Toyota Yaris Forums - Ultimate Yaris Enthusiast Site
 

 


 
Go Back   Toyota Yaris Forums - Ultimate Yaris Enthusiast Site > Second Generation Toyota Yaris Main Rooms > General Yaris / Vitz Discussion
  The Tire Rack

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-18-2007, 08:22 AM   #1
gabagooo
 
gabagooo's Avatar
 
Drives: Yaris Hatchback
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Danville, VA
Posts: 56
Tree 1 - Yaris 0

On Monday, while driving to the airport (during 50 mph winds) in rural North Carolina, my Yaris and I were almost crushed by a falling tree. It was surreal. I was driving at the posted speed limit of 55 MPH when I saw a tree begin to fall toward the road. It took a second for my mind to register what I was seeing, but I hit my breaks and skidded some 50 to 60 feet. Coming in the opposite direction was a gasoline tanker truck. In less than two seconds a lot was going through my mind: tree, truck, explosion, crash, bang. Just as the car came to a halt the tanker truck burst through what had been the top of the huge tree. It looked like an explosion of tree limbs with huge pieces of wood went flying in every direction. One huge piece hit the Yaris in the front left wheel and my driver’s side door with a solid thud. I got out of the car and cleared a 15 foot limb from the West bound lane and I began to direct traffic around my car and the tree. It took me a few minutes to realize that the Yaris was stopped just eight feet from the trunk of the fallen tree, one second more of forward motion and the Yaris and I would have been crushed. No one was hurt. Both the trucker and I dodged a bullet. His rig was pretty badly mangled, but was drivable. The Yaris wasn’t so lucky. Although it doesn’t look like much, it seems that when the limb hit the wheel it did some damage underneath to the drive line, perhaps the axel. When I attempted to drive the car it made a strange noise and it didn’t track properly. I had it towed to a body shop and I am awaiting the insurance adjuster’s estimates. I have attached a few photos (sorry for the quality, I took them with my cell phone). This was one of those, “There by the grace of God go I” scenarios for me.
Attached Images
     
__________________
2007 Bayou Blue Yaris 3 Door LB
2006 Cardinal Red Mazda5 Touring
gabagooo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2007, 08:35 AM   #2
Yaris Revenge
GIGA...DRILL...BREAKER!!!
 
Yaris Revenge's Avatar
 
Drives: Lagann. ;P
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: My own little world.
Posts: 717
Whoa! Utterly freaky! Glad no one was squished! That's something you rarely ever expect to have to dodge on the road...!

~YR
__________________
Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
Yaris Revenge is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2007, 08:36 AM   #3
Chris07LB
Super Moderator
 
Chris07LB's Avatar
 
Drives: Yaris Liftback
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 3,174
Well in that case,

YARIS - 1 TREE - 0
Chris07LB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2007, 09:02 AM   #4
eTiMaGo
vroom vroom
 
eTiMaGo's Avatar
 
Drives: lil red 5-door
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Posts: 7,744
Send a message via AIM to eTiMaGo Send a message via MSN to eTiMaGo Send a message via Yahoo to eTiMaGo
freaky indeed, and damn lucky...

Or it could be like one of those Final Destination movies...
__________________
The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish.
- Robert Jackson


Bye bye 1NZ...
eTiMaGo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2007, 09:26 AM   #5
Yaris Revenge
GIGA...DRILL...BREAKER!!!
 
Yaris Revenge's Avatar
 
Drives: Lagann. ;P
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: My own little world.
Posts: 717
Quote:
Originally Posted by eTiMaGo View Post
freaky indeed, and damn lucky...

Or it could be like one of those Final Destination movies...
Oh, dude, you better hope not!

~YR
__________________
Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
Yaris Revenge is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2007, 10:00 AM   #6
Doc Zaius
Lurker supreme!
 
Doc Zaius's Avatar
 
Drives: old and boosted!
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ottawa, ON, Canada
Posts: 792
Glad you're ok, man!!
__________________
2006 Red Blitzed RS 5-door
Doc Zaius is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2007, 10:18 AM   #7
gabagooo
 
gabagooo's Avatar
 
Drives: Yaris Hatchback
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Danville, VA
Posts: 56
Thanks all for the kind thoughts. I miss my Yaris! I have a rental, a 2006 Saturn Ion. Frankly, it's a really awkward car. It seems and feels very cheap. Honestly, I can't believe that GM can sell Ions in the wake of Honda and Toyota. Although, it does have a big trunk. I guess it has that going for it.
__________________
2007 Bayou Blue Yaris 3 Door LB
2006 Cardinal Red Mazda5 Touring
gabagooo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2007, 01:53 PM   #8
nsmitchell
 
nsmitchell's Avatar
 
Drives: LB-Auto-PWR-ABS-Cruise-Springs
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 1,065
I'm really glad you are OK!
Saturn's are mega garbage... except for the VUE with the Honda Odyssey V6. Those rock!
__________________
Other car is a 2005 Mustang Convertible 4.0L V6 Manual - Legend Lime
Get YarAss in gear!
RIP - Casey Tatum
nsmitchell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-18-2007, 08:22 PM   #9
swng
 
swng's Avatar
 
Drives: 06 3-dr auto RS
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: BC
Posts: 1,051
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris07LB View Post
Well in that case,

YARIS - 1 TREE - 0
Yes, Chris07LB is right, and lucky you gabagooo for having escaped injury!
Sorry for your Yaris but thanks for the vivid description of what happened to you on Monday.
Did you find the car manageable enough in such an emergency?
swng is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2007, 10:24 AM   #10
gabagooo
 
gabagooo's Avatar
 
Drives: Yaris Hatchback
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Danville, VA
Posts: 56
I was impressed. My car does not have ABS, and yet the stopping distance seemed very good.
__________________
2007 Bayou Blue Yaris 3 Door LB
2006 Cardinal Red Mazda5 Touring
gabagooo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2007, 01:13 PM   #11
swng
 
swng's Avatar
 
Drives: 06 3-dr auto RS
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: BC
Posts: 1,051
Quote:
Originally Posted by gabagooo View Post
I was impressed. My car does not have ABS, and yet the stopping distance seemed very good.
Nice to know. Thanks!
swng is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2007, 03:23 PM   #12
yrsdrgn
 
yrsdrgn's Avatar
 
Drives: 2007 Yaris
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: SF,CA
Posts: 1,874
Send a message via AIM to yrsdrgn
good to see that there wasn't any more damage that resulted after the incident.
__________________
yrsdrgn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-21-2007, 06:37 PM   #13
BlueLiftback
 
Drives: 2007 Blazing Blue 5-speed L/B
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Posts: 28
Yet another instance where NOT having ABS probably saved someones butt...

Remember: you will stop faster without it 99% of the time. ABS is designed to let you brake and steer easier simultaneously, NOT stop faster. If you can learn to drive (i.e. learn to pump your brakes and have the driving skill of a functionally retarded blind guy (at the minimum)), you can do JUST FINE without it .

Just remember if the insurance company asks if you have it to ALWAYS say yes! They never remember to ask if it's electronically controlled
BlueLiftback is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2007, 03:19 AM   #14
Kaotic Lazagna
 
Kaotic Lazagna's Avatar
 
Drives: '14 GT86, '08 Vitz
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Central Valley, CA
Posts: 9,873
wow, dang! crazy. i saw a tree crush a GTI at my college before...
Kaotic Lazagna is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2007, 11:29 AM   #15
hystria
 
hystria's Avatar
 
Drives: 2007 Orange Yaris Hb 3Drs
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Montreal-Canada
Posts: 262
one day I went to the garage, there was a liftback that smashed into a tree at 35mph (lost control on snow), the tree crushed through the bumper and the engine and stopped just close to the black plastic cover where the whippers are seat... the driver had some back and neck pain but otherwise was ok. the interior was quasi intact, the doors frame was intact too, the windshield wasn't cracked

it feels solid
hystria is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-22-2007, 10:59 PM   #16
thomasward00
 
thomasward00's Avatar
 
Drives: 2007 Yaris Sedan
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: New Orleans, La
Posts: 100
I love my Sedan, but from the size of these small cars now, I would not recommend a yaris to young or bad drivers. It pays to be extra careful in these small cars.
thomasward00 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-23-2007, 05:17 AM   #17
spkrman
Banned
 
Drives: 1
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: 2
Posts: 1,476
Quote:
Originally Posted by thomasward00 View Post
I love my Sedan, but from the size of these small cars now, I would not recommend a yaris to young or bad drivers. It pays to be extra careful in these small cars.
BAH!

This is the mindset that parks a 16 year old girl in an escalade on top of me in my yaris.
spkrman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-24-2007, 08:02 PM   #18
gabagooo
 
gabagooo's Avatar
 
Drives: Yaris Hatchback
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Danville, VA
Posts: 56
The insurance estimate is in and it will cost $1300 to repair the car. They are replacing the front fender and driver's side door. In other news, I just could not take the Ion and its dank stench of stale cigar smoke and I took it back to Enterprise. I now have a 2007 Sentra. I can't wait to get the Yaris back.
__________________
2007 Bayou Blue Yaris 3 Door LB
2006 Cardinal Red Mazda5 Touring
gabagooo is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
NEWS: TOYOTA REVEALS ALL-NEW YARIS SEDAN AT 2006 LOS ANGELES AUTO SHOW VitzBoy General Yaris / Vitz Discussion 7 09-20-2023 07:50 AM
2007 Yaris Pricing Info ! YarisBueller New YARIS Purchase Forum 104 06-24-2009 04:54 PM
I test drove a Yaris, Versa and FIT CanadaCraig New YARIS Purchase Forum 41 11-29-2008 09:18 PM
Toyota Yaris to Sponsor FOX's "Prison Break" YarisBueller General Yaris / Vitz Discussion 0 04-30-2006 08:01 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:18 AM.




YarisWorld
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.