Hi,
My vehicle was hit while in my driveway. The rear end of the vehicle of was pushed out of my driveway and into the grass. The rear passenger side wheel was cracked. The mechanic told us that the o2 sensor needs to be replaced and insurance will not pay for it. Is is possible that the o2 sensor can be damaged in an accident where there was impact to the rear passenger side wheel?

Thanks for your help!

Not related to your accident, the O2 sensors are located in the manifold/downpipe section of the exhaust up near the back of the engine.

O2 sensor are sensitive to shock damage so while I doubt it was damaged in the accident, it is possible. A bad O2 will not always give you a code but did you have any codes / check engine light on before the hit?

No lights were on prior to the loss. My husband drive the car 20 minutes prior.

Was the exhaust pipe damaged at all by the wheel? If so maybe the impact to the pipe damaged the O2. I doubt that's what happened but anything is possible.

If there's no codes or check engine light you'd have to check the O2 plug itself w/ a multimeter or other diagnostic tool to know if it's bad or not. My question would be why would they check the O2 due to accident to your rear tire? Ask your mechanic how they came to the conclusion that one of your O2 sensors is bad.

Right before they were going to give us the car was when they noticed lights on. They mentioned the engine light, traction control, suspension and one other light were on.

Oh ok, that makes sense now. Maybe it was just a coincidence that your O2 went bag when you had the accident. There's really no way to prove why an O2 went bad so I guess it is what it is. How many miles does your GX have?

130000-140000

If you've never had the O2 replaced you were due so it sounds like an odd coincidence that it happened at the same time as your accident.

Speaking of the devil, my GX just got hit tonight too. Not as bad as yours but the a-hole drove off.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gx-...y-poor-gx.html

if you looking for O2 Sensors , go to www.sparkplugs.com. And pick the OEM Denso ones. Good customer Service. And maybe some filters too. And use them while you do the normal oil change intervals.