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When will this bad day end....
When will this bad day end....
#1
Yesterday as I was driving to the airport in order to do an interstate work shift, I became the filing in a three car-pile-up sandwich. Not fun seconds of brown pants time, followed by mega-OW! The 'Rolla's at the bodyshop and is apparently on the borderline of repairable write-off, statutary(sp?) write-off and just write-off.

I'm fine aside from some aches & twinges. I managed to catch my flights, do the work, came back and force the towie to get me & the car to my prefered bodyshop. Just one thing, I've now been awake for well over 30 hours with only a slight cat nap on the plane to keep me going.

So now we're playing worst case senario of just what is the replacement car going to be. I'm favoring either a diesel Volkswagen Golf or Caddy, one of the Top Gear SIARPC's or the grey imported awd version of the 'Rolla the local R34 importer has in stock.

--Rod.H
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#2
Sorry to hear that. Here's hoping things work out for you.

And the spelling is "statutory" unless there is some arcane difference in Commonwealth Standardised Spelling from American Standard.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
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#3
Rod H Wrote:Yesterday as I was driving to the airport in order to do an interstate work shift, I became the filing in a three car-pile-up sandwich. Not fun seconds of brown pants time, followed by mega-OW! The 'Rolla's at the bodyshop and is apparently on the borderline of repairable write-off, statutary(sp?) write-off and just write-off.

Damn. Sorry to hear that man.

Quote:I'm favoring either a diesel Volkswagen Golf or Caddy,
--Rod.H

Can't go wrong with a bit of VAG. They're common things for a good reason, and fucking nailed together to withstand the apocalypse inside. A bit boring and common, but that's about the only downside.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
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#4
I would reccomend a Hennesey Performance Cadillac station wagon.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
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#5
Sorry to hear about this, Rod... at least you didn't have to go into the shop and find out you're close to a write-off...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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bad day
#6
Well after thirty hours you are technically on your second bad day in a row.
Glad to hear you are not too badly banged up from the crash..  Good luck with the vehicle search.
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#7
Just dont ask anything along the lines of Can this get any ________

The universe will be compelled to figure out a way to show you it can.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-

NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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#8
Hope it improves. On the plus side, if you make it to 72 hours without sleep, I believe you can make a Temporary Insanity plea on any charges filed, should you need to visit violence on anyone.
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."
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#9
Rod H Wrote:Yesterday as I was driving to the airport in order to do an interstate work shift, I became the filing in a three car-pile-up sandwich. Not fun seconds of brown pants time, followed by mega-OW! The 'Rolla's at the bodyshop and is apparently on the borderline of repairable write-off, statutary(sp?) write-off and just write-off.
Ouch.

I lost a car that way a few years ago, too. I was stopped at the light, behind a car, and the guy behind me couldn't stop because of black ice. Crumple zones and a collapsed driver's seat saved me from any major damage. Ami-chan [size=smaller](c'mon, what else would I call a blue Mercury?)[/size] was a write-off. My advice is to start looking at replacements...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#10
Ugh... I've been in a situation like that before. Rain, and someone stupid about 5 cars ahead who overreacted to something in the road and slammed on the brakes. about 6 cars locked up bumper to bumper because there was heavy traffic (though not yet a "jam") and nowhere to turn! 

Credit Volvo for making a damn sturdy wagon. It was "technically" a totaled car. With the front end smashed in two feet on one side and the motor mounts gone to hell. But it STILL RAN and got me home so we didn't have to pay the cost of a tow truck. Still had to replace it though.

Here's hoping things work out. 
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#11
Thanks everyone for ya thoughts. A bit after I posted that I finally managed to get some sleep. Hence probably why the trouble I'd with trying to spell statutory, not even the Firefox spellchecker could help.

No, I haven't been saying any of the infamous phrases that will summon Murphy, specifically any favored by the Top Gear presenters. I am however thinking it should be an easy repair, for to me it just needs a new rear & front bumper, one headlight lense, new radiators, realignment and straightening of the front quarter panels (drivers side especially needs it for some reason), radiator support and bonnet and of cause a new paint job. We're still yet to hear from the bodyshop so all of that could be moot for us.
I took photo's of the damage in case anyone's wondering. I'm more surprised it's still some what drivable, but hey it's a Toyota just probably shouldn't do it for too long with the radiator damaged like that.

WG, we don't have or get any of those down here. So here's it's antipodean cousin, the Walkinshaw Performance SS-V wagon!
[Image: walkinshaw_ss_v_superwagon_04-4ba30499a4...39x630.jpg]

--Rod.H
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#12
Bugger, better call Holden then.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
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#13
More news at hand is the repair quote the bodyshop's has given to the insurance company is $8000. The Glass guide value for private sale is $6,480 - $7,920 and the trade-in value's in that range too. To buy a used one from a dealer around is $12,000.

I think we're gonna need a new-er car. Which is darn troublesome when you've the build of Jeremy Clarkson. And as we've decided it's gotta be a diesel and new, rather limiting. There was thoughts of why not go electric, but due to the infrastructure & the random long distances I've got to travel for work. Just means that they're the impracticable option.

So the list of things we need in a vehicle are:

*Must comfortably seat 3 to 4 Jeremy Clarkson sized people

*diesel fueled

*no clutch pedal

*holds a minimum of a 1m^2 of tools & kit

*Bluetooth & iPod friendly (or can accept the aftermarket radio I fitted to the 'Rolla)

*won't have radical Greens up in arms

*be rather reasonably priced

Oh and it should be smaller than a MB Vito/Transit van. 'Cos that's what my Dad drives now, yep he's a White Van Man.

Now I think of it, that's almost a Top Gear Challenge idea in itself and they'll try to find three vehicles that would meet those criteria for under £1500. Or one vehicle for £4500.

--Rod.H
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#14
"The producers gave us each three thousand pounds - OF OUR OWN MONEY - and told us to buy a car intended for long distance travel. And much to Jeremys horror, it had to be diesel."

"Those utter communists."

"As you can see, he's still sulking."
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#15
Rod H Wrote:More news at hand is the repair quote the bodyshop's has given to the insurance company is $8000. The Glass guide value for private sale is $6,480 - $7,920 and the trade-in value's in that range too. To buy a used one from a dealer around is $12,000.

I think we're gonna need a new-er car. Which is darn troublesome when you've the build of Jeremy Clarkson. And as we've decided it's gotta be a diesel and new, rather limiting. There was thoughts of why not go electric, but due to the infrastructure & the random long distances I've got to travel for work. Just means that they're the impracticable option.

So the list of things we need in a vehicle are:
*Must comfortably seat 3 to 4 Jeremy Clarkson sized people
*diesel fueled
*no clutch pedal
*holds a minimum of a 1m^2 of tools & kit
*Bluetooth & iPod friendly (or can accept the aftermarket radio I fitted to the 'Rolla)
*won't have radical Greens up in arms
*be rather reasonably priced

Oh and it should be smaller than a MB Vito/Transit van. 'Cos that's what my Dad drives now, yep he's a White Van Man.

Now I think of it, that's almost a Top Gear Challenge idea in itself and they'll try to find three vehicles that would meet those criteria for under £1500. Or one vehicle for £4500.

--Rod.H

You might be able to find a Renault Scenic 1.5tdci if you search for it.

I half-learned to drive in one (And a Ford Fiesta which was a much better car, but it belonged to the Instructor). Fucking hate the thing. But it fits 5 Jeremy Clarkson sized people + 2 kids in the back, and is frugal with diesel. The only problem is the engine. Put the foot down, and the noise increases right away but you've got time to look at the gearbox and wonder if you're in Fifth instead of Third before it actually starts accelerating... and then suddenly you've got to grab another gear because it's run out of revs. There is an auto version. I would imagine that it's even worse. And it's French so build quality is a bit *gallic shrug*. There are also some absolutely retarded design decisions, like the RHD model using the same instrument binnacle as the LHD one.... in the same position so you have to look over to the passenger side away from the road to check your speed. Oh, and the brake and throttle pedals are so close together that I'm forever getting a foot-full of revs when I'm bringing it to a stop... which is not a safe thing. Scary for the stopped car in front who suddenly hears this big diesel rev up behind him.

But they are cheap, big inside, comfy enough.... and do go easy on go-juice even with my lead foot. And the radio controls are perfectly in the driver's line of sight.

Not recommended, but it'll do in a pinch.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
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Just a little additional cheer:
#16
http://www.metacafe.com/fplayer/wm-A103 ... _video.swf
The Flaming Lips - Bad Days (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: The Flaming Lips
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
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#17
Dartz due to how the instruments are set up I can tell you now that there's absolutely none of that model Renault Scenic available in Australia, and there's also hardly any Renault dealers either.

So, we're currently leaning towards the Volkswagen Golf Wagon aka Jetta Sportwagen aka Golf Variant for our first choice at the moment. Assuming we can fit in it, which we shouldn't have much difficulty with considering I'd no problem sitting in the Golf GTi at the last car show I went to. A trait the Alfa Romeo 147 & Citroën C4 also shared. The Astra, A-Class, B-Class, C-class, Focus, Mondeo & 1-series were borderline.

Huh was that some early Flaming Lips?

--Rod.H
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#18
Yes. In fact it's from the last album featuring Ronald Jones, who literally let me touch an electric guitar for the first time: I was in Cub and Boy Scouts with his little brother and my dad worked with his father.

He's the guy with the Yellow Fender Jaguar and the blue t-shirt.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
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#19
Well we don't need to look with much urgency for a replacement vehicle any more. The insurance company gave the bodyshop the all clear to repair, so it should be ready in a fortnight or less. Of cause that's presuming that no parts are needed from Japan....for a '03 Toyota built in South Africa. Meh, it all ready has some locally produced parts in it (front struts, brake rotors) and I won't give a hoot if they put the front clip from a later model on it (aka the Sileighty mod the ricers do to S13s).
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#20
And for something I contemplated earlier doing here some pics of the damage, from angles that don't show the number plate
[Image: b34262e11892f06b771d7fb6b6fd5330c6052a0e.jpg][Image: be626a215196f0c5799d1cbe28bc841514ba81f0.jpg][Image: 47b3621a14109caf05207159d311b06433ec70c1.jpg][Image: 84d26e91769d30357ecde8b3021c69e897aaffcf.jpg]
The amazing thing, the hood catch/released still worked, that and the engine was still running.....
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#21
.... I am surprised. You'd think the impact would have triggered the fuel pump kill switch most cars come with now and yeah, it doesnt look like that Hood catch should work either.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-

NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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#22
It's a Toyota. Just like This They keep going until doomsday. Long after the last of the V8 Interceptors has turned to red dust, a Toyota will be plugging away somewhere.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
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#23
Damage doesn't look too bad; couple of hours on a frame straightening jig and a little new sheet metal, it'll be fine.
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#24
Yep, that's what we're been thinking, so that's why we're puzzled on why the repair quote's AUD$8000.

As for why the engine was still running, well it's not a NA-spec vehicle, so an inertia triggered fuel cutoff was never fitted. Actually I've got the Gregory's workshop manual which I should read to verify that statement. Actually the only point the engine stopped running was due to me actually turning the key to off, and then being surprised each subsequent time the engine was started that it worked.

I'm thinking I should spoil myself and upgrade the stereo speakers. Pity Crutchfield don't ship to Australia as they've got a more interesting range and a better DIY install kit than what's available locally.
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#25
The bad has ended for now. We got the car back the other day, feels and seems okay. Only the $500 excess out of pocket. Its going for a service on Monday and I'm now just waiting for the other foot to drop.

The 'Rolla is still some what on the small size for me, but unlike other smaller cars I've gotten use to it. Even some larger vehicles don't seem right to me.
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