I was making a Uturn (steering wheel turned to the left end) when a car behind me tried to pass me from the left (the other side of the road) and hit my left front wheel. There was no cosmetic damage from outside after the collision, however, the computer system sent me a message right away telling me that “the anti-skid function is off”. My car was sent to the dealer and the diagnose came out to be “ABS is kicking in. Found faulty steering angle sensor.” Meanwhile, the left front wheel was bent due to the collision. Both the wheel and sensor were replace and the the wheels were aligned. The car drives perfectly now. But, the mechanics said that they could not connect the sensor error to the accident (4 days before the accident, my car was at the dealer and had its regular service. Nothing was wrong at that point.) By saying this, the insurance company refused to cover the replacement of the sensor. My question is whether it is 100% sure that the steering sensor only goes wrong by itself? Or, was the “anti-skid” message related to this accident? Thanks!
There’s no way to be sure, but I would strongly suspect there is a link between the impact and the sensor failure.
Or, it could be a coincidence.
As I said, there’s no way to be sure, or to prove anything. The insurance company will take the mechanic’s word over anyone else’s, even though there’s no way for the mechanic to be sure, either.
Thank you for the reply.
Is it possible to link the collision to the failure of the anti-skid function? Maybe the sensor was sending out the correct message? I did find, after the accident, that it was difficult to control the steering wheel esp. on wet surface.
I’d fight the insurance company. What wheel was hit? Oh the front. What wheels control the turning of the car? Oh yes the front again. If the collision was strong enough to bend the rim it would also be strong enought to possibly break the steering rack. Did the accident bend the rim? Maybe the rim hit a curb a few days before too. The whole purpose of the insurance company is to return the car to the pre-accident condition. The insurance company should cover it. Talk to other shops and dealers to get their opinions in writing and call the insurance company again.
If it was me, I’d take the position that you had a check up 4 days before, everything checked out fine. It’s therefore absurd to claim that an accident strong enough to cause this kind of damage didn’t cause the sensor problem, that it was ‘some kind of coincidence’. They’d have a case if the check up was four months before, but not 4 days. Only you can decide if it’s worth going to court over. Maybe get a second mechanic’s opinion?
Isn’t your insurance company representing you? How’s your back? What about your neck? You could have some aches and pains that just showed up - maybe blurred vision. Maybe not, but you might need to use them to get the offender’s insurance company’s attention. Don’t complain of anything too specific, just mention a general poor feeling.