I was driving back from watching Bedazzled on Friday night when I was making a left turn onto some "unknown" street. My friend sitting in the back was giving me directions so I didn't know where we were. Well, the street I was turning into intersects at an angle, not the usual 90 degree intersection. I estimate the left turn I made to be probably around 45 degrees. Well, halfway into the turn, I decided to drop down to 2nd gear from I would say near 25-30 mph. I shouldn't have done that, because there was a big puddle of water from the sprinklers on the side, which I didn't see at the time. My car lost traction, oversteered, drifted a little, and went up the center divider. My wheels went up the center divider and the curb was about 1.5 feet deep into my car, from the back of my front wheels. I was able to start the car again and drive home without any problems. The damage I found the next morning was a scrapped lip on the front-right side of the bumper, a portion of the plastic-spongy material covering the underside of the car under the engine got ripped off, and my tow hitch got bent slightly (front-right side). Also, the part right under the passenger side of the car, where there's two nitches that holds the jack when you're fixing a flat tire, got bent. Other than these, I can't see any other real damage because I don't have anything to raise my car with to see. It seems to be driving fine, but can anyone tell me if there's anything else I should be worried about? I can't sleep over this because of my idiocy. I appreciate any help anyone can give me. I live in the Bay Area (Oakland-Berkeley), and personally, I don't trust any mechanic around here when it comes to my car. I'm gonna be driving back home to LA during Thanksgiving, so I'm gonna have to run a check sometime. I guess I'll probably take to a local Nissan dealer. Once again, I will apreciate any tips and help anyone can give me.

 

You may want to check your control arm to make sure it didn't bend, I lost control once in my neighborhood when it was wet (Stupid *@#$@# bald tires) and ran into a curb in the Altima turning at about 10 miles per hour(yes I went through a lot in that trusty 4-banger). Unfortunately my car didn't hop the curb... more like grinded into it. I ended up completely bending the control arm, replacing the entire right axle and had a slightly bent rim. So what I did was pulled everything apart in that area and bought the parts to replace it and basically fixed it my self... saved a LOT of money. Just one word of advice and this comes from experience, don't goof off in the rain. If you can't resist and want to spin your car and stuff... do it in a wide open parking lot where you can't damage your car. Save those downshifts for dry weather.

 

hey Ants97SE, thanks for the reply. My maxima is the exact same car as the one your signature, except mine is bone stock. yea, I've had a few experiences in the rain in my friend's 240sx. I would never do anything like that in the rain, but I just didn't see the water from the sprinklers that couple nights ago. How much did it finally cost you to fix your Altima? And, how do I identify the control arm? Sorry, I really don't know anything about cars. you can email me at netsurfer81@aol.com or post here. Thanks


By the way, I forgot to mention that my car is bone stock high, and the curb was around 7" high. My car cleared the curb by around an inch when its parked and nobody sitting in it. There were 3 people in the car when I hit the curb and the lip part that got scrapped was about an inch high.

 

Well you'll know if your control arms bent, its a big chunk of metal behind the wheel on the front section. It costed me about $450 to get all the parts I needed, axle, control arm, bolts and a couple of other things, I got them all from carparts.com. It was estimated $1500 to repair at a shop... I need to open up a shop.

 

A body shop that I trust in the Bay Area is "19th Ave Autobody" in San Francisco.

They don't have an ad in the yellow pages, since they get so much business, but if you call 411 I'm sure you can get their number.

The shop is very honest when it comes to repairs and their prices are decent, although I've only taken vehicles there for insurance repairs.

 

Hmm...well I can't find anyone with a jack around here to help me get under my car to see if anything is wrong with it. But other than the possibility of my control arm and axle being damaged...is there any anything else that might be damaged? If my car is driving straight, what are the odds of my rims being damaged too? They seem to look fine when I eyeball it, but I really don't know.

 

hey Ants97SE,

I found the number to 19th Ave Autobody and called them about my problem. What they told me was that they would only do body damage, which I dont' really have except for a scrapped front lip. They said that they only go underneath the car if it is going to be repaired. I told them that I'm not sure if I have anything to be repaired, so they said they can't check out the car for me. You know any other options I may have?

Thanks

 

well, I guess I can't find any other option other than taking it to the nearest Nissan dealer and having them look at it for me. I am also in need of an oil change, so I might as well. If anyone reading this can give me any help....PLEEEESE!! I wish I had more time with this, but I'm having midterms. SO SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!

THanks