Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Pics and Videos "I had an accident today, not good!"

Ah yes! To swerve or not to swerve, THAT is the question. Perhaps the answer lies with the relative high-speed skills of the driver. Sometimes our skills fail us. And sometimes, despite our skill level, it may simply be a poor judgment call. Consider my own similar experience:

Despite being a graduate of Bob Bondourant's School of High Performance Driving, and despite considerable experience "taking the bends" at Mossport, I faced a similar situation with a critter in the road.

It was a beautiful day. The road was straight and true through deserted farm country. My SE was cracking along at around 90 MPH. There in the middle of the road an animal stood frozen. Rather than swerve, as Roger did, I took a calculated risk. If I could get there in time, before it moved, I thoiught I would have a good chance of straddling it. I floored it and hung on. The ATX kicked down and I could hear that subliminal, agressive growl of my Duratec engine. Just at the encounter point, I glanced at the speedo. Hmmm...108 miles an hour. The following sickening thud told me I was unsuccessful.

Now here's the hard part: I was able to limp into a gas station in the next town. But now shock was turning into realization. Now don't get me wrong. I don't belong to PETA or anything like that, but I AM an animal lover. Tears welled up in my eyes as I experienced a flood of guilt and remorse. I rolled back my head, closed my eyes, and, even though I was alone in that car I cried out aloud in anguish, "That poor...COW"!

Sorry, Roger....J/K

ah looks like someone finally got their username to work ! but you forgot to update your name, pops...

Was he kidding about the whole story and yes, that name needs to be changed to "3SE's" Nice to see back up on the boards, I guess it wasn't the forum afterall LOL!

That was such a touching story....you're makin' me all verklempt

As predicted, the Bilsteins are on backorder, well the rear ones are anyways, so it looks like the car will be sitting there for a couple weeks. I told the guy at the bodyshop that BAT has one or two fronts and they need to get on the list for needing a rear. I thought some good karma would come my way as I've tried to be a good guy here in the CEG but it isn't to be Thanks for your support on this matter anyways guys, I really appreciate it. I'm not adding anything else to this post as theres nothing else to say. If/when I get my car back, I'll post the pics in another post, so wish me luck, I really need it

***UPADATE*** The rear Bilsteins will be in in 10 days, light is being seen at the end of the tunnel...finally Oh and BTW, I'm up to $5600K worth of damage, mostly all suspension/radiator & associated parts. I guess I'll have a "new feelin'" car when its all said and done, along with new and improved stripes and the cool lookin' S2000 antenna

It will look toight with the S2000 ant.

Hopefully the car will get done sooner that that. make sure your brakes go on correctly, we all know that old people use them alot!

The guy at the bodyshop called me again yesterday and ran a couple things past me. It seems now that my car is 4 years old they don't want to replace some of the parts with factory, they want to go aftermarket. In particular, the A/C condensor and radiator which I allowed them to do, but I sprung the money out of my pocket to pay the difference for the wheel hubs/bearing to get Ford OEM. Either way, everything is covered with a lifetime warranty (I think they do that because who keeps their cars long nowadays, so they're covered) I did mention the brake clip to him and atleast he has the otherside to use as a reference incase it isn't right

on the body parts issue. Are you going through your insurance? I think I remember that you were. The body shop can not tell you or suggest to you to replace factory body parts with aftermarket one unless you are paying all out of pocket. The insurance company can not even tell you that. Factory parts must be replaced with factory parts and aftermarket parts must be replaced with aftermarket parts, that's the law. It seems to me that someone is making some profit at your expense in the way of cheaper parts.

Something to ponder.

Not in all areas. I'm not sure what the lasws in that state are. In Massachusetts, You only get new OEM parts if the car is less than 1 year old or you buy the "OEM Endorsement".

However, the aftermarket parts have to strictly adhere to the OEM specifications. PLEASE REMEMBER, the job of the insurance company is to return your vehicle to the condition it was in at the time of loss.... NOT better, NOT worse. If your car is aging, you can't expect to have all NEW parts installed. It's called betterment.

I work for an insurance company and as a car nut, it kills me to think about aftermarket or non-OEM parts being installed in your car, but if they do it for you (someone who cares about their car), they have to do it for everybody else (most who could care less about the car they drive), and that could lead to higher insurance rates.

Good luck and make sure you are happy with the work done by the shop. Some shops will try to use OEM used parts instead of New aftermarket parts (At least you'll get the OEM fit and some Ford logos...