|
|
Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Energy Car
Novice
Oct 12, 2023, 5:28 AM
Post #1 of 12
(559 views)
|
|
Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
I’ve either been followed with bad luck since buying my new 2021 4th Gen Prius or maybe it’s just that I’m worrying too much about nothing.
So here’s my story. I’m in my first month of owning the car and I have since driven over a few questionable speed bumps and then had the car inspected. The mechanics who inspected the car determined there was no major or minor damage other then some scrapes on the aero covers. However, about a night ago I was driving on the highway at around 9pm fiddling with the dash controls (steering assist, ac priority to seats, etc.) on a pretty open highway road with hardly any traffic, when in a split second I noticed what seemed like a shredded tire from a large truck. I then passed by one of those long double cargo big rig trucks parked on the shoulder of the road likely because they dropped something or shredded a tire. It could have been some other car part lke a muffler, some plastic splash guard from another car, maybe some kind of pipe. Anyway, it was too late to swerve out of the way so I drove right over it on the right side of my car. I didn’t hear a clunky, bang or hard thumping sound. So my guess is that it was likely the remains of a tire from the truck.
After my drive when I parked the car, I didn’t notice any leaks or spills under the car and it’s been a day now. I was wondering if someone could tell me what kind of damage I should be looking for and where if it was potentially something more substantial than a shredded tire? Also, if I took for some undercarriage inspection would a mechanic be able to tell if the suspension is good or if the car is in bad shape or not?
Thanks for reading!
(This post was edited by Energy Car on Oct 12, 2023, 5:29 AM)
|
|
| |
|
|
Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 12, 2023, 6:18 AM
Post #2 of 12
(539 views)
|
|
Re: Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
You already know what you should be doing. Have the car inspected. A competent repair shop can check for anything you aske them to. If you want to know something about the suspension, ask them to check it.
You certainly won't find out how much damage your car has in an online forum.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
|
|
| |
|
|
Energy Car
Novice
Oct 12, 2023, 6:31 AM
Post #3 of 12
(534 views)
|
|
Re: Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
Thanks for the reply. I guess the question should be what should I ask the mechanic to look at, the suspension? The (someone in another forum mentioned sensor wires)?
|
|
| |
|
|
Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 12, 2023, 6:33 AM
Post #4 of 12
(532 views)
|
|
Re: Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
Just tell him you ran over something and check for any possible damage. They know what to look for.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
(This post was edited by Hammer Time on Oct 12, 2023, 6:34 AM)
|
|
| |
|
|
Energy Car
Novice
Oct 12, 2023, 7:00 AM
Post #5 of 12
(525 views)
|
|
Re: Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
Easy enough. Thanks for your straightforwardness.
|
|
| |
|
|
Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 12, 2023, 7:41 AM
Post #6 of 12
(519 views)
|
|
Re: Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
You’re welcome
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
|
|
| |
|
|
Energy Car
Novice
Oct 13, 2023, 7:00 PM
Post #7 of 12
(429 views)
|
|
Re: Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
Update:
I took my car to a local Goodyear Tire and Auto shop. I told them I was concerned because I may have run over a shredded tire, however there was a chance it was something more substantial. He said the inspection shouldn’t take more than a half hour so I gave him the keys. The mechanic put the car up on the lift and proceeded to go through his inspection. I was in the waiting room for the first 5-10 minutes and then I stepped outside. From the outside, because the garage doors were wide open, I could see the whole process. Really it was just the mechanic and my car in the middle bay with no other cars being tended to. I just sat there and watched from about 10-15 yards away. He seemed to quickly look under the middle part and in all of corners of the car down to the wheels with a flashlight. He used the hood of my car as a table for his clipboard and there was no plastic put on the seats or paper protector for his shoes on the floor.
He then left the garage area and went into the waiting room and then back to the garage. I asked him if he was looking for me, he said “no.” I said, “that’s my car, does everything look ok?” He said, “I submitted my (his) notes to the front desk and it’s all there.” I said, “ok”. I waited until he took the car down and handed the keys to the front desk “manager”. I then asked the manager if he found anything, he showed me a short list of things that included the following items: “REAR TIRE HAS NAIL - REAR TIRES HAVE DRY ROT AND CRACKING (RECOMMEND 2 REAR TIRES AND ALIGNMENT CHECK) // RIGHT REAR SHOCK LEAKING (SERVICE SOON - SUGGEST BOTH REAR SHOCKS) // FLUIDS OK // FILTERS
OK // WIPERS OK // BRAKES OK // RECOMMEND FUEL ADDITIVE”.
I told him, I can see how the nail possibly could’ve ended up in the tire because that happens. However, I was surprised to hear that tires had dry rot and cracking and that the right rear shocks were leaking because I had a Toyota dealership look at the car a week ago and another place where my dad used to take his cars look at my car and they didn’t report any of those issues. He told me something like, well some eyes are better than others and people (mechanics) miss things and tend to not see things that are right there. I’m paraphrasing of course. He then told me he could put it back up on the lift and show me where the issues were. I said, well frankly, I already asked your mechanic if everything was ok while the car was on the lift and he told me to see the report. I said, he could’ve showed me while the car was already on the lift and saved us all some time. He said, his mechanics are trained to not answer questions like that, that essentially all questions about the work go through the front desk. Ugh! I guess it’s my fault for taking my car to the one incompetent mechanic in town.
Now I’m going back to the Toyota mechanics on Monday and getting a second opinion. I’m starting to feel like I shouldn’t have taken it to this place at all. They got a 4.1 out of 5 stars. I just read one of their negative reviews from a customer who had a similar experience, needing to get a second opinion, only to confirm that there was nothing wrong with their car. They said they had an unscrupulous business practices. I wish I would have read this first. Ugh, again!
Does anyone think it’s possible that the mechanic put the nail in my tire or somehow caused the shocks to leak (I still haven’t confirmed that they are leaking)?
|
|
| |
|
|
Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 13, 2023, 7:06 PM
Post #8 of 12
(426 views)
|
|
Re: Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
This is what happens when you go to chain type locations where the employees are trained to sell and not much else.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
|
|
| |
|
|
Energy Car
Novice
Oct 13, 2023, 9:39 PM
Post #9 of 12
(412 views)
|
|
Re: Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
Great. Aside from that, are you saying they are likely lying to me to get a sale or do you believe they did something to cause my shocks to leak?
(This post was edited by Energy Car on Oct 13, 2023, 9:44 PM)
|
|
| |
|
|
Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 14, 2023, 5:07 AM
Post #10 of 12
(389 views)
|
|
Re: Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
No, they are likely exaggerating what they found and their motives were to benefit them and not you. It's not unusual to find light seepage on shocks. That doesn't condemn them.
Find a competent, local, honest and independent shop and then stick with them. An independent local shop that relies on word of mouth to build their business, not nationwide advertising to promote their business.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
|
|
| |
|
|
Energy Car
Novice
Oct 14, 2023, 12:48 PM
Post #11 of 12
(372 views)
|
|
Re: Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
Thanks again for the suggestion. For a second there I took your message of 2 replies ago as though I did something wrong for trusting this shop. I’m going to get 4 new tires from the shop where my dad used to take his cars (when he was alive). The are good, competent hard working mechanics, unfortunately I live an hour away from them now. I decided that it’s worth it to get my tire work from them and they can also look at my shocks too, to see if there is really a dire need for the shock replacement.
My only regret is that I should have trusted my instincts before taking it to this last place. Something didn’t feel right from the minute I drove up to that place. I just hope the mechanic didn’t do anything else careless or shady like scratch the interior or exterior, removing or disrupting some other part thinking I would go to them to get the work done. What do you guys think?
|
|
| |
|
|
Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Oct 14, 2023, 12:54 PM
Post #12 of 12
(370 views)
|
|
Re: Drove over some car part on the highway. What should I do?
|
Sign In
|
|
I doubt they damaged anything. They are just trained to look for certain things to sell. They don't want the mechanics talking to you because they are not trained to sell and they are afraid they will screw it up so they bring the list to the people trained to sell. They have managers to answer to that only look at numbers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.
|
|
| |
|
Auto Repair Home
SEARCH
WHO'S 
LOG 
Drive Shaft Repair
2006 Toyoto Camry XLE Driver Side Electric Window Trouble
Grounding Cable, 2017 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk
equipment
Howdy
