Crapweasel's SE

ASE05 · Postby **ASE05** » Wed Sep 12, 2012 10:17 am

Good chance the Merc's a right off. Musta been a good freakin' hit!

Postby **Okibi** » Thu Sep 13, 2012 9:25 pm

Glad your ok, looking at the Merc I would have expected much more damage to your car. :shock:

Crapweasel · Postby **Crapweasel** » Thu Sep 13, 2012 10:35 pm

I've been showing non MX-5 owners (Commodore & Falcon fans mostly that are the norm at my job) and they're impressed with how tough the little MX-5 is, and equally impressed with the damage my car did to the Merc considering I was the one that was hit.

It's gained a whole bunch of respect and new knowledge for these cars from guys who's first question has been "is it front wheel drive?"

MINX · Postby **MINX** » Fri Sep 14, 2012 6:40 am

Mercs are renowned for their active and passive safety
So it is no surprise the crumple zones worked, and make it look like a lot of damage
That is how it is designed to absorb the impact - and as you say - no one was injured
Unfortunately our cars being so small can not afford to sacrifice as much crumple for absorbtion

Crapweasel · Postby **Crapweasel** » Fri Sep 14, 2012 7:54 pm

MINX wrote:Mercs are renowned for their active and passive safety
So it is no surprise the crumple zones worked, and make it look like a lot of damage
That is how it is designed to absorb the impact - and as you say - no one was injured
Unfortunately our cars being so small can not afford to sacrifice as much crumple for absorbtion

Agree completely, and while the rest of us know this, it makes for a great story to the uninitiated! :mrgreen:

Crapweasel · Postby **Crapweasel** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 11:16 pm

Picked up the loan car today, massive thanks to Aunty G's parents, one of the first 50 MX-5's into Australia, a red 1989 NA6 with 279000km on the clock.

It's a blast to drive, a little rough around the edges, but mechanically sound - it's had all of it's scheduled servicing, will show it a bit of TLC while mine's off the road.

Great opportunity to spend a decent amount of time in an NA and discover the origins of these little cars!

Postby **Okibi** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 11:26 pm

Sounds like you've landed on your feet, nice of them to lend you an MX. :mrgreen:

Crapweasel · Postby **Crapweasel** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 1:47 am

I'm completely blown away that they would lend me their little NA to drive, but they know I'll look after it, and it'll be returned in better condition than it was when I collected it! Apparently it wasn't going to be dríven otherwise - Mrs B won't drive it anymore, and Mr B is too busy with his antique tractor collection to get out and drive it properly, but fortunately they still look after it mechanically, as it's service records are perfect!

Crapweasel · Postby **Crapweasel** » Tue Sep 25, 2012 10:51 pm

This post is just an addition to this thread to continue the story so I can look back on it - no updates unfortunately.

Called Impact yesterday and got more of the story... Apparently they've quoted a few things below normal charge to try and save the car which is great, but it says to me that this is reasonably serious, seeing as it's been a week since the assessor was out to look at it and still no definite answer. I'm now of the opinion that it's not looking good.

As for NitroDann's Long Awaited Estimate (just messing with ya) of $6-7k damage, not bad for a from memory guesstimate - but first estimate was at least $10k, I'm assuming it covers full replacement for the part you can hardly see...

It's the small Nurburgring logo sticker I had on the side above the indicator, as they have to send me back there for another go so I can get a new one. :mrgreen:

Crapweasel · Postby **Crapweasel** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 7:15 pm

Car has been written off, $13k damage plus suspension.

Now the journey starts again... :evil:

MINX · Postby **MINX** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 7:22 pm

so what happens now?
do you get any bits / modds off the car?
can you buy it back to part out?
or do you just walk away with a cheque to find a new one?

Stu

Crapweasel · Postby **Crapweasel** » Thu Sep 27, 2012 7:54 pm

It's a timing thing unfortunately, there's one I have my eye on, but I'm not sure how quickly the parts would sell - everything aside from the front left is fine and I don't have the facilities or tools available to do a proper part out, but am going to post an EOI thread to judge interest before making a decision.

If I do take it on again, there's bound to be things aside from the tail lights, clear reflectors & mats that I'd remember I want to keep.