A shoulder to cry on.

[bluezipper]

Have any of you crashed your CR-Z yet? Well dagummit I have!!! I don't know whether to curse my bad luck, or give thanks for the good luck that it wasn't worse, and it could have been worse. I was going through a school zone about 2 blocks from my house. I was returning so I was like 2 minutes from home. Some crazed redneck in a POS 80s Chevy S10 was hauling butt through the school zone, and was PO'd at my audacity to actually go 20mph in a school zone(I know, I'm a jerk). He was weaving in and out of traffic, and going about 45mph while me, and all the other law abiding jerks were going 20, and impeding his all important progress, I guess to the liquor store, or what-not. Anyway, long story short I swerved to keep from getting side swiped as he barrelled into the lane I was occupying, and jumped a median taking out my passenger side rim, lower A-arm, fender, and bumper cover. A cop was working the school zone, and saw it happen. The cop felt bad enough for me that he didn't cite me for failure to control vehicle, which he could have, but it also meant that the jerk wasn't going to get caught either today. Although the cop promised that he would remember that truck even though he didn't get the complete plate #, and that he would "get it" later. The cop was very calm, and professional, and really seemed to be on "my side." Whether he was or just didn't want the extra paperwork I don't care, it saved me about $1000 by him not citing me because Texas has a new "Driver responsibilty" program which charges $300 a year for 3-5 years on top of the ticket.

So I guess I just need a venue in which to vent. What do you guys think? Is this bad luck in that my beautiful new Z got scrunched, or good luck in that it is fixable, and it could have been a whole lot worse? (No one hurt, car fixable, have good insurance, no one cited etc...)

[josbo001]

:-( Sucks! What is going on with these accidents?

I'm glad no one was hurt, including yourself. But, I can totally relate to how devestating it is to see your CR-Z in that kind of condition. When I was rear ended, I honestly felt like I would have rather broken my arm that sustained all that damage to my car. But, 7 days later, I feel better and know that it was more important for the car to take the brunt of the impact.

I hope the cop helps you out down the line, but what the heck does he mean "get it later." Was he on duty?

[bluezipper]

Yeah, He was on duty. He was watching the school zone for speeders which speeding in a school zone in Texas is a BIG no-no. $100 per mph over 20 you are going. So this guy was basically perpetrating a felony, but the cop really was doing his job by making sure I was alright, and securing the safety of everyone versus chasing the jerk down who didn't hit anything because I bit the curb intead of letting him hit me. The first thing the cop said when he came to my car was "Dude, you should have let him hit you." That's hard to do though, and against your first instinct which is to get out of the way.

My only guess to the "get it later" comment is that he will be on the look out for that crappy old S10 pickup from now on, and will catch him the next time he drives like a complete moron, and does 45mph in a 20mph school zone. I agree with you that I would much rather have sustained a few bumps, and bruises than to see my car fly apart like that, but like the body shop guy said later "The car did what it was supposed to do." Honestly I barely felt anything. I was really surprised at the amount of damage when I got out of the car. It felt like the car glided over the median, and I really expected it to just go again after I came to a stop, but the rim seperated right down the middle, the ball joint snapped flush off the A-frame, and the strut assembly wadded up under the fender nice, and neat. I barely felt it, but the car looked like someone took a sledge hammer to the underpinnings. The check this, check that, check the other thing messages were going nuts on the info screen. Poor baby it was hurt . I called roadside assistance, and a wrecker picked it up in like 30 minutes, and we were at the body shop within an hour. I was kinda impressed with that. I should have it back in 2 weeks. That's too long!

[cyeung]

Perhaps you can get the police to put up some posters around the school asking anybody who saw the incident to come forward and give them some information. The driver of the S-10 definitely deserves to have the book thrown at him ($2,500 fine, perhaps jail and license revocation).

Sorry to hear that your car got damaged like that, but what matters more is that you are uninjured and here to tell the story.

[TotallyCRZ]

:'( . Hopefully you'll soon come to the realization theres not a.thing you can do....

..It hasnt happened with my CR Z though, rather my mom's Hyundai Tiburon, which I was driving and someone sideswiped it while I was in a store... Someone left the truck and plate, which probably gave the driver the guts to leave her #...

[josbo001]

Well, good luck getting your baby fixed. I hope your insurance takes care of everything.

Does anyone know where CR-Z parts are manufactured? I know that the car itself is made in Japan, but what about parts? There is a Honda parts factory in Thailand, which is experiencing massive flooding at the moment. That factory is shut down. Hope we aren't going to wait !!!months!!!! for new parts.

[TotallyCRZ]

Body shops are so damned cheap these days, they dont replace parts

They simply cover the area with putty, and form it to factory specs.

Very unfortunate, Im more than certain rust is gonna occur as a result, eating at the area around the putty, and you wont notice a thing bc its all behind the paste, impossible to see.

[bluezipper]

Some battles are worth fighting. This is one that is not. If he had the audacity to drive like that he will do it again, and next time the outcome may be WAY different. I just hope he doesn't hurt anyone else while operating his vehicle like a lunatic. In fact if I had been driving my IHC Scout that day I would have let him hit me and laughed as his S10 got chewed up under a piece of heavy American steel. Insurance is going to fix everything no problem, but my rate will probably go up for a while, even though this is my first claim ever, and I have been with them almost 15 years.

The body shop I took it to is a good one. I know the owner, and I used to do autobody work. A properly repaired fender is indistinguishable from a new one. If it corodes, or cracks it was not done properly. A good metal man can get a fender 99% back to shape, and the Bondo should only be used to correct texture, and very small indents from tooling. Any more than that is not the correct way to fix a body panel, and yes some shops do cut corners and repair fenders that should have been replaced, but not often. Time is money, and most of the time it would cost more in time to repair a badly damaged fender than to just replace it with a new one. Fenders usually run about $250- $500. Body shop labor rate is about $55-$75 a shop hour. So if it would take 6 hours to work out a fender that only costs $250 new the shop would actually save money by replacing the fender even if it could be effectively repaired. The bumper cover is another story there isn't much in the way of repairing them, and they are fairly easy to change, so I'm sure it's getting a new face. The fender was just tweaked, and might actually repair quite easily. Rest assured however if any sub-standard work is performed I will catch it immediately, and it won't leave the shop until corrected. Pulling the inner fender skirt, and feeling the tooling will tell you how much was done, and how well it was done. A 1/32" skim of putty is harmless, and your car has putty on it from the factory already. How do you think they get the pillars, and rear quarters to come together so smoothly? A skillfully repaired car will last just as long, and resist corrosion just as well as it's unaltered counterpart. Skillful, proper, and correct being the operative phrases here. It's an I-CAR Platinum shop so I think I'm OK.

[SD_CRZ]

This is why I'm afraid to drive my CR-Z to school... Parents are buying their children V8 trucks and their kids go 60 mph in a school zone weaving through traffic and causing accidents daily, if it's not the trucks speeding it's the girls in their brand new luxury $40,000 cars texting and not paying attention and doing things like crashing into poles going 15 mph or causing a 10 car rear end accident.

This is what happens when you stop requiring students to take drivers ed when most of their parents don't bother teaching them how to be a good driver.

I love my CR-Z too much to risk getting hit at school... I hope they catch that guy for you!

[TwoZs]

Bummer! My oldest son calls it the "new car curse" and it's hit 3 of our 6 cars in this family. Most recent was his 370Z when someone backed into it on base and didn't leave him a note.

Paintless dent removers can be a good way to go for the costmetic stuff. I know a really good one in California who can do amazing things. He works for the dealerships and also for body work shops as if they see a small imperfection they missed, they call him rather than repainting the area after working it out themselves. Not that that would help with something involving the amount of damage your Z had to suffer, but def. something to consider for the minor stuff.