kiwimeat

For those of you who remember my RX-8 was hit whilst parked 3 weeks after I took delivery in November last year. Well fast forward 7 months............

On my way to work sitting stationary in traffic with hand brake on, when in my rear vision mirror I see....
a blue car approaching fast...too fast...even in rear view mirror the detail appeared very clear, see the drivers eyes go wide as they realise they are going to fast....can't do anything in the second or so before they finally try to brake (only about 10m from me at time according to rubber on the road). Squeal of brakes, puff of rubber, that horrible impact sound cars make. Couldn't say how fast they were moving when they hit me but it was definately the loudest hardest of the rear-ending I have experienced.

I have to say the RX-8 is well built - the rear bumper is dinted, popped out and generally battered but the other car - a Ford Falcon ute - looks worse. No idea about any other damage. Car was driveable.

The driver of the Ford Falcon ute said he swerved to avoid a "chick" crossing the road. Still didn't explain why he was going so fast, but he was at fault, so we exchanged details, and I kept my sarcasim to myself. Spent rest of morning doing the usual post accident logistics before arriving at work late about midday along with the onset of a stiff/sore neck.

So once again my beloved RX-8 is in the care of Weatherall Prestige Autobody in Windsor for repair. As of this afternoon they had the rear bumper off but had not yet had a chance to inspect for any more damage.

Only this time I was actually in the car and have whiplash (along with medical certificate & workcover claim) to prove it.

On the up side:
I had already dropped the kids off at school
I'll get the car professionally detailed whilst it's off the road and get all the little dints, scrapes and wear'n'tear fixed up.
The rental car may only be a Getz but at least it's yellow.

ps No my RX-8 isn't silver.
pps My wife thinks the RX-8 is cursed and we should a) never have sold the yellow SP20; or b) "what about that nice Mazda 6 MPS"
ppps In some twist of evil fate - I see about 6 or so RX-8 in Brisbane city this afternoon - just to remind me of my poor car.

xxup

Sorry to hear about this - horrible news.. I think I saw your car going up Ann Street one afternoon headed toward the freeway.. Looked/Looks great..

Maybe a trip to the Nationals in October might help ease the pain?

Yellow Getz.. Hmmm...

Gomez

Sorry to hear that brother blue, hope she's on the road again soon. I had a Getz as a hire car in Launceston once....they've got good heaters :p .

auzoom

Sorry about the car ... Bummer. Try and convince the Body shop to replace the bumber. Its sounds like its ahd a rough life!

I also sold my SP20 to get a WInning Blue RX-8. Dont supposed your SP20 was Yellow?

Andrew

Lock & Load

Ouch that story hurts , i dont think i could keep my composure if some ******* hit my ride .

B....free
michael

timbo

Gosh, I can remember the campaign you went through to get this car. I'm sorry to hear it's not been the bundle of joy for you that it should be --- nothing to do with the car or the drive of course --- just that rotten alignment of planets or something that occurs to us all from time to time. Hope the whiplash is ok

Tim

Revolver

Mate I feel for you. Hope you get better physically soon - the car will take care of itself.

Mine got hit while parked about a week ago. nowhere near as much damage as yours but it's still a bugger. Still trying to get AAMI to get it's act together - funny how they drag their heels when they have to pick up the tab huh?

kiwimeat

Thanks for all the kind thoughts.

Went and saw my car today. Rear bumper is written off - replacement will arrive Monday. Also the right plastic molding round the exhaust will be replaced.

No damage to the chassis - the body shop guy said the staff were impressed with how tough they are built.

Getting a full professional detailing done whilst it is in the shop - will let you all know how that goes to.

Car should be back late next week.

tonym

Hi Kiwimeat, really sorry to hear that you've been hit in the rear, it is really an ugly thing to whatch it coming knowing there's nothing you can do

But glad it did not do any permanent damage to the 8 (or yourself and yours).
I can truely atest to the structural strength of the RX8 after having my first one totaled by a semi without brakes at around 80kph, I was nearly stationary - as were the 30 or so other cars he took out

The RX8 had the rear bumper folded nicely into the boot and almost up to the rear axel. And it was punted into a number of other cars in its front and passenger side. But no broken windows, and all the doors still opened, but 4 airbags deployed. No whiplash as the drivers seat collapsed and I had a ride on my back See the pics attatched.

New RX8 is going great, apart from the bandage on the nose from clipping a large wallaby on night on my way home

Hope it all goes well and we both have had our bad luck over with

Cheers,

Tonym.

sco

kiwimeat... sorry to hear this. I'm amazed your eight got off as lightly as it did. You can't be blamed for the bad drivers out there on the road. To be honest I'm amazed I've escaped unhurt from a bunch of close calls (none of which were caused by me). I'm all for regular practical driving tests.

tonym... on your seat collapsing - you mentioned this to Mazda IIRC... did anything come of that?

Revolver

Holy f#*k Tony! Glad to hear you survived that one alright.

Looks like you tried to turn the car into an RX8 equivalent of a 3 series compact!

tonym

Yep Revolver, it did end up looking 'that ugly' :P

SCO, the seat was looked at by MA and the photos went to Japan - they said that the seat was designed to withstand moments of force greater than required by the ADR for the front seats that they withstand 530Newton Metres of impact torque, whereas the MJ people state that the RX8 seat is designed to withstand over 900Newton Metres. Obvoiously as I'm no more than 95Kg, the "moment" was "greater" than that and a bit more than the design specs :O

Anyway this seat collapse saved me from whiplash at least :D

All the gory details and many pics can be reviewed at on this thread of 7 pages -

https://www.rx8club.com/australia-new-zealand-forum-37/my-used-rx8-42865/

And did I mention the stupid woman who backed into my front bumper a week or so before I hit the Wallaby - geeeez!

Cheers,

Tony

kiwimeat

Hi Tonym,

Shame you couldn't post the Wallaby round to the afore-mentioned driver.

Hope all the damage has been made good on your Winning Blue.

Sco & others,

I practise extreme defensive driving and parking but it still doesn't save you from the idiots - eventually one or more of them will get you.

Personally, I think that any person responsible for an "at-fault" accident should be made to take some form of driving test.

Anyway, hopefully 2 more days should see my car returned and the "bouncy trampoline" returned to the hire company.

kiwimeat

Well got my car back last Thursday.

Repairs are excellent. Colour matching and blending is really good.

Pretty much the same to report as the last time Weatherall Prestige Autobody repaired my car.

I also had my car professionally detailed and a couple of dints removed. Overall very happy with the detailing and dint removal.

So overall the car is looking almost as good as new, but it's only taken a couple of days for the kids to cover the rear seats in dirt, leaves, popcorn and other debris.

In the meantime, I've been stuck in a rut of only local short distance driving and my fuel economy and enjoyment factor have been suffering. Feel the need for a good journey to shake the cob webs out.

Felt a bit better today as my sparkling car caught the attention of more than a few people whilst going for lunch in West End. Always nice to get those looks of appreciation (well apart from the guy who thinks I took his parking space).

timbo

Sounds like the recovery is well underway. Perhaps a little spirited drive on the weekend will bring everything back to balance?

Revolver

Great stuff kiwimeat!

Hope you manage to fit that drive in this weekend as Timbo said.

As for me - reported damage to my car to AAMI 2 weeks ago and they're yet to contact me to book me in for an assessment. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I refused to pay the excess over the phone before the car had been looked at!

As the damage is so minor, I'm thinking I'll just get a quote from the guys who fixed it earlier in the year before going back to AAMI.

Hasten to add neither incidents were my fault - rear-ended in traffic the first time, car hit in a carpark by person(s) unknown the second time.

kiwimeat

Hi Revolver,

Sorry to hear about your problems.

My first one was a car park one - relatively minor (apart from the trauma to new RX-8owner :o ). Since it was repaired my RX-8 picked up a number of dings, dints and scratches from car doors (often at height appropriate for larger vehicles). I got those all removed or touched up during this repair session.

I've been fortunate that both times the other party has been at fault and admitted so making the whole process easy.

I'm with Suncorp and have been pleasently content with their service so far. Straight to the assessment centre and car rapidly repaired by my choice of body shop.

Previously with AAMI and found them okay but more effort for repairs (running around getting quotes).

I feel a long cruise out to the country coming on for Sunday.

xxup

Good idea.. Pity there is not enough time to organise a Brisbane cruise..