V70 hit right front, gas gauge now reads compressed

[xlr8r3]

Hello all, newbie here with my first Volvo. I took a friend's advice and drove one. My friend is a Volvo station wagon fanatic, currently owns 3 (850, 70XC, Type R) plus a 65 Lotus and a P1800 both fully restored. Best advice I ever took. I love my V70! The most comfortable front wheel drive car I have ever driven, and heated seats!!! However, living in the DC area the inevitable happened and I was hit by another driver.

I was hit on the passenger side front fender. Now the fuel gauge won't go below half and reads half when empty. When I had the accident there was just under half a tank and it read 7/8 of a tank. What could be the fix? Are the fuel gauges controlled by the computer. The computer is right where the car was hit, but nothing else out of place. I couldn't get the body shop or insurance to fix it. Sending unit maybe? I know very little although I was able to change the timing belt last year with no issues. I am pretty mechanically savoy but know little about how Volvos are built. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[vtl]

Does it return to zero when the key is out?

[xlr8r3]

Yes. The gas gauge goes to zero with the key off and to what ever level it is reading when the key is on. It is like it only reads between full and half a tank. I filled up last night after putting 395 miles on the tank (I know it is a 17.8 gallon tank) and ended up putting in 16.6 gallons in and the gauge was reading just over half before I filled it up. Also, I scrolled through the driver information on the lower left of the dash and it still said I had 250 miles left on the tank before filling. It is just so weird. The sending unit is in the tank but I got hit in the right front fender. It doesn't make sense. That is what made me wonder if the gas gauge is controlled by software because the computer is right near where I was hit. Any help would be awesome. Thanks for looking.