Scyattica

iTrader: (1)

Well guys,

So, a couple of weeks ago I was involved in a wreck on my way home from work. Someone ignored a stopsign and pulled onto the mainroad, and I pretty much T-Boned them. I was able to swerve right at the last second, and avoid any injury to either party, but the front left took the brunt of the impact.



Car took the impact very well, was even still running right after the fact!
I looked at the damage, and we thought that this was easily repairable.....then we took the bumper off.....



Yup, frame damage. Awesome.

Did some research, and found out that to replace that frame rail properly, the engine had to come out which added a lot of labor costs to the repair. The insurance company pretty much instantly declared it a 'Total Loss' once they learned about it.

It feels like just yesterday I bought the car (when in reality it was almost a year ago.)



Here's a picture of me driving it home the day I bought it. The car was simply amazing. Needed some TLC, nothing I couldn't give it though.



There was a small event where I was able to drive my car on a track with some friends of mine for 30 mins or so. Had an absolute blast throwing the Z around those corners!



I replaced the front bumper because whoever had the car before me had really messed it up.
They had installed an aftermarket grill into it that didn't fit. To force it to fit, they had cut up the backside of the bumper to give it room.



This was the last time I'll ever see my car. The insurance company taking it away.

So, that's it.
That's the story of my car, Natalia. The car I had for less then a year. The car that I let no one else touch, because it was my baby.
I know it's not a very long time, but I fell in love with that car. My day always gets a little worse every time I walk out of my house and see it missing from the driveway.

I know I don't post very often, but I've been lurking since I got the car. This forum has taught me alot. With all the DIY threads and the random posts about how to fix things and what not, so I felt it only right to tell you guys the tale of my Z, and how it ended.

My Z would not be the car it was at the end if it wasn't for this forum, so thanks guys and girls. Thanks for the knowledge, the laughs, and the advice.

-Scy
(Former) Z owner

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Scy- sorry to hear about this shunt that resulted in the totaling of your Z. Hope you realize that while you didn't have Natalia for long, it gave EVERYTHING (including the crush zones in the LF hood, bumper and frame rail) to protect you in this crash. Without them, you could have suffered serious and permanant injuries in this accident. The Z will live on in your dreams and I hope you'll be able to rejoin us someday in the future.

venture210

Bummer man, that Z was too clean. It looks like that was a rev up model though. Now you can look for an 07 or 08 with the HR! Or just barge it and get a 370z if insurance comes through with a fat check. Either way, glad to know your not dead considering that the 350z has the highest fatality rate of all vehicles.

bealljk

iTrader: (13)

Sorry to hear...what's next?


is it me or is that porsche missing headlights??

SR71

iTrader: (1)

Mega intakes.

winchman

That just doesn't look like that car's a total loss. Is that what the insurance people said? Did the airbags deploy?

Scyattica

iTrader: (1)

@dkmura
Yeah, that's a good way to consider it. The car definately took the hit admirably, and saved me alot of pain.

@venture210
Highest fatality rate? Wow, I didn't know. Yeah it definately did a good job protecting me.

@bealljk and SR71
Yeah, it's missing its headlights. The picture was taken at the body shop...Guess the Porsche was in for work?

@winchman
The airbags didn't deploy. The insurance people declared it a total loss. The car had 116k miles on it(Still running strong!). The estimate the bodyshop wrote to repair everything was around $9800 dollars. The estimate from the insurance company was something like $7600....Insurance company wanted to use all aftermarket parts, which I wouldn't have allowed to happen. I would have fought them tooth and nail (and probably lost in the end anyways) to put atleast OE surplus on there, if not OEM. Not my fault that their client ran a stop sign, so they should put my car atleast back to the state it was in pre-wreck. Also, the insurance company was only going to pay for the frame rail to cut off where it was damaged, and a new part welded onto it.

I wouldn't have trusted a frame rail that had been spliced together. If I were in the same wreck again with that car with a spliced frame rail, Would else could have been damaged because it didn't have the same strength as it normally should?

Before the wreck, I was saving to get a project car, so I have some funds saved up.
Right now, I'm looking into a 370z, Genesis coupe, Subaru WRX, or a s2000.

Cjw4050

iTrader: (8)

I'd go either 370z and put an amuse kit on it..

or s2000 and lswap it.

oldschool350z

iTrader: (1)

I wish my z would get totalled. I would take too much of a loss selling it haha

hgarcia

Annnd this is why im avoiding modding it lol, because im already getting sick of my car, its just not the best DD car, I was looking at a mini cooper S or something, but my Z is barely worth like 9k =/ but yet same year, higher mileage honda S2000's are worth like 5k more? I dont get it.

Chrismx5

Can you buy it back from insurance?

Xonatron

So sorry to hear!

jhc

You LOVE your Z.
I know better. Have a great week.

Scyattica

iTrader: (1)

I could have bought it back, but IMO it wasn't worth it.

Car would have had a rebuilt title. I'd of had to invest a few grand (ontop of what I would have gotten from insurance) into getting roadworthy again, and she was getting high on miles.

I'd of loved to keep the car, but it just wasn't responsible to do.

Chrismx5

Ahh alright.

Each to their own.

Really sucks to see man =[

Bellisima_Z

Sorry about your loss... almost teared up reading the story. Are you going to replace it with another one, or are you looking for something different?

VO...

iTrader: (25)

Sorry for your loss. That was a clean ride...

oldschool350z

iTrader: (1)

Haha I tried to sell my 2004.5 touring with 54,000 miles and couldn't even get $12,000. My damn Civic SI is worth more sadly. Mind as well drive it into the ground with the market these days. How many miles are on yours? Hondas hold value better! It's sad but true.

Haha I love it but hate it. Storing it in the winter and walking past it everyday is torture. When I put my foot on the gas I still get a smile so it's worth it.

Scyattica

iTrader: (1)

Yeah =/. I DD'ed the car as well, so there's also the need to get something quick.

I tried to get away from the Z, I really did. I figured maybe now's a good time to try something else, maybe AWD? but I just couldn't stay away. Somehow, all my car searches always seemed to end up on Z's....Going to look at a 370z on wednesday.

Thanks. I was actually trying to get some OEM wheels to put on the car. It came with those black wheels, which I personally didn't like very much. I think it would have looked even cleaner with OEM wheels.

Chrismx5

Hmmm..

Wish you lived in NZ.. I would so be jumping right onto that.. Purchase as is, repair, DRIFT!