Well, I just totaled my car

[tom26]

Before I even go into details this car meant everything to me and I fucked it up.
I'm only 18 years old and hell probably shouldn't have even been driving it in the first place, but my parents put so much trust in me, but I blew it, BIG TIME.

It was about 245, I was on my way home from just a daily drive, Just driving along the beach, like I do all the time. I stopped at a corner store to buy some cigs before I went home.

The road home goes through a residential neighborhood, and there's basically one lane each way separated by a median with trees and stuff. Theres one turn before a small straight and I was in second gear going about 20-25, as I'm coming around the turn I give it a bit of gas at the apex and a cat goes running across the road. I panic, and quickly turn left and the left side of my car hops onto the median. I turn right, but by this time I've lost complete control of the car and I'm skidding towards a house, so I turn left to try to correct, now i'm sliding sideways almost completely horizontal, but at sort of an angle towards the opposite lane. My whole car hops onto the median now and just keeps sliding horizontally and I'm looking out the passenger window and All I see is a tree..the front passenger side slams right into it and I finally come to a stop.

luckily no one was hurt and thank god nobody was with me, that's the important thing. But It was my fault I'm just a young kid who makes bad decisions sometimes and did something incredibly moronic.

heres the aftermath...
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I took the boot off and its all crooked and shit
If I were to guess the transmission is completely fucked. The engine starts and idles, but just doesn't sound right. It's also leaking a bit of oil. I can shift into 3,4,5,6, and reverse, but not 1 and 2.

The best scenario for my situation is insurance will give me a check for the damages and hopefully let me keep the car. Right now it's sitting in my driveway. I just hope and pray that at least the engine is okay.

My flame suit is fully applied so feel free to chew the shit outa me, cuz hell even I think I deserve it for doing something so goddamn avoidable..

[fbmbikeco72]

dude u wrecked a s... man well hey shit happens keep ur head up bro

[The_Jerbel]

I'd take my shotgun and go and hunt down that cat

Sorry about your loss man. That's brutal. We've all made a bad decision or two over the years, I'm sorry that yours resulted in the loss of your car.

[S4 in_lowplaces]

sucky. srry to hear. sue the cat for not using a crosswalk.

[Larson7.62]

I don't see why anyone should chew you out for what you did unless you're not telling us the whole story. You saw a cat run across the road and you tried to avoid hitting it. It's a natural reaction. I am sure I would have done the same thing

[RebelS4]

That sucks man, sorry to hear. 3500lb car...I doubt you would of even felt the cat! Sorry im heartless.

[nizmosx]

yes they always say if you see a deer in the road, dont avoid it, the aftermath could be worse than hitting it straight on. its sad but hey shit happens. i wouldnt say that this happend because your 18. you didnt want to kill a cat and this was the end result.

[tom26]

yea, I guess so, but if I wasn't driving so carelessly to begin with then none of this would have happened.

Do you guys think the motor is ok? cuz maybe I can find a cheap salvaged titled s4 with loads of miles and transplant the engine into it

[cdc]

Everyone makes mistakes, I think I would swerve to avoid the cat. Aslong as you are ok thats all that matters.

Why would you want to keep the car?

[S4 in_lowplaces]

yes they always say if you see a deer in the road, dont avoid it, the aftermath could be worse than hitting it straight on. its sad but hey shit happens. i wouldnt say that this happend because your 18. you didnt want to kill a cat and this was the end result.

If you where to walk out in front of me i would have hit you straight on, probablly even accelerate if i had time.

OP'er dont keep the car, get your insurance money and buy another one.

[tom26]

whatever insurance gives me will go towards the loan on the car.

[S4evr]

sucks alot man! but thankfully you didnt have it as bad as me. i made a similar mistake with my first car. poked my nose out too much at an intersection, a car going 35 in a 25 took my front end off. my mustang was totaled and we were found both at fault. my second mustang was faster than the first, and one night i got cocky and decided to give it some gas while doing a u turn. gave it too much and slammed the rear into a curb. broke the wheel, rear brakes, rear suspension, and the whole rear end. THEN when i got my s (3rd car) i wanted to drive it soo bad so before it was even registered i took it out for a spin. i was coming up to a turn i always bombed back when i had my mustang and i figured since i had AWD i could take it faster. WRONG. needless to say i was very lucky. the rear started to slide and clipped the curb (it was a gentle concrete curb at like a 70* angle not the verticle stone ones) so no damage there. but that curb saved me from doing a complete 180 at 85 mph which would have sent me into the trees. but it did spit me out into the opposite lane of traffic where thankfully no cars were at the time and i proceeded to run a stop sign because i was still trying to regain control of the car. God was on my shoulder that day and since then i havent done anything too stupid *knock on wood*

wow sorry i just ranted but hey, its definetly not the end of the world i guess would be my point. I'll be 20 in less than a month and although my insurance rates are sky high i have learned alot

[Ewok_Fetus]

Just to let you know, you are a dipshit for driving like that in a residential zone... Next time you do that, it might be a kid and then you go to jail for a few years... Not to mention, there are guys like me that WILL stop you in some way or another... Whether it be calling the cops, throwing something at your car or even call you out... Watch what you are doing next time... Could care less if you wrap your car around a tree in the woods but in a residential zone... Grow up...

[mholme]

Could have happened to anyone. Don't beat yourself up over it. Be glad that you lived to tell. And kudos for manning up and taking responsibility for it. I've heard people telling all kinds of whoppers about cars and animals coming out of nowhere cutting them off, etc. Come to find out they were just being stupid and got into a situaion they couldn't handle. You had an accident, plain and simple. It happens.

[AMC]

itll buff right out i swear!

that sucks bro as long as ur ok, u can always replace the s with another. consider yourself lucky. but next time, run the damn cat over lol

we have all had our fair share of mistakes in the past.... here is mine, driving to school with my brother on a road we werent to sure of, goin around 65-70mph (45 zone) on a very slight curve and started to powerslid (dry road contitions besides wet frozen leaves on the ground which i payed no attention to), i slammed on the braked and turned the otehr direction smacked the curb broke the wheel off of the car and started flipping over 3 and a half times and came to a rest over 200ft later. we are both over 6'2" and i was 16 at the time


every body panel was destroyed and the hard top saved our life which we decided to put on the night before school

[GFRRS3]

Well first off it takes guts to admit you screwed up...it shows a bit of character, did you tell your parents and the cops 20-25? That impact to twist the car and bend the A-pillar is a alot of force. Id say a MINIMUM of 30-35mph+ upon impact, after scrubing off some speed by braking on grass and pavement. Glad you are OK, thats the most important part, when and if you get another S4, take it to an abandon/empty parking lot and put the car up to 35-40mph and rip the wheel and attempt to correct it. Learn to correct and reel the car back in. Once again glad you are ok and glad you have the guts to admit your error. We all learn the hard way sometimes. When I was 17 I was meessing around on some black ice and hit the only pole in a 2 mile stretch of roadway. Sh$T happens just learn from it. Good luck finding a replacement car, and yes the car is TOTALLED.

BTW Im a certified NYS accident investigator and reconstructionist if you had a passanger it would have been severe head truama or death.

Heres a fatal..involving an A4...
http://www.car-accidents.com/2007-cr...i-a4-crash.gif

[washyourrhands]

im sorry to hear that man=[[

[GunSupplier]

OP'er dont keep the car, get your insurance money and buy another one.

Indeed. Don't keep it. Cars are never the same after serious/semi-serious wrecks. Even if they look the same cosmetically, mechanically there's always some sort of quirk that wasn't there before, or you'll be plagued by unknown rattles. Anyway, insurance will most likely deem it unrepairable and total it.

Glad you're ok. That's what counts. I wrecked my previous car in a pretty stupid wreck, too. Everyone feels stupid after wrecking. Don't sweat it.

On a side note, are you sure you were only going 20/25? (I'm not busting your balls, just interested in how the S4s hold up in impacts) That impact looks pretty severe for 20-25, although, I'm no expert in crashes.

[tom26]

Ok, thanks guys for the sympathy but it just doesn't feel right. I lied plain and simple. There was no cat crossing the street, I should have told the cops that and maybe I wouldn't be so fucked right now, but I just lied to you guys and am deeply sorry.

I went around the turn way to fast and basically the same shit happened above just minus the cat. I didn't swerve to avoid it I was going too fast around the turn and maybe it was some of the dirt and rocks on the road (not trying to make excuses again) but I took it too wide and popped the curb, swerved right, swerved left, then slammed into the tree.

Again I can't take back what I said in the beginning. It was immature and stupid . It was my mistake and mine only.
Again I truly do apologize and this may change some of your opinions towards me, but it's the truth.

[GFRRS3]

Ok, thanks guys for the sympathy but it just doesn't feel right. I lied plain and simple. There was no cat crossing the street, I should have told the cops that and maybe I wouldn't be so fucked right now, but I just lied to you guys and am deeply sorry.

I went around the turn way to fast and basically the same shit happened above just minus the cat. I didn't swerve to avoid it I was going too fast around the turn and maybe it was some of the dirt and rocks on the road (not trying to make excuses again) but I took it too wide and popped the curb, swerved right, swerved left, then slammed into the tree.

Again I can't take back what I said in the beginning. It was immature and stupid . It was my mistake and mine only.
Again I truly do apologize and this may change some of your opinions towards me, but it's the truth.

Most of us knew....dont beat yourself down so bad. Just promise us youll learn from it....just for Sh$ts sake what was your speed before you lost it 60mph?

[AMC]

you should have kept with the original story dumbass...the flamming begins lol

[Nogaro_PhiDelt]

another one bites the dust.

sorry to hear it man, hope you stay with an S..happens to the best of us. I lost my first S when I was 17, wasn't my fault, but it still sucks..and I still have back pain from the accident today.

[Chaka]

I was going to say thats a lot of damage for 25mph

[2ndEngineS4]

Dude. Stop. Think about what you say next. It could change your life. This is the internet, not a confessional.



P.S. I knew there was no cat from the beginning. Your story sucked and statistics say that a short straightaway, a little gas, and a stray cat is a very small possibility.

I'm still glad you're okay. And I hope you have a very high quality flame suit because it's about to get f*cking STOKED!

[Eurotuned_A4]

hope you learn from this. you could of killed someone very easily.

[KompMan420]

OK, I was going to sympathize with you until I read your last post. Now you're just an ass and deserve to go to jail.

[mholme]

Could have happened to anyone. Don't beat yourself up over it. Be glad that you lived to tell. And kudos for manning up and taking responsibility for it. I've heard people telling all kinds of whoppers about cars and animals coming out of nowhere cutting them off, etc. Come to find out they were just being stupid and got into a situaion they couldn't handle. You had an accident, plain and simple. It happens.

And now I've heard one more..Flame on....

[tom26]

It's a real tight turn with a curb on one side and swale on the other, going into the turn im not so sure it had to be at least 30mph, I was in second so i was in about full boost range, I gunned it right before the turn so if I had to guess at the apex I had to be doing at least 45.
definitely a learning experience to say the least. You never think something like this could happen to YOU until it does, its just a matter of time. From now on I'm gonna drive like my grandmother, if I'm lucky enough to even get another car.

[2ndEngineS4]

From now on I'm gonna drive like my grandmother

No more lies. You're only 18 and you're destined to drive like an asshole for at least another 7 years. Insurance says so.

[audiwop]

Stop beating yourself up over this, you just had a loss of talent, simple as that. Your only 18 and will make many more bone head mistakes in the years to come, trust me on that one.

[SourDieselS4]

bummer dont sweat it though it happens to the best of us

[audiwop]

It's a real tight turn with a curb on one side and swale on the other, going into the turn im not so sure it had to be at least 30mph, I was in second so i was in about full boost range, I gunned it right before the turn so if I had to guess at the apex I had to be doing at least 45.
definitely a learning experience to say the least. You never think something like this could happen to YOU until it does, its just a matter of time. From now on I'm gonna drive like my grandmother, if I'm lucky enough to even get another car.

Remember when going into a sharp corner, Brake before the turn, get the car set up to hit the apex, and accelerate out of the apex. Don't gun it before a turn, you'll actually go slower.

[tom26]

ok aside from all the flaming and lying and bullshit that just went down. Insurance has yet to look at my car and we're trying to handle the situation to our advantage as much as possible. So once I get an appraisal does anyone know if the insurance company takes the actual car, or just let you decide what to do with it.
By the looks of it the motor is ok, well it starts at least.
This is the best case scenario in my mind:
Insurance will write us a check, we pay the deductible, and they let me keep the car. I can then either sell the motor and whatevers left and make a bit of money. Or keep the motor, maybe build it up, find a cheap s4 and sell whatever motor is in it already and put mine in it. There's just under 60k miles on it so it's got a lot of life in it.
By looking at the pictures what kind of motor/tranny damage do you guys think I may be looking at?

[S4-ORCE]

It seems like you mustve been going much faster to lose control like that unless something is not right.

I just cant see it happening only going 25MPH. Good luck

[ewuzh]

This is probably what you don't want to hear, but from my past experiences, I would not buy the car back at all. My friend got into a similar accident, bought his car back, spent a grip of money fixing it, but it still has a ton of problems all the time. Leaking fluids, overheating, electronic/wiring issues... He wanted to keep the motor because it had low mileage on it too. Let's just say his dash lights up like a Christmas tree all the time.

Personally, I'd try to squeeze as much out of insurance as possible, take their check, buy another car and call it a day.

[KryptoniK01]

I did something very similar when I was about your age... I had literally JUST purchased a Honda s2000 and 2 hours after driving off the lot I lost the back end on a slightly wet road. I ended up folding the rear wheel under the car, completely screwing the rear suspension, and parking it up on someones lawn.

Although it was an extremely stupid mistake, looking back I think it saved my life by teaching me a damn good lesson. I had, and still have a whole new level of respect for the power thats in your hands every time you get behind the wheel of a car.

Learn from the mistake and save the racing for the track. Thank god nobody was injured or worse.

[wannabeS4]

This happened to me before, I was young and inexperienced. I was driving late at night on a country rode and wasnt really paying attention and as i was mid turn a deer jumped out in front of me and swerved and lost control and hit some trees. If the trees werent there I would have gone down a big hill and probably not been seen by passing cars. When the cops showed up they said I should have just hit the deer, live and learn I guess. Glad you or anybody wasnt hurt, I also think you were going faster than 25, in my accident I was going 50-55 and had damage like yours to the front of my car. Hope everything works out for you with insurance.

[S4evr]

guys he already admitted he wasnt going 25.

i also agree not to buy it back. When i totaled my first car, it was only worth 6,000 at the most. I had done tons of work to it however, exhaust, wheels, a new top and other stuff im forgetting since it was 3 years ago. anyway, i gathered all my receipts up from the mods i did, and sent them in to the insurance company. they honored most of it and i got a check for 8,500. so if you did any mods, make sure to note it to the insurance company, you may get lucky and get your mod money back.

[tom26]

Ok, maybe I'm getting confused with all this. But if my insurance company offers me a check and they say the car is totaled, why would they want it, would they let me keep it first off?

[mholme]

Ok, maybe I'm getting confused with all this. But if my insurance company offers me a check and they say the car is totaled, why would they want it, would they let me keep it first off?

They're not gonna give you a check and let you keep the car they just paid you for. In some states, you can buy back the car for salvage value, or they just deduct that from the amount of the total value of the car(your check). But you have a loan to pay off, so any money that you see would be in your best intersest paying off the loan I would think.