PaulS2K

Warren, sorry to hear about your mishap. Hope your S gets back in top shape soon! re: repainting...yes they have to repaint the adjacent panels in order to color match.

yu888

warren, sorry to hear about your car and accident. i hope things get settled out and you can get things fixed quickly and well. they do ned to blend on the other panels in order to patch the new paint to the old. if they dont, it will be more noticible that there is a difference. good luck.

chroot

Oh come on now, RedS2, you don't have to stick up for me. We all know firesauce is physically incapable of doing something wrong.

In truth, this all makes me wonder about California's right-on-red laws. At that particular intersection, traffic is flowing from 280 to Lawrence, two lanes wide, up the ramp. It's always packed. Yet motorists are still allowed to turn right on red, onto that ramp, where they have to merge. When a motorist turns right on red at these intersections, he/she is forced to be completely cognizant of what's going on just in front of them (I provided a nice example of what happens if you're not), AND what's going on behind them, at the same time. It's an already difficult merge, complicated by a traffic light and a complete stop. Having to go from 0-60 on a ramp, after stopping at a light, while looking behind you for places to merge, and looking in front to make sure nothing unexpected happens, is perhaps too much to expect any motorist to do properly.

As much as I hate waiting at stoplights, I think these intersections really should be no-right-on-red. I've personally witnessed four identical accidents in the last eight months, I've caused one, and everyone I know has had at least one close call. It really seems to me that expecting a motorist to look backwards over his shoulder (painfully) to look at traffic to spot merge sites, all the while trying to gauge how fast he can accelerate, all the while watching the person in front of him for stupidity, is just too much task loading. So many people start moving because they spot a hole in traffic, then suddenly decide they don't want it after all -- and that's what ultimately causes these kind of accidents.

Anyone know where I can complain?

- Warren

chroot

Estimate is down to $2700 if I keep the existing (slightly damaged) tire.

Does this seem reasonable for the following work:

Replace/repaint bumper
Replace/repaint fender
Blend hood
Blend door
Replace one headlight assembly
Align wheels

They're estimating 8.8 hrs of labor (@ $58/hr) and 10.4 hrs of paintwork (@ $82/hr for labor and supplies).

- Warren

S2KHardTop

warren,
hey im sorry to hear about what happened to your car...if you'd like i could introduce you to a friend of mine with a body shop....hes repaired a few S2000's and even a totalled one...my friend bought that one and he made it look perfect....and im sure the cost would be lower than what you have right now....but its just an option...let me know...PM with any questions...

chroot

I've worked the total cost to me down to something like $2300 now... which is not so bad, I guess. The guy at the bodyshop, however, knows nothing about suspensions. He said the wheelbase on the passenger side was 1/2 inch short. He then told me that the suspension could not be adjusted in camber or caster -- which I was pretty sure was wrong. He then told me that I needed:

1) New control arms
2) New strut (!)
3) New wheel bearing assembly

...and it would cost another $1000.

The car pulled to the left, moderately. It was still easily driveable at highway speeds. No shimmy, no shake, no noise. That means there's no wheel bearing problem. That means the control arms aren't bent, because, if they were, the elliptical adjusters would have failed first, and that would have caused a shimmy or shake. And, well, the car doesn't even have struts.

So I told the guy I'd prefer to take the car to someone who knows more about it. He's a pretty rude guy, it seems, because apparently he took offense to this. Oh, well.

Thanks davepk, josh3io, and 00SType for talking suspensions with me. Can anyone recommend an awesome alignment shop in the area? I'm very hopeful the car just needs a good alignment, not any new parts.

- Warren

WhiteS2k

But more importantly, Warren, is: Are you driving around with no insurance coverage? I think getting your car fixed is one thing, it is probably more important to get your insurance reinstated ASAP, if you haven't done it already. Good luck with the repairs. I almost rear-ended a van today also while trying to make a turn to get on 85N, the van slowed down unexpectedly for the turn and I had to swing out to avoid hitting his rear.

chroot

WhiteS2k:

Of course I got the insurance situation fixed. They still won't cover the accident, though. And besides, I'm not driving around -- I don't even have a car right now.

- Warren

SilverSurfer

[QUOTE]Originally posted by chroot
[B]

Thanks davepk, josh3io, and 00SType

chroot

Keith,

Can they replace parts (say, control arms) if by chance one actually is bent?

- Warren