I'm an idiot...

[J86]

Managed to put my Honda ass-first into a guardrail on 90 early Wednesday morning.  Spent the next 9 hours in a small town outside Utica at a repair garage pulling lights off other junked Hondas to get me some lighting to drive home...car is definitely totaled, although driveable.  Very classy duct tape shield to keep water out of the trunk.  Some pics for my humiliation and your viewing pleasure...

[2o6]

Ouch.



You going to replace the car?

[ChrisV]

How'd it happen? Let off the throttle when turning? Sorry to hear about the damage, dude...

[Submariner]

Wow man that sucks.  Sorry about it.  What are your options now?

[cawimmer430]

Yikes. How'd it happen?

[J86]

Don't know what I'm gonna do...my first inclination is to drive as is until the wheels fall off, but I may replace it with another $1500 whatever if something reliable looking shows up on Craigslist.

It was icy as all hell and, if I'm gonna be honest here, I was probably just driving too fast with bad rear tires.  VERY slight right hand bend in the interstate and the back end just started to go out.  Kinda surprised me 'cause I was only doing about 50, in a row of other cars, no one passing anyone.  Back started to go, so I started putting on some more throttle to bring it back in line (I've never had great tires so I'm pretty used to minor slides), but the thing just WOULDN''T come back.  Mustha been really slick.  So ended up rotating the car almost 180 degrees and slammed the ass end of the thing into the center guardrail.  Ripped the bumper cover off and, as you can see, accordioned the rear end.  At the shop we banged the quarters back out with a sledgehammer just enough to be able to screw in the new light assemblies.  In one of the pics you can see the rear bumper cover screwed on with sheet metal screws.  Wicked classy, guy!  To add insult to injury, the responding officer gave me a ticket for driving too fast for conditions.  Apparently NYS law mandates they do this.  Told the guy I didn't really have too much cause to argue with him considering I slid the thing into the guardrail (obviously going too fast for that turn!), but still, it does seem like kicking a guy while he's down!  At least the only thing that really got hurt was my pride...my parents have already been getting some serious mileage out of this!  Must say, seatbelts don't keep ya from flying around laterally too much though.  Cracked my head on the B pillar pretty good!

[sportyaccordy]

That sucks. Good thing though is those cars are a dime a dozen... you should be able to find a decent one (albeit not a 96-97) for ~1K

[J86]

I'm not looking for another Accord...if something turns up, great, but I'm not lookin' for one.  It's been a great car, but variety is the spice of life...

[BimmerM3]

Damn dude. How hard did you hit your head? You may want to get it checked out. Other than that though, I'm glad to hear that you're okay.

[Colonel Cadillac]

That sucks man, sorry to hear it. At least it made your day a lot more exciting! You have a pretty cool accident to tell everyone about now, especially because you're not that hurt.

[Byteme]

Managed to put my Honda ass-first into a guardrail on 90 early Wednesday morning.  Spent the next 9 hours in a small town outside Utica at a repair garage pulling lights off other junked Hondas to get me some lighting to drive home...car is definitely totaled, although driveable.  Very classy duct tape shield to keep water out of the trunk.  Some pics for my humiliation and your viewing pleasure...

Hey it happens.  The main thing is you are OK.  How hard did you bump your head?

[J86]

Hopefully hard enough to knock some sense into me...

Not bad at all.  I've taken much harder hits

[Eye of the Tiger]

 

[Laconian]

Hopefully hard enough to knock some sense into me...

Not bad at all.  I've taken much harder hits

Lemme guess, accidental jibes?

Don't worry, your brain is still at least SOMEWHAT intact. It was very resourceful of you to immediately graft junkyard parts onto your car! :)

[CJ]

Get a Volvo. 

[J86]

Lemme guess, accidental jibes?

Don't worry, your brain is still at least SOMEWHAT intact. It was very resourceful of you to immediately graft junkyard parts onto your car! :)

hehe, that's exactly waht I was thinking of!  Split my head clean open this past New Year's Day doing just that...

I'll get whatever is on craigslist!  Unfortuantely, nothing that strikes my fancy right now in my area...

[BimmerM3]

hehe, that's exactly waht I was thinking of!  Split my head clean open this past New Year's Day doing just that...

I'll get whatever is on craigslist!  Unfortuantely, nothing that strikes my fancy right now in my area...

Are you just going to let the insurance total it and take whatever they give you?

[J86]

no collision on the car...it aint worth it.  ill list it on craigslist for a few hundred bucks and roll that towards a different car.

[dazzleman]

Sorry about the accident Josh.

I was out on the roads today and they were pretty slick.  I usually worry more about the other drivers, but there were a couple of times when I could have lost control of my car.  I figured the longer I stayed out, the more I was pushing my luck, so I came home, and I don't plan to go back out tonight.

Good luck with finding another car.  What's your price range?

[Laconian]

I see Josh getting a ripe banana (yellow and black) Aztek and somehow still managing to score with chicks.

[J86]

Sorry about the accident Josh.

I was out on the roads today and they were pretty slick.  I usually worry more about the other drivers, but there were a couple of times when I could have lost control of my car.  I figured the longer I stayed out, the more I was pushing my luck, so I came home, and I don't plan to go back out tonight.

Good luck with finding another car.  What's your price range?

Lookin' at stuff priced up to 3 grand, don't intend on spending a penny over 2500.  Sub 2k preferably.

[J86]

I see Josh getting a ripe banana (yellow and black) Aztek and somehow still managing to score with chicks.

Well, I hope not about the car, but I appreciate the vote of confidence

[dazzleman]

Lookin' at stuff priced up to 3 grand, don't intend on spending a penny over 2500.  Sub 2k preferably.

I know of a great car for around $6K.  At those prices, you're going to get a piece of shit.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Saab 9000 CSE Turbo 1995 - $1200 http://providence.craigslist.org/cto/940310590.html
1995 Honda Civic EX with Integra LS Engine Swap - $1800 http://providence.craigslist.org/cto/963919805.html
93 BMW 325I - $2600 http://providence.craigslist.org/cto/961465763.html

[Eye of the Tiger]

I know of a great car for around $6K.  At those prices, you're going to get a piece of shit.

[J86]

I know of a great car for around $6K.  At those prices, you're going to get a piece of shit.

C'mon, the only cars I've ever owned have been in this price range and I haven't gotten burned yet!  If you're careful and stay simple (base Hondas, Subarus, etc.) you can find plenty of decent stuff.

[the Teuton]

I know of a great car for around $6K.  At those prices, you're going to get a piece of shit.

You are a car snob.  How did my brother find a very nice 2000 Accord EX-L V6 for just $4,000?  It's called shopping around.  Josh will be fine.

Rear-wheel traction seems to be the culprit in this one.  If you're going to keep on living in New England, I'd recommend another Subaru.  They're really cheap up there.  Toyota All-Tracs are also really good for the money.

Honestly, the worst part of your day sounds like spending the better part of it in Utica.  I wouldn't want to be there if my life depended on it.

[dazzleman]

You are a car snob.  How did my brother find a very nice 2000 Accord EX-L V6 for just $4,000?  It's called shopping around.  Josh will be fine.

You've paid me one of the nicest compliments I've ever gotten.....Thanks....

[2o6]

You are a car snob.  How did my brother find a very nice 2000 Accord EX-L V6 for just $4,000?  It's called shopping around.  Josh will be fine.

Rear-wheel traction seems to be the culprit in this one.  If you're going to keep on living in New England, I'd recommend another Subaru.  They're really cheap up there.  Toyota All-Tracs are also really good for the money.

Honestly, the worst part of your day sounds like spending the better part of it in Utica.  I wouldn't want to be there if my life depended on it.

[dazzleman]

You are a car snob.  How did my brother find a very nice 2000 Accord EX-L V6 for just $4,000?  It's called shopping around.  Josh will be fine.

Rear-wheel traction seems to be the culprit in this one.  If you're going to keep on living in New England, I'd recommend another Subaru.  They're really cheap up there.  Toyota All-Tracs are also really good for the money.

Honestly, the worst part of your day sounds like spending the better part of it in Utica.  I wouldn't want to be there if my life depended on it.

How is Utica any different from western Pennsylvania, or Ohio?