Ongoing Alignment Issues After Hit-And-Run - Bent Strut?

I've had alignment issues with my 2007 Prius ever since it was hit-and-run back in June by some clown while it was parallel parked. Besides cosmetic damage to the left front fender in front of the wheel, the driver side inner tie rod got bent into a Z shape. To me this suggests the aforementioned clown's tire impacted the rear half of my tire (amazingly there was no damage to my wheel cover). After replacing both the inner and outer tie rods and associated bushings, the repair shop was unable to get the alignment completely in spec. They suggested the problem could be anything from bent control arm to bent strut to bent frame. Since there was just a leftward drift, mainly when going less than 30 MPH, I decided to live with it rather than spend hundreds more to pursue the repair shop’s “maybe” fixes.

A few months later I decided I couldn’t live with it after all. Got a second opinion from a shop specializing in alignments and they concluded that my control arm was slightly bent, especially since the driver side wheel was a half inch further back in the wheel well than the undamaged right side one. To save money I replaced the control arm myself a month ago. This corrected the wheel position in the well problem and after a few trial-and-error alignments using the string method I got it driving acceptably straight, though there was still a slight tendency to drift left at slower speeds.

THE CURRENT PROBLEM: Last week the drift left at slower speeds became more dramatic so I decided to take a closer look. The first thing I noticed was that the distance between the steering boot and the outer tie rod was about an inch closer on the right than on the left. After removing both wheels, I unscrewed the tie rods on both sides so they were hanging loose, then I turned both wheels from side to side by hand. The right one always settled back into a center position, but the left one kept springing back into an extreme toe-out position. And when I reconnected the tie rods the left inner tie rod was harder to turn than the right one.

MY QUESTION: Is it likely that a bent strut is causing the left side wheel to toe out so dramatically or is something else going on?

 

Around 150K. I agree both struts should be replaced (the right one is leaking).
I'm on a tight budget though and really don't drive that much anymore anyway so I'd rather not go to the expense of OEM. How do you feel about getting used struts from a salvage yard? If not, what aftermarket struts would you recommend, bearing in mind I'd like to go with springs already mounted?

BTW, interesting discovery regarding the possible bent strut: I measured from various points on the frame to the strut on the right then did the same on the left and there was no appreciable difference, seeming to rule out the left strut being bent. Then it occurred to me that the reason the left side spindle/disk/whatever assembly keeps wanting to go toe out is that the strut is twisted toward the rear. This would make sense since the a-hole hit the rear side of my tire. With a clinometer I checked the angle of the vertical rod connecting the strut to the sway bar and got -6.4 degrees. Then with a hammer I banged several times on the rear side of the strut bracket where the two bolts connect it to the spindle. I then rechecked the sway bar rod angle and it had decreased to -3.9 degrees, meaning the strut had twisted back slightly toward the front. Took it for a test drive and the tendency to drift left did seem lessened.
What do you think? Can a strut actually be twisted rather than bent?

 

Are there any aftermarket struts with springs you recommend?

 

Sorry to ask a question you already answered. The Email notification they sent only had part of your previous answer.
Anyway, not to question your methodology or anything, but it sure seems strange to go to the trouble and danger of moving the old spring to the new strut when the cost of a new assembled strut with the spring already mounted is not that significant.

 

I don't believe "that all replacement parts are the same regardless of brand and/or origin". And I didn't take any position. I just don't understand why if you're getting a new strut (carefully vetted, of course) you wouldn't just get it with a new spring instead of reusing the old spring.

 

I'm not seeing genuine Toyota OEM springs anywhere on that Ebay page your Toyota coil spring link goes to. And of the ones shown, only the "Rear Lifted" ones seem particularly expensive. Doesn't "Lifted" mean they're some sort of modification of the stock spring?

 

Okay, so the reasoning for moving the old spring onto the new strut, besides not wanting to spring for an expensive new genuine Toyota spring, is that even the old spring with however tens of thousands of miles on it is better than the new spring that comes on an assembled aftermarket strut?