Expert: Mike Potter - 1/12/2008

Question
Mike, I slid into a curb in my 2002 Jeep Liberty the other day, blowing my front passenger-side tire.  When I changed the tire out, I noticed the car was pulling to the right.

After having it looked at by a tire/alignment shop, they said the sub-frame was bent and that I need to take the car to a body shop for repair.

My question is, approximately how much would this service cost?  I'm trying to decide whether I should file an insurance claim, so I'm just looking for a ballpark- a few hundred, a thousand, a few thousand?  Any info you can provide would be great.

-Brian

Answer
 You could have a host of problems. Most shops have a 4 to 6 hour minimum for frame repair, $250.00 to $300.00 is my guess. Then you have a possible front wheel bearing problem, lower control arm, lower ball joint and the steering knuckle. All these may be fine at first but possibly a few days later or so, these other parts may cause problems. The bearing may start to growl after a day or two. The other parts could be bent and cause a bind.
Basically, make sure your whole front suspension is checked out thoroughly.