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Original poster

Do you know what this message means (mechanic)

29 replies

Thefearisreal · 04/10/2025 08:14

Hi I was in a accident yesterday in my car. My suspension went whilst on a wet road and I span out and whacked into a bollard. A bit of damage to my door but after calming down I managed to limp it home.
My mechanic is busy until end of October but he sent me to a tyre place that can make sure it's not just the wheels alignment. At the tyre place they camenback in talked in hushed tones and then handed me a piece of paper to give to my mechanic and that my mechanic will understand.
I rang mechanic he doesn't understand but has booked me in end of month and I won't drive it til then. But it's driving me mad waiting until then to know if my car is unfixable or if it can be fixed. The message says

N/S/R impact
Showing a lot of toe to axle.

Has anyone got a clue what this means, thankyou.

OP posts:
tiredangry · 04/10/2025 08:17

Near Side Rear

DisplayPurposesOnly · 04/10/2025 08:17

Nearside rear impact.

tiredangry · 04/10/2025 08:18

And the wheel angle is off

tiredangry · 04/10/2025 08:18

But you need to call your insurer and have them fix it. I’ll be done much quicker.

tiredangry · 04/10/2025 08:18

And you’ll only pay the excess

tanstaafl · 04/10/2025 08:19

Near Side Rear impact.
toe is to do with wheel alignment but mainly for the front steering wheels I think.
i think the message is that the front of the front wheels point inwards too much.

CharnwoodFire · 04/10/2025 08:19

Not a mechanic at all, but would guess
Near/side/rear impact
And that you've damaged your back axel?

montston · 04/10/2025 08:20

Please do not take your car you your mechanic, he sounds utterly useless. Book it in to another local independent. Search for reviews online first.

tanstaafl · 04/10/2025 08:23

You’ve checked there’s the minimum tread on the tyres OP?
and correct tyre pressures

AnSolas · 04/10/2025 08:25

Google car suspension simple diagrams
Check that you understand what the "big" bits are named.

Call the place back and ask for a detailed answer so that your mechanic can ball park the price

But you had mechanical failure not a blowout so that will likely have caused further damange.😬

Is your insurance 3rd party or comp?

Original poster
Thefearisreal · 04/10/2025 08:29

tanstaafl · 04/10/2025 08:23

You’ve checked there’s the minimum tread on the tyres OP?
and correct tyre pressures

Edited

Yeah I checked that as soon as I got back. I only got the car 4 months ago second hand.

OP posts:
Original poster
Thefearisreal · 04/10/2025 08:34

AnSolas · 04/10/2025 08:25

Google car suspension simple diagrams
Check that you understand what the "big" bits are named.

Call the place back and ask for a detailed answer so that your mechanic can ball park the price

But you had mechanical failure not a blowout so that will likely have caused further damange.😬

Is your insurance 3rd party or comp?

It's comp. This is my first car and I've only been driving a year. We've had allot of issues with the car as I think they sold me a dud I've had it 4 months and it clunks. I've had to have the cambelt and water pump changed and driving belt snapped from being corroded. I'm gutted about it all I can't really afford a new car if it's the axle that has broke.

OP posts:
Original poster
Thefearisreal · 04/10/2025 08:35

CharnwoodFire · 04/10/2025 08:19

Not a mechanic at all, but would guess
Near/side/rear impact
And that you've damaged your back axel?

Thankyou I am hoping it isn't the axle as it would be a scrap car then. I'm hoping it's just changing the suspension thing.

OP posts:
AnSolas · 04/10/2025 08:55

Thefearisreal · 04/10/2025 08:34

It's comp. This is my first car and I've only been driving a year. We've had allot of issues with the car as I think they sold me a dud I've had it 4 months and it clunks. I've had to have the cambelt and water pump changed and driving belt snapped from being corroded. I'm gutted about it all I can't really afford a new car if it's the axle that has broke.

Show quote history

If its had a lot of problems and you bought it off a dealership I would be looking at if it is the sale of a dangerous defective MV.

Did you get it checked over when you bought it.
If you did what was said re the age v milage v condition?
Were the MOT and service history up-to-date?

Cambelt is changed by age or milage and I would expect that to be done in a "service" before I bought or price it in.

Was the belt snap after the cambelt was replaced?

My mechanic will always do visual checks to give me a list of what needs doing or looks to be on the way out ( TBF we both agree that my eyes tend glaze over when he educates me) so I would be very suprised if a replacable part failed unless the corrosion was very recent after he has been working on my car.

Tamfs · 04/10/2025 09:04

Your wheels are so out of alignment they suspect a deeper suspension issue that your usual mechanic will need to investigate.

As PP says, if it's from a dealership I would be kicking up merry hell if it's so bad the steering pulled you into a bollard.

Original poster
Thefearisreal · 04/10/2025 09:27

AnSolas · 04/10/2025 08:55

If its had a lot of problems and you bought it off a dealership I would be looking at if it is the sale of a dangerous defective MV.

Did you get it checked over when you bought it.
If you did what was said re the age v milage v condition?
Were the MOT and service history up-to-date?

Cambelt is changed by age or milage and I would expect that to be done in a "service" before I bought or price it in.

Was the belt snap after the cambelt was replaced?

My mechanic will always do visual checks to give me a list of what needs doing or looks to be on the way out ( TBF we both agree that my eyes tend glaze over when he educates me) so I would be very suprised if a replacable part failed unless the corrosion was very recent after he has been working on my car.

Show quote history

Yeah it's a 15 year old car with 48000 miles. They told me the cambelt hadn't been changed but that they'd have to put price up if they changed it. I took it to another mechanix and it cost me extra 800 as the driving belt snapped as they were removing the engine to do the cambelt said it was so corroded. It came with 3 months guarantee but the 3 months only covered major components not wear and tear when I contacted them about the clunking they told me straight away it was wear and tear. I have a toddler so I haven't really fought to much you just trust people. I feel so stupid. It was a second hand garage not a dealership. Even though the car was 3500 the insurance say it's only worth 800 so I think they will write it off rather than repair if I go through them. The garage weve researched and they've changed there limited company allot so I think it was a scammy garage 😔

OP posts:
AnSolas · 04/10/2025 10:01

If you mechanic can store the car I would ask him to put it up on the ramps to have a look asap or go via the insurance companys choice.

You need to pull out you policy and read what cost are covered as it should not be driven as you are not legally insured if the mechanics are faulty. Plus you may be covered for a few days of hire car.

Look at what you need to spend to buy the same make /model as while they will argue book value its what is available for sale which can have a higher open market value.

If its only actually worth 800 look at getting it "scrapped" for the insurance money and buying it off the insurance company.
They have to pay to have it scrapped as a licenced braker so it was normally only a tiny value to buy it back.

Written off due to not being economical to repair just means you need to jump through an extra hoop to prove the repair is done correctly to get insurance and that you can forget about comp just go 3rd party with add ons eg window screen cover

OSTMusTisNT · 04/10/2025 10:09

(40 something year old and found out its 'toe' not 'tow' for wheel alignment)

Hopefully it will just be the tracking that's off but definitely get it checked over before you drive it again.

KiwiFall · 04/10/2025 10:23

As others said near side rear ie passenger side impact.

Toe to axle means as you look down from above the car, the wheel is not straight (ie the axle the wheel sits on is bent). If they say “showing a lot” means it looks out of alignment by a lot, therefore not safe to drive.

YorkshireGoldDrinker · 04/10/2025 10:31

Near Side Rear impact with axle damage (toe is the outside tread of the tyre) with an inward lean towards axle, which means the alignment will have been knocked out.

The dent repair and panel beating takes a lot of time and money compared to suspension repairs that can be done in an afternoon. Call your insurer and they'll give you an idea. Don't drive it, though. It's not safe.

Original poster
Thefearisreal · 04/10/2025 10:36

AnSolas · 04/10/2025 10:01

If you mechanic can store the car I would ask him to put it up on the ramps to have a look asap or go via the insurance companys choice.

You need to pull out you policy and read what cost are covered as it should not be driven as you are not legally insured if the mechanics are faulty. Plus you may be covered for a few days of hire car.

Look at what you need to spend to buy the same make /model as while they will argue book value its what is available for sale which can have a higher open market value.

If its only actually worth 800 look at getting it "scrapped" for the insurance money and buying it off the insurance company.
They have to pay to have it scrapped as a licenced braker so it was normally only a tiny value to buy it back.

Written off due to not being economical to repair just means you need to jump through an extra hoop to prove the repair is done correctly to get insurance and that you can forget about comp just go 3rd party with add ons eg window screen cover

Thankyou it's a 2010 Renault modus I got it for 2900 and then spent almost 1000 on cambelt, water pump, driving belt and I had the wipers replaced. So insurance might give me the 2900 for the write off or would they give me 800 what they're pricing it at? Our local scrap man will take 350 for it. And we buy any car quotes 1300 but I know the weather but any car price will go down by loads when they see the damage.

OP posts:
AnSolas · 04/10/2025 12:49

The insurance claim value is the average uncrashed open market price needed to by the same year/make.

You get put back in the financial position you were in before the crash

So if you can only find listings around the £2900 but if the Renault could locate the same model for (say) £2200 the MV is the £2200 you can rightly argue the value is not £800.
In your case WBAC values it at £1300 so you would need to get quotes from sellers in the car trade to have a case to push the insurance up to the the 2.9k

By the way is the £800 the total value or the payout value after what ever your excess is?

montston · 04/10/2025 14:27

Thefearisreal · 04/10/2025 10:36

Thankyou it's a 2010 Renault modus I got it for 2900 and then spent almost 1000 on cambelt, water pump, driving belt and I had the wipers replaced. So insurance might give me the 2900 for the write off or would they give me 800 what they're pricing it at? Our local scrap man will take 350 for it. And we buy any car quotes 1300 but I know the weather but any car price will go down by loads when they see the damage.

Show quote history

Your insurance won’t write off your car because it needs repaired. Your insurance is for accidents, fire or theft.

Also, you never responded to my earlier comment about your mechanics so just want to mention again in case you missed it that if he didn’t know what was meant by the notes please find another mechanics.

Original poster
Thefearisreal · 04/10/2025 14:34

montston · 04/10/2025 14:27

Your insurance won’t write off your car because it needs repaired. Your insurance is for accidents, fire or theft.

Also, you never responded to my earlier comment about your mechanics so just want to mention again in case you missed it that if he didn’t know what was meant by the notes please find another mechanics.

Show quote history

Sorry it's been a rough day so far. I have contacted another mechanic he's coming to look at it next week to see if it can be fixed or I will scrap it and just have to start saving again for another.

OP posts:
Original poster
Thefearisreal · 04/10/2025 14:36

AnSolas · 04/10/2025 12:49

The insurance claim value is the average uncrashed open market price needed to by the same year/make.

You get put back in the financial position you were in before the crash

So if you can only find listings around the £2900 but if the Renault could locate the same model for (say) £2200 the MV is the £2200 you can rightly argue the value is not £800.
In your case WBAC values it at £1300 so you would need to get quotes from sellers in the car trade to have a case to push the insurance up to the the 2.9k

By the way is the £800 the total value or the payout value after what ever your excess is?

My excess is 500 because I've been driving for less than a year. Getting a mechanic to look at it next week to see what he can see.

OP posts: