List all the crap that your vehicles have survived over the years.

GS-R
-rear ended by an MR2 on Clark
-engine shut down after sucking up water in the intake (restarted fine a few minutes later)
-engine shut down after snow in wheel well covered intake (restarted fine a few minutes later)
-rear ended 3 times by a semi tractor trailer on the entrance ramp to the GW Bridge while in stop n go traffic (jackass claimed he couldn't see me)
-hood flew up on interstate while going 75 mph in the fast lane at night while raining
-driven probably 1,000 miles or so with no air filter on the engine (don't ask, but I was unaware)
-slid off Hwy 321 once during a snow storm into a ditch and put the car up on two wheels
-oil drain plug fell off and drained all oil onto street just after I parked
-coolant hoses have burst twice (different hoses, different times) causing coolant temp to spike temporarily into the red.

Accord 2dr
-slid 50-60 ft on black ice to rear end someone (impact speed around 15mph). No rear damage to either car.

8/19/2008 2:26:57 PM

The bent sheetmetal right behind the front wheel + the fact that it had one bent wheel and was riding on the spare tells me my car hit a curb or something similar pretty fucking hard before I bought it. Thank goodness it's an e30.

8/19/2008 2:28:53 PM

There are a few incidents where the Porsche has not survived However, there was one time when my brakes locked up once (bad m/c) and I had to choose either hit a tree or a small sign. I aimed in between and very luckily missed both after jumping the curb. WHEW! I was like, hell yeah, I saved that one! Then while reversing back out, the sign decides to swing down and take out my mirror. I was at a total loss of words. I didn't touch the sign, but I rocked part of the concrete foundation it was on.

[Edited on August 19, 2008 at 2:53 PM. Reason : .]

8/19/2008 2:44:37 PM

I hit the same tree 3 times with in 5 mins... busted out the windshield, tore up the rocker panel, and took off the mirror. full size rig + narrow trail + heavy left foot = damage

8/19/2008 5:12:00 PM

Quote :

"rear ended 3 times by a semi tractor trailer on the entrance ramp to the GW Bridge while in stop n go traffic (jackass claimed he couldn't see me)"

it's not much of an excuse for a professional driver to not know his front blind spot, but he probably couldn't see you. ever sat in a long nose pete or something? integras and even bigger things disappear real easy, lol. if he was loaded up, he could have been grossing 60k lbs. or more. couple that with ridiculous low speed gearing, and healthy diesel, and even at an idle you're not going to feel bumping a 3k lb. car.

[Edited on August 19, 2008 at 5:43 PM. Reason : .]

8/19/2008 5:43:15 PM

^understood. But he sure as fuck should have seen me as I SLOWLY merged over from the lane to his right where the two lanes became one.

I was just glad as hell there wasn't even a scratch on the bumper!

8/19/2008 5:46:48 PM

ah, that's probably why he didn't know you were there. merging from the right makes even more sense that he wouldn't notice you actually. unless he saw you come by in his little lower door window or you were well out in front off his corner, the blind spot on a tractor from about the sleeper forward and in front is terrible. that's about the only thing nice about a cabover is visibility/maneuverability. most conventional chassis/body over the road rigs don't have the little bumper view mirrors like a school bus or delivery truck might. a lot of newer rigs are better with sloped hoods (still not great), but anything with a square nose is bad. it just so happens most of them are the best trucks though.

like i said before though, still not much excuse for a professional that should be paying special attention to keep those areas clear. just saying i can understand/explain why. even with restrictions, those guys are logging TONS of miles too... just by statistics shit's going to happen sometimes unfortunately.

not directed at you, but just a general comment... most drivers are completely ignorant to big trucks and what it takes to operate one. myself included for many years. while it was ingrained in my head by my dad from the time i got my license to always be courteous to them, i didn't really get the full extent of everything until i actually put some seat time in. just being mindful of a few simple things when you're around one in a "normal" vehicle makes that driver's life 10 times easier and you keep yourself/others much safer. they're already doing one of if not the most deadly jobs out there, i'm all for anything i can do to minimize that.

[Edited on August 19, 2008 at 6:48 PM. Reason : .]

8/19/2008 6:45:28 PM

^yeah actually as I was posting my last reply I visualized it in my head and it mirrored what you just said, lol. And yes it was definitely an older truck with the squared off hood.

I totally respect big rigs though (did before this incident as well).

8/19/2008 9:33:46 PM

^ Damn dude. Your GS-R has been through hell huh?

8/19/2008 9:34:47 PM

yeah, he drives the hell out of too... or used to anyway.

8/19/2008 10:11:17 PM

Yeah Ivan I still do Although its in no shape for track duty at the moment. Thats not to say I still don't squeal the tires occasionally or run it up to 8,000 2-3 gears in a row occasionally

I can't believe I'm still on original brake lines, also can't believe the current clutch has seen 150k miles.

8/19/2008 10:58:41 PM

Some dumbass in an 18-wheeler tried to drive on my trailer at a red light one time. Fucker hit it twice before I jumped out yelling for him to stop his fucking truck. He literally pulled up to the red light and forgot I was pulling a trailer. When he started nosing up he was pushing my shit down the road.

8/19/2008 11:41:22 PM

^^yeah, keep an eye on those lines if you drove up north in the snow an all. salt takes a while to do its damage.

so i take it you're back in raleigh now? for good? what happened with the st. thomas thing? i'm headed there on the 30th.

8/20/2008 12:52:14 AM

2000 Acura

ive been hit by 2 different raccoons on 2 seperate occasions:

first one, i was going ~70mph on i-264 between raleigh and greenville.. 3 raccoons ran out from the median right at my headlights, i hit the one weighing about 45 lbs. killed him. I was able to get on the brakes pretty good and even with antilocks and yokohama A022's, he closed the gap too fast..
$5800 in damages

second one, was travelling ~45mph just after it stopped raining on a rural back road.. fucker darts from across the ditch from the treeline, right at the headlights.. i was able to get on the brakes, but barely at all before he bounced off of the front air dam and slid on his fuzzy little back. this one only weighed around 20 or 25 lbs.. when i got out, he hissed at me and scampered into a storm drain under a driveway.. turned my back and he was gone a few minutes later
$2700 in damages

8/20/2008 1:21:37 AM

One of my friends has a 5th generation Prelude that sounds a lot like TKE-Teg's Integra. He has been running the thing for several years now with no air filter because his ricer piece of junk fell off and he never took the time to install a new one. He ran it into a guardrail at 120 MPH street racing, so one side looks good and the other side is fubared from the front fender all the way to the taillights. He recently ran it through some water and now it won't idle and runs like crap (I suspect bent valves from what he described.) Oh yeah, and he claims it dyno'd at "a little over 300 HP." Poor car.

It's a testament to Honda that those things take so much abuse and keep on ticking.

[Edited on August 20, 2008 at 1:25 AM. Reason : l]

8/20/2008 1:25:00 AM

the story of my air filter is as follows:

Two thanksgivings ago after driving from NYC to Charlotte I realized that someone had STOLEN my K&N filter (4 yrs old at the time) off my AEM CAI. They'd taken a knife of some kind and cut a hole in my plastic fender lining and pulled it out. I was only in Charlotte a few days over a holiday weekend. I couldn't find any place that had a matching K&N cone filter. So I ended up buying a cheap short ram intake. Come one year later the silicon fitting between the intake and the manifold is starting to loosen up. Every once in a while when I pop my hood and look under there I see the intake disconnected from the manifold. Then a few weeks ago I see that the cone filter (not a K&N) has broken and split in two and isn't connected to the ram intake. I mean fucking christ. So for now its held in place with two rubber bands, lol.

Money's short as hell right now, but I'm gonna track down the correct K&N filter and reinstall my AEM CAI, as well as reorder another plastic fender lining (the big expense in this swap unfortunately).

8/20/2008 1:46:18 AM

Wrangler

- all hell
- multiple fender benders
- running dry on oil
- wantacivics driving

8/20/2008 8:47:20 AM

Maxima:
-side swiped by big yellow school bus, took out driver vender. Could have been a lot worse if I wasn't paying attention
-rear ended by Volvo, Mustang, and Ram 1500
-backed up a trailer using its bumper
-360 doing 70mph down 40, and didn't hit anything, after hydroplaning.

GTI:
-Car used my front bumper as a parking stop after having it for 3 weeks
-Lifted truck backs into front bumper and hood, claiming to not have seen me, while in a parking garage
-Broken into twice in 8 months, $7k in loss/damage
-CCBI scratches car while fingerpringing after second break in.

8/20/2008 10:13:22 AM

Quote :

"as well as reorder another plastic fender lining (the big expense in this swap unfortunately)."

You know they make black duct tape right?

8/20/2008 10:22:55 AM

^yes of course. Unfortunately whoever decided to steal my filter (also, probably happened at the shop I take my car too. I just hinted at it, and the owner comp'd me on a lot of stuff and has been very generous ever since) cut a hole in the lining almost big enough to fit your head through. Its not a slit that tape can fix.

Also, forgot two things for the GS-R:
-side window smashed and stereo stolen
-rear hatchback window smashed, for no apparent reason ( )k

[Edited on August 20, 2008 at 12:05 PM. Reason : ]

8/20/2008 12:04:47 PM

You could do tape on both sides so the tape is two layers thick. I'd just cut a piece of plastic out of a laundry detergent bottle or something to fill the gap and spray paint the whole inner fender with flat black Krylon Fusion paint after I was done.

8/20/2008 12:11:38 PM

^^ Damn, those cars are so easy to get into its a shame they smashed your window.

My teg has survived:
over 200k miles
two distributor units
broken radiator inlet (explosive release of coolant on highway! exciting)
stolen stereo (they got in without breaking the window)

being owned by a woman before me

[Edited on August 20, 2008 at 12:49 PM. Reason : forgot the last one]

8/20/2008 12:37:14 PM

Here's a wierd incident that happened to me. I was on I-40 nearby the S. Saunders exit when a bird (yes a bird), fell out of the sky and landed on my front nose panel. It pop'd the crest off and left a little bit of blood iirc. all I really rememer is this thing fallin out of the sky, hitting my nose panel, and then a dark feathered ball rolling over my windshield. Fortunately, no damage, just pop'd the crest back in it's place. That shit ain't cheap (like $40 off ebay...)

Hm. I was thinking this was an "accident" incident thread, but I'll post these anyways.

A/C hose blows (somehow a hose got lose and touched the header ) so that was an interesting display on the highway. What was funny about it was the timing. My wife and I were JUST coming back from charlotte. She was driving next to me on the highway and I looked over and I mouth'd "You're hot..." She replied back the same, sayin "no, you're hot..." I said, "no, you're..." PSSHHHHH FREON LEAK >_< Scared the shit outa us.

Oh yeah, there was that time my tranny ring and pinion blew... $1,500 setback
Coolant hose blew overheatin the engine, (work was under warranty, so no $ spent, engine rebuilt)
There was that time when I climbed out of my sunroof like an idiot. one of my fat larger/heavier friends tried to do the same and broke the wind deflector before I could say "no."
The cap and rotor incinerated upon merging onto the highway. >_> uh yeah.


[Edited on August 20, 2008 at 12:53 PM. Reason : .]

8/20/2008 12:37:22 PM

^^^I know right! frameless doors make it pretty easy to break it. The rear glass really sucked too. Smashed for no reason, and its a $1000 piece of glass

^^maybe we'll have to collaborate on this. From what i know it looks like I just don't feel like its possible.

^well as far as people listing repairs, I was mainly going for only things that can endanger the life of your engine. Not will nilly random stuff

8/20/2008 1:28:26 PM

^ oh okay. Well then, I drive on the road everyday with other people. The endangering part is some of those other drivers are hazards/idiots. They usually blend in with everyone else until they do something stupid like wreck into you.

but I suppose I've been lucky so far... (other than the m/c crapping out on me that one time).

[Edited on August 20, 2008 at 1:36 PM. Reason : .]

8/20/2008 1:35:13 PM

Quote :

"He has been running the thing for several years now with no air filter because his ricer piece of junk fell off and he never took the time to install a new one."

lol, sadly i've done even worse. my ram has an airaid intake with a large open element k&n type filter. i guess it maybe had about 15k miles or so when i put it on. so, finally about 2 years and 25k miles later after a weekend of dusty fire roads and trails in george washington national forest i noticed a distinct loss in power. obviously, due to the filter just being caked in crap to the point it all but clogged up after that long. so, i pulled it off for the drive home intending to clean it, oil it, and put it back on in raleigh. another 30k miles and years later it still has no filter, just the throttle body hat and tube.

what makes it even worse is all the times it's inhaled dust clouds for miles on end at places like uwharrie, tellico, cracker's neck, or sand on the outer banks. it also spent at least half of that time towing a large pop up camper all over the place.

i'm going to be very interested to see what the cylinder walls look like whenever the engine dies. i'll bet the heads look freshly ported/polished though! the rotating assembly/oil galleys/under the valve covers should be interesting as well having only had 3 oil changes ever (and 1 oil pump).

Quote :

"Maxima:"

dude, you forgot the best one... the super claw machine at the scrap yard! i guess that wasn't really a surival story though, more like an ultimate death.

8/20/2008 1:41:23 PM

my family.

8/20/2008 5:08:16 PM

4runner's got a fuckin cracked head

8/26/2008 2:07:47 AM

i got so much water in the distributor area of my civic that I drove that thing 110 highway miles in 3rd gear because it was a high enough RPM for the misfires to not completely stall the car.


This was 3 weeks ago. I drove it the next day , and have since fine. Hell it got 47.8mpg last fill up. I guess its good to go.

8/26/2008 7:16:55 AM

thats freaking awesome!

8/26/2008 12:29:49 PM

In the 4 years I drove the Camaro daily, I was rear ended twice, my brother backed an Explorer into it and punched a hole in the nose cone, the left-rear corner was hit-and-run on Vanderbilt, and I hit a huge pothole on Trailwood and took a chunk out of a then brand-new 17" SS wheel.

Driving a car every day takes a toll on it for sure.

8/26/2008 5:23:56 PM

Quote :

"thats freaking awesome!"

I was trying to remember all the jdm engine import websites on my way home. It wasn't as awesome at the time. I did make it though, lol

8/26/2008 6:29:33 PM