Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General Gone.

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.

glad your ok!

Sorry to hear that bro, i know from experience (rolled a jeep with friends in it and some got hurt bad) You will honestly be better for it, nothing changes the way you see driving like a bad accident, just be happy that everyone is ok.

oh man..that makes me sad!


glad your ok though

I'm so sorry to hear about your accident.
Yep, the main thing is that you are OK.
Take care and get some rest.

Thanks for your support, guys. It sucks a lot, and I know that everytime I walk out the house and see it, it's going to sting. Much like everytime I look at my 7 and think about it not running.

My dad is going to stay home from work tomorrow and get the mud/water out of the car. I want to help him out, but he told me that I must go to school.

It's amazing the little visible damage done the car, other than the roof/windshield. I mean, the driver side fender, headlight, rear body kit, and mirror are messed up, but other than that, it's not bad. However, I don't know if any damage has been done to the car's chassis.

Now, almost 3 hours after the wreck, the soreness is starting to set in. I have taken some Ibuprofen, but I know that tomorrow morning is going to be rough.

Aw, crap, man! I love those Tropic Green SVTs!

Certainly glad you & Josh are OK. The Contiques seem to be very survivable cars, but sadly, the insurance company will usually total them out pretty easily as they don't hold value very well.

Originally posted by TDF in vulch mode:

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Please, let us know if you end up parting out the car, I'd like to pick up a few things.

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can I have the car?