Zboy

Bleh! Same day that I hit 10,000 miles on my Z, it gets into an accident. I was driving from Albany to Boston and it was raining. I was cruising at 60 mph on a 65 mph highway on the slow lane. It was supposed to just rain but after half an hour it started snowing.

As soon as I see snow, I slow down to 35-40 mph and look for the next gas station/exit so I can stop for the night and stop driving until it stops snowing and it is clear. I did not want to stop in the break down lane because road was bad and trucks/cars were passing very close by at high speeds. I was afraid of being hit by someone. So, I have about 5 more miles to next gas station...and then it happens... car starts sliding to the left lane and VDC tries to help to no avail..I hit the left railguard, bounce off it and hit the right one and then bounce off that one and come to a stop on fast lane facing the traffic... well good thing there was no traffic which gave me enough time to straighten the car out and pull into breakdown lane. I come out the car to see front left corner and rear left corner damaged. Man my heart sank, one of the worst feelings.

Anyways, I am sitting down in snow by my Z for next 10 miniutes or so and then I decide to continue on to the gas station while going at 10 mph on the breakdown lane with my emergency flashers on. Engine seemed to be running fine..but there was bad noise coming from back. I went out and noticed the back part of the car was scraping against the rear tire. I try to pry it off just enough to clear the tires but could not. I didnt want to be stranded there forever so i decided to go on anyways. 1 minute later i friggin slip again to the next lane and spin around at 10 mph!!! Straighten the car out and decide to wait for help this time.

Highway mainetence guy comes along and tells me to go up 1 mile and pull up in Blandford highway maintenece facility.. So here I am driving at 10 mph in breakdown lane with the guy driving behind me. I slip two more times and almost hit the guard on the other side again with him watching. Another time, Z gets stuck in snow since they hadnt cleaned the road or put any salt/mud and road was horrible. And he actually had the ***** to tell me "What are you waiting for? We are almost there!" I am like "Dude its a rear wheel drive car and its slipping, I cant go any faster than 10 ph. Go clean the friggin road!"

Left the Z at the maintence faiclity and it was towed next day to Autobody shop. Towing people were pretty busy. Accident was being reported on that highway every 15 minutes on radio. Crushed Lincoln navigator came in teh faciltiy next while we saw another car that had veered off road and into the woods.

So how unlucky was I? Snows unexpectedly on me...I had 5 miles to the next gas station where I would have stopped for night... 2 miles to the mainietence facility...and 10 more miles till the snow would turn into rain!! It was snowing only in that 20 mile stretch or so becuase that was the highest altitude area on tha Mass Pike. ARGHHH!!!!!! And here I was for last 2 months not taking my Z out when it rains!!!

DO NOT EVEN ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THE Z IN SNOW EVEN AT 10 mph OR SLOWER EVEN IF YOU HAVE THE VDC/TCS with everything stock. Vdc/tcs can only help/aid you so much. I already knew this but I was caught off guard in the situation and after that there wasnt much I could do.

How much do you people think my insurance will go up by? Right now I am paying $1300 per year for the Z.

Also, any advice/help in dealing with the repair? I got it towed to the autobody shop right next to the dealership I bought the Z at. I know a repaired car is never exactly the same as a new one BUT...what can I do to make sure that it comes as close to it as possible? I dont want any repainting done because I know car loses value once its been painted over. How can I avoid this from happening? I would really appreciate any advice/help I can get from people on this forum. Thanks

z461

OUCH.. that sucks... I don't think you have any choice BUT to repaint. They won't give you a new car. Anyways, if you sell the car later just tell people straight up what happened, and show them how there was no frame damage if they ask. Otherwise, you don't have to tell them it's new paint, and if it's a good body shop they should be able to match it perfectly. Sorry about the accident, makes me kind of glad I live in Cali..

Zboy

I know I am not going to get a new car but cant I get new panels for the ons that were damaged instead of them straightening it out and repainting them?

InternetABYSS

screw it dude...get the whole car painted....You will have the only Z without orange peal...and tell the new owner when you sell it you had the car repainted because of factory orange peal.

dont just have em repaint the panels...you'll be able to tell. If you have to take a rock and scratch the whole car up so that the entire paint job is covered. deductible will be the same either way.

If you dont get the entire car painted...most car enthusists will know its been in a wreck....

sorry to hear about you luck, but I know how you feel...my luck sucks too sometimes..............winter tires are a must up there right???

get some chains in your car in the future....if you think fo one second that it looks bad you'll be covered until you get some winter tires.


TAKE ANY PICS????

jhchan

Holy crap. Sorry to hear. I was just up in New Hampshire on business but we missed the snow at night. Is it really THAT bad in the snow??? I could never have imagined. I guess I will never take mine out in snow when I get it. Is the Z bad in the rain on a highway? I drive the same road also a couple times a year and it doesn't seem that bad, guess I was wrong. Good luck with the repairs.

Zboy

Internetabyys,

So, you are suggesting that I ask the bodyshop to paint the entire car? Will the insurance cover it? Or are you saying I should get it repainted as whole, after the autobody job repairs it? I like your idea of getting rid of the orange peel, I have lots on my car.

Zboy

Trust me, Please do not take out the Z in snow if you have stock tires and add no weight in trunk. I was sliding going at 10 mph!! How slower can you go?? Of course it did not help that it was fresh snow and the maintence people were just getting out to clean the roads. But keep in mind, one slip on one bad spot is all it takes. If my case has to be made an example to discourage people from taking out their Z in snow, then so be it.

As for the Mass pike, the maintence people told me that if you go East from Albany, and are about 35 miles into your journey, you will come close to the highest altitude mark on the Mass. Pike. 2 things happen for the next 20 miles strech around Bladford area... Precipation there turns into snow because of altitude, and at the 34 mile marker, everything turns into ice. This is because the highway is carved in between mountains there making it a cold zone. I know now, and letting everyone else know who is going to be traveling on Mass Pike in winter to be very careful at these points.

If its just rain, it does not seem to be a problem for Z as long as you are conservative. Being agressive in rain, in a rear wheel drive car is being stupid IMHO.

Pitlizard

The 350Z should handle in snow, ice is another story. I am wondering if your Z is one of those that has a slight pull to the right, which could cause an undrivable car on ice at any speed. If that's the case, you may want Nissan to look into your situation.

Good Luck.

Zboy

Yes my Z did pull to the right slightly when driven. Thats alignment problem, correct?

rai

That's the worst story. I HATE driving in snow/ice. Sounds like you did everything the right way, but I bet you were going up or down an elivation or turning at the same time. The forces of gravity at work. Those large rear Summer tires were not going to be of any use. But you didn't have much choice it's not like you could walk to a hotel. I hope everything works out.

I think you should get the whole car painted but insurance won't pay for anything but the damaged parts (I think) and a high quality paint job is a lot of money so it will negate any higher resale value it would bring. It's a tough call.

If the insurance agent hasn't seen the car you might want to take a rock to the undamaged paint so it is included (not very ethical but we all know insurance is a real rip off any way).

Zrated

That's bad I'm glad I have a second car for the winter.

Kraigman

I'm just down the road from you so I feel your pain in regards to our 'pleasant' NE weather. Even rainy roads are risky with these tires in certain situations (wet roads combined with kamikaze SUV drivers yakking on cellphones, etc., etc.). I agree with the folks that advise that you paint the entire car, especially if you can eliminate the orange peel. Is it possible that a higher quality paintjob will offset the loss of value somewhat?

Thanks for the advice as well. I've been thinking getting an old 4WD pickup or something to handle the snow season, and you've just helped me make up my mind. I guess if I do end up in circumstances like yours I can only hope that I damage parts that are Nismo 'upgradeable,' like the front bumper for example .

Anyway, good luck with whatever solution you choose. To me, the last thing on my mind is resale value. I love this car, it has 'charisma,' and I plan on keeping mine for a long, long time.

Kraigman

jasonintoronto

very good advice. i have all wheel drive and i won't drive in the snow with my summer performance tires (pzero rosso's) - it's far too dangerous.

Vlad

Terrible story. I've never had real wheel drive before. And my front drive Celica 2001 was quite okay even on performance tires.

Do you guys think good winter tires going to help Zituation?
Is weight in the trunk is a reasonable measure? If so then how much weight?

Does anybody know good winter tires with reasonable price? And where to buy it. Living in Michigan you can't trust forecast. So I know I'll have to drive in snow if it's sudden snowfall.

WashUJon

You have the 17" rims, right? Take a look at Tire Rack. I priced out Blizzak LM-22 at about $680 for all four. Everyone I know says the Blizzaks are terrific.

Zboy-

Sorry to hear about that incident, man. I trust you didn't get hurt at all? This lays credence to what I heard about the Audi S4 guys being told not to drive their cars in winter with the Bridgestone tires that we have too. I'm sorry that we had to find out from you and only after you crashed the car. That really sucks. Try and get the whole car repainted.

Is anyone driving in snow with snow tires yet? How well do they work? This is obviously a real concern now. I may have to get a beater for the winter, even though I was just planning on driving the Z...

del105

iTrader: (4)

I forgot what its called but isn't the insurance company supposed to fix your car and cut you a check for the amount it has lost in value from the accident. I'm almost positive this exists but is not manditory you have to ask for it. I'll try to find out the term used to describe this.

Rahtok

I used to have an old `75 Buick Skylark [Nova twin] that was rear drive -- it was a straight-piped 350, quadrajet, etc, that I drove in the snow. It was trickier than a fwd or awd, but doable. It's all about the tires...

WayneTN

One question. I may have missed it, but, do you have a 6MT or 5AT? I had an automatic Trans-Am some years ago that, even when the road was the slightest bit slick, you could let off of the brake and, without any gas at all, the tires would just start spinning due to engine idle. With a straight shift I could have feathered the clutch and been OK.

Just wondering........trying to learn.

Sorry you're having these problems. Hope you get things going again soon there.

WayneTN