dinged by a TOUR BUS!

[seatown.P5]

ok, so its a little more than a ding...

was sitting in my living room saturday night, hear a greyhound-type bus go down the street. think that's pretty strange since i live on a very narrow urban street, cars parked on both sides, etc. especially strange since the main through street is one block over. don't bother to get up and check it out.

the wife and i go out next morning (sunday) and walk to where i parked the P5, about a block from our place. we're all set to go out for a day of motoring. notice its kinda crooked in relation to the curb, don't remember parking it that way the previous night. walk around to the driver's side, stop, swear. wife finds a note on the windshield... "your car was hit as 11:25pm saturday by a bus. didn't get the license plate but sign on bus was www.partybus.com". swear some more.

insurance estimates about $1700 in damage, supposed to get a copy of the estimate tomorrow from the body shop. gave them the usual requests - use only mazda genuine parts, same tire as the other three, make sure the wheel is polished and not the regular one, etc. no word yet if they were able to get freakin' partybus.com to pay up. filed a hit and run report with the police. at least my deductible won't be the full amout because of the hit and run status. at best, partybus will pay up and i'll get my deductible back.

but WTF! was the driver lost or something?! what a dumbshit! i know those buses are big, but c'mon! it ripped open the tire and cracked the wheel! how can you not hear that along with the scraping? and then not leave a note! argh. pics...

 

[alexlitov]

fuckers!!!

 

[uclap5]

busses suck ass, i was on the blue bus to school and the driver smacked into the side mirror of a pickup and didnt even notice, or care. getting off the buss i saw a 6 ft scrape alone the buss with the white paint of the truck.

Hope all goes well with the insurance.

 

[LA dreamer]

I have a midnight blue P5 that was also dinged today, not by a bus, but by ME! I had too many things in my hands and a giant boom box strapped around my shoulder. I opened the back seat door and the boom box swung around and smashed into the side of my car. It left a good sized dent and chipped the paint. I was pretty angry...at not only myself, but Mazda for using cheap paint/metal AND the Radio Shack guy who didn't know how to help me the night before. He told me to bring my boom box in the next day and if he had only known what he was doing, I never would have had to bring it in and therefore never would have smashed my car up. Hours later after telling myself it was no big deal, just a car and it can't stay perfect forever, I forgave him, Mazda and took responsibility that I was the one who did the damage and they had NOTHING to do with it whatsoever!

It's easy to point a finger, but in this case I need to point it at myself. For some strange reason it is human nature to blame others for everything that goes wrong in our lives.

 

[azeli73]

judging by the website the driver probably had some strippers (boobs) in his face and got distracted.

Keep us up to date on what you find out!

 

[seatown.P5]

update

Estimate for the cosmetic damage is $1700. But who knows what might have happened to the suspension/steering. Luckily, the shop I took it to does it all. They'll be putting on all new parts--bumper cover, fender, etc.--and of course new tire and wheel.

The cop who filled out the hit and run report said they do good work, and University Mazda said that's where they send their cars, so I'm feeling pretty good about their ability to get it right. And if I drive it away and its still messed up, I'm going right back.

Turns out PartyBus doesn't actually own the buses, they simply contract their services out to local bus companies. My insurance is still trying to track down who the operators are in Seattle, but I doubt they'll get very far. Now I have to go door door in my hood to find the person who left the note. Hopefully they'll be able to provide more info.

If all goes well, should have the P5 back by late next week. I miss it!:'(

 

[JOS3]

of course he isnt going to stop. the driver would have to face disciplinary action from his employer for smashing a car or possibly get fired. what goes around, comes around. someone will smash his car..........