I recently lost control of my car in a turn and hit the front right side of my car against a wall. I wasn't going very fast (under 50) and didn't seem to hit the wall very hard. The right front of my bumper is scraped, front part of my passenger front fender was dented a bit and my wheels were really scratched up. I was able to drive it home but after going in for an alignment today I was told that 'something' was bent and they could not adjust the caster. I also noticed that my VSA light turned on and the yellow triangle light with the ! in the middle is on as well.

Any ideas on what part could be bent and why my VSA light is on? The car seems to drive fine despite these issues. My alignment is just off but I notice no other weird quirks.

 

Lower A-arm perhaps? I'd claim insurance and get it fixed properly. You don't want a structural suspension component to fail at highway speeds.

Out of curiousity, did you have the VSA on at the time of the wreck?

 

Thanks CKit. I'm going to a mechanic tomorrow to have it checked and if the damage is pretty bad, I'll go through insurance (which I have been trying to avoid).

I believe I did have VSA on at the time of the crash. I didn't hit the wall very hard so I figured it only threw my alignment off... ugh!

 

The lower control arm is likely bent. Unless it's a massive bend, it will be hard to tell just by looking at it. I'd replace that first and see if you can get it aligned then.

 

Is the lower control arm #11/12 in the diagram? If so, I'll go ahead and order that part right away.