A.J. - 95 993

...and some ******* isn't paying attention to what he's doing, AFTER WE ALL STOPPED AT THE LIGHT, and apparently punched the gas before he realized I wasn't going anywhere.

<a href="http://members.rennlist.com/movies1/sandwich5.jpg" target="_blank"></a>

<a href="http://members.rennlist.com/movies1/sandwich1.jpg" target="_blank"></a>

Thankfully, nobody was seriously hurt. We were all stopped at a light in heavy traffic for a red light. I think the car ahead of me inched forward, then stopped. She says she never moved. Anyways, the next thing I knew, I was flung back in my seat, then launched forward and upward. I hit my head on the roof, and almost hit my head on the steering wheel. I realized I had hit the car in front of me, but not until I hit it again a second time. The guy behind me never hit his brakes. Later I noticed finger prints in the windshield from both hands. It was a very loud &lt;&lt;CRUNCH&gt;&gt;.

There was a guy in a Solara convertible with his daughter, and he said he looked down and wasn't paying attention to what he was doing.

After I got home, I pulled the groceries out of the passenger seat foot well. The impact was so hard that the gallon of milk I just bought had a hole in the side of it and it drained in the front floor board. Thank God for removable carpeting (I only use the floor mats).

It could have been worse - it doesn't seem to have contacted any sheet metal, except for the slightest mar on the back of the engine decklid. It may have bowed that just slightly. Didn't get the hood (which wouldn't be the case if an SUV or pickup were ahead of me) and didn't get the front or rear fenders. No sheetmetal repaint needed (fingers tightly crossed). On the flip side, I'm also glad it wasn't just a few tiny scuffs that aren't worth turning in to the insurance company. That's all the damage was to the Maxima in front of me.

Salt in the wound: my wife's A4 is in the process of being diagnosed for a nasty shudder and clanking noise coming from the drive train. The shop that replaced the clutch twice in the last year says they don't think it's the clutch, and they're not sure what the problem is. The dealer needs to look at it. We've been sharing the 911 for almost a week, and just dropped off the A4 at the dealer after the accident. <img src="graemlins/icon501.gif" border="0" alt="[icon501]" />

leslie

A.J.,

Really sorry to hear about your accident. However, as you pointed out, it looks like there is no sheet metal damage and glad that you are calm enough to rationalise it all.

I suppose this would be a nice time to get a new aerokit and other mods if you wanted to.

Take care!

A.J. - 95 993

You're right - as the anger/shock wears off from the accident, the sun eventually starts to shine again. At the very least, the bumper needed some TLC from all the stone chips. So some positive will come of it. Just lots of hassle.

KASH '95 993

....that sucks, but you should have no problem returning to as new stock condition. Good luck.

Mike J

AJ,

Same thing happened to me a month ago....there was an accident in the opposite lane and the guy behind me watched the accident and not what was in front of him...which was me stopped at a red light. I was not as damaged as your car but now I have a perfect rear bumper cover...so take heart maybe you have a way of upgrading to an RS splitter since it looks like your front bumper cover is toast anyways!

M. Schneider

Look on the bright side if that's possible. I see a euro bumper in your future. They are elegant by virtue of not having the US DOT mandated black bumper warts.

Should be cake to repair but what about the milk. <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" />

A.J. - 95 993

[quote]Originally posted by M. Schneider:
<strong>Look on the bright side if that's possible. I see a euro bumper in your future. They are elegant by virtue of not having the US DOT mandated black bumper warts.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Excellent idea on the Euro cover - I saw a post recently and was very impressed.

[quote]Originally posted by M. Schneider:
<strong>Should be cake to repair but what about the milk. <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" /> </strong><hr></blockquote>

After getting home, I reached across to grab the stuff off the floor. I saw the corner of my floor mat, and it looked very gray - almost like something caustic spilled and bleached it!! I was a bit relieved to see it was only the milk,
but after hosing it off for a few minutes, the water dripping off it was still white... The carpet along the sides of the foot well were saturated as well. No foul smell in the interior this morning, though.

993Widebody

That sucks... however if you go by the thinking that sooner or later something has to happen, I guess this wasn't that bad. Your car will come out better than it was before. Definitely use this opportunity to get in some mods if you can.

Was your head hurt at all?

A.J. - 95 993

[quote]Originally posted by 993Widebody:
<strong>Was your head hurt at all?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Not really - it's a little sore, I can still feel where I hit the headliner. It was wierd - I have very short hair, and the hair where my head hit was crinkled. My back isn't as stiff as I expected. My wife has been going to a chiropractor, and gave me some icy-hot type stuff that she has been using. I think that helped. But I'm going to get myself checked out. The car, too. A friend made a good suggestion to change the engine and tranny oil to check for flakes. I just changed both in the spring, so it will be obvious if there are any problems. The interior is going to be professionally cleaned, too. That's good, because the back seats really could use it. I also need to check to make sure that no milk found it's way into the amp that's under the passenger seat.

In a previous car, I had a similar set up. The floors leaked, so I had the amp in an aluminum tray under the drivers seat to keep moisture out. One evening, a passenger had an unopened "beverage" in the back seat. When getting out of the car, I spotted it, and tossed it on the floor out of sight. A week later, I moved the seat all the way back to check the pedals. Suddenly the rear speakers cut out. I slid the seat forward, and the amp was marinading in a pool of golden fluid. A friend of my dad's is an electronics wizard, and he replaced some main components, cleanded and re-soldered the main board, and it was good as new.

Greg Fishman

Sorry to hear about that AJ. Hope you get her fixed in time for the Wheel Source event. I would go on an order the front and rear bumper from Gert so you have them ready to go. And take the saving on the bumpers to add the RS splitters and maybe side skirts.

Greg

os993

Very sorry to hear about this..

Seems like you have a good attitude about this, which is the approach I would try to take as well (easier said than done I guess). Try to look at the greater scheme of things, and sometimes things don't look so bad. Hey, you do have a 993 right? It's not totalled right? You're ok, right? Mod's are coming... you get my drift.

Don't worry, you're car will be fixed-up, and good to go as new. <img src="graemlins/xyxwave.gif" border="0" alt="[bigbye]" />

jerrykrug

Just curious to see what the insurance bill to fix front and back will be. Any Gueses, Keep us posted. I think $4000.

Greg Fishman

I bet that would be for just the parts you can see.

AJ,

If you need a new rear bumper support let me know, I have one sitting in the basement.

A.J. - 95 993

[quote]Originally posted by Greg Fishman:
<strong>If you need a new rear bumper support let me know, I have one sitting in the basement.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Outstanding! Thanks. Good tip on ordering the parts. I am certainly concerned about missing the DE. THANKFULLY I have a month to get it all sorted. I wouldn't want to try to get this all done in any less time.

I'll definitely get the splitter, and will look into getting the Euro bumper. I'm also going to get Armorfend, or something comparable, to keep the chips off the front end. Do they offer a cutout for the Euro bumper style, or will it require a custom cutout?

If you look at the picture of the front end, you can see the trail of milk from where I carried the floor mat outside.

I try to be a positive person. I also don't think it's healty to be obsessive over material things. My wife was more upset than I am, and she was also surprised that I was as calm as I was. It's just a car, I told her. And we're also going to benefit from this in the long run.

ZCAT3

Hi A.J. - what an opportunity - I say go with the Euro Turbo bumper kit from Gert and add in the front air intakes. As you are a DE guy, you may as well add the ducting to get the airflow to the front brakes. You can probably get all these parts from Gert for what a U.S. shop would charge for the bumper covers alone.

As an aside, I would strongly recommend you see a doctor now. The main reason is that soft tissue damage often takes a few days (or more) to show up in terms of aches and pains. I would be wise to have a medical professional give you a once over now in case you develop some issues going forward.