Dangit! I was already having a bad day today--While going down I-75 in Atlanta today in my brand new 2006 Black/Black 997 I suddenly saw a square white chunk of something or another hurlting towards my car. There was nothing I could do to avoid it and it smacked right into the left side of front bumper. What appeared to be the lid of a styrofoam ice chest ended up being a very dense piece of plastic. From the sound of the "whump!" it sounded heavy. I prayed all the way home (about 10 minutes--that's a lot of praying) that it was nothing serious and that my Speedfilm deflected any damage. As I parked in my deck and walked around to the front of my car, I was sickened to find the left corner lamp hanging to the ground by a single cable and the front bumper skinned up and beaten to he** I don't even have 2000 miles yet and hardly take the car out at all during the week. Needless to say, this ruined what was left of an already bad day.

I've not taken it to the body shop for an estimate, but I already have a $1,000 deductable and I know it's going to exceed that--even if the bumper is salvagable. This makes me sick. Why other motorists, our beloved GDOT, can't keep the lanes clear of debris of this size blows my mind. The thought occured to me a few minutes ago that this might be a perfect opportunity to repleace the OEM bumper with an aftermarket bumper. I'd love to install the OEM Aero Kit bumper, but I have H&Rs and think it would scrape. I also wonder about an aerodynamicly unbalanced car. But, even more, my car is leased and I wonder if that would be a mistake to put anything other than an OEM bumper, anyway. I typically sell my leased cars, but...

Has this happened to any of you? Do any of you recommend an alternative to the OEM bumper(s)? I don't even know if the OEM price is similar to the aftermarket bumpers, since they are so hard to find at US shops. It seems that the insurance company might go for this if the price was much the same.

Thoughts? Condolences? I'll pass around a collection plate.

Thank you.
Whirl

 

as the saying goes '$hit happens'. Luckily debris did not hit the windshield and enter the cabin...a bright side if you will. It can be made good as new with some $$$ so dont worry or stress. I feel your pain but there are worse things in life that could happen. If this is the major trouble right now in your life consider yourself a lucky man! Find a good body shop and she'll be like new in no time.

 

That really sucks. Hope you get it fixed good as new.

 

That does suck. Sounds like a right upper cut delivered from the road debris. Where are the road surfaces we were shown in grade school? You know... in those "In the future" 16mm films we watched in a dark classroom?

Similar thing happened to me in 2000. Mine was a left hook from a tumbling trailer hitch tongue. That was a big thump, too.

It's Pollyanna clap-trap but... focus on the part where you came out on top anyway because no one you love was hurt or is hurting.

 

This happened to my wife in the M3, except it was a brown cardboard box with who knows what inside. It came out of some idiot's pickup truck who failed to secure the box for highway speeds. I still can't get the color marks off the clear bra. Alcohol is my next option for scrubbing.

Cops need to spend less time ticketing us for 10mph over and more time with morons who have loose objects bouncing around in their trucks.

 

sorry to hear about your situation - thankfully it wasn't worse.

 

I had piece of truck tire attack me. Knocked out that black plastic thing in the snout just west of Chattanooga. Sorry to hear of your incident.
Anybody noticed that there seem to be a lot more tire pieces on the highway? Trucks running more retreads or something?

 

Geez! I caught a beer can on the hood a couple of weeks ago. Still have a scratch, but had the dent removed. I too couldn't avoid it, or a piece of plywood a few weeks before that that came out of the back of a pickup. And just yesterday, I missed getting creamed by a large wheel barrow that fell off the back of a truck. Fortunately, the latter occured on a city street--on the fwy and I think I'd have been history.

Hope the repairs turn out to be far less than you anticipate.

 

I think there is a lot more debris on the roads of America than in Europe,--it's the price for such lax controls. People are always letting crap fly off their vehicles! I wouldn't bother to put something more exotic on the car if it isn't even yours. Only the leasing company stands to gain.

 

Driving my wifes '03 BMW 745i last year a piece of wood was dropped off a workers truck that blew by me and I could not avoid the wood and the front tire caught it and kicked it up on the passanger door putting a HUGE dent all the way down the side. BMW 745i doors are not cheap!

The day of delivery last month of my 997 C2S Cab while getting onto I-275 in Tampa there were 2 dump trucks side by side full of sand and gravel and it was blowing out all over all the cars behind them. It looked like a cloud of smoke coming off these trucks. I had no choice but to keep entering I-275 but I was doing it very slowly and trying not to get run over hoping these trucks would go faster on down I-275. A Highway Patrol car came up and drove right by the trucks....nothing....he did not even look at them spewing all this sand, dirt and gravel all over the roads!!!!!!

 

Not to mention the POS clunkers that are allowed to pass "safety" inspections here. You seldom, if ever, see such junk on the roads in Europe.

Catching sight of ANY Ford Aerostar van sharing the road with you is always a cause for concern!

 

When I ride my motorcycle I try to stay away from pickup trucks...or an SUV with a mattress tied on the roof.

 

Sometimes a bad day turns into a good one...

Years ago in my 2001 I was driving home in the snow and ran over a piece of 'L' shaped steel that blew out my rear tire. I was able to get right off the expressway and into a diner parking lot at the end of the exit ramp.

I called roadside assistance to get the Porsche and my wife to get me. While in the diner I noticed one of the instant lottery game machines, and with the only $5 I had I thought "what the hell?" so I went for it.

I sat and had a cup of coffee and scratched off the tickets. It was night time, snowing heavy and I was the only customer in the joint.

After scratching off most of the ticket I was one square away from $5000, and I thought wouldn't this be a real great tale if I actually won 5k because of a flat tire?

Would have been, however I lost and it ruined my night even more. See things could be worse.

 

It really does suck. I have a very small ding, about the diameter of a pencil eraser, on the lower lip of my front bumper that bugs me everytime I look at it. That said the clear bra did keep the paint from being damaged. Hope you get the repairs made painlessly (and quickly).....

 

I was driving down 101 last week from SF and saw cars swerving ahead. i slowed only to see the car in front of me clobber a wooden dining room chair. the thing just exploded and wood legs and bits went all over the road.

unfortunately i scooped up a leg fragment and got a good ding/scrape on my lower front bumper. i'm glad that was the only damage.

theres just no room to manuver on busy highways at speed. I guess a scrape is better than ramming into my neighbor next to me. i hate road debris. every car i've had in the past 10 years has suffered from it.