UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Last night i slid on black ice when doing around 30 mph round a sharp bend. There was nothing i could do and the car hit the nicely placed big kerb Front nearside wheel took the knock.
The tyre popped off and the rim now has a bad dent. To get home (3 miles) i put the space saver on. The car drove in a straight line but i did notice that the steering wheel had shifted around 20 degrees to the left.
I've had a look underneath and the n/s wishbone is bent. It looks as though they are designed to do that because it's bent next to one of the holes that are in it. This morning my partner was leaving to take the car to the local garage and noticed that the steering wheel height adjuster lock isn't working properly. It sort of holds the column but if you push down on the wheel, you can get it to give up the grip. Not ideal.
So my questions are;
Is the wishbone designed to bend in order to protect other components?
Does the bent wishbone and space saver wheel explain the steering wheel moving 20 degrees off center?
Is the steering lock problem a 'safety feature'?
Can i expect any other components to have suffered?
Any help or advice is gladly appreciated.

unlucky to hear, things like that always happen to the unlucky ones! first thing to do is get the wishbone and wheel replaced. check underneath to see if there is any damage to the driveshaft or steering rack. might be worth taking it to a garage to get it properly checked over. it may be that the knock just shifted the rack along a few notches or something (not sure how the whole thing works myself) which would explain the steering wheel, but check the tracking while you're sorting the wishbone, make sure the wheels are pointing straight. as for the adjuster, i have no idea what would make the adjuster not work properly. hope this helps.

Soz, this should have been put in the mkIV forum....Which it now is...