:( @ car! [Archive] - MX-5 Miata Forum (2024)

xsoulbrothax

15th December 2005, 07:16

Earlier tonight on the way to meet some friends at Santa Clara Billiards, I lost it on the 280 N -> Saratoga offramp, a short straightforward right turn. I was pushing into the turn, and abrubtly lifted off the throttle when some sort of stray mammal crossed my headlights... car went hard right over the short curb and clipped a lamppost and what looked like a bush.

Short version, the driver's side fender ate a solid dent from the post (similar to being nailed at 5-10mph by another car in a parking lot) and the driver's side door won't easily+fully open/close - I don't know if that means the door's a goner too. The power window was rolled down, and it's intact and still rolls up and down. The windshield on the passenger side cracked, and both airbags went off. The engine bits - and miraculously, the suspension seem to be fine. The car still runs perfectly and can be driven around, and still exhibits the tiniest drift to the right that it did before w/ my last alignment. The wheels aren't bent, and the tires all survived.

So I figure I'm going to look into getting a new windshield, and pop the fender off and look into replacing that, if the frame is still fine. How/where would I go about checking that, by the way? If the door needs replacing too, ouch. Not sure what to do about the airbags, as that's the first time I've ever seen them go on a car! I'm hoping it's economical to keep the car and fix everything myself, perhaps paint/windshield excluded as far as DIYing it goes. :p

I'm also fine, by the way. All that happened to me was the airbag gave me a slight rug burn on the back of my hand, and I stepped into a muddy puddle while walking around the car with a light. When I decided to try to fix the rattle coming from the passenger airbag, I didn't quite envision doing it like this...

blackmx5

15th December 2005, 09:57

man, we miata locals havent had the best of luck lately. glad to see you are ok. as for the frame a body shop can check that out for you, odds are pretty good that it is tweaked. i think that i have an extra airbag for the drivers side but the pax may be a bit of a problem to get a hold of (youll need someone parting out a car, try n.pichko in SJ) overall it shouldn't be too bad to fix on your own or with the other locals but it still wont be real cheap.

good luck
Jeff

chaz28o

15th December 2005, 10:23

KKwan

15th December 2005, 12:45

roja_dude

15th December 2005, 13:44

Maxiata

15th December 2005, 14:53

...oh man that sux but like others said, as long as you are ok, everything else can be fixed.

Given the high cost of repairs in the bay area, I guess next time when i see a mammal i'll just run over it. Darwin's theory.

Noble

15th December 2005, 15:58

..............Given the high cost of repairs in the bay area, I guess next time when i see a mammal i'll just run over it. Darwin's theory.
I agree, unless that mammal is human or something really big like a moose it is often best to play the part of the skeleton in the black hooded robe. :(
It really is no fun, I've been there before.

Regardless of all the dark posts here, hopefully 2006 will be a better year for bay area miata owners. :D

Noble

maxh2o

15th December 2005, 17:12

Big Lan

15th December 2005, 17:54

wswhatever

15th December 2005, 20:07

Glad to hear that you are fine. BTW I am also mammal

According to Darwin:
" Stupid animals are doomed to be screwed"

Maxiata

15th December 2005, 21:17

JKIN

15th December 2005, 21:31

Hrogi

16th December 2005, 02:04

miata_LE_93

16th December 2005, 15:58

aw man... this sucks....l

i'll give u a hand when u need to fix to parts..

fender:door...

Miatabum

16th December 2005, 18:12

xsoulbrothax

20th December 2005, 19:18

Thanks all for the kind words and offers of support. :) You're all awesome! This has just been a really bad time for the last few months as far as us local guys go, hasn't it?

I completely forgot something.. the door itself is a goner too, since the affected area seems to have started on the fender and worked back to the bottom of the door. It's bent pretty solidly, but the window was rolled down and had survived somehow! So I'm bouncing around ebay, craigslist, and the classifieds looking for good replacement metal bits for those two parts, and am going to just unbolt the fender and replace it... the driver's door should be more interesting, and it will make or break the fate of the car.

The new windshield is in... it's PPG, doesn't have a tint band just like OEM doesn't, and I found the place via a search; JohnF had posted it in an old thread. Quality Auto Glass & Tinting, Inc. on El Camino, which happens to be in the same little garage area that Chet's Auto is. They did an awesome job, and I did all of my working with them via a guy named Jim.

But yeah, the driver's door should be fun... also I've been back to driving the old 760 Turbo we talked about at some of the old meets. It really makes me want a turbo. :D It also makes me remember exactly how good we have it on steering feel and tossability.

Bo0osted

21st December 2005, 04:39

I know that exact offramp. I always take it to go home. Was it raining? I try not to drive the miata as much during this time of the year because the rear seems to like to give out.

Glad to hear your ok. That's what's really important.

kulmak

21st December 2005, 13:42

Hmm, I seam to recall a link that was posted to a Softtop on Ebay here a few weeks ago. The guy who was selling it had a while driver and passenger side door, and I am almost certain he also had both Airbags.

It looked as if he was parting out a early - mid 90's white Miata but not positive.

I did not buy the top and have never done business with the guy. But the person who posted the link here said he had done business in the past with the guy.

kulmak

21st December 2005, 13:43

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/90-97-MAZDA-MIATA-CONVERTIBLE-TOP-FRAME-GLASS-WINDOW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33652QQitemZ8022 062134QQtcZphoto

Is a link to a top I was watching that he has. If you look at the other items he is selling you might find what you are looking for.