If you were thinking of buying your kid an old car, either think again or at least have a reputable mechanic look it over (either before you but it, or after!)

I went for a drive yesterday in the North Georgia Mountains and found a couple sitting along the road, their car was 100 feet down the mountain side. He lost control in a curve and they rolled several times in the trees before coming to a stop. Pictured is the car sitting nearly at the bottom of the hill, before it was towed up - they went 75 to 100 feet down the side of the hill. Had to have been an awful ride!

The car was a Mazda Miata, a super small, underpowered convertible two seater.
Click on each picture to expand it to get the full effect!


The view of their trajectory down the hillside, from where they left the road.


Headlights still glowing after 45 minutes! (The car is sitting on a tree, the driver had to jump from his window to the ground about 7 feet below, as the hill is very steep - the car is almost level, but the hill isn't!)

Now, of course, he was "pushing it" in the curves (even tho he won't admit it - its why we all run that part of GA 75), but the fact is, the car let him down.

He said the car's steering felt odd going into the curve, before he knew it, the car had a mind of it's own and started to fight him. They crossed the center line and slowed, but not enough, and went over the side, rolling over in the trees until they came to rest against about a 3 foot tree. He was not injured, but his passenger was in great pain in her shoulder. The top was up, and protected them more than you'd think it would.

So, why the thread title? Well, the car was a 1991 and had deteriorated underneath quite a bit, he'd just bought it - and when he put pressure on the steering in the curve, the passenger side tie rod end came apart - taking his ability to steer away! (This happened to my dad with a badly rusted car back in 1972, but he was stopped at a light and turned left, only to not quite make it left enough and he took out a fence.)