Car making loud droning after insurance crash repair

[MrGreedy]

Hi all, hopefully there is some depth of experience on this issue.

Mrs Greedy's Golf was parked outside Greedy Towers, whereby someone was driving past and crashed heavily into the rear quarter with a strong glancing blow. The rear driver's side wheel was obviously out of alignment and took the brunt of the whack, along with that rear quarter.

I was stood on the kerb near the car at the time. The crasher couldn't drive their car initially due to shock (of their utter incompetence and stupidity I assume). I calmly encouraged them to pull in and we could swap details, which was all fine.

Crasher's insurance was Aviva, who got in touch with Mrs Greedy quickly and advised her to deal direct with Aviva, as otherwise e.g. hire car costs through our insurance (Direct Line) would be too expensive, Aviva would refuse to pay, and Mrs Greedy would end up forking out for the excess. We ignored that and just let Direct Line deal with it.

Prior to the car being collected, I took it for a drive to see what might be wrong. Very loud droning from rear passenger wheel (I assumed scrubbing due to tracking), start stop not working, hill brake hold not working, rear parking sensors not working, occasional error whilst driving "depress foot brake" when the brake wasn't being pressed, severe angle on steering wheel to wrestle the car to drive straight, and the aircon I suspect has lost some gas due to the system being shocked.

We got the car back yesterday and drove it today for first time. Some sticky blobs we can't remove from the bonnet, but otherwise body work is good. Steering is straight and no brake or parking sensor errors. But the droning is still their.

I suspect they might have done a tracking check at best. I suspect it needs a full on alignment check. The car has felt a bit twitchy on slightly uneven road e.g. crossing cateyes on duel carriageway and it didn't behave like this before.

What do people recommend to resolve this? Raise a complaint with the insurer? Direct Line?

Insist on a pro alignment check? Where from?

Take it to Wheels In Motion and get a report from them and present that to the insurer? (I'm convinced it's all to ****).

If the repairing garage had taken the car for the briefest of spins above about 20mph, they would have Immediatly noticed the droning noise.

 

[LTD]

Straight onto your insurance company to resolve - let them do the heavy lifting

 

[ChrisEdu]

Needs to be blown-up!

 

[KennyN]

I would think if the rear alignment was far enough out to cause the loud droning then there must be major alignment issues that would be clearly visible by comparing it with the opposite side , with a ruler and decent level for the camber angle. The bump had possibly wrecked the wheel bearing if the tyre had been hit directly.

The wife had a bump in her Micra a few years back and due to the damage to the front suspension i was surprised to hear it was going to be repaired , when i picked the car up they had not even touched the suspension , the never noticed the damage , if they had done the car would have been a write-off.

If i was in your position it would be going back to the insurance repairers for a re-assessment.

K

 

[DSM10000]

Needs to be blown-up!

I like your style!

 

[BigJase88]

Droning to me would suggest wheel bearing especially as it has taken a whack

Would be on phone to direct line

 

[clk320x]

Just out of interest… if the other driver was at fault and you were dealing with their insurance co directly why did you involve your own insurer?

 

[BigJase88]

Just out of interest… if the other driver was at fault and you were dealing with their insurance co directly why did you involve your own insurer?

Sometimes it is easier to let your own insurance deal with it.

They are crooks. The 3rd parties insurance look to do it on the cheap whereas your own insurance then wants to go the other way and spend mega cash on the repair.

Its all a game. You are always better going with your own insurance

 

[st13phil]

The bump had possibly wrecked the wheel bearing if the tyre had been hit directly.

^ That would be my suspicion.

As others have said, report it to the repairer and get your insurance company to deal with it.

 

[MrGreedy]

It's my wife's car and her insurance. We did talk about going direct because the crasher's insurance Co Aviva got in touch quick and offered to handle the repair directly, but in the same call tried to put the frighteners on about if the hire car costs too much Mrs Greedy will have to pay the excess. At which point we decided best to just let her insurer deal with it.

The droning is coming from the opposite side to the driver's side wheel that took the whack. My suspicions about alignment are due to it being the opposite side to the impact, and having had some suspension work done, the droning isn't as loud as before the repair. I do accept there could be wheel bearing issues as without very careful looking, and sometimes even only by replacement, do you eventually find the root cause of the issue with subtle wheel and running gear symptoms. We will mention both of these things to direct line tomorrow.

 

[optimusprime]

Might be the silencer is bolted to the body without the normal rubber insulation .

 

[MrGreedy]

Might be the silencer is bolted to the body without the normal rubber insulation .

Maybe, but the noise was present immediately after the crash and before any repair. The noise correlates exactly with vehicle speed, getting higher pitch and louder with increasing speed. Varying engine revs have no effect and e.g. coasting in neutral still produces the same speed consistent noise.

Braking has no effect on the noise.

I've looked through the repair sheet. It's had a new driver's side rear hub.

Some suspension arm replacement, but not in any terminology I can directly related to (says replacement rear CV arm, but it's FWD).

It says it's had chassis realignment and an alignment check, and a tracking check. No results of any alignment are provided in the report.

 

[Justintyme]

Like most posters here, I'd be going with the wheel bearing, but if they have replaced the rear hub, that should have meant a new bearing as well, as job of removing the old one in this case would be too much hassle. Unless of course, that's exactly whet they did!!! Two things you could do. One. Have some one sit in the back seat on that side, and listen to confirm that the noise / vibration is definitely coming from there. Two. Jack up the car at the rear jack point on the affected side, and spin the wheel., either by hand or driven at slow revs. As it rotates, and if its the bearing, there will be a slight shimmy in the wheel, plus of course, the noise / vibration will be much more noticeable. Very strange though if they replaced the hub, and not the bearing....would be interesting to see the actual workshop sheet for that job.

 

[DSM10000]

Jack up the car at the rear jack point on the affected side, and spin the wheel., either by hand or driven at slow revs.

The car in question is a Golf. Virtually all of them are Front wheel drive so having the suspect wheel "driven at low revs" isn't likely to work.

 

[Justintyme]

The car in question is a Golf. Virtually all of them are Front wheel drive so having the suspect wheel "driven at low revs" isn't likely to work.

I was not sure what drive it was, but that will make it much easier to get a correct diagnosis. Rear wheel drives are much more complicated than FWD vehicles, when it comes to a problem like this. Jack it up, and even turning the wheel by hand should tell you if its the bearing or not. A damaged bearing will feel rough even when its turned just by hand, and some one looking at it from behind will be able to see if its turning true, or there's a shimmy in it. Clamping a piece of metal or wood to the metal / wing etc, and setting it near the tyre, will also show any shimmy when the wheel is rotated. ( and assuming that the axle and carrier / suspension are OK ) Its a method I've used many times in the past when I was in that business. But then as a professional, I would have had the car on a car bench, and on jigs, so it would only come off the jigs when it was 100% in alignment. And of course, new hub and bearings would be fitted as standard. I don't think that it will be a major job to fix, just its annoying that it should happen at all. Bad enough if it happened while you or your wife were driving, but to be 100% innocent... Like I mentioned, a look at the job card would tell a lot.

 

[MrGreedy]

Sorry, I think I need to clarify.

The droning noise has definitely been coming from the rear passenger side. Blatantly obvious, and if you drive with alternate rear windows down, with the rear passenger window down it's very loud, whereas with the rear driver's side window down, it doesn't make any difference.

The car was hit on the rear driver's corner and wheel. The rear driver's side hub and wheel bearing have been replaced. That's the opposite side to the problem noise, which is the rear passenger (wheel).

My house is in an unbearable state of upside down chaos at the moment, so every non-essential room and my shed are packed to the ceiling. Getting the jack out will be a right mission, possibly several hours work.

As an aside (can I take my own thread off-topic?) building works we've paid for were supposed to take 10 weeks: it's the only reason I didn't do the bulk of the work myself, because I wanted to be without a kitchen for as short a time as possible. But here we are, since 4th Jan, tearing our hair out and I find I'm doing a lot of little bits and pieces on the job in evenings and weekends to keep the progress up and get the work to my high amateur DIY standard (I might dare to call it a professional standard, but obviously not!).

 

[Justintyme]

Sorry, I think I need to clarify.

The droning noise has definitely been coming from the rear passenger side. Blatantly obvious, and if you drive with alternate rear windows down, with the rear passenger window down it's very loud, whereas with the rear driver's side window down, it doesn't make any difference.

The car was hit on the rear driver's corner and wheel. The rear driver's side hub and wheel bearing have been replaced. That's the opposite side to the problem noise, which is the rear passenger (wheel).

My house is in an unbearable state of upside down chaos at the moment, so every non-essential room and my shed are packed to the ceiling. Getting the jack out will be a right mission, possibly several hours work.

As an aside (can I take my own thread off-topic?) building works we've paid for were supposed to take 10 weeks: it's the only reason I didn't do the bulk of the work myself, because I wanted to be without a kitchen for as short a time as possible. But here we are, since 4th Jan, tearing our hair out and I find I'm doing a lot of little bits and pieces on the job in evenings and weekends to keep the progress up and get the work to my high amateur DIY standard (I might dare to call it a professional standard, but obviously not!).

Ah yes MrGreedy, that would make a difference all right..... I'm just thinking if the car was parked very close to the kerb, could the impact have shunted the Passenger side ( P/S)wheel against the kerb and that is what has damaged the hub / bearing ? Is there any visible signs of damage on the rear P/S?. Especially since this droning noise has only made its presence felt since the accident? Alternatively, badly worn bearings can of themselves cause a droning noise, which may be what you are hearing, but what I have suggested will show if it is that. In extreme cases, I've seen wheel bearings collapse. If the hubs get hot ( brake friction etc) the lubricating grease dries out, the bearing runs dry, and wears prematurely, in some extreme cases they will seize up, and cause a fire.
As for your building woes,,,,,,you have my 100% unreserved sympathy. Been there, done that, and despite it being several years since the "Great Upheaval", the memories ( terrors) still remain. Currently, we are doing a complete rebuild of the bathroom, due to start at the end of the month, and a claimed time of in and out in one week...... So looks like you are without a kitchen, and I'm about to lose my shower and toilet.... interesting times ahead....

 

[ChrisEdu]

I thought bearings really ought to be replaced in pairs?

 

[merc estate]

Right you are doing what we all try to do, that is resolve it yourself. STOP
Get onto your insurance, Tell Them, don't deal with the garage your contract is with the insurance, it's up to them to deal with the garage.
If you start dealing with the garage themselves they could be covering up a bad job.
Keep the insurance company informed at all times, as if they end up writing it off you will be getting your money from them.
You pay the insurance to fix it, get them to fix it, Simples.
Don't get your hands dirty on it and ask for a hire car while they sort it out.
Good luck, keep us updated we are all holding our breath for you.

 

[Justintyme]

Right you are doing what we all try to do, that is resolve it yourself. STOP
Get onto your insurance, Tell Them, don't deal with the garage your contract is with the insurance, it's up to them to deal with the garage.
If you start dealing with the garage themselves they could be covering up a bad job.
Keep the insurance company informed at all times, as if they end up writing it off you will be getting your money from them.
You pay the insurance to fix it, get them to fix it, Simples.
Don't get your hands dirty on it and ask for a hire car while they sort it out.
Good luck, keep us updated we are all holding our breath for you.

I'd be inclined to tread carefully if I were you.....car was hit on Drivers side rear, and unless you can show actual damage on the passengers side as a result of that, you will be on a very sticky and expensive wicket. By all means as merc estate says, contact your insurance company, and ask for their report and see what's written on that. Tell them since the accident there's a droning noise coming from the left rear that was not there before the collision, and see what they say. I've dealt with many insurance assessors, and believe me, their primary function is to reduce costs for their insurance company., and not your well being. If there is visible damage on the wheel / tyre consistent with it striking the kerb, then OK, you have a case. Otherwise, I would jack the car up on that side, and spin the wheel to see if it is a wheel bearing problem. If this is the case, then personally I'd replace the wheel bearing's, and drive on.
Basically obvious damage to the wheel, insurance job. No visible damage, replace both wheel bearings yourself, because, wheel bearings do wear and emit a droning sound, and when badly worn, can cause vibrations. Keep us updated, OK?