rear bumper damage for me with one cracked high beam light, although the auto body adjuster did say my aluminum reinforcement in the front of my car was cracked and they can't tell the extent of the damage until they remove both bumpers. the guilty party wants to avoid insurance (16 year old female driver who's fully cooperative but angry-at-daughter daddy already paid cash for the preliminary estimate repairs of $2600 plus rental car and any further repairs and would rather fix out of pocket to avoid high insurance on the girl, who crashed last month too. expensive girl to maintain!)

I'm bringing the vehicle into the shop on wednesday for repairs but lately have heard a kind of rubbing noise when I have the car in D only and accelerate from maybe 500-1500 rpms only. doesn't do it on R or N or P. does anyone out there have any advice on what I should be looking for so I can tell the auto body about the noise and they can address it? just want to make sure it gets fixed and that I can tell the auto body an idea of what's going on.

thanks again for all of your help and advice and be safe out there.

[1Ponkte]

There is a possibility that the shock of the crash may have jammed a U joint or possibly damaged either a motor mount or tranny mount. Have the shop check. Also have them check the alignment of the rear end and suspension.

[UCF3]

Have you figured out what wheel well it's coming from?

[AWJ]

I would hope it does not do it in P ;) . Just razzin ya.

Check to see if some of your underpinning is come loose. If you see nothing, have the shop check it out. Sorry to hear about that. I'd make sure that little girl learns a lesson or two. Daddy can't bail her out all the time. Did you get a police report? I would honestly press to get the insurance involved. It's harsh but she needs to learn the hard way obviously. There is something to be said for that.

Good luck to you.

[dannycwu]

hey thanks for all the responses! the noise happens quickly when I drive at a snail's pace at low rpms, and then disappears. or if I accelerate slowly on and off really slowly with my foot on the brake while in D, it sounds like something that's spinning and hitting something. maybe a fan or belt or? it sounds like it's coming from the passenger side front end of the car.

yeah I agree that I should report to insurance and dmv, but I figure I'd give the poor girl a break and keep her insurance down. plus as a safety I have 10 days to report the accident and I'll find out the complete estimate on the 11th, which is on the 7th day after the accident. I figure if they don't agree to fix the vehicle with the new estimate including mechanical repairs I can call it in to my insurance and DMV.

I guess you can call it stupidity or just being a nice guy and believing in karma?

thanks for your advice again! I'll definitely give the shop an idea of what "we" think it is!

[xoom04]

that noise u mentioned...is it more of a grinding or a rubbing....i have the exact same prob, except my car has never been in a wreck. it only happens at about 1200-1300 rpms in D. is this a common occurance w/a high milage lexus? im taking the car to Lexus in a couple weeks to have service done and new brakes...im gonna have it checked out, but i do want to know if im gonna b spending a lot of $ to fix it. also, my trac light comes on after a few mins of driving...what does this mean?

[AWJ]

The trac system operates with a secondary butterfly in the throttle body and abs combination. This could be related to your issue. I'd only be guessing though. Perhaps Lextech might have some input. The actual problem could be a combination of items.