Yaris vs. Lincoln Towncar CRASH!

[randog]

The lincoln towncar I hit had a mere ajared bumper. My Yaris crunched like a peanut. I was really disappointed about how weak it was. He popped that bumper back on and when the police came they asked him where his damage was (it wasn't very evident). We were only going 30 and by the time we hit the impact must of only been 10 or so. We were both braking hard so the momentum brought my nose low and his rear high... which hit my car higher than normal thus busting the hood. No airbag so i'm guessing the frame is still intact.

Here's what happened... I was driving 30 behind this Gypsy Cab a couple blocks before getting on the highway. We had a beautiful flow of green lights... THEN all of a sudden in the middle of an intersection at a GREEN light he BRAKES HARD and comes to a complete stop. They say, "only a fool doesn't follow the 2 second rule" well, I guess I was the fool.

The reason he stopped was because at the intersection was sitting an ambulance. The ambulance must of got a call (or decided he wanted some coffee) and popped on the siren. Gypsy cab panics thinking ambulance is entering the intersection and he brakes (mid intersection mind you). By the time I notice how fast he is coming at me (or rather me at him) it was to late to either swerve or stop. We were so far gone from the ambulance that even according to the police report (and the gypsy cabs admission) the ambulance did not witness the accident.

And the pics you've been waiting for:

[DorytheYaris]

That's awful :(

I would freak out if I ever crashed my car. I know the feeling though cause it's happened to my 01 VW NB. Don't worry though. They'll fix her up.

[Andrew Chalmers]

I don't think the "weakness" of the vehicle should be something to be disappointed with... it performed exactly as intended - compact and crush, reducing the rate of acceleration. If the vehicle did not compact, you may have been injured (or the other vehicle's passengers may have been injured).

[nsmitchell]

^^^^ What he said! The more the car crumples in the crumple zones, the safer the occupants. Only the passenger compartment is made very rigid. Older cars that didn't crumple in accidents, well, they would just spray them out and get them ready for the next victim. hehe

[randog]

Is there a cut off valve that prevents the engine from starting after an accident? Because it would not start and required towing. I must say, I am thankful no one was injured. In fact, after my vehicle was towed I took the two heavy laundry bags out of my trunk and carried them a mile and a half home. It was a terrible walk of shame. But I am safe and sound thanks to the sponge mobile ;)

[Katana]

Sorry for that.

Guys, you should know that all the modern cars are designed to get damaged in in the crumple zones.

Moreover, the engine is not all damaged, so it won't be very expensive to fix it.

[YarisPR]

Before fixing the car check out ebays bodykit for the sedan it might be cheaper than fixing to stock

[Katana]

Nice idea!

[ChinoCharles]

I know it is simple circumstance and he meant no harm, but I still probably would have torn the teeth out of that cab driver's face.

Grrrrr. I feel for you man.

+1 on the bodykit suggestion. Its true... most kits usually are cheaper than a fascia from the dealer. When a friend of mine wrecked the front end of his Cobalt, he saved $150 by getting a trick front bumper.

[sam07yaris]

Originally Posted by randog

The lincoln towncar I hit had a mere ajared bumper. My Yaris crunched like a peanut. I was really disappointed about how weak it was. He popped that bumper back on and when the police came they asked him where his damage was (it wasn't very evident). We were only going 30 and by the time we hit the impact must of only been 10 or so. We were both braking hard so the momentum brought my nose low and his rear high... which hit my car higher than normal thus busting the hood. No airbag so i'm guessing the frame is still intact.

Here's what happened... I was driving 30 behind this Gypsy Cab a couple blocks before getting on the highway. We had a beautiful flow of green lights... THEN all of a sudden in the middle of an intersection at a GREEN light he BRAKES HARD and comes to a complete stop. They say, "only a fool doesn't follow the 2 second rule" well, I guess I was the fool.

The reason he stopped was because at the intersection was sitting an ambulance. The ambulance must of got a call (or decided he wanted some coffee) and popped on the siren. Gypsy cab panics thinking ambulance is entering the intersection and he brakes (mid intersection mind you). By the time I notice how fast he is coming at me (or rather me at him) it was to late to either swerve or stop. We were so far gone from the ambulance that even according to the police report (and the gypsy cabs admission) the ambulance did not witness the accident.

And the pics you've been waiting for:

hey bud sorry to hear that ur yari got smashed up like rick james saying I'm rich bitch... no true comparison but it will make ya laugh! Although hey is there a way I can snag both of those headlights from u? I need to do another retrofit on my Yaris and need new reflectors and resuse my current ones. That way I dont need to buy a whole headlight.

[vodkalush]

thats shitty dude.
insurance? whats the deductible?

[randog]

Insurance / Deductible $1k (not terrible). My insurance rates, another story... I can keep you posted if anyone is interested. I will also post the Body shops estimate.

I really couldn't get mad at the Cabbie because legally it was my fault. I don't know about elsewhere but in NY when you hit someone no matter what (even if they purposely try to get you to hit them in a scam) you are at fault. Think about it- I really should of kept proper distance. I am so use to driving in Manhattan (where if you leave proper distance you get cut off) that I often don't leave enough. Things may change now. I think my aggressive days are over. At least this was a lesson learned.

Insurance will surely go up, I am not using the body shop recommended by insurance either. The body shop I am using promised me they will make this thing look like it came right off the showroom. They promised me they will match the paint perfectly (flint mica). They had a pretty nice facility too. I took a tour and saw some pretty neat things they were working on. There was an old hot rod or something that all they had was a shell and they were ordering all the parts (seats, engine, chasis, etc..) and building from scratch.

[randog]

Actually... I have another question... Maybe it's best I post in another topic about my brakes...

But I HAVE stopped in the past at faster speeds and shorter distances. It seems like sometimes my brakes are STRONG, they clamp down (I can hear them) and I will skid...

Othertimes I brake hard and what happens is the car comes to a softer (rolling stop)... I am starting to beleive that this is ABS (and I don't like it) because had it clamped down hard and locked I could of stopped...

Does anyone know if ABS kicks in sometimes and not others? Could that be a defect? When I get my car back I will have to take it into my favorite 1 mile x 1 mile parking lot (which is always empty) and do some testing.

[punch]

yep abs kicked in, must have been some lose/wet ground at the time, they say abs is safer, i'm not sure either..

[BMGYaris]

the purpose of abs is to maintain control so that you can maneuver around obstacles...some versions of it shorten distances on all surfaces, some versions of it will actually lengthen distances on solid dry surfaces...id venture a guess that the yaris abs will lengthen it on those latter surfaces, just based on how they cut back on other safety features like roll sensing side airbags (availble on the corrolla for the same price) and having no brake assist option.

[paultyler_82]

Some of us (me) abhor ABS because it treats the driver like an idiot, I can't count how many times I've barely avoided some idiot's rear end with my I30, whereas, if it didn't have ABS, I would have been stopped much sooner, but sure as shit, once I start slowing down and I push the pedal in for a little more braking clamp, I can feel and almost hear the cylinder start to pump, so I have to back off it and make a swerve attempt... it should be an option on all cars, there are some of us who know how to brake and feel safer when the car isn't doing the braking for us, personally, I like to think I know better than my car exactly how much brake I can use before I lose manuverability, I have been driving non-ABS cars for years before my most recent ABS equipped car, anyway, and I felt much safer in them.

[Black Yaris]

Originally Posted by paultyler_82

Some of us (me) abhor ABS because it treats the driver like an idiot, I can't count how many times I've barely avoided some idiot's rear end with my I30, whereas, if it didn't have ABS, I would have been stopped much sooner, but sure as shit, once I start slowing down and I push the pedal in for a little more braking clamp, I can feel and almost hear the cylinder start to pump, so I have to back off it and make a swerve attempt... it should be an option on all cars, there are some of us who know how to brake and feel safer when the car isn't doing the braking for us, personally, I like to think I know better than my car exactly how much brake I can use before I lose manuverability, I have been driving non-ABS cars for years before my most recent ABS equipped car, anyway.

I highly agree with the no ABS, I do not have ABS or traction control, I would have figured out a way to disable them if I had it.

[BMGYaris]

WELL like i said in the previous post, some forms of abs shorten braking distances on all surfaces via an interplay of abs, ebd and ba. So if you can get a real package you will be safer in everyway possilbe (both maintaining control and shorter braking distances). Also, data offered from the nhtsa shows that it prevents about 33% of seroius rear end collisions and similar accidents. Thus the testing of properly equiped ABS disproves anybody who would argue it to be less effective (after all, abs is only there to make up for a physical incapability on the part of the driver to pump the brakes to maximize performance), and real world data also refutes those arguments against ABS. ABS will be a real life saver, once it is properly equiped, nothing else to say about it really.

And for all you people that want to say you can pump your brakes better than the ABS can...come on man...its not physically possible.... you might brake well, but ABS MAXIMIZES performance, which no human can do.