Aaaarrrrggggghhhhh

[hurschel]

Replaced tires Tues. picked up a screw Thurs. wife was coming home Sat. and thinks she fell asleep, left the two lane road on the left side, hit a concrete abutment and traveled back onto the road and came to a stop in her lane. She was about 5 miles from home and when I got there, there was a lot of smoke and I thought the car was on fire. The fire was at the spot where she hit the abutment and the grass was burning heading for the cornfield. The wife is fine, airbag hit her in the face and the seatbelt left a mark across her chest.
The 5 didn't fare so well. When I pulled up, the car didn't look that bad, part of the under cover was hanging down and bottom of the front bumper and small part of the grill was broken and a puddle of brown, red, and green liquid on the road. A couple of fellow who had stopped and helped put out the fire came walking up with their hands full of the bottom plastic cover and big chunks of aluminum parts and the oil filter. I looked under the hood and the engine is cocked forward against the radiator. Under the car I can see the oil pump and the crank, motor is locked up, big chunk out of the transmission and the steering rack is jammed up against the floor and the front wheels are pointed inward. Looks like she hit the concrete dead center and all the cross members are bent back and up. Called my brother and got it up on his dolly and got it home. Took wife to the ER since her head and shoulder was hurting, got home at 1:30 AM, glad to report that everything checked our all right.
It's raining today so I'll get pics tomorrow. Glad it didn't turn out worse.

 

[repthemazdas]

wow that sucks! glad yall r all ok..

 

[Robotazky]

Holy crap! So your day is flipped upside down. I'm really sorry to hear this. Glad though to hear everyone is OK.

Let's talk more about it when the shock wears off. Again, glad to hear your wife is OK.

 

[Sounbwoy]

Nothing else matters but the safety of your family. Glad everyone's okay.

 

[hurschel]

Absolutely, the metal and plastic can be replaced. Will try to upload some pics, hard to get really good ones from the underside.

 

[hurschel]

Some more.

 

[hurschel]

Last ones.

 

[hurschel]

Holy crap! So your day is flipped upside down. I'm really sorry to hear this. Glad though to hear everyone is OK.

Let's talk more about it when the shock wears off. Again, glad to hear your wife is OK.

You're right about the shock, already talked to the ins. and am going to take it by their office tomorrow on the way to the dealer. I think I'll take it to Huffman's on Dixie since there will be lots of Mazda parts needed. I have no idea if it will be totalled, mixed feelings about that. I really like the car and would like to have it back, but not sure it will ever be right again.

 

[repthemazdas]

wow i see alot of broken stuff but it shouldnt be totaled..witch means u should get it back... after some time of work...

 

[hurschel]

I really don't think the body has been tweaked, none of the body gaps is changed and the doors function as always. I don't know how long the engine ran after losing all the oil, the wife shut it off after she got stopped, just don't know how long that interval was. The trans housing and the torque converter and flex plate ring gear is toast so I suppose the trans will get replaced.

 

[repthemazdas]

yea i saw that tranns housing and wow that look bad but dont worrie u will see it wen u wake up and walk outside and there it is good as new.. just dont give up on it an it will do the same for u.

 

[markuszoom5]

Sorry about this.

First of all, your wife (and I tell that to my wife all the time, she is a nurse and works 12 hour shifts sometimes) should not be putting her safety and life on the line no matter how important. Second, pay the $500 deductible, send it to a Mazda Collision shop and you will get it back. Now, from experience of being rearended by a Harley on the highway when I had a 2006 Jetta, and also being hit by a merging Verizon truck, both not my fault, the car will be (if the shop is good) 99.5% the same. That 0.5% might or might not show up, for example, a bulb keeps burning out, or airbag light comes on, or some weird crap. That is from experience. Still, you can always trade it in and get something else or the new body style MZ5. But just fix it first so that you have both options available. Good luck man, and I am really sorry it happened to you. Don't be mad @ your wife for what happened, she probably feels guilty. Just hang in there.

 

[mazdadude]

OOOO man! Glad your wife is OK! That is so scary. Keep us updated, and give the wifey some extra attention. It usually takes a few days for some of the pain to set in.

 

[Robotazky]

You're right about the shock, already talked to the ins. and am going to take it by their office tomorrow on the way to the dealer. I think I'll take it to Huffman's on Dixie since there will be lots of Mazda parts needed. I have no idea if it will be totalled, mixed feelings about that. I really like the car and would like to have it back, but not sure it will ever be right again.

I noticed the underside frame piece that goes from one side to the other is toast. Pushing up that far had to pull what it attached to in towards the middle. I'll be surprised if there's no frame damage.

 

[mazdadude]

I noticed the underside frame piece that goes from one side to the other is toast. Pushing up that far had to pull what it attached to in towards the middle. I'll be surprised if there's no frame damage.

Yes, I agree.

I have seen videos produced from Volvo's GLASS FLOORED crash testing facility. If you saw what happened to a vehicle's chassis and unibody during even a low speed collision, I am not sure you would want the wrecked vehicle back.

 

[flcruising]

Frame damage doesn't automatically indicate totaled. Any body shop you take it to will be able to estimate the amount of damage, and from what I see, they will want to put it on a frame machine to check the dimensions based on the manufacturer specs and pull it all back into place. This is very common practice, and I wouldn't want my wrecked vehicle back unless this procedure was performed.


Glad your wife is doing well. She can't be replaced, but a hunk of metal and plastic can.

 

[thaxman]

H8 to agree, but you don't want this back unless you tube the chassis. This would be a great mid-engine/rwd conversion project now.

Sorry to hear about the whole event. GL with your next steps.

 

[hurschel]

Got it dropped at the Mazda Collision Center, will be a couple of days before I hear from them. My insurance is sending one of their adjusters to look at it also. I'm glad she wasn't in the other car, will update as I get more info, I picked up a rental on the way home, I really miss the 5 already.

 

[mpvue]

your mazda did its job, which is is to protect your wife's life. a car is just a car, a wife is harder to replace.

 

[DKaz]

Good to hear your wife is ok.