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View Full Version : Had a bad day



Velvis
05/21/2006, 12:47 AM
6:15 pm Saturday, Ebony 377 DOA. Cruising at about 40 mph down a busy street, found a forgotten favorite cd in the changer, beautiful day, going to work--great tables on the books, gonna be a good day.

Maroon Mercury Marquis decides to pass one car and a BUS at a BUS STOP and pull into my lane (on a 4 lane street, I'm in the outside lane). He appears as if from nowhere from behind the bus and through opposing traffic. I'm on the brake so hard my calf still hurts. Impact. I hit him (her?) square in the pass. rear qtr. panel hard enough to severely redecorate the hooptie. I knocked out a large section of badly tinted glass, removed a rear view mirror that had been attached with electrical tape, and hopefully dislodged any fillings, gold teeth, contacts, etc.

Marquis pauses and LEAVES THE SCENE quickly enough that I can't get a plate number. I jump out and look at all the witnesses to see if anyone is as stunned as I am. Three people make eye-contact, then everyone leaves. I'm standing in the middle of the street, VX dead and steaming, as I watch the POS Mercury cruise out of sight.

I bumped my head, spilled my Diet Coke, wonked up my sunglasses. Adrenaline and pain had me shaking when a very nice lady pulled up and said, "I saw what happened and reported a description of the car to 911 -- that pissed me off." She will be getting a load of free food from my restaurant. Another steak dinner recipient will be the van driver that followed the hooptie and came back to tell me which apt. complex the jackhole entered. Shreveport Police did a great job.

VX is in bad shape. Hood, two front fenders, all associated cladding, bumper bar, headlights, turn signals, grille, radiator, and who knows what else.

My train of thought one minute prior to impact (I swear) was "what other vehicle would I buy when this one is paid off?" I couldn't think of anything new so I decided the best thing to do was to buy a second VX and spread the mileage and wear over two. Now, with the scarcity of parts, and the possibility of frame damage, I may be back to zero. I hope not.

velvis

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/2/thumbs/note_tears_and_VXC_grille.JPG (http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/2/note_tears_and_VXC_grille.JPG)

thedutchguy
05/21/2006, 03:37 AM
I guess this is every VX-drivers nightmare!
Hope it will all work out o.k.with the insurance and getting your car back into shape :thumbup:

Bimati
05/21/2006, 04:23 AM
(says I as I drop to my knees, arms outstretched looking to the heavens)

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!
:eek: :mad: :confused: :mad: :eek:

I wish you the best and hope everything works out. Keep us posted.

Cyrk
05/21/2006, 04:29 AM
THAT SUCKS... good thing is that you are ok. Good luck on getting her fixed.
One of my worst fears...

innercore
05/21/2006, 04:36 AM
Last night my battery died and two weeks before I tore the removable antenna right out of the socket! I was mad and complaining. Nothing compared to you. But, good to see that good citizens still exist. Hope you can find the parts. You will have to make some calls to some dealerships. Assuming your insurance covers the replacement cost.

Andrey
05/21/2006, 06:53 AM
Hope you and VX will be good soon ! I had similar stuff going in my life 5 years ago when my VX had 10k on odometer - some old fart decided to cross my driving lane in the rain.... hood, front plastic cladding, grille, might be bumber reinforcement (no radiator or structural). Just find a very good body shop as on mine some jerk made money but never repaired VX correctly. The tuffest part is to paint the hood without overspray and to match exact color. Not many people can do that. I just called Isuzu couple of days ago and hoods are available $350 or so. So that is the good news.

Good luck with everything and take VX to a GOOD shop ! Look at their work before you commit - check their painting equipment (old ?). Take a flurecent lite with you and try to see the spot where they've painted on another car and ask yourself is that a good job ? do I wanna have my VX be done here ? Sorry about being talkative - I feel your pain as I went through the same stuff and did not know how to choose good body shop.

Ruflyf
05/21/2006, 07:22 AM
Damn that is a serious bummer man. It sounds like the merc was a old trashy car, hopefully insured. Is LA an ins. required state?

SPAZZ
05/21/2006, 08:06 AM
I have stock bumper bar and most of the metal brackets when that time comes if you decide to repair it. I am willing to sell the pieces I have.

Velvis
05/21/2006, 11:40 AM
Thanks everyone. I'll know more Monday. Very sore today in unexpected places...guess I over used a lot of under used muscles.

Icekold
05/21/2006, 08:35 PM
So they did catch the creep right? This is my worst fear being a new owner and all. I watched my rearview in horror last week as an Expedition came within inches of rear-ending me. When she pulled up next to me at the light I rolled down my window and thanked her for not hitting me. LOL On another note with you being from LA and all, I wonder if there are any VX's that were drowned by Katrina. You may be able to cheaply get your parts from those if there were any. Good luck.

Chopper
05/22/2006, 06:52 PM
The shop that does the repair, will get them from Isuzu most likely. Body panels are readily available still.