mechanics? Steering broken by theives!

elliemfl

Hi, and hoping someone mechanically minded can help.

My car was broken into last night. The door was forced, and is now very bent. Will have to get a new one from scrappie.

But, worse, the thieves broke the steering lock. The steering wheel now only turns about half a turn either way, and is kind of 'swinging free', there is no resistance whatsoever. It does not move the cars wheels at all.

The car isn't worth much. It's a toyota corolla, 1995 M reg. Is this likely to cost me a fortune to fix? Insurance won't cover it.

advice anyone please?
Ellie

hewhoisnotintheknow

hmm, could be something simple, do yoyu know anyone mechanically minded who can look at it

elliemfl

no, only the kind i'd find in the yellow pages!
hubby will have a go at fixing with the haynes manual, but prob woudn't be able to diagnose the problem.

Unstoppable_2

elliemfl wrote: »

Hi, and hoping someone mechanically minded can help.

My car was broken into last night. The door was forced, and is now very bent. Will have to get a new one from scrappie.

But, worse, the thieves broke the steering lock. The steering wheel now only turns about half a turn either way, and is kind of 'swinging free', there is no resistance whatsoever. It does not move the cars wheels at all.

The car isn't worth much. It's a toyota corolla, 1995 M reg. Is this likely to cost me a fortune to fix? Insurance won't cover it.

advice anyone please?
Ellie

Steering column is broken. It's not an expensive repair of you can find a second hand one, just an awkward one. I would expect change out of £100.

mikey72

Had a mate who's car was broken into, they bust the steering lock, but were then disturbed. The insurance actually wanted to write the car off, as they insisted the lock and steering column needed to be changed. The arguement was any other damage may not be seen, and it could fail at a later date, and possibly lock the steering. He cancelled the claim, but they would only re-insure it if the column and lock were changed, only a few quid from the scrappy, (but fixed at a garage) they were happy, and it was back on the road again.
So if you have contacted the insurance, make sure they're happy with the repair as well.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Given the damage to the door and steering wheel, although both are a relatively simple fix you may be better off just scrapping it and buying something else.