Car is 1998 VT V6, 150,00Km, basically bog standard except for a few "pretty bits" and LPG vapour system. Problem: LH Front strut tower has cracked the top front and rear welds and is pulling away from the inner guard/subframe, tending to lean toward motor. Has moved maybe 1/16th inch so far. Question: has anyone else encountered this problem?? In other words, is this a relatively common fault or unique to this particular car. I've owned the car for a couple of years and know most of it's history, including the fact that it was in an accident a couple of years before I bought it, and it was damaged on LH front. The point is, it was (still is) insured with a Company that guarantees repairs "for life". If it is a relatively common fault I won't have any case, but if it is unique to this car I could have a case (maybe, possibly ??? LOL) against the Insurance Company/repairer that did the repairs. Any advice appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Its not moving its just the bubble gum is falling out of the hole I cleaned the glue out on my race car and welded the top not sure ya should do that 4 a road car it wont look the best.
I agree, ring said insurance company & ask them because it sounds like a repair fault to me. They will have all the details of the repair job & claim # I know with AAMI they garantee repairs for the life of the car no matter who owns it.
It may be a problem stemming from the accident that wasn't originally repaired. I know the smash repairs that did my car wasn't going to replace the rear shock absorber until I told them "hey... you better replace that shocky because it's bent". I don't think it's a common problem to break welds without serious stress, it would have been a stress fracture as a result of the accident. The very top plate that you see when you open the bonnet isn't actually welded to the body and this will move around a bit when the top strut bearing gets worn. However, if a weld has actually broken under the guard that holds the strut in place then yes, that's something that is very irregular and would only really result from an accident. They may have re-welded it and not done a proper job.
Some VTs and VXs did have problems with the towers separating, hence why upper-spec'd VYs and VZs got strut braces standard. I'll try and find out the details tomorrow at work. Old Timer, I think your car maybe a case of both.
Mine are both split the same as yours, but there cracked from 2 separate accidents. the left side hit a kerb hard and bent the strut and cracked the tower, the other side i got sort of t-boned but in the front quarter panel and wheel, then got it fixed up by a mate real cheap. so there both cracked, ive done around 50,000ks on it and haven't really had any problems, when the left hand side was just cracked i got an estimated quote of $900 to weld it up. my right wheel still has a bit of permanent camber lol, im wondering if a strut brace would help it? any ideas?
Just to keep everyone up to date, still waiting for copy of original quote after the accident that was promised by the Insurance Company. They said would be sent within a couple of days, that was now 12 days ago. Emailed them on Friday morning but no reply by end of business day. Looks like I get on the phone again come Tuesday. Umai Naa, did you find any details, one way or the other ?? Thanks to all who have replied so far, will keep you informed.
From what I can tell, it was done on a case-by-case basis. I'll try and look further into it in a week's time when I'm back at work from my VW training holiday
Back at last. I finally received a copy of the original repair quote (from Sept 03). Now I need one you Panel Beaters on this forum to translate it for me. As I've previously said, the majority of the damage was on the LH Front which was fairly badly damaged but the radiator was not among "repaired" or "replaced" so the damage was on the extreme LH corner. The quote is the normal Remove and Replace items, Repair items, Paint cost, Parts required etc.. After the Subtotal cost there is an additional item for "Repair Additional 1." In the first "Repair" section is - N/S Skirt 6.4 hours and N/S Rail 3.2 hours. Is this "Panel Beater Speak" for what I would call Subframe and inner guard?? As far as I would think "Skirt" is the panel under the doors (Sill Panel) and that was not damaged. It's a throw away part anyhow. In the "Repair Additional 1." section- is N/S/F Skirt Brace 3.0 hours. It's interesting that the cost to the Insurance Company was the amount of the Subtotal before the "Repair Additional" so I assume that was not done. Just as a matter of interest here are three photos of the cracking, including the cracking where the "Inner Guard" meets the Firewall. All I would like to know really is, does "Skirt and Rail" equal "Subframe and Inner Guard" ?? Thanks.
I had similar issues after a smash and AAMI came to the party big time. You just have to keep pushing. I said mine was a quality issue and they jumper luckily for me and my car. $9000 initial repair bill and $3000 fix up after the original repairs came unstuck.
ouch... those cracks look nasty! If I were you I would be on the phone every day to the insurance company. That cannot be safe. Tell them they have a week to sort it out and then you're going to the authorities. Sounds like you've been stuffed around enough already.
What a difference a week makes. I had been dealing with a Sydney Suburban Branch of AAMI, and when I rang them last the bloke I'd been talking to for however many weeks had gone home early. Who ever I spoke to in his absence listened to my story, took a couple of details, transferred me to Newcastle Branch (closer to where I live). Result, car was inspected this morning by the experts, goes up there on Wednesday for repairs. No problems, no arguments, no discussions, just a matter of "yep, looks like it needs to be fixed". Life is good.
