MustangFirstCar

Well it was bound to happen eventually. The car was coming home from the Mustangs at Montrose show when it happened. It was only about 3 miles outside of my house, too. It was going 40 in a 45, driver was not texting, was not distracted, music was not overly loud, road was not wet, and the driver was not under the influence of anything except 3 advil and a smart water from an hour before. Driver was kind of zoning out, still paying attention to the road, but just enjoying driving the car down a mildly windy road in the sunshine on a Sunday afternoon, when "Suddenly! A wild squirrel/chipmunk/what have you appears!". Without even considering the option of running down the animal, the driver swerved to the right, off the road, into a ditch, and into some trees. Totally an involuntary reaction to something jumping out in front of you when you are admittedly not paying as much attention as you usually do. Adding insult to injury (and the driver did hurt his/her shoulder in the accident), the mirror exploded in the driver's face through the open window, showering him/her in glass shards, putting a small tear in the side of the passenger seat, and getting all over 3 brand new Adam's microfiber towels that were sitting open in a bag in the back seat. Driver also lost my sun glasses, my phone (which I found on the way home from school today!) and some other small things. And so onto the pictures.....











So basically it will cost around 500 bucks to paint each panel, with a minimum of 3 panels. The 1/4 will cost 600 bucks, the fender 300, the door 800. Then my rear bumper is a bit cracked, but that might be able to be repaired. My front bumper and hood are scraped a bit, which I'll probably have to live with. The window trim is torn up, and the mirror is completely gone. I will need new mounts, motor, glass, mirror covers, etc, which will be like 250 bucks (agent 47s!). The rocker trim is also scratched, but I doubt I can replace that cheaply. All in all I am thinking around 6K in total. Plus, I still need totally new pads and rotors for my breaks, which will be another 1K. On top of that, I need to buy a new cover for my phone (40 bucks) new sunglasses (30 bucks) and I need to get the hunks of grass, mud, flowers, twigs, and glass out of my interior. ON TOP OF ALL THAT, because of the timing, I won't be able to wax the car until like mid December, exposing the soon-to-be-painted panels to winter weather in Ohio (!!!!) for 2 months. Then there is the problem of a 17 year old with a fast car and insurance rates, along with explaining to everyone how driver ****ed up and wrecked such a great first car. Also, I detailed my engine bay at the show and now it is full of mud and leaves and some dead bugs. The front bumper may have gotten slightly damaged. Almost looks like a separate accident, but I can assure you it is not. Maybe pick up a GT/CS from Tousley.

Thanks for listening to me vent for a little bit. Still just so angry.

MadMike1337

Damn that sucks. I would of just hit it....

HxCGuitars

Sorry to hear

I live in an area where they run out in front of you at least 3 times before you're out of the neighborhood. I've learned to just tap my brakes and hope for the best.

mph07alloy

Ouch, hate it for ya, and I know how ya feel. Had a wreck back in January. Very frustrating when you take care of your stuff and then something bad happens to it.

MadStang40

Oh first, I'm sorry man. You're right, I can't see any way to look at this positively except that you gained some valuable experience (whatever that's worth). I know that life works to balance everything out. Bad things happen, good things happen.

I'm sure that you're about to meet a supermodel who thinks you're the most handsome guy in the continental 48.

I've learned by a near miss, to just keep trucking through (two squirrels, a turtle, and a possum on my kill list so far). A valuable lesson to all of those who are watching this thread who hasn't had a close call with a varmint. Learn from our mistakes!

Sorry first, I hope this gets cleaned up quickly for you. As life goes, all you can do is try to chill as soon as possible and realize there's no going back, pick up the pieces, and keep your head up.

defiance

Are you planning on turning this on insurance? Or just pay out of pocket to repair? If you are planning on turning it in on the insurance get all those after market bumpers on there so the body shop will paint them at no extra charge (If the shop says they need to repaint the bumpers).

HxCGuitars

Actually, yeah just remembered what happened right before I left for school. My mom was driving home and had the dogs in he car (2 labs) and one stands on the center console when she knows we're getting close to home. Chipmunk runs out and she slams on the brakes, dog flies forward and there goes the front windshield. Dog was alright. Granted yours is worse, but to all those out there, learn from others' mistakes!

OP, best of luck fixing your car, I can't imagine what I would do if that happened to me. At least you're ok, cars can be fixed and replaced.

pascal

You better get your insurance involved in this because you're looking at a $4500 damage or more.
It sucks man, but it's the sad truth.
Hopefully, you'll find a good shop for the job.

MustangFirstCar

Yeah, I have a friend that runs a bit of a chop shop. He is an incredible painter and his shop does great work though. I'll call him here in the next few days. Insurance will probably cover it, calling them tomorrow. We have nationwide, so we shouldn't be too screwed. And about hitting the animal, yes, normally I would have. Infact, I have before. I have had that lower bumper section of stripe re-applied 3 times since I got stripes in August because I have hit several small animals and a piece of tire that got flung in front of me by a semi.

I guess this thread will probably become something of my build thread then. I'll probably use it to post updates about how the car is coming along.

And you want to know another kicker? A cute new girl at work wanted to "take a ride in my car" and she just "loves Mustangs" so I was planning on doing that tomorrow night, except now that I can't even open the passenger door, and just sitting in the car shoves glass shards into your arms, it may not be such a good idea.

pascal

What's your deductible?