Okay, this is my sad story for today. Very dumb I know, but sad nonetheless.
Came from lunch with a co-worker and I went inside the office. About 20 minutes later I was working and a co-worker steps into my office and tells me there is a problem with my TL. So I say, really? what kind of problem? He told me that I should go outside and see it by myself, so I did:
The 1st thing I saw was my TL backed up onto this F250 truck and smashed the trunk door, broke a bit of the taillight and scratched the rear bumer in just a couple of very small spots.
The funny thing is that the hand brake WAS enabled.
Arggggh....
Does anybody know a reputable body shop in the St. Louis area for getting the car properly repaired?
As for the other guy, his F250 just has a minute dent on his bumper. This makes me love big trucks even more. If it would've been a car, it would've been a buffing solution, but the truck bumper was at the TL lettering height. (the sad thing is that the truck's owner has a Viper too!! )
Oh well, I am too ashamed to post any pics of my mishapp. This is the 1st time in my life I had a fender bender on my new car. I guess I am going to have to fix it and live with it! Thank God it wasn't the Vette!!
Once I forgot to leave the parking break on and ended up jumping through the window to reach the brake. By this time the car was moving plenty fast and I yanked the brake. My whole body slammed against the the pillar of the car door and I had a good 5 inch bruise. Bruises don't cost $600 thankfully.
I am new to the forum, but I-70 Auto Body is realty good. The owner's name is George. He does a lot of work on Big Foot and other monster trucks. He has worked on two of my vettes. I'm very pleased with his work. His shop is located on the North Service Rd., Wentzville, MO.
Originally posted by DBarbosa Sorry for the misfortune, that's why I apply the parking brake and put the gear box in first gear.
Darwin.
I have always used First gear. But I've seen that the car's manual instructs to use the Reverse gear. How come it doesn't mention First gear? Is there any difference between the two??
Well. I talked to the ins. company and I will be assigned an adjuster tomorrow morning. I took the car to the dealer and they said the parking brakes looked good, but he told me that since the weather is pretty bad now, they could've frozen. I just don't know what to believe anymore. This exact thing happened to my MX-6 because the rear calipers seized, but I don't expect this kind of stuff from a 36k Acura.
That I shoulda've used the 1st gear, well, I agree. But the fact is that I didn't. got my lesson learnt tho, you can count on that.
I've also talked to an Acura customer representative and he told me that I needed to go to the ins. company, so, I am now in a waiting loop until tomorrow. I managed to push the plastic bumper edge back into the rear quarter panel and it doesn't look that bad. I used the silver color that I use to paint model cars for touch up and its seems to match very close the color of the car. Touched up the two little scratches.
I am just hoping there is no chassis damage at all. If there is any, I will consider trading in the car for a new one. I am still getting over it... I had the Vette for 2 years and not a single thing, I buy this and 4 weeks later, the 1st BIG problem. I am thinking about just trading it in for a Kia Rio stripper model so I don't care how hard it hits lamp post. I miss the MX-6 for that very same reason....
Originally posted by ZO6 AL-X I have always used First gear. But I've seen that the car's manual instructs to use the Reverse gear. How come it doesn't mention First gear? Is there any difference between the two??
Curious Alex
Because the reverse gear ratio is greater than first gear, you have a smaller chance of turning over the engine if you were parked on a hill.
On the M12 tranny reverse is 3.28:1 and first is 2.97:1.
Hey G...sorry to hear about your car. I went into grab a bite to eat one day. I parked the car and left it in first. I went in to get my food and this guy come in to ask who owns the vette sitting in the middle of the parking lot. I couldn't understand how it rolled from where I parked it. Well, it had slipped out of gear and I didn't remember to set the brake. The lot was pretty empty so the car was ok but, I learned my lesson. Hope the damage isn't too bad on the Acura.
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2006 Toyota Tacoma NCM # 23186
Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid...John Wayne.
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Originally posted by case2307 Hey G...sorry to hear about your car. I went into grab a bite to eat one day. I parked the car and left it in first. I went in to get my food and this guy come in to ask who owns the vette sitting in the middle of the parking lot. I couldn't understand how it rolled from where I parked it. Well, it had slipped out of gear and I didn't remember to set the brake. The lot was pretty empty so the car was ok but, I learned my lesson. Hope the damage isn't too bad on the Acura.
Thanks man, I think the trunk door is wasted. I don't want them to put that door back anyways. All the other 4 doors close with no effort whatsoever, just like they are supposed to do, but the trunk door needs a bit of force and I don't know if it is because the door is bent or because the rear chassis is damaged. I am not sure how the ins. company is going to handle this, any takers for a guess?
I think the car exterior will be fixed, I have no doubt about that, but will the trunk door close like it used to do?, well, that one I don't know. Once you bend something, its bent for life.
The trunk door has a big dinged section that is about a 3/4 of a foot diameter and pushed in about 1/2 inch. I can clearly see that the headlight interior assembly not following the interior metal edge like the other side does, so I think there might be some minor damage to the chassis. If I notice a thing out of place when I get the car back, I don't think I am going to keep it for long. A damaged car, no matter how well you patch it, will always be a damaged car and that is not an acceptable option for me, specially since I haven't had enough time with the Acura for 'affection' to grow on me like the Vette has, or the MX-6 and the Probe(s) had.
Knowing myself and how anal I am about my cars, I don't think I'll be able to forget this very easily, if I ever forget at all.
Oh well, for now I have to worry about getting the car fixed. I went the extra mile and bought the Acura so I wouldn't have to worry more about car problems, well, seems that problems follow me and always manage to catch up wherever I go. First I totalled my mint showroom condition Probe GT when I felt asleep at the wheel and now the TL backs onto a frigging F2million with bumpers at the height where the windshields are. Whats next? The Vette driving off a cliff?
I am beginning to believe that the safest place for an expensive car is the garage, until somebody invents portable force fields for cars.
G-
Sorry about your misfortune. I think we can all relate to the "fender-bender" bug biting in one form or another. I hope you get it all straightened out. I know that ruined the rest of your day.
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David
Thanks for the Sig Tony
"Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
Originally posted by TexasBlue72 G-
Sorry about your misfortune. I think we can all relate to the "fender-bender" bug biting in one form or another. I hope you get it all straightened out. I know that ruined the rest of your day.
Thanks Texas, it is good to read you support comments. Thanks.
I talked to the adjuster and then to my ins. agent and both told me that I am not going to be liable for a penny (besides my deductible) since I wasn't driving the car and that my rates won't go up at all.
Anyhow. The ins. company gave me a bunch of shops and I've chosen a place that is a couple of miles away from my house. A neighbor recommend me that place a couple of years ago when I wanted to repaint the Probe.
I took the car there to get a quote and although and fortuntately there is no frame damage, the fender-bender damage is quite extensive. They quoted me between 2 and 4 thousand, depending how much the new trunk door costs. I think it might be around the 3 thousand dollars mark for the whole deal. It needs (as I wanted) a new trunk door and a new passenger taillight, aside from aligning the inner lip of the trunk seal and then re-painting and blending all the SILVER paint in the rear end. They told me not to worry about the blending of the paint between metal panels, but they told me that plastic to metal can be made very close, but never perfect. In any case, the ins. company has a warranty for the body work, so if the car is not restored to the pre-accident status, I can complaint and get it re-done for free.
The date to drop the car is the 9th of February and it will take 4-5 days.
Lets see how this goes.
I must say that this was a new experience for me. I now know how the Z owners who unfortunately had a fender-bend must be feeling.
G--
Sounds like your insurance company is willing to work with you.
It definitely could have been worse. And yes, silver can be a difficult color to match up just right. Hope all goes well. Keep us posted.
Got called from the shop this morning and they finally gave me a solid price estimate: 2 grand initial estimate. It can increase a couple hundreds bucks up, but not much more than that.
I've spoken with the people at the ins. co. using a very 'charming' way and that might explain why they are so helpful and cooperative. Who knows. I think I've had to chew my fingernails to 'keep the cool' tho
And fortunately for my health, I am a lot more calmed down now, probably from knowing that there is light at the end of the dark tunnel.
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Bruises don't cost $600 thankfully.
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