Guys, I'm sorry. She's gone.
I just made this post on LJ:
"It's my brother's birthday....
...And instead of being happy and chipper and hanging out with him, I had to stand on the side of road and pull my car out of the ditch.
Josh and I are okay, we only had a "slight roll-over."
People say that your entire life changes after you have an accident. I don't know if that is true or not. I don't really feel any different. I'm just sad that I made my family and friends worry. The car has a chance of being fixed, but it will cost a royal butt load; probably more than we paid for the car.
Is the car okay? Ehh... I don't really care one way or the other. Josh is okay, and I am okay. That's all I care about.
Am I sore? Right now: no. Will I be later? Probably very, very much so.
I feel bad for making my parents worry, though. I'm just so glad that they are the way that they are.
Was I driving like a retard? No. Was I driving faster than the car could handle? No. I have taken that turn a thousand times at the same speed as I had today. It's just that all the right things fell into place at exactly the right time. I thought I had driven it through. I thought I was going to make it. But those damned soft shoulders ruin everything. Off the road we slid, fell about 3 feet, car bit into the squishy mud, slightly tossed us over, and we landed on all four.
I couldn't get my door open (although my dad is apparently He-Man 'cause he got it open without a problem); so, I exited through the passenger door. Saw the car, and I asked Josh quite a few times if he was okay.
My parents got out there probably 20 minutes later, and my dad got his co-worker with a Turbo-Diesel F250 to come by. My dad hopped in the car, fired her right up, and between the F-250 and the CSVT, the car was out of the ditch in less that a minute. Hell, my dad even drove it home without a problem; other than not being able to see through the smashed windshield, that is.
So, needless to say, I won't be driving for a while, but this could be a blessing in disguise. This will allow me to save money, and quite possibly finally get my 7 running again.
On a final note, if you guys see me looking a little tired and/or sore tomorrow, you'll know why. Just know that I am fine and more importantly Josh is fine.
I love you all.
-Shawn"
Now, for the details on why it went wrong. When we first bought the car, my father and I noted the fact that the brakes didn't feel good at all. The pads had probably only been changed once or twice, and I don't even know if the brake fluid had ever been changed. The fluid is BLACK. We noted that we had to jump on that quickly, but we never had a chance to do it.
I went into the turn, which I can easily take at 35-ish, like I was doing today. I right before the turn, I felt the brake pedal drop to the floor. I didn't panic, though. I didn't have time. I just tried to drive it through, and in all honesty, I would have made it if the road had a shoulder. It pushed a little too much, and as soon as it touched the rocks, it was all she wrote.
I'm just glad that the ditch had water in it; the mud soaked up A LOT of the impact; allowing us to walk away safely. I don't know what I'm going to do with the CSVT, yet, though. It can be repaired, certainly, but it will cost a lot to cut off the roof and weld a new one on.
I may part it out, too, but I have no clue. I just want to go to sleep now.
So, once again, I'm sorry to all of you CEG'ers, I tore up one of only ~11,000 cars in existance. Please maintain your cars, guys. Don't be like me.
