11-28-2005, 10:03 AM
Well it looks like my troubled times with the Focus have finally come to an end..
wrote the car off this weekend while volunteering up at the Tall Pines rally. On my way back to the lodge we were staying at, on a snowy road in the middle of the forest miles from anywhere late at night - a blind-steep-downhill-turn-over-the-crest-of-a-hill, a car that did not seem to want to turn (no snow tires.. just new-this-summer cheapo-performance tires -- dumb dumb dumb), and a slow slide down the hill, straight, and ending with a thump into a sturdy tree.
I'm ok, but the car's not.
---
Long story short:
- demolished the front-left corner of the car where a tree went through it all the way to the suspension.
- so:
demolished the front bumper; driver-side headlight (right appears to be ok); destroyed both foglamps; damaged turn-signal grill, completely destroyed lf fender, inc fender-well; possible damage to driver-side door frame, bent LF suspension (wheel pushed backwards.. not good); possible minor bend to LF rim (may be just that the tire came off the rim slightly); both airbags deployed (it would appear all the sensors were triggered.. $$ from experience), smashed windshield (due to aforementioned airbags), driver's seat belt, and other miscellaneous parts especially on the left side. Add labour, paint, etc to the parts and the result is too f'ing much!
Good news: brand new wiper blades appear to be ok.
By some miracle, a car arrived on the scene within minutes -- this was a quiet road that basically only went to a few cottages and the lodge we were staying at - so the timing was perfect. Ironically, the car contained 2 other rally volunteers who had also both wrecked their own cars eariler in the day. A very expensive weekend, it turned out to be.. and we weren't even rallying.
---
Before you say "PARTS DONOR CAR!".. I am already thinking it.
Based on experience if I was to get it repaired myself, the costs would be much higher than the $7000 that was claime 4 years ago when it was mostly-airbags. This is much worse. I'm already considered 'high-risk' for insurance and cannot face another claim and monthly rates that may reach the $900+ I'd been quoted in the past (I'm already @ $400+ now). So I'm thinking walking away from the car will at least leave me with a soon-to-be-clean insurance record as of next summer. Or I can get a beater now and shouldn't be too bad. But if I make a claim, beater will likely be extortionate..
My problem is that the car is in Bancroft in a towing yard. I already had to pay $350 to have it towed there (thief!) and he quoted an even more ridiculous amount of money to get it home to me here. I'm not on any towing plans..
So do I get it towed here to be parted out (not sure even how I'd go about that.. I don't have anywhere to put the car), or do I just tell the towing guy to take the car to the junk yard?
Or do I ask for the first offer someone will give me to take the car off my hands if they will tow it at their expense?
F***!!
wrote the car off this weekend while volunteering up at the Tall Pines rally. On my way back to the lodge we were staying at, on a snowy road in the middle of the forest miles from anywhere late at night - a blind-steep-downhill-turn-over-the-crest-of-a-hill, a car that did not seem to want to turn (no snow tires.. just new-this-summer cheapo-performance tires -- dumb dumb dumb), and a slow slide down the hill, straight, and ending with a thump into a sturdy tree.
I'm ok, but the car's not.
---
Long story short:
- demolished the front-left corner of the car where a tree went through it all the way to the suspension.
- so:
demolished the front bumper; driver-side headlight (right appears to be ok); destroyed both foglamps; damaged turn-signal grill, completely destroyed lf fender, inc fender-well; possible damage to driver-side door frame, bent LF suspension (wheel pushed backwards.. not good); possible minor bend to LF rim (may be just that the tire came off the rim slightly); both airbags deployed (it would appear all the sensors were triggered.. $$ from experience), smashed windshield (due to aforementioned airbags), driver's seat belt, and other miscellaneous parts especially on the left side. Add labour, paint, etc to the parts and the result is too f'ing much!
Good news: brand new wiper blades appear to be ok.
By some miracle, a car arrived on the scene within minutes -- this was a quiet road that basically only went to a few cottages and the lodge we were staying at - so the timing was perfect. Ironically, the car contained 2 other rally volunteers who had also both wrecked their own cars eariler in the day. A very expensive weekend, it turned out to be.. and we weren't even rallying.
---
Before you say "PARTS DONOR CAR!".. I am already thinking it.
Based on experience if I was to get it repaired myself, the costs would be much higher than the $7000 that was claime 4 years ago when it was mostly-airbags. This is much worse. I'm already considered 'high-risk' for insurance and cannot face another claim and monthly rates that may reach the $900+ I'd been quoted in the past (I'm already @ $400+ now). So I'm thinking walking away from the car will at least leave me with a soon-to-be-clean insurance record as of next summer. Or I can get a beater now and shouldn't be too bad. But if I make a claim, beater will likely be extortionate..
My problem is that the car is in Bancroft in a towing yard. I already had to pay $350 to have it towed there (thief!) and he quoted an even more ridiculous amount of money to get it home to me here. I'm not on any towing plans..
So do I get it towed here to be parted out (not sure even how I'd go about that.. I don't have anywhere to put the car), or do I just tell the towing guy to take the car to the junk yard?
Or do I ask for the first offer someone will give me to take the car off my hands if they will tow it at their expense?
F***!!