Wrecked Rabbit

[Rabbit TD]

Well tonight was the night I always knew could happen and it did.  I had a wreck in my Rabbit that I've been fixing up for 4 years now with a new paint job, T/D engine and everything else under the sun we do with these things.  I was pulling into Autozone and didn't see a car in another lane hidden by traffic and she hit me in the rear pass. side and busted the Rabbit up pretty good in the front of the quarter pannel and the door too.  Nobody was hurt and thank God for that.  We called the police and they don't even respond if nobody's  injured and they said just to exchange ins. information and such. She had an older late 80's Olds Cutlas and all I did was put a little blue paint on her bumper which will buff off and her husband came along and said he wasn't worried about it and said just forget about it so we both went on our way.  I guess it was my fault if it has to be somebody's, you just can't see *** in that spot. 
     I got home and looked at the rabbit and thought how in the world can  I fix that, especialy a quarter pannel mashed clear in almost to the wheel and about a third of the door.  It even kinked the door jam some but the door does close and latch.  This is when the time comes when you think, "I've spent a fortune on this thing and now look at it and they are so old you can't get a good body anymore and I shouldn't have spent  all this money on this thing over the years."  I knew this when I started but we  just keep going anyway because we love these little creatures like a pet and know they will eventualy die someday. 
     After I collected my thoughts I took it down to the garage and tried pulling it out from the wheel as much as I could with a power pull hooked to the hitch on my truck and actually pulled it out enough and with a little hammering on the kinks it actualy looks 80% better and I'm sure I can fix it. The door jam actualy came out pretty good too luckily.  The door I'm not really worried to bad about because I can just get another one if I can't get it right but with a little luck I'll be able to save my pet.  It turned out pretty good as far as nobody being hurt ad no police involved and the other people said their car wasn't hurt enough to worry about but it makes you think really hard about when do I finaly stop putting money in this thing and what do I do with the parts if something like this happens.  I guess a Golf would be the best bet if I could find one but I like the Jettas better but I  imagine they are a good bit heavier aren't they and this is just a 1.6 T/D I have.

[airhead]

Sorry to hear this, mate. I know how i'd feel if I crashed a car I cared for so much. Look, if its given you so much pleasure and enjoyment over the years, then its money well spent. It doesnt matter what its resale value is. What matters is what its worth to you. Don't lose faith.

[theman53]

I have thought about this already and when mine goes on the road I will have full coverage. Not only that I am going to have the insurance agent insure it for more than the value, becuase if I hit a deer and total this thing I want to be able to buy the engine back and get one of those rust free cars out west. Those things always are big money. Or insure it enough to buy a TDI, but I know for as much work as I have in this it still won't come close. Good deal that no one got hurt.

[burn_your_money]

You won't know if you are hurt until about 48 hours after the accident. I'd recommend visiting a chiropractor and getting checked out.

I've been the guy in the Cutlas twice, you are lucky to have not been hurt.

Best of luck fixing up the car. I feel for you. At least it's only metal and not skin and bones

[catlin_cava]

I'm sorry to hear about your car man, Atleast No one was hurt. I do agree with Tyler, Go get checked, I wrecked a 2 years ago and never bothered since I was alone and my major fault. And Now I have really bad back pains now and then from it.

[rabbitman]

aaww man that's terrible At least noone got hurt and your car isn't complete junk.

I hate to think of smashing up my bunny after it being my favorite toy for 3 1/2 years.

About 20 years ago my Uncle was driving a dasher and got rear ended by a semi and his back is still messed up from it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have yours checked.

[maxfax]

Sorry to hear but, any wreck you can walk/limp/stagger away from is a good wreck.. If the car can still drive home that's a bonus..

I've had several cars over the years I've dumped too much time, money, and blood into..  Probably exceeded resale value by 4x on some of them..   But I enjoyed every minute of it, and still do it time and time again.. Besides, what would any of us do if we weren;t wrenching on our toys???

[Rabbit TD]

Sorry to hear but, any wreck you can walk/limp/stagger away from is a good wreck.. If the car can still drive home that's a bonus..

I've had several cars over the years I've dumped too much time, money, and blood into..  Probably exceeded resale value by 4x on some of them..   But I enjoyed every minute of it, and still do it time and time again.. Besides, what would any of us do if we weren;t wrenching on our toys???

Yes that's the way I feel about it too.  As far as the wreck itself it couldn't have worked out any better.  No one was hurt, no police involved and we both had old cars and there isn't going to be any insurance claims.  I've done this numerous times myself, take an old vehicle and fix it up a little and after a point you can't stop and know damn well it's always be the same result in the end.  It will either rust to peices, get hit or a tree fall on it.  My last truck had both, tree first then the rust.  Now I have a fresh .030 over 350 with a Wiend Supercharger on it in the basement with about 20,000 on it and have no idea what to do with it.  I hope the new T/D engine doesn't end up sitting beside it on their stands

[arb]

Oh Man... I worry about this all the time with my diesel caravan conversion. In Michigan we have "no fault" insurance so there is a limit of $400 in payment IF the other guy was at fault. Now, my rust free Virginia car can't have full coverage insurance with this diesel engine and have them pay me any more than "blue book" for this 1992 car, less diesel engine. So I am at the mercy of God. We just completed a 400 mile trip pulling a pop-up camper w/ 2 kayaks, a canoe, and 620 pounds of people in the caravan. Every intersection I was worried would be the end of my mistress. Worry lost. What happens happens, move on. Adapt, overcome, conquer.

[Rabbit TD]

Oh Man... I worry about this all the time with my diesel caravan conversion. In Michigan we have "no fault" insurance so there is a limit of $400 in payment IF the other guy was at fault. Now, my rust free Virginia car can't have full coverage insurance with this diesel engine and have them pay me any more than "blue book" for this 1992 car, less diesel engine. So I am at the mercy of God. We just completed a 400 mile trip pulling a pop-up camper w/ 2 kayaks, a canoe, and 620 pounds of people in the caravan. Every intersection I was worried would be the end of my mistress. Worry lost. What happens happens, move on. Adapt, overcome, conquer.

l
Yes I often wondered about different insurance possibilities, I just have what's necessary for it to be legal now.  The condition it was in I could probably get it to qualify for antique insurance which is dirt cheap but then you are limited to like 2,500 mi a year though.  I had it on a 66 Mustang for my Son a few years ago, $75 a year with a payout of $6000 on up with no deductable if it was wrecked or stolen.  They have to have a lot of pictures to make sure it's not just a peice of junk you are trying to make out with though before they accept you too.  I've learned some new things messing with the litle beast like wet sanding and polishing with the different compounds from Meguires and ect.  I never tried that before.  I couldn't begin to tell you how many cans of high build primer, base color and clear I actualy went through one pannel at a time.  I painted and did all the little body dings 2 winters ago and it looked like a brand new car and I a atualy did it with spray cans {automotive} with clear and after wet sanding and polishing it looks better than anything I ever did with a spray gun alone, that really made me feel good at the time.  It was too cold outside to shoot it outside and I didn't want to take a chance blowing  up the house with a spray gun in the basement garage and hearing her ***ing the whole time too.  But that seems to happen regardless it seems   Oh well, I guess I'm gonna learn how to do some intense body work now, but it will give me an excuse to get somemore tools too, Harbour Freight here I come again

[diesel smoke]

That sucks man. Got any pictures?