DarkStar

I was driving East along I-96 near Brighton, MI on Friday morning at 7:15AM when the truck in front of me ran over a rather long piece of aluminum road debris. Much to my dismay, this hunk of aluminum wanted a closer look at my Mustang. Not the end of the world by any means, but I've had the car just over a month and it's already going to the shop for body work... . I'm going to have the dealership take care of the holes in the carpet when they replace the bumper and fix the right front quater panel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/spi...le/DSC00056.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/spi...le/DSC00052.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/spi...le/DSC00044.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/spi...le/DSC00053.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/spi...le/DSC00058.jpg

Update:
I got my car back from the body shop...all new again!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/spi...le/DSC00090.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/spi...le/DSC00094.jpg

Here's one of my license plate.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/spi...le/DSC00096.jpg

Update #2:
After washing my car over the weekend I discovered the following issues that I am not happy with (keep in mind that it was dark out when I picked the car up and the weekend was the first time I had to look-over the car thoroughly):

• Entire car: Overspray affecting all surfaces from bumper-to-bumper.
• Right-front quarter panel: finishing not completed along lip inside engine bay; obvious when compared to left-hand side.
• Hood: right-hand underside lip appears affected by repair; obvious when compared to left-hand underside lip.
• Left front bumper-cover (where quarter panel and headlight housing meet): Scratches.

Also, I had my car in for carpet replacement (warranty work) on Monday and while it was at the dealer they managed to rack up the following damages:

Passenger-side

• Door sill: Paint chipped (1/4”) on inclined surface; paint scratched on sill.
• Inside door panel: Four scratches below sub-woofer housing.
• Outside of Door: 4” scratch between handle and mirror.
• Rear corner: Scratches.

Driver-side

• Sill plate: Not secured to sill.
• Door sill: Scratches on outer lip on inclined surface.

Car is going back tomorrow to review the damage/unfinished repairs with the Service Manager and Body Shop Manager...will follow-up once I know more.

ds

Order#2

Call the department of transportation and see if you could get some funds$$ for hitting road debris on the interstate.

Donna

Ouch, Sorry that happened to you.

DarkStar

I filed a report with the Michigan State Police...my insurance deductible is $100.00. I'm not sure I'd really get too far with MDoT. I know they pretty much never payout when claims are made for pothole damage.

ds

Knight

One time i hit a Sofa Chair on the interstate....couldn't dodge it since it was huge and i was in the middle land my front left fender took the beating... pretty good sized dents and sofa leaves on a car going 70mph....

Order#2

Try them anyway it may take a couple of months, but you will never know if you dont try

DarkStar

Ouch. Speaking of furniture on the road...going home everyday I pass a leather chair on the left-hand shoulder of Westbound I-96 near Kensington...I always look at it and think about how much damage it'd do if I hit it.

ds

MSP

I was going to try and say something with meaning, to make you feel better, but looking at the incident, it is so unexpected and sudden, I'm not quite sure what to say.. It should have never happen.. Dang!

But atleast you and the car made it back in one piece.. The debris didnt jump through the winshield and harm you.. It didnt go underneath the car and wrap around the driveline and cause all sort of rear-end, transmission and engine damage.. You didnt blow out any tires and ruin some rims.. There are several other things it could have done but didnt..

Lets just be glad that you and the beautiful GT are home safe, to discuss the situation, and how best to get it fixed!

I guess instead of looking at the bad, I was forced to find the positive for you!

Ascout

Coulda' been worse, you might have been on a motorcycle!

I got my windshield chipped and repaired before I hit 200 miles...

sonic98gt

Silly question: How did you get the piece of aluminum from the road on a Friday morning during rush hour?

Sorry that your car got an owee! I'll bet it was all in slow motion. I hate it when you can see that sort of thing coming and not be able to avoid it. :bang:

Rebel73

that's why I always avoid big trucks when riding
Scary thought.

DarkStar

I went back after I got home from work (about 6:30PM)…there was more traffic by that time, but also by that time the piece of aluminum made it's way to the right shoulder (it hit my car while I was driving in the left of three lanes).

No doubt it could have been much worse...as MSP pointed out. it did happen in slow motion for me...it was dark and I thought the debris was a long piece of plastic (like a garbage bag or something similar) because it was changing shape (flexing) as it came towards me...then :smack/bang: and I knew it wasn't. It happened so fast, but at the same time was in slow motion...I couldn't avoid it. I figured when it happened that it was a metal bar and I was sure I must have been seeing things when I thought it was flexing...but when I went back and found that it was a long piece of aluminum it all made sense.

I'm sure other drivers had a little meet-and-greet with this guy...

ds

6505pony

Man sorry to hear about your car. Not to hijack your thread but it reminds me of the scariest thing I ever saw. I was on a 4 lane highway 2 lanes each direction in the slow lane. We were all running 60-70 and I was slightly behind a car in the fast lane. He kicked up a 2X4X8 from his rear wheel straight back into the air. I watched in my rearview mirror that 2X4 went end first into the front of a Neon several car lenghts behind it. It hit right in the middle right at the hood latch and up went the hood flat against the windshield at full speed. :shock:

The person driving had enough composure to pull it off to the side without wrecking or getting hit from behind in pretty heavy traffic.

Could you imagine if it hit end first into the windshield?

Be thankful something like that didn't happen.

Good luck on your repairs.

atomicskiier01

Dang lightweight metals think they own the road. I'm from Brighton BTW!!

DarkStar

thanks for the thoughts. wild story you have...glad nothing like that happened to me...though my minor brush with road debris definitely made me think about what would have happened if it was a metal bar and it had the right angle to make it through the windshield. :shock:

ds

MustangFanatic

Man I hate to see that, glad you are OK and the damage wasn't any worse.

slammer223

Wow, sorry about your damage, but its fixable. At least you managed to capture the villianous aluminum piece. I wonder if the other people who hit that thing went out looking for it like you did?

dustindu4

I hit a road tire a few months after i got mine, I know the feeling. My damage wasn't bad though and I never got it fixed

Badsnke98

Feel for ya guy, had a trucks mudd flap fly up and hit my Envoy on I-75 a few north of Ohio line back in May. Not a thing you can do to avoid those projectiles. And Michigan's Highways are full of debris. Cost for deductabe $100. The reason I keep the Stangs off the Highways if at all possible.

outdoorstom

Sorry to see this happened to your beautiful Stang I hope repairs go smoothly.

It brings to mind a story from my high school days. I was hitchhiking somewhere and had somebody drive by at 60mph and throw a chocolate cupcake at me. It hit me in the chest and exploded. A 60 mph cupcake hurts...and bruises!