My First Car Crash, Gutted Doesn't Quite Say It.

[GeorgeXS 32]

Well i crashed the XS, needless to say it was just after it was all back together and working well for the first time in 3 weeks. Sware there is a curse sometimes, just when the going is good, something always has to come along and spoil it.

Hugely stupid place to crash: check

Damage worth more than car: check

Pride ruined: check

 

They say you crash in familiar places where you take your mind off the ball, and here is no exception. I crashed on the drive.

Our drive is about 40 feet long, and at the end has two gateposts. Reversing out of it is a doddle when you're familiar with it, but to the uninitiated its not the easiest. I generally use the left mirror and line it up solely from that, however the car was steamed up and it seems i misjudged it quite poorly.

Reversed down the drive with resonable pace, 10 mph or so, and scraped the drivers side along the gate post.

 

That doesn't sound so bad i hear you cry! Well unfortunately the gatepost still has the mountings sticking out from gates that are now long gone, and my oh my they have done the damage.

 

Massive crease all down the rear quarter, door ruined as the mounting hit the door gap and destroyed the rear edge to a right mess. Rear bumper cracked and ruined. Paint gone in all said places. Without doubt an insurance right off (not that i'll tell them, 18 lad and accident aren't words they like to hear)

Will get pictures up tomorrow. Undecided on path to take from here advice welcomed with open arms!

I'm only back from uni for 2 more weeks and then the car wouldn't have seen action til may..ish.

 

As i see it my options are:

1. Fix damage properly myself - lots of time off the road

2. Fix damage by professional - mucho expensive

3. Knock out reasonably well, get another door from scrappys drive around looking rough.

4. Cheap donor shell, swap engine over etc.

5. Break for parts - time consuming, profitable but soul destroying losing my greatly loved first car

6. Sell, buy something else

7. As 3, but turn into rough, cheap track car have fun and buy another car for the everyday.

 

What would you do in my position??

 

Need to sleep on it as i'm tired, very angry at myself, and probably suggesting complete crap!

[swordfish210 20]

D'oh! I know how you feel mate having has a pretty stupid accident myself recently. If i were you i would just repair the car as best as you can so that it is road legal and then just leave it like that. It might be a bit of a kick in the ego driving a car that is a bit banged up but as long as it doens't start to affect your sex life than it really doesnt matter. Leave it like that for a while then as you say, either break it or have a bit of a education in to track driving in it.

[lemmingzappa 75 1 Cars]

I agree, fix the car up as best you can and just carry on using it. You'll be onto your next car (205 GTi I hope ) in no time anyway !

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

s*it happens, at least you didn't hit another car and cause thousands of insurance costs, or worse still a person.

 

We've all reversed into something at one time or another, all you can do is chalk it to experience.

[allye 530 3 Cars]

That is a kick in the c**t! I too know how you feel as I crashed my first car. You feel like crap for a while but something good always comes from it. I don't think I would have bought the Rallye if I hadn't crashed my 205 van!

 

Fix it up youself and drive it like that.

[GeorgeXS 32]

Well its photo time, after looking it over and getting a few of the dents out today i do feel better about it all.

Still far from happy but hey ho, whats done is done make the best of it.

There are a couple of positive points, its still drivable, the arch was starting to bubble with rust and the door already had a dent in it, so there's some slight consolation!

 

Edited January 6, 2011 by GeorgeXS

[tomcolinjones 26]

just put some more go-faster stripes on it, it will look fine then...

seriously tho. bad luck. first crash of my own was in my seccond car, a lovely ph2 graphite grey xs made to look like a gti. i put it through a hedge backwards!

 

i would try and push the dents out as much as possible, get a door from somewhere, and try and colour in the scratches so they dont look so obvious.

[miamichris 9]

Bad luck George, we've all been there, well I've been there twice now if that makes you feel any better!

 

At least you didn't hit anyone else, believe me its a lot more hassle and worry. Its only a car at the end of the day mate, even though you obviously looked after it very well, it can always be fixed at a later date if thats what you choose to do.

 

Just tidy it up as best as you can and drive it, as others have already said, get the chin up and try not to worry about it!

[GLPoomobile 958]

At least you made a half decent job of your frst crash And how long have you been driving for? There's no shame in having a few stupid prangs in the first few years. Yeah it sucks, but better than doing what a lot of stupid boys do - rolling it off the road due to stupid driving and writing off the car (or worse, killing someone).

 

If it's any consolation, every prang I've had has been of the stupid variety. I only had my first "proper" accident recently (thankfully only my car involved) after 13 years driving.

 

1 - Reversed my Mk2 Astra too fast in the work car park (a pub) but forgot that they had some old wooden beer barrels as flower pots. Managed to destroy one of the barrels, but fortunately only smashed my fog light (those Astra bumpers are damned tough! )

2 - Caught the back o/s door of the Astra on a wooden sign post while parking in a pub car park (no, there's not a pattern emerging ). Wouldn't have been much more than a scratch, but for some stupid reason I had a total common sense by-pass, and instead of reversing back out I thought I'd clear it if moved forward a bit more. Pushed the door skin right in and made a right mess of it.

3 - Put a minor dent in the rear quarter of my first GTI. Caught a metal sign post next to the pavement as I was eversing in to a space.

4 - Creased my front o/s wing on my first GTI when I ran in to the back of a transit van. I had dead legs after a 8.5 hour drive and was using my left leg on the throttle. The twat in the van decided to stop at an empty roundabout even though you could see it was clear from miles away. I went to hit the brakes and my legs got all confused!

5 - Creased my front o/s wing on my Civic. Went to pull out of a line of traffic cos I saw a gap in my mirror, but didn't have enough room in front as I pulled out and hit the car in front. But I think she'd rolled back towards me as I definately had enough room when I'd been looking ahead seconds before.

6 - Drove my Civic over a 3 foot high ledge leaving the car suspended at 45 degrees, perched with the floorpan against the edge. That's got to be my funniest accident in hind sight. Plus I got rid of a s*it car ad got more than I would if I'd sold it

7 - Then I had years of prang free motoring until October 1st when I smashed my Saab 9-3, which I'd only had for 6 days, into the kerb on a roundaout and destroyed the front o/s wheel and suspension. That accident hurt my pride more than any other as it was a new car, the nicest car I'd ever had, and the most significant (cost and damage wise) and the most stupid accident I've ever had. A momentary loss of concentration caused by tiredness.

 

Hope that akes you feel a little better

[GeorgeXS 32]

Cheers guys, that civic story always makes me smile, any pictures? Been driving since July '09.

Yeah i think the plan is as most have said, push the dents out as much as possible and drive the thing.

As for the future, we'll see, i do enjoy the car and have become rather emotionally attached so it may end up being fixed properly over the summer.

Edited January 6, 2011 by GeorgeXS

[dumbiron 0]

Shame your not closer, i would have given you a red door. Not worth paying for postage but alright for a freebe

[Henry Yorke 269 3 Cars]

Dimma kit....

 

Unlucky though.

[GLPoomobile 958]

Cheers guys, that civic story always makes me smile, any pictures? Been driving since July '09.

 

Well I can't resist an invitation to show the pics yet again Well done for making it to a year an a half before having an accident

 

[GeorgeXS 32]

Shame your not closer, i would have given you a red door. Not worth paying for postage but alright for a freebe

 

I may take you up on that, parents may be dropping me back down to university at the end of january, may ask them to get it on the way back. I'll let you know if the situation arises.

 

Dimma kit....

 

Haha that sprang to my mind as well, the perfect disguise!

 

Well I can't resist an invitation to show the pics yet again Well done for making it to a year an a half before having an accident

 

 

hehe makes me chuckle!

[maturin23 10]

I can see that picture a million times and still makes me laugh, Steve! Quite impressive prang list too.

 

George - I feel for you. You must have felt sick to the core in the seconds after realising what you'd done.

[mainline 2 1 Cars]

George don't worry too much, everyone has an embarrassing accident at the age of 18.

 

Mine went something like this:

 

Dad's rover 216i (niiiiiiice), reverse, not looking, loud music playing, horn, didn't hear it, swimming coach's Primera, surprisingly large impact, no damage to the rover, new grille, front wings, headlights and bonnet for Mr Dilworth's Nissan.

 

I think you should fix her up as best you can and keep driving her for the time being. Maybe idea 7 of the track day beast too, but don't weigh her in just yet.

 

Good luck whatever you want to do.

 

GLP - that is an impressive list of comedy prangs. Makes me feel a bit better about stacking the Merc pointlessly the other week.

 

Oh and to add another to the list. I sat in horror and amazement in my recently restored GTI last year as my wife reversed and swang the front of my other car (Volvo S40) around and into the side of my GTI while I sat there helpless hearing the wheel arch trim being ripped off and watching the Volvo gouging into my rear side panel. Not funny