Hey Guys

[godale03]

When it rains it pours guys. About 3 weeks ago, my wife was involved in an auto accident. It was a pretty bad crash, both cars were damaged pretty good, but nobody was hurt thankfully. I didn't have rental car coverage on my policy and we have had to beg family and friends to borrow a car or catch a ride to work. We just got news that my wifes car should be repaired by the end of the month, so we were excited that life would get back to normal and we would have use of both cars again. Well last night, I made a bone head move and was myself involved in a car accident. As far as I know nobody was hurt, we exchanged insurance information and I was found at fault. I can't believe I was so stupid. At least I can say I wasn't fooling with the radio or talking on the cell phone... I just completely blew it. Both cars were able to drive away from the scene and my baby (Toyota Tacoma) has some battle scars on the front left fender, bumper and left front tire. Like I said, I was found at fault and hopefully my insurance company will not drop me, since we have had two claims this month. My wife and I have both been accident free for at least 6 or seven years and my last accident was hitting a deer back in 2003. I have not had an accident that was my fault since 2000. I know stuff happens and the important thing is that nobody was seriously hurt, I just can't believe that we now have two wrecked cars to deal with. I know it could always be worse... I guess now I am dealing with a bruised ego. Have any of you guys ever been in a accident where you were at fault?

Tom

 

[slowngreen]

Atleast no one was hurt....You can't drive around thinking your in nascar Tom, it just doesn't work!

 

[Rolex]

Is that you doing burnouts in your avatar?
I've had 3 major wrecks, but ALWAYS got paid by the other party.
I just paid my insurance bill for the next six months.....$169.

 

[MustangMan]

Try insuring six cars! One for a 17 year old male! Ugh, I could eat at the best steak house once a week for what I'm laying out!

Knocking on wood here, the last accident I had that was my fault was probably 20 years ago and the last ticket I got (knocking even harder) was for speeding and that was about seven years ago.

Now my wife, her poor Explorer Sport Trac is a bad driver magnet. It's been t-boned when four months old and has been rear ended three times (it's silver, never buying another silver vehicle!). It's had four rear bumper covers, two left bed sides, one front bumper cover, and the two left doors/b-pillar from the t-bone when it was new. Luckily, except for the harder hits, I've done all of the mechanical work and leave the spraying of the color to the body shop and it keeps the vehicle tight and as good as new with no shortcuts/missing fasteners, etc.

Anyway, sorry to hear and hope your insurance company treats you right.

Mark

 

[olds97_lss]

Well, I only have a few that are documented... but most of my "accident" days were in my teens when I treated cars like go carts and moto-cross vehicles... I'm one of the few people that can tell you that when you take flight in a chevette, it always kicks to the right... always.

I had a bonehead move about 6 or 7 years ago in my old marquee (my wifes car now). On the freeway after a light drizzle in november, went to grab my water bottle and dropped it, with the cap off of course. Leaned to grab it and swerved. I never left my lane and I didn't hit anyone, but a little 50 year old indian fellow saw big red coming at him and freaked out then proceeded to swerve accross 3 lanes of 75mph traffic at night (rush hour, chicago area) and cover his face with his hands (at 75mph). He went in the ditch.

I pulled over to the side of the road and waited. Looked at my car, not a scratch on it. I saw the guy get out of his car, stumble in the ditch a bit and I went to see how he was. Totally frazzled and freaked out screaming at me asking what i was doing swerving all over the road... I helped him to the road and he sat quietly in my car waiting for the cops while I stood behind it and smoked...

Nothing hurt other than ego. Cop gave me a ticket for improper lane usage and I got a call from my insurance company a week later asking about it. I told them what happened and never heard about it again. Our insurance did go up a bit, but nothing drastic.

 

[godale03]

Thanks guys for the stories and the laughs! Sometimes it is nice to know your not alone. I guess I just feel a bit down on my luck. I got in the truck this afternoon to go to my sisters house for my niece's 2nd birthday only to find out that my front end is way out of alignment. I have to turn the wheel almost half way to the left to go straight. Now I'm really bumed out. Once you mess up the front end, your vehicle whill never be the same. I'm such a bonehead! Man I could punch something right now I am so mad! LOL

Thanks guys for the stories and the laughs! Sometimes it is nice to know your not alone. I guess I just feel a bit down on my luck. I got in the truck this afternoon to go to my sisters house for my niece's 2nd birthday only to find out that my front end is way out of alignment. I have to turn the wheel almost half way to the left to go straight. Now I'm really bumed out. Once you mess up the front end, your vehicle whill never be the same. I'm such a bonehead! Man I could punch something right now I am so mad! LOL

Hey Slowngreen... that is what I should have told the police.... My spotter didn't tell me I wasn't clear on the outside! :0)

 

[MustangMan]

If you're lucky it is just a bent tie rod end. Don't think the worst. Frankly, if it is just superficial scratches/ding/dents on the fender and bumper it is most likely just that. A tie rod end (inner or outer) that bent inward when the tire got smacked as well. If you have the mechanical know how you can swap out the tie rod end yourself just to keep driving it until you get the truck to the body shop.

Maybe sneak under there or take the tire off and throw up a pic or two of what you find and we can help (ex-ASE Master Technician).

Good luck with it!
Mark

 

[godale03]

I will get some pictures posted up as soon as I get a chance. I am supposed to be able to take it to the body shop on Monday to get the estimate and get the ball rolling. How long do these repairs generally take I wonder? I will now need to rent a car once mine goes in the shop.

 

[MustangMan]

Without pictures it's hard to say, but if it is fender/bumper/trim in the front corner I'd expect about three days, barring any hard to find parts or stuff that has to be shipped in due to not being in stock locally. It goes faster if it is all bolt on parts. If they have to pull anything it takes longer.

Mark

 

[neobart]

Well, I only have a few that are documented... but most of my "accident" days were in my teens when I treated cars like go carts and moto-cross vehicles... I'm one of the few people that can tell you that when you take flight in a chevette, it always kicks to the right... always.
.

That sounds to me like you've done it more than once......

Only thing I've done is rip the rear bumper of a car in a parking lot....

Ok it was a bus stop, I was so busy being careful not to smack the rear end of my parents car into the bus parked right behind me, that I didn't look for the car parked next to me. I started the turn too soon and my front end catched on the rear of the other car. It must've been held in place with gum since it fell right off and not a scratch on my parent's car.

Oh yea I've almost fallen asleep behind the wheel once.......that is scary.......I immediately pulled over and let someone else take the wheel after that.

 

[alpinehyperlite]

Yes, i have been in a few my fault crashes.... only difference in mine and yalls, mine were intentional.

 

[savagefan04]

been there, done that...i've been in 4 at fault accidents in my time, but they were 15 yrs back when i was in my early 20's and thought i was all that. all 4 were my fault (had tickets issued as well for the accidents) and happened in the span 13 months. my insurance jumped drastically but again, i was very young and totally acting like a dumb ass.

in your case you should be fine. 2 accidents following yrs of accident free driving should only yield an increase in premiums, not getting dropped.

we've all been there so dont beat yourself up. Sh!t happens...

oh and @Ralph...169 bucks for 6 months. thats great! the wife and I pay more than that each month!.

 

[godale03]

Savage... you are definitely right. Sh!t does happen. Fortunately nobody was hurt.... at least seriously. That truck is my baby.... I even appologized to her for scuffing her up.

Hey Mustang... here are the pictures of the damage.

This is how much my steering is out of wack. The position the steering wheel is in now is how I have to drive it now to keep it straight.

 

[olds97_lss]

Is it me or does that tie-rod look bowed?

You'll probably want to get that body work fixed before winter. Getting ice/snow up in there will just make it worse. Just enough damage to suck.

 

[godale03]

If you open up the hood the headlight housing is all broken up too. I didn't take pictues of that though. Both clips that hold it in place are broken. I can't tell if the tie rod is bent or not.... something is out of wack for sure though! I plan on taking it to the body shop as soon as I can get in tomorrow for an appointment. The shop has an agreement with my insurance company so that no adjuster is needed. The shops estimate is all I need to get going. Hopefully they wont have it long... I figure 2 or 3 weeks. Or at least I hope. I have to rent a car and that is going to be expensive.

 

[godale03]

Well, the truck has been dropped off at the body shop. I haven't gotten the estimate yet but the guy at the shop that did the estimate said that the truck was not driveable since the alignment is so far out of wack. He showed me how to look at the front end and both wheels were pointed in opposite directions. I had also started to flat spot the tires. So hopefully I will find out soon how bad the damage is and how long they will have my truck. You know, you guys are going to laugh, but I apologized to my truck for wrecking it.... again, and I actually felt bad for leaving it at the shop! Why do some of us have an emotional attachment to our cars?

 

[Lessen]

Why do some of us have an emotional attachment to our cars?

We pay a lot of money for them. I can't say that's I've acutally apoligized to my car before. Actually, I think she likes to be riddin' hard.... um yeah...

 

[MustangMan]

Hey, sorry I missed your post yesterday...

The tie rod end, both inner and outer, appear OK, but it's hard to tell without comparing to the other side. If anything the spindle eye, where the tie rod end mount looks funky to me. They are usually flat (parallel to the ground) and it looks angled up to me.

Regardless, you've got it in the shop now, so all should be good.

As for getting attached to a car, try owning one for 20 years (my daily driver Mustang) that you ordered brand new as your first new car, or restoring/building one (my classic Mustang and my Cobra replica). When you get to know a vehicle at the nut and bolt level it borders on needing medical attantion. Hell, I have the VIN to my Mustang memorized and it freaks out people when I just blast it off the cuff and then they check the VIN plate on the car! :yes:

Good luck with it...
Mark

 

[olds97_lss]

Going to have to move this thread to FFA if it gets any more graphic!

My last car was "that" car... nothing special to most, but to me, it was a great car. Mercury 98 Grand Marquis, burgandy, with chrome in all the right places. Run 90mph for 500 miles without breaking a sweat. Road like a dream, very predictable in "weather". Ran great, still does.

It's first "ding" was last winter when my wife was run off the road in a nasty ice/snow storm. She hit a sign with the left front fender and jacked up the wheel trim, a rim and alignment, she went up over a 6" curb... I came home from work and she was just sick to her stomach that she hurt the car. Just kept saying "I'M SO SORRY!!!". I went out by the ol girl, got down on one knee to inspect the damage and wept...

160,000 miles with me behind the wheel and not a single ding... sad day indeed.

Sure I was happy my wife wasn't hurt, but that's why I gave her the car. 9 feet of iron in front of and behind with doors 16 inches thick that weigh a ton. Anything short of a dump truck hitting her at terminal velocity and she'd be safe.

3 weeks later, it got backed into in a parking lot and scraped the paint on the rear lid and knocked out a tail light. A month after that, it got smeared on the opposite front fender sitting in a parking lot. Both cases, my wife had no idea it happened. 5000 miles with my wife at the wheel and all that happened. Granted, only one was with her behind the wheel, but still.

I'm one quarter panel scratch away from taking the ol girl out to the shed and putting a bullet in her... I think I need to be alone now.

 

[godale03]

I don't know what it is. I just make a point to take care of my vehicles. I take the time required to perform the preventitive maintainence proceedures and take it to a pro for the ones I can't perform. I change the oil like I change my kids diapers. My wife thinks I'm crazy, heck myabe I am. I have had that truck for 5 years this Halloween.... not a single door ding. Just ask my wife who when I drive complains that I park too far away. This accident hurts! LOL Compared to the other car though.... the old girl looks good! I guess Tacomas really are one tough truck!