Hit hard at an intersection ... Arrrggghhhhh!

[LYKUNO]

Well it must be the month for this kind of accident. (see A4 Joe's thread titled "So sad ... my beloved S4 is a total loss". Not sure how bad ours is yet, it may be repairable. Here's the story:

This afternoon, my wife was on her way to a doctor appointment near Akron Ohio. She was going about 40-45 mph and proceeding through an intersection with a traffic light, which was green for her. A 22-year old girl in a Ford Focus going in the opposite direction was turning left at the light and turned directly into the S4's left front side. No air bags deployed in either car, and neither my wife or the other driver were hurt, thankfully. From what my wife can recall (she was pretty shook up and couldn't recall all the details), the damage, seemed pretty bad. There was plastic and debris scattered around the intersection and fluids leaking from the S4. I suspect the intercooler and/or the one behind the left front fog light were damaged, and perhaps the radiator too. The driver's side headlight was dangling from wiring and the wheel/tire was poking out from the wheel well at an odd angle, so it couldn't be driven. She felt like the seat belt worked well to keep her safe - I'm thinking the pre-tensioning seat belt function deployed. She also noticed the driver's door was difficult to open and would not open fully (it only opened about 2 feet or so).

Since this is our only car, I wasn't able to pick her up and view the damage and take pics. The other driver fully admitted to being at fault to the police officer who was writing up the accident report. She and her mother, who came to her rescue, actually gave my wife a ride home. I was also stuck at home working with a dry wall guy on our bathroom, so didn't have to borrow a neighbor's or the dry wall guy's truck to get her home. Anyway, the girl was most apologetic for causing the accident and she and her mother seemed genuinely sorry for what happened. Fortunately, we both have the same insurance company (State Farm) and already have the paperwork rolling, and incident report, etc. Our car was flat-bedded to a local repair shop (in Mogodore Ohio), but is being picked up by our Cleveland Audi dealer's collision repair shop tomorrow morning. I am scheduled to pick up a rental car tomorrow morning at 8am, so we'll drive to the shop where the car currently is and clean out all the personal belongings, our EZ pass, the old iPhone in the glove box used for a music source, and whatever else is in it, before it leaves for the Cleveland shop.

While we're there, I'm going to take a bunch of pics and will share them here. I'm very concerned that the oddly-aimed front wheel, an HRE forged R40, and the tire, a brand new PSS, are both damaged, and will need to be replaced. If so, getting a new wheel manufactured and painted could take some time. That's the least of my concerns at the moment, since there could very well be serious suspension damage, but we'll see if that's an issue tomorrow. After nearly 6 years of ownership, without as much as a single door ding (although 2 replacement windshields), it's been a really frustrating day.

[Pyromatic177]

It's always sad to see your S take a hit for you. But glad your wife is safe! It's most frustrating when it isn't your fault and there's nothing you could've done.

[infinkc]

Sad, glad no one was hurt.

[AudBoost]

Frustrating to hear about your S4 but glad to hear no one was hurt.

[Luna'sS4]

Ditto. That would be a horrible call/msg to receive. Hope it can be properly repaired.


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[DannyDeez]

Sorry about your car. Glad your wife is ok! Thats more important.

[chaos2984]

Glad that your wife is ok. But atleast the other person took fault so you don't have to duke it out with insurance company. But how come you don't have 2 vehicles? Seems like a bad decision to only have 1. No days you need 1 car for each person. But for issues like this you out of luck right now until the insurance company claims fault and then provides you a rental. Then you don't have a way to get to said rental.

From the sounds of your damage the car is probably going to be a total loss. If the door doesn't open right you hope all it is is the fender is out of whack if not its structural and that's not good. And if the wheel isn't centered anymore you have a lot of suspension damage going on there to push the wheel back in the wheel well. Hopefully it wont be a total loss

[The Fat Kid]

Wow, that sucks but at least she was not hurt. It seems like there is a pretty good chance the car will be totaled based on the description.

I actually almost got in the exact same type of accident yesterday afternoon, except I am pretty sure the two shirtless "youths" driving the other car would have fled the scene.

[jsh139]

Glad no one was hurt. Sucks about the car, but hopefully you will get it all sorted out quickly.

[Okan509]

nooo the jet blue s4.

Sorry man, hope everyone is doing well after the hit.

[MrFunk]

Oh noooooo!!!!! What a bummer!

Argh - you know, we've got to share the road with ppl and these things happen but when you really love your car it hurts even more.
I hope it's repairable!

Keep us looped in and so glad your wifey is OK!

[Reckon]

Glad everyone is all right. And with State Farm you shouldn't have any issues getting stuff taken care of. Best of luck!

[Dakkath]

ARGH!!!!!!!!!! Darth Vader says "Noooooooooooooooooooooo"

[Oloung1]

Glad no one was hurt. Sucks about the car, but hopefully you will get it all sorted out quickly.

health is more important then the car. that said, as long as wife is ok, i would start shopping for a replacement. if they total it, you will receive a very finite number of days on the rental. having a 1 vehicle household will probably compound that problem, unless you feel like paying out of pocket for a rental/turo while slowly shopping for a car. if it's repairable, then your timetable is completely different.

[LYKUNO]

Thanks for the kind words and well wishes guys. The wife is feeling fine today so glad that there weren't any lingering after effects like soreness or pain, etc. We picked up a rental care from Enterprise first thing this morning (technically yesterday morning - Wednesday a.m.). We live in a small college town and the Enterprise place is a 5-minute walk away. I retired a few years ago after a long career in telecom, and since my wife and I do everything together, and no kids to drive around, we finally went down to a single car (a really good one!). We didn't feel we really needed a second car, otherwise, we wouldn't have sold our Mk4 R32 about the time I retired. That said, we ended up getting a no-frill 2017 Dodge Dart from Enterprise - looks like a little Charger, but not nearly as fast or as much fun. After driving it for the day, we clearly miss our S4 and its performance, features, and comfort.

Next thing we did was to drive to the yard where the car was stored where I finally got to see the carnage (pics follow). We took all our personal stuff out of the car in preparation for it to be flat-bedded up to the collision center (affiliated with the Audi dealership in Cleveland). Confirmed the car got there Wednesday afternoon. We are driving up there tomorrow morning (Thursday) to sign a release so they can begin work to disassemble the car as needed to determine the extent of damage. We expect to get the estimate for repairs by this coming Monday (hoping for earlier than that, but we'll see).

At any rate, as can be seen from the pictures, the major damage is on the driver's side front. The wheel/tire and fender took a major hit, enough to break the suspension components - it almost looked like the car was lowered on that side. The fender was pushed up and back and interferes with the driver's door opening. The drivers door has a ~6" shallow dimple from where either the wife or the tow company opened the door (it only opens about a foot before encountering resistance). I left a note on the dashboard requesting the door not be opened to avoid any additional damage to the driver's door, which is otherwise in reasonably good condition. Hopefully it won't be made any worse by the next person who needs to get into the car, and can be popped back out from the inside. Then again, this dent on the door is minor compared to the rest of the damage.

The hood got pushed back a small amount (judging from a small gap above the grill), and also was moved fairly evenly towards the passenger side, with the gap between the hood's right edge and the right fender essentially gone. Because of this, I decided against trying to open the hood to check the condition of the shock towers; didn't want to mess up the passenger side fender's paint or risk having something happen to break the windshield (the car is already on windshield #3). The auxiliary cooler behind the driver's side fog light is toast, and the fog light and grill are MIA. Also, there's been abrasion to a wiring harness in that vicinity, to the point where the insulation on some smaller gauge wiring is rubbed through to expose the copper wiring. Didn't bother to check how many warning lights come on when the ignition is turned on. Only verified that the remote locking and unlocking still work. Oddly, the amber light in the left headlight still blinks when the car is locked and unlocked remotely, so some things still kinda work.

The HRE wheel got bashed, and looks it, but apparently did not break or bend as the tire seems to be still holding air pressure. The strength of a forged wheel can be impressive; given the hit this wheel took (enough to break the suspension arms behind it without the wheel failing) attest to that. The tire, a new PSS just installed last month, appears to have some gouges on the inner sidewall that will probably require replacement of the tire. Won't really know until the wheel and tire are pulled at the shop. As I mentioned earlier, there was no airbag deployment but the wiring to the sensor in the front bumper (what's left of it) is now easily visible.

The other car involved in the accident, a 2014 Ford Focus, was also towed to this yard. While my wife and I were looking over our car, a State Farm adjuster showed up to assess the Focus. Our car will be reviewed by a State Farm adjuster at the Cleveland collision center. Anyway, the adjuster showed us how the frame rails on the Focus (both sides) were bent rather severely, indicating the force of the collision had bent those rails from the passenger side over towards the driver's side on that car. He said it was likely that car would end up being totaled. It was pretty neglected looking judging from the scrapes and dents all around the car, the pile of leaves and maple seeds under the hood, and the pizza box and drink cups and debris inside the car. My fears of our car being hit by a distracted driver in a POS beater finally came true.

My wife's recollection of what happened started coming back during our visit to that yard. We passed through that same intersection on our way to see the car, and she remembers seeing the girl in the focus making the turn, and taking rapid evasive action, steering quickly to the right to move further from the turning car. She also recalled how surprised she was that the other driver just kept coming, as if she didn't see our Audi, despite the daytime LED running lights. Now that I think about it, when the girl and her mother dropped the wife off here at our home yesterday, while she was apologizing for what happened, she stated that the color of our car was so much like the sky (it was a cloudless sunny afternoon, 1:30pm-ish) that she just didn't see our car. Maybe our next Audi should be Glut Orange!

So without further ado, and since it's now almost 3a.m.(!), I'm attaching the pics that I took yesterday morning. Just as I was trying to post this update last night I got a warning message that the forum was offline for maintenance and upgrades, so couldn't post them. Oh well, better late than never!



























Finally, the Evil Ford Focus, or its remains ...



We are really hoping our S4 is repairable, and hope to know by early next week. We really were not expecting to have to make a major purchase right now, since we've been doing lots of upgrades and other work on our home this year (and every year lately!). I've been hoping that this car would carry us though until a new RS4 makes it to the US (whenever that will be!). This accident is putting some doubt to that happening. I'll post an update once we get more info. Have a great weekend, and be glad you're not driving a Dodge Dart!

[The Fat Kid]

Your S4 is not looking good... I know you don't want it to be totaled, but I would prefer that option.

You can probably find a great deal on lease trader if you just want a car for a couple of years, and then either get the RS4 or something else. It would obviously be a downgrade, but apparently brand-new Corollas were recently leasing for $0 down and $80/month.

Good luck!

[Okan509]

Hard to tell from the pics, but the damage to the lower rocker panel is the only thing that would make this totaled - everything else looks like a ~10k job. I had a similar hit in my S4 except the wheel took the initial hit.

Goodluck to you!

This repair was ~7k, did not need a new front bumper or headlight, but did new new door panel. Similar suspension work, no intercooler damage.

[doug97gxe]

that looks totalled .. especially being a 2011 with the book value vs repair

[MrFunk]

^^ unfortunately I agree. You have at least 4 panels, all the suspension and then cooling system damaged. Lighting, new wheels, electric... not to mention what's hidden.

[shoe3k]

I would hope that the insurance company deems this as a loss. I wouldn't want to drive that no matter how "good" the repair is because it will never be the same and I'm sure other issues will arise due to the accident later down the road.

[chaos2984]

I would hope that the insurance company deems this as a loss. I wouldn't want to drive that no matter how "good" the repair is because it will never be the same and I'm sure other issues will arise due to the accident later down the road.

Im kinda with this. With the knuckle breaking like that, the car took a lot of force. I wouldn't be surprised if the subframe is tweaked or twisted. The only real way to find out is either if it is obvious or during the alignment phase when it wont align right. Im going to have to say this is easily well north of a 10k repair since they have to buy all NEW parts. Atleast with Audi's and S4's you don't have to worry about the insurance companies using used parts. Their really is not enough used parts to go around. One thing I like about owing an Audi is piece of mind for the repair if repaired

[b8audis4]

Yes, I believe that is probably going to be totaled out. I remember talking to you a couple years back since we are both in NE Ohio. Glad everyone is ok in the accident. If you are taking it to the repair place up in Cleveland that I am thinking of, then you are in very good hands. They do excellent work and consistently work on amazing cars.

[littleredwagen]

^^ unfortunately I agree. You have at least 4 panels, all the suspension and then cooling system damaged. Lighting, new wheels, electric... not to mention what's hidden.

Actually the car looks repairable, From the Pics the A Pillar is straight and the panel gap between the door and the lower rocker looks again from the pictures pretty uniform and not skewed. Once the put it on a lift a measuring tape will tell if you if the front end structure is still square. The interesting thing with frame rails is if one or both are tweaked at the end so in front of the suspension pick up points they easily put them back on a frame jig. Modern Unibody frame are actually designed to be replaceable. We are not talking about a solid frame old cars. The impact looks to be in the front of the tire so the upright adsorbed the impact and failed. as long as the frame rails are severely bent necessitating an engine for repair the car is 100% fixable and would be fixed by the insurance company

[littleredwagen]

Im kinda with this. With the knuckle breaking like that, the car took a lot of force. I wouldn't be surprised if the subframe is tweaked or twisted. The only real way to find out is either if it is obvious or during the alignment phase when it wont align right. Im going to have to say this is easily well north of a 10k repair since they have to buy all NEW parts. Atleast with Audi's and S4's you don't have to worry about the insurance companies using used parts. Their really is not enough used parts to go around. One thing I like about owing an Audi is piece of mind for the repair if repaired

The knuckle broke because the angle the steering wheel was turned. you can tell by the passenger side, and I'd bet the knuckle snapping dissipated the some of the energy instead of transferring it all into the suspension, for example when you snap an end link from extreme forced placed on it, it breaks the transfer.

[MrFunk]

Actually the car looks repairable, From the Pics the A Pillar is straight and the panel gap between the door and the lower rocker looks again from the pictures pretty uniform and not skewed. Once the put it on a lift a measuring tape will tell if you if the front end structure is still square. The interesting thing with frame rails is if one or both are tweaked at the end so in front of the suspension pick up points they easily put them back on a frame jig. Modern Unibody frame are actually designed to be replaceable. We are not talking about a solid frame old cars. The impact looks to be in the front of the tire so the upright adsorbed the impact and failed. as long as the frame rails are severely bent necessitating an engine for repair the car is 100% fixable and would be fixed by the insurance company

I agree that it looks repairable. However I think due to the amount of damage and the cost of repair, the insurance company may likely total the vehicle.

[littleredwagen]

I agree that it looks repairable. However I think due to the amount of damage and the cost of repair, the insurance company may likely total the vehicle.

You be surprised I had a deer incident a few years ago requiring front bumper, hood, fender, grill and grill insert, hood hinge, and headlight, that got smashed very similar and it wasn't even 7k to fix with new audi parts from a dealer. Don't forget body shop rates very based on type of work so mechanical rates, and paint are different plus the insurance company usually pays less per hour anyway.

[MrFunk]

You be surprised I had a deer incident a few years ago requiring front bumper, hood, fender, grill and grill insert, hood hinge, and headlight, that got smashed very similar and it wasn't even 7k to fix with new audi parts from a dealer. Don't forget body shop rates very based on type of work so mechanical rates, and paint are different plus the insurance company usually pays less per hour anyway.

Agreed - we shall see I guess. It's what's hidden that adds up right?

[littleredwagen]

Agreed - we shall see I guess. It's what's hidden that adds up right?

yeah again it is the condition of the frame rails that will make it or break it.

[doug97gxe]

You be surprised I had a deer incident a few years ago requiring front bumper, hood, fender, grill and grill insert, hood hinge, and headlight, that got smashed very similar and it wasn't even 7k to fix with new audi parts from a dealer. Don't forget body shop rates very based on type of work so mechanical rates, and paint are different plus the insurance company usually pays less per hour anyway.

few years ago though.. what's this car blue book? 25k? cosmetic alone its already 10k ... once its starts adding up its going to cost more than the percentage insurance companies go by before they decide to repair

[littleredwagen]

few years ago though.. what's this car blue book? 25k? cosmetic alone its already 10k ... once its starts adding up its going to cost more than the percentage insurance companies go by before they decide to repair

I posted the whole job was BELOW 7k for the the same cosmetic damage. I want to say 6ish for the exterior R&I using OE Audi parts so how is the cosmetic damage 10k? The only S4 bespoke parts on the front end is the grills, so the S4 tax doesn't apply.

[doug97gxe]

I posted the whole job was BELOW 7k for the the same cosmetic damage. I want to say 6ish for the exterior R&I using OE Audi parts so how is the cosmetic damage 10k? The only S4 bespoke parts on the front end is the grills, so the S4 tax doesn't apply.

I know an SUV backed into my wife's A5 hood scratch and new headlight total was 4K




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[littleredwagen]

I know an SUV backed into my wife's A5 hood scratch and new headlight total was 4K




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That's why body shops usually don't Iike repairing panels as a rule of thumb it's usually cheaper to time wise to replace it, with a new panel, clean it with wax & grease remover, scuff, tac it down, spray lots less prep time and paint matching and materials required.

[doug97gxe]

I posted the whole job was BELOW 7k for the the same cosmetic damage. I want to say 6ish for the exterior R&I using OE Audi parts so how is the cosmetic damage 10k? The only S4 bespoke parts on the front end is the grills, so the S4 tax doesn't apply.

here is a 2014 that had a similar damage.. actually this one looks worse than the 2014 and the 2014 was totalled

Does this look like a total loss? Diodes nit to me...

[doug97gxe]

totaled 2012 that runs and drives fine

[littleredwagen]

totaled 2012 that runs and drives fine

Something funny with that, I wonder if the front damaged the front of the engine and I wonder what insurance company as well. We will see what happens it very well might be totaled just depends on what lies beneath

[LYKUNO]

Thought I'd post an update. The disassembly of our S4 began today, so this afternoon I drove up to Cleveland to see the progress, and degree of damage. It was almost closing time so only had limited time to have a look. The tech who was working on it gave me a summary description of what had been done. He cut the fender off, pulled the front bumper and wheel. With the hood finally open, we got a look at the frame rails; both looked intact and straight, so that was good news.

There was a lot of various breakage involved. The control arms, and a number of plastic clips/brackets, etc. The tech also noted that the driver's side front axle got pulled from the transmission, probably due to the number of related suspension components that were broken. He hadn't seen that before on other Audi's with front end damage. I expected to see a splined shaft at the inner end of the axle, but as shown in the attached photo, the end of the shaft looks like it has a bearing or something attached. This part has me worried, and am hoping someone on here can identify what this picture is showing:



They agreed that it looks like the HRE wheel also needs to be replaced (and I believe the tire as well). I mentioned that the lead time for getting one ordered, manufactured and delivered from HRE is currently anywhere from 5 to 7 weeks. The tech said it's very likely the repairs needed on the car will take at least that long. He also said some things would be worked on by the techs at the Audi dealership, so the car will spend some time on a trailer going back and forth between the collision center and the dealership.

Also, since Audi does not sell door "skins", the driver's door which has got a deep ripple, is going to need to be replaced. So the replacement tally now includes the door, hood, left fender, front bumper, suspension components, headlight, foglight, trim pieces wheel/tire, and all the various and sundry parts that are either broken or missing. The grill looks okay, but don't know/couldn't tell if any plastic clips are broken. Also, the tech mentioned that he hadn't even had an opportunity to start the engine or evaluate any electrical harnesses or wiring. Wish I'd have had enough time and presence of mind to take my Vagcom and laptop along and run a complete scan to see what error codes showed up. Oh well.

I was also thinking tat given the fact that the left brake rotor took a major hit, and the car has ~56K miles on the original brakes, that both front rotors and wheel bearings be replaced with new ones. Since the car will already be torn apart, the additional cost to replace these parts should be minimal. Another thing is that when the car was first towed from the scene of the accident, the flatbed driver did not use the tow hook from the trunk to get the car on the flatbed. Who knows how he hooked the car to pull it. The collision center tech said he'd check the suspension components on the passenger side to be sure they're not compromised.

Here are a few more pics that I took today:

[timzcat]

That's the inside of the CV joint so it didn't pull out of transmission it got stretched out and ripped the boot. There is nothing keeping them together other then suspension being in place. So nothing actually came our of transmission and it was more pulled on then taking a hit which is good news.

[LYKUNO]

That's the inside of the CV joint so it didn't pull out of transmission it got stretched out and ripped the boot. There is nothing keeping them together other then suspension being in place. So nothing actually came our of transmission and it was more pulled on then taking a hit which is good news.

Whew! Thanks so much for your reply timzcat! I haven't seen the inside of a CV joint since my early days of playing around with VWs, so wasn't sure what I was seeing there. I'm feeling a whole lot more relieved now!!!

[Tweakophyte]

Bummer. Glad no one was injured.

[littleredwagen]

Whew! Thanks so much for your reply timzcat! I haven't seen the inside of a CV joint since my early days of playing around with VWs, so wasn't sure what I was seeing there. I'm feeling a whole lot more relieved now!!!

I was gonna post the same thing the newer cars user triple rollers in the inner joint. Once the boot breaks and you pull the triple roller far enough it comes out of the axle cup bolted to the trans flange