My idiot brother broke the Lancer

[TObject]

He is sitting there on the road now waiting for the evacuator. Insurance company was leary autorizing towing to the nearest dealer (which is like 20 miles away), so they recommended some shop nearby.

Looks like both ball joints are gone, and the front A arms are bent. The front tires are pointing in different ways. The car otherwise looks unharmed. So it probably just needs some Mitubishi front suspension components replaced.

Can anyone advise if getting it fixed in your regular "imports" shop is ok, or it is better to insist on the dealer repair? The dealer is a bit far away, and I think I'd rather have the car nearby, if it's not big difference.

[TObject]

Ok, they are taking it to the dealer. I figure there is a better chance the dealer may have the needed parts in stock, and since it's going to be an insurance repair anyway, higher rates are not my concern at the moment.

[JeepGal]

How did it happen? Was he just driving along, minding his own business...and all of the sudden, our of no-where...the front end of his vehicle decided it didnt want to co-operate anymore, and broke, leaving both tires pointing in different directions?

Just Curious...you seemed to have left that small tidbit of information out.

Tam

(Hope he gets all all fixed up ok)

[TObject]

Unbe-f-ing-lievable!

The roadside assistance guy put more damage on the Lancer loading it up on the flatbed than there ever was. Cracked one of the alloy wheels, put some body damage, and almost rolled the damn car!

I am deeply disappointed at the level of professionalism.

[TObject]

Originally posted by JeepGal
How did it happen?

Hit one of the curbs, and bounced off the other after loosing traction in a U-turn. It just started to rain, must have hit a slippery spot or something.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by TObject
Hit one of the curbs, and bounced off the other after loosing traction in a U-turn. It just started to rain, must have hit a slippery spot or something.

Teenage + mom's car + low traction surfaces + not enough driving experience = broken, bent, mangled, and damaged parts.

While you may attempt to dispute this, remember I used to be a teenager and drove parent's vehicles.

I'll also bet dollars to doughnut holes that I am not in a group all by my lonesome.

Glad your brother is fine, have him buy a car, insure it, put fuel in it and do the maintenance and his driving will drastically improve.

[speaceman]

My friends in college ended up rolling a mustang GT through a farm field. It looked like a cesna crashed with the size of the gouge they made.

They both walked away friom the accident with no injuries.

[TObject]

Originally posted by mrblaine
...While you may attempt to dispute this...

Surprisingly, I am not even going to try.

Thanks for the warm words. We are all glad that nobody was injured or worse.

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by TObject
Surprisingly, I am not even going to try.

Thanks for the warm words. We are all glad that nobody was injured or worse.

That's good because I thought for a minute there I was going to have to throw down the rally card on your butt.

[JeepGal]

Glad to hear hes ok.

What a drag about the Lancer...hope it all works out ok.

Tam

[Paradiddle]

My guess is your high speed rally style approach to camp last time screwed up the car and your brother just happened to be driving it when the components failed.

[TObject]

Hey! You were the one who taught me to "...just stay on the gas..."

[Joe Dillard]

Originally posted by TObject
Unbe-f-ing-lievable!

The roadside assistance guy put more damage on the Lancer loading it up on the flatbed than there ever was. Cracked one of the alloy wheels, put some body damage, and almost rolled the damn car!

I am deeply disappointed at the level of professionalism.

I'm glad to hear Steve is okay! Bummer about the Lancer! I'll bet he got a good ol' Russian earful from your folks.

I know you were probably simply wanting it to be transported from location "A" to location "B". But don't forget you have friends that have means to transport broken down vehicles (I'm talking about my trailer that you could have used).

I hope the rest works out well.

[TObject]

Joe,

Believe it or not this was the first thing I thought of. But I am not sure how we would have gotten the Lancer on the trailer with the front wheels dangling off. All that, while blocking one of the lanes on a major road.

Thanks for the thought though!

[TObject]

Good news. Picked up the Lancer today. $10 grand worth of repairs.

My recommendation: if you don't have an extra vehicle, make sure you have rental reimbursement on your auto insurance policy. We newer knew how long it would take to fix the car. Three months of "next week".

[Robert J. Yates]

......was the car even worth 10 grand? Sounds like it could have been totaled.

[TObject]

I have to be very careful about what I am saying since I am not an auto repair specialist nor do I have any proof.

To me, it just didn't look like $10 grand worth of damage. It could very well be $10 grand just on paper, if you catch my drift.

We are glad they didn't total the car. It's a great car, and we would not have a chance to find a replacement for $10 grand.

[speaceman]

Any small amount of body damage to a vehicle when it is on the Ins. co's dime is automatically $3000-4000.

So if there were other issues like dangling front wheels and such, I can easily see the bill totalling 10k.

[TObject]

You are probably right. With jeeps so easy to modify we loose the sight how much repairs cost to other vehicles.