2nd accident 100% my fault in every way in almost 1.3 million miles of driving

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Sorry to hear. After you've driven this car all over the country for 300,000 miles, it must carry a lot of sentimental value. In a way, it's worse than crashing a new car.

Yeah, it does. Partially because of all the places it has taken me (so reliably!), and partially because it has given the person I love the most in this world (my little cousin) so much joy to make it a 'playground' when she was pretty little... (opening and closing all the compartments/storage areas, decorating plastic eggs---giving them names and biographies and storing them in some of the compartments (to keep me company, I think ), using the overhead handles like mini gymnastics rings, and (by the time she was 7) sitting in front (parked, flat, keys in my pocket)...wanting to drive.

At least this happened after I made it to all 48 contiguous states and (literally) to 'all 4 corners of the 48'...those specific parts of Maine, Florida, California, and Washington.

I'm thankful it is still drivable, so I'll make it to 300,000 miles. I was on the fence re doing major repairs when the time comes or not. Now I'm leaning toward a no on that. I probably won't take it outside the Houston Metro again unless I replace the fender, but I'll probably continue to drive it locally. I'll likely follow jcboy's suggestion re the screwdriver to move that part of the fender away so I can open the door. With CTScott's post, I know that taking the fender off and just leaving it off isn't a good idea/isn't viable and that the frame isn't really an issue because the windshield isn'rt cracked, etc. I may try to further manipulate the fender to get it closer to it's original shape (as CTScott mentioned), or I may try to find a fender on eBay or try to locate a junkyard fender.