Seeking urgent advice about a recent impact to my 2014 Leaf

[deepav]

Dear all!

I hope someone can help me given my situation. So while making a right turn into strip mall, my 2014 Leaf went over the curb resulting in slight bending of the passenger side wheel rim. I took the car to the Nissan Dealer and post evaluation they said, that after changing the wheel, they were unable to do re-alignment since the Tie Rod is broken.. They need to replace the entire Steering Gear. Since the estimate was more than the deductible, I logged a claim with my insurance.

Here begins the trouble--The Adjustor from the insurance company has concluded that it is the Left Tie Rod that is broken and since the impact was on the right side--I will need to log a separate claim for a different incident on the left!! This means I am down another deductible for this second claim.. The Nissan Service guy tried to explain to the Adjustor that they have seen the left tie rod break when the impact was on the right side.. The adjustor did not buy his explanation..

Has any body encountered a similar situation? Where in the while the impact is on side of the car, the tie rod on that same side is fine but the one on the opposite side is affected??

I have another visit from the adjustor scheduled in a 3 hours, and I am wondering if I can gather anecdotes to reason with the insurance company.. Pl help!!

Thanks
Deepa

 

[XeonPony]

Sounds like you need to ask for a competent agent.

 

[davewill]

The Nissan dealer should be able to do better than say they've "seen" it happen. They should have the records for those cars. Perhaps that could help make the case a little better.

 

[Firetruck41]

Both wheels are tied to the steering system by the tie rods, what affects one necessarily affects the other... that's why both wheels turn when you turn the steering wheel... Insurance adjuster probably trying to help his company avoid paying out...

 

[deepav]

Thank you for responding! Well turned out that the Insurance company wanted to see actual repair orders from Dealer Service proving that there is a connection between the impact to the car on one side and the damage to the Tie Rod on the other.. Ofcourse , service guy is refusing to provide written documentation or repair orders under the pretext of some unknown laws!

So here I am caught between the two and down a double deductible on the two claims. I conclude that the only way to avoid all this, is drive super carefully. The Leaf is a great car but at the same time quite fragile and can handle not even gentle abrasions!

Deepa

 

[davewill]

Thank you for responding! Well turned out that the Insurance company wanted to see actual repair orders from Dealer Service proving that there is a connection between the impact to the car on one side and the damage to the Tie Rod on the other.. Ofcourse , service guy is refusing to provide written documentation or repair orders under the pretext of some unknown laws! ...

Go to another dealer? Seriously, repair shops provide documentation to insurance companies all the time...it's how they get paid in these situations. If this dealer doesn't want the business, another one sure will.

 

[harrier]

The dealer should pull for you on this one. If they say that the likely cause was the impact, then the burden is back on the insurer.

Nissan, if you are reading this, you have to start selling parts, not just assemblies. It is preposterous to have to buy entire assemblies when single parts break or wear out. After my costly experience with rear axle damage, I am severely disinclined to buy another Nissan.

When I have an issue with my BMW, I can buy single washers - yeah, they can be pricey, but if that is all you need...

 

[RegGuheert]

Since the steering gear is between the two tie rods and the left front wheel is free to steer during the impact, I will agree with the insurance adjuster: It seems it would be extremely unlikely to break the left tie-rod end due to an impact on the right front wheel, especially if the right tie-rod end is not also damaged.

But I wouldn't say its impossible...

Is it possible there was an impact to the left front sometime in the past?

 

[Nubo]

Dear all!

I hope someone can help me given my situation. So while making a right turn into strip mall, my 2014 Leaf went over the curb resulting in slight bending of the passenger side wheel rim. I took the car to the Nissan Dealer and post evaluation they said, that after changing the wheel, they were unable to do re-alignment since the Tie Rod is broken.. They need to replace the entire Steering Gear. Since the estimate was more than the deductible, I logged a claim with my insurance.

Here begins the trouble--The Adjustor from the insurance company has concluded that it is the Left Tie Rod that is broken and since the impact was on the right side--I will need to log a separate claim for a different incident on the left!! This means I am down another deductible for this second claim.. The Nissan Service guy tried to explain to the Adjustor that they have seen the left tie rod break when the impact was on the right side.. The adjustor did not buy his explanation..

Has any body encountered a similar situation? Where in the while the impact is on side of the car, the tie rod on that same side is fine but the one on the opposite side is affected??

I have another visit from the adjustor scheduled in a 3 hours, and I am wondering if I can gather anecdotes to reason with the insurance company.. Pl help!!

Thanks
Deepa

What is so hard for the adjuster to understand? If the car got shoved from the right with right-side wheel off the pavement, the thing resisting movement of the front end of the car is the wheel that is still planted -- the driver's-side wheel.