I come back to this forum and find more people in accidents. I see there was at least 2 over the weekend among forum members. What is going on around here lately?

My car has been in the garage and I haven't run it for 5 weeks. I feel really bad about that and considered taking it to work one day... giving it a nice 100 mile run. Now I am afraid to pull out of the driveway!

I had a lady rear end me about 3 years ago doing 20 MPH. Bumper and tail light were destroyed. They ordered OEM bumper and tail light with no problems. Had the car up and running in just a few days. Now the insurance companies are totaling our cars over a few scratches. Suddenly it is easier to just throw the entire car away then fix it. What is going on around here!!! And what is up with all these accidents?????

 

Noticed it too.

Luckily I'm going to school right now in a town where everyone drives as slow as your 90-year-old grandma and usually wouldn't do anything that would startle a small deer, and I've had training in accident avoidance maneuvers, so I feel confident. If I was back home in Chicago, I would probably be right there with you. People drive like maniacs and retards there sometimes.

I just don't understand why so many of this particular car are getting wrecked lately. Just in these last 2 weeks. And it's not like they aren't fixable, the insurance companies just don't want to even bother. Sad, sad days these are.

 

I drive a lot.... 100+ miles per day. I am not accident prone and have avoided many situations. That rear end was the first accident since 1992. There is no guarante no matter where you live. City area or country.... still hazards but different types of hazards. A jumping deer in the country can be just as dangerous as someone running a light in the city. Right now I am just afraid to pull out of my driveway.

 

Prior to last Thursday, I had never been in an accident and have still never received a ticket. However, I did say when I began classes in DC 2 years ago, that if I ever got in a wreck it WOULD be in DC. It has been a bad month for Crossfires. very bad.

 

Tailgaters. The worst. Can't stand looking behind me anymore. People not paying attention. Sometimes there is nowhere to go..

 

The most recent accident thread ("Seen It!") didn't surprise me. It was just a matter of when it would happen.

 

true dat. it's always a risk. so, i keep mine in the garage and inferentially keep the miles down. what's amusing to me is that when forum members here get in a wreck, their crossfires beyond repair and they want nearly an exact replacement...color...drive train...year...sounds like they think chrysler still make this car! good luck is all i say. those wonderful days of last year are long gone. current common sense says buy the absolute lowest mileage replacement you can AFFORD. there are only a handful left under 2k miles. and if you can spring for an srt-6, then wahoo. knock yerself out.

 

I was driving along at a medium pace today, and approached an intersection. The car in front of me cruised through a yellow light at a fairly slow speed, while a car to our right decided to take off through a red light before it turned green. I was like "okay, car in front of me, lightly brake or move half a foot to the right", but the brake lights didn't come on and the car didn't swerve at all. The guy in front of me proceeded to clip the back end of the guy running the red and spun him around in a nice 180 degree slide in the rain.

It was a pretty slow paced accident and I saw plenty of time to react. Hell, I stopped at the light just fine

Was thinking about being a witness to the accident but just said "screw it, it's not worth my time to side with either of these two ridiculously untalented drivers". My time is more important than that.

 

If you think it's bad now with accidents, drivers without a clue, and parts. Wait, in about 10 years or so, and see if there are any resources left to get parts.

Don't trust anyone driving, unless they are parked and out of the car.

 

Engine parts will be ok... as long as you can get them from mercedes. Body parts may be difficult but unless your bumper is completely destroyed, a good body shop can at least repair it. It may not look the best but it is possible. I am sure in about 10 years someone will have the parts or make the parts. Look at Delorean. Probably about 9 or 10 thousand cars were made and still about 8 thousand left in existence. You can still get body panels. As long as there is a cult following, things will work out. I would say our cars have a cult following.

People were tailgating me this morning. A friend has a really mint Delorean (fully restored) and people tail gate him get angry and speed around him in a no passing zone. It doesn't matter if you drive a Ferarri or Lambo... people would still be tailgating. The bumper cost more than their car. Still no respect for anything on the road today.

 

People are so obsessed with their cell phones and gadgets it's scary. I stopped riding my motorcycle to work, too crazy in rush hour.

 

I really don't recommend this, but it is getting so bad out there with the texting while driving...I now light them up with my dual air horns...9 times out of 10, they drop the phone, and tell me I am #1.....lol....in fact, this may become standard among the trucking world, 'cause we are sick of it...

 

Dual air horns - next group buy?

Mike

 

The rash of Xfire accidents is indeed disturbing. Even more disturbing is the insurance companies dismissive attitude --- resulting in totalling fixable cars.

I love my XFire and use it as a daily driver (for now). It get's garaged at home and at the office, but the roads are trecherous in the DC area. Despite that, what fun is a car if you are so afraid to use it that it sits. It's nice to be able to be somewhat selective about usage, but it sucks when your usage is dictated by idiot drivers and people who are careless OR even worse - don't care at all about other peoples property. Then there are the vandals. Some days I feel like a beater is the only way to go. Others, which are most days, I feel like -- what the heck, I have the car so enjoy it.

May the car gods be with us all.

 

Everyone says they can avoid accidents and hazards, what if you have an equipment failure? Things happen fast.

Common sense would tell you to buy a car no one has used in years? Not sure what planet this would be considered common sense as most cars that sit, especially on dealer lots, are not cared for and a car degrades much more quickly when not driven than when driven sparingly.

IMHO common sense dictates buying a lower mileage car that has been driven some and well maintained, like that I am currently looking for

 

I'm telling you guys, stricter driving laws and driving tests would save everyone, not just us, a whole lot of money. More cars like ours would survive also.

I really hope all these totaled XF's are either getting bought up or parted out. Even if it was a junkyard, I would hope they would think to part it out instead of crushing it. At least they could live on in pieces instead of scrap metal.

 

These guys know what the parts are going for, after all, it is their primary business. None of these are getting crushed, just parted out, and trust me, I know because they are taking the scalpel to mine as we speak, I just hope I can save some non-OEM parts before they go too far....

 

Not so in my opinion. Nothing will stop or prevent stupidity. You can ban texting while driving but people will still do it.

Where I live there is a saying when the roads are flooded... "turn around don't drown". If you try to drive through a flooded road you will get fined thousands of dollars. people still do it and need to be rescued. People are always dying... it is all over the news... and the news has been saying "turn around don't drown" for years. People still do it and risk their lives. People never learn! Survival of the fittest. So strict driving laws and fines won't stop anything.

 

I think i will put my Crossfire in a glass case and just look at it for the next 30 years!

 

You couldn't be more right. Maryland just passed a strict no cell phone in the car law unless you have hands free. I just saw a cop talking on his cellphone in his car while driving on the way back from the dealership this morning. By the way I don't do much rush hour driving, I'm about a mile from work and I usually walk and leave th ecar in the garage.........my heart was in my throat! Had to be at the dealer at 8 and it was bumper to bumper.