Well, my awesome streak of luck with cars continued last night.

Starting in 2006, I bought a 2003 Mazda Protege5, which I loved. Ten years after it was made, it's still such a great looking car, IMO. Well, this happened less than three weeks after I bought it, before I'd even sent in the first payment:


Not my fault - rear-ended by somebody not paying attention and on their phone, but a total obviously. Then, I got a 2003 Mazda 6s, which I had for four years before a truck plowed right into the passenger door by deciding he'd go straight when driving in the inside of two right turning lanes. $2,000 later that was fixed.

Then, barely a year later, I parked the 6 at Park Air Express, an off-site airport parking facility that valets all cars. I always parked there since there was less chance of some idiot dinging the car if it was all valet, right?

Right...unless one of the valets gets completely out of control and does this:




That was also a total, which led me to getting my Mustang finally. And then, last night, this happened:



Highways were all dry, so we were going down 35 south at about 60 mph with everybody else, driving in the far right lane. Came around a turn and there's a nasty random patch of snow with another car spun out against the inside barrier (the black Mercury on the right), so everybody was braking to avoid it. I got slowed down but the girl behind me in the Avenger locked her brakes up on the snow and slammed into the back of me, then spun and hit two other cars. Not her fault at all, just a true "accident". I think that's why I was so calm and aren't that mad about this. It wasn't some idiot on a cell phone not paying attention, just a freak occurrence that happened.

But here's what my Lucy looks like:


Luckily it's all cosmetic, I think, but the driver side rear quarter panel is wrecked, rear bumper obviously destroyed, taillight broken and the trunklid is bent a bit too, though it still closes. Not sure if that means it needs to be replaced or what.

Not my fault but I'll be in this 2011 Fusion rental for a couple weeks I'm guessing and it's going to take a few grand for that driver's insurance to repair Lucy. If only I had a way to get Borla S-Types put on as part of the repairs . Four serious accidents in about 6.5 years, none of which were my fault - my bad luck continues and this sure hurts the value of my car should I ever decide to sell/trade.

Stay safe out there guys - winter roads are nasty.

 

This sucks man. I hope you are okay and that Lucy gets repaired better than new.

 

Sorry to hear about your car man. Maybe you can get a 2013 rear end out of the deal?? If the trunk bumper cover and taillights are wrecked I don't see why you shouldn't be able to.

 

Ouch! Hopefully she'll be fixed better than new.

 

Geez - hang in there. At least you haven't been hurt thru all of this. That's what really matters.

See if you can get a check from the insurance company for the repairs, and work any upgrades you can into the repairs.

 

Why you always need a beater car for winter...

 

One car garage. My wife might kill me if I got a 2nd car before she got a new one.

 

That's a great point. Four accidents and the worst injury was a sore neck when the P5 got wrecked.

 

Another bonus is your color. Because its not metallic, even a halfway decent body shop will be able to make it look as if it never happened. Glad everyone is ok.

 

Hmmm...if you pick up a cheap winter beater for yourself and find a place to store the GT in the winter months...and let the wife use the garage during that time...she'll be happy because her car will be indoors during the worst weather. When winter is over, her comes back outside ( where it would always be otherwise ) and the GT comes back home. Definitely a little extra expense for a beater and winter storage, but your GT will stay squeaky clean forever since you won't be beating on it in nasty weather.

Or...build a bigger garage!!

 

Sorry for your hardshipS. I believe you can collect a little more cash for having to deal with lower resale. Ask your ins company or if you know a lawyer ask them

 

Talk to your insurance company. If they allow after market parts as part of the repair, then who ever repairs the car can order those parts. This is of course they are cheaper than the factory parts. Happens all the time. You can now have the Shelby rear fascia put on instead of the factory one.

 

I wish! The car is mechanically fine and the hit wasn't hard enough to damage the exhaust at all. Purely bodywork I think!

 

OP, it looks like Paxton has put quite a bit of thought into this scenario. Maybe it could work for you?

…that is, if you're willing to drive a beater in the winter…

 

Yeah, it makes sense and I wish I could do it. Just never been sure it's worth $1,500 for a beater, plus maybe $750 to store Lucy for 3 months, plus the inevitable maintenance on the beater, then the difficulty of having three cars for the other nine months of the year. Winter here is so mild too, I just had the wonderful luck of this wreck in the week of our big snowstorm.

2-3 years and we'll be buying a house with a 3-car garage I hope.

 

Ok what's the story with the valet incident? That is ridiculous

 

Brother - first of all, glad you are well! I've had the same luck. Newish Integra GSR back in the day, my dream MR2 a few years ago, and my Accord coupe more recently - all totalled while I was at a stop. This is nature clearing space for your perfect car.

 

Where in the world would it cost $750 to store your car for 3 months? Absolute worst case would be $100 per month - but $50 per month would be more likely. I used to store cars in neighbors' garages in exchange for shoveling the snow all winter at their house or cutting their grass in the summer. Any local friends or relatives who could help you out? Sometimes it pays to get a little creative.

 

http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/r.../accident2.jpg
I got into a similar accident awhile back, it took $900 to repair. I got the Raxiom tail lights from AM to replace the broken tail light. The bumper was popped back out and the metal interior of the trunk had to be pulled back out. You think his accident is worse or mine?

 

You know, you could buy your wife a new car and just use her old one instead. Solves the problem of her getting a new vehicle and of you having to drive the Mustang in foul weather. Two birds.