I had but 1800 miles on it...and I loved my baby...I had just got it washed and taken pictures of it shining and gleaming for the first time the previous day.

So here is what happened.

I was on highway 75 in Dallas, going south, I had just entered the freeway from the cambell enterance and luckily slid into a gap and I was one by one, changing lanes and checking my blind spot.

In the lane right before the left most an 18 wheeler was driving slowly so I had to hurry to get into the left lane.

Once I got into the left lane, it looked like there was an 18 wheel tire in the middle of the road, it was sideways and about 20-30 feet infront of me.

I swerved into the left shoulder and tried not to hit the left shoulder and I swung the wheel back a little too much.

For the next 5-10 seconds maybe it was less...it felt like an eternity I felt and saw the nose of my car swing back and forth as I tried hard to fight for control.

I lost. I swung far enough that I was almost facing the side wall...or at a pretty nasty angle. In one last efforrt i swung the wheel ridiculously, almost as much as you would for a right turn. And the drivers side front corner slammed into the sidewall, it kicked my car spinning in the other direction and my rear passenger side was hit.

My car slid across the highway into the right shoulder, and as it was sliding i narrowly dodged a car comming from behind.

I am ridiculously thankful that I am alive, Its really sad, it hurts, and Ima be depressed.

Anyways, here are the pics. I'll start with one from the photo I took the day previous.















Here's a link to the entire kodak gallery...i cant get these damn links to work. :http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...p&x=0&y=yy4tx4


Here's the damage I could see so far.

Bumper, hood, front left quarter panel ____ed, righ quarter panel jacked, rear left quarter panel jacked, at least 2 rims jacked, 3'rd looks bent. Axle is broken, 3 shocks prolly ____ed because of that, frame is bent because i hit it at an angle. Engine mounts probably broken, leaking transmission fluid as you can see in the last picture, that became a rather large puddle afterword. I broke an axle for sure.


Radiator is prolly jacked...prolly a lot.

1800ish miles.

Thats all i had on it. If I would have had another 30 feet to gently react and swerve I would have been ok....I tried so damn hard to recover after the swerve....

 

Wow, that bites the big one dude. Happy to hear that you're ok though. So are you planning on getting another Tc or gettin something else?

FYI I dont know if it is just me but it seems like only the first picture is workign and none of the others.

 

Sorry didnt see the info about clicking on the link...

 

Yeah the first is hosted on my school website...the rest are on the kodak gallery which you should be able to get too...some of the pics were workign earlier...just dunno. I'll try to fix it.


I love the tC. maybe if i had it lowered and with a sway bar I would have corrected without a problem. who knows. But for sure...Im gonna make sure that I put the lowering springs on there. every little bit of handling counts i guess.

 

That sucks man. Glad to hear you are alright though. Cars can be replaced, you can't.

 

Wow thank god youre ok. What are you going to do? Fix it all or just buy a new car?

 

I have to wait to see what the insurance company says.

Im really new at this...so, from what I know...they send out an adjuster, and they have a magic number which is how much damage itll take to have the car totalled. If u hit the magic number....its totalled...if its not...then u get to have it all fixed up.

The only things ive done to the car are led bulbs, tint, sub wiring (no sub yet) and floormats.

 

glad you're ok man... scary experience indeed.

I see your side airbags went off... I was under the impression that if your airbags go off, ins usually totals the car since its cheaper to just total it rather than "fix" and replace the airbags... I could be wrong though

Would a sway bar have helped in this situation?

 

See this is the ____ty part. I dodged the tire...and then I lost control. I was fighting to keep the car stable at like a fast speed doing crazy ____. Lowering the car would improve the center of gravity a bit, reducing body roll and increasing handling. And the sway bar would tighten up the rear.

This next time around Im gonna get it for safety, and not just performance.

 

Wow! Good thing you're okay! All in all the damage doesn't look THAT bad from what you described happening... it could have been much much worse, say, if a car behind you hit you too...

I'd count it as a lucky break and get er fixed up.

 

Yes, glad you are ok! Also, glad the side airbag actually works!

 

Passenger side exterior doesn't look all that bad. Atleast you're ok. I was just there at about 11 pm last night heading north and it was weird reading your post. Road Debris is one of my biggest fears when it comes to highway driving and I say get another tC.

 

rear sway would have increased oversteer.. would not have done much good given the situation you have described..

but definitely glad you are ok!

 

an agrressive spoiler would have helped...only reason i say that is i had to dodge a semi tire that shredded in front of me....but i was lucky, i had 2 empty lans to dash threw...

just looking at the pictures, the car looks repairable..new fenders and stuff....sorr to hear it only had 1800 miles, thats barely past break-in.....

glad to hear your ok and that the airbags work, hope its all fixable too

 

Glad to hear you are okay. I have heard the same thing regarding the airbag and with that few miles on it, they might just replace it or give you full value. Not sure though, haven't totalled a car before.... .....at least not that new of a car!

Good Luck and keep us posted.

 

Too many reports of fishtailing at high speeds after a quick left/right transition causing the tC to crash!

 

glad to hear ur ok man, but sorry bout the car

 

hope everything works out for you

 

The car dosn't need mods. I think you could use more experience at driving (not a slam), probably slow down, and look farther ahead while driving. Swerving at highway speeds is not the correct action in your situation. You probably would have been better off braking as hard as you could and hitting the tire. Hind sight is 20/20 though..

You're extremely lucky you didn't gather up anyone else in this mess and that you walked away unharmed. Glad to hear. Hopefully you (and the rest of the readers including myself) can all keep this thread and mind while driving and learn from it.

I know I made a similar mistake when I was much younger. I was also lucky not to harm anyone including myself. Good luck with the car repairs (if it is repaired).

If you get a chance, look up the local autox club where you live. I've learned alot about driving and car control since I started going to local events.

Paul G.

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BTW: with the front drivers wheel taking a good shot, make sure the shop checks out the front suspension, as well as the transmission. Shock from the impact might have transfered through the drive axle and damaged the inside of the transmission, etc..

I'm sure the wheel bearing will go pretty quickly if not replaced during the body repairs. I doubt it will be totalled, but hard to tell w/o seeing under the hood and seeing if the radiator, motor, etc.. moved at all.

Paul G.