Aluminum body is absolute trash.
 

Ok, i've had the F*cking car for almost 1/2 a year now. I must add, the car is ONE HELL OF A CAR, but there are a lot of problems with it. To all the threads out there, someone explain to me what a M flash or L flash is. Moving on, one afternoon, a person smashed me backing out of a parking spot. They did not look at the rear view mirror, and decided to turn the car on, and bullet out. I had NO time to react, and the damage was not INTENSE, but there are several scratches and the welding or safety bars are imprinted on my door. AS i am only a student, i have to repair the car, and the damage was worth $2100. It looked like nothing. The damage ran from the passenger door, all the way back to the rear 1/4 panel. Good god, it's alot of work, and i have to wait until the parts come in. I am replacing the door, but i don't have enough money to replace the 1/4 panel, so i'm asking the body shop to work on it. However, Aluminum is extremely hard to work with!!! It's not like steel. Sure, aluminum is lighter, but the damage is extensive, and it's a lot weaker. Just take ur finger, and press on the hood... it goes in, etc. The car is EXCELLENT!!! Don't get me wrong... but right now, it's a mess. Someone please make me feel better... PLEASE!! Or if you know someone that is selling a RT. DOOR in sunglight silver, please reply. Thank you!!

BTW, i dont 'know where i'm supposed to add what i have done to the car, but i currently have a BORLA exhaust on the car. I am getting the canzoomer stage 1 soon (hopefully). Also, The borla DOES not shoot flames!!! I was sooo anticipating that... and iknow many people say that the borla exhaust shoots flames, but mine does not..! Has the body shop installed the borla exhaust wrong? Is that why it does not shoot flames? Is it possible to install an exhaust wrong?? Please get back to me people.. and this is a great website!!!

james

...wow.

The M or L flash is a recalibration for your car's fuel injection computer. This recalibration is a quick service done by dealerships to help correct certain "problems" some people may have, such as hard starts, engine flooding (no start after continuous cranking), poor gas mileage, and some others.

Question: Do you not have accident / theft / vandalism insurance?
Unless you have already paid for the car outright in cash, banks require you to have those types of insurance on your vehicle as part of the loan agreement. You should file a damage claim with your insurance company to get this fixed, and it will only cost you the deductible (generally 250 to 1000) - thus you will save money on such costly repairs. Regardless, because the damage was not your fault, you should have whoever hit you pay for the damages. People who pay for insurance should use it every chance they get. DO have the repairs done at a professional body shop which the dealership may recommend to you.

To add your signature / comments to the bottom of every post, go to the USER/CP button at the top of the screen and select "EDIT PROFILE" - add your comments in the "SIGNATURE" box.

Quarter panels aren't aluminum, they are steel.
Only the rear doors and hood are aluminum. Use a magnet and see for yourself.

Re: Aluminum body is absolute trash.
 

Aluminum doesn't rust....

Why isn't the other person paying for the repairs?

I also noticed the panel gaps on the 8 are FREAKIN CRAZY TINY!!!

My past two new cars from 2001 & 2002 both had reasonably sized panel gaps between the various body panel but the 8 has about a milimeter of clearance cs the 4 or 5 I've seen on most other cars...
wierd? cool? who knows but definitely a liability in a collision.

Sunlight Silver you say, do a search and you'll learn Sunlight Silver is cursed.

Who told you that? ;)

thats gotta suck but ppl always complain about getting hit in a parking lot and having to pay so much money AND it wasnt even your fault


if i got hit in a parking lot id claim a 300$ deductable and have it fixed... if it were the other dudes fault he would pay that and his premiums would go up

First off, I want to extend my sympathies - I was hit 3 weeks ago by someone in a real hurry to make a left out of a parking lot. By the time we saw each other, his front end was buried in my front side panel.
Now I wanted to mention that aluminium is a heck of a lot easier to work with than plastic - and most cars in this class have enough plastic trim to cost big $$ to replace. Thankfully aluminium does not always have to be replaced!
I also wanted to inform everyone, when driving in a parking lot beware. Since there is much less visibility in reverse, insurance companies list the driver of the vehicle going forward equally or MORE responsible than the one in reverse... happened to a friend of mine - she backed into someone and thought it would be her fault - the insurance companies listed is as the other driver's fault...
sorry.. hope you get it back soon. Mine's been in the shop for over 3 weeks, another 2 likely.

What GiN said... You must have insurance. A student paying cash for a $34K car is unlikely. Unless you have rich parents who paid cash and they decided to get liability only. Who do you have for insurance?

just be happy you dont have an nsx

disposable cars
 

New cars are getting too expensive to fix. see related article

http://csmonitor.com/2004/0419/p13s02-wmgn.html

Are you sure the front doors are STEEL? Where did u learn that from? The dealer told me the body and the entire car is Steel. So, only the 1/2 doors and the hood are aluminum???

that makes things better!!!

He's right only the hood and the freestyle doors are made of aluminum.

Just take one of them soft flexible magnets that are usually found on the fridge and just walk around the car and see where it sticks and where it doesn't!

If the car was all aluminum the purchase price would be much higher (think A-8) and the car would be much lighter. BTW, if you had the cash for an outright buy, I would hope you could afford the fix cost, if not, I don't understand why it is not an insurance claim.

I just don't get it! If a guy hits you rocketing out from a parking place why on earth should you pay for anything????

Sounds like he was responsibele, so his insurance must cover your all and any losses. Am I missing something?

First of all ... sorry to hear it ... but

If you don't have insurance, you're either rich or stupid or both. If you have insurance and are not using it to repair the car for a no-fault accident, what can anyone say?

If your assailant is not paying for the repairs and is at fault, sue them. ... Or were you illegally parked?

If you can't afford to own or maintain the car, sell it.

Regardless, your thread title is challenging for the worst yet. I suppose you expect the car to simply repel any poor driver that comes your way, or to drive out of the way for you.

The aluminum components are absolute trash because they are expensive to repair. Interesting thesis ... not!

How about some dent-resistant aluminum? If you can come up with that material, you have to give me royalties for the idea. :)

How about tranparent aluminum?

Guys, he said the other car "bulleted out" meaning he didn't catch them, so quit asking him why the other guy's insurance didn't pay for it. Read the entire post!

With that said.... Why aren't you filing a claim instead of paying out of pocket?

And last, I remember reading somewhere that the hood of the RX8 was designed so that if you hit a pedestrian, the hood would crumple and not crush their skull. So that's why it flexes like that. (Humorous, I know)

Sorry to hear your troubles.

Well... The accident happened while the other driver was backing out of a parking space. The damage to the car ran from the passenger door to the rear quarter panel. If someone backed into you coming out of a parking stall it would be totally evil and criminal if they just switched gears and bulleted out away from the scene.
I was thinking he meant "bulleted out" as "backed up real fast coming out of the parking space without looking".

Ic. A matter of interpretation I guess. Having been a victim of a hit and run in the parking lot ($4k worth of damage....!!!!!) I saw "bullet out" as hit and run.

the damage isnt' too bad. About $1200 worth of damage. My insurance ppl are assholes, so i don't want to bother with them. They will find ways to raise the premium. I think i'll look around more. The damage isnt' too bad, but it'll deal.

Sorry to hear about the accident, but I cannot let your Borla comment stand. A stock car with borla WILL shoot flames rather easily, you just don't know how to do it. I have done it many times, and could get it to do it right now with a short drive and some gas pedal pumping. Absolutes are not good to make, especially when fellow forum members have videos lurking about that demonstrate the phenomenon! Seen the video, made the flames myself. My non-cat rotary flames alot more though.

yeah.. Xavier is right, Borla will shoot flames, you just gotta do it right. Next time get a plate number. Dont just stand there shocked with a dumbfounded look, even though that might be your first reaction. Look at your car gettin smashed and try to get a license plate number... thats a hit and run big trouble. When someone hit me and tried to run, i threw my keys and my shoe and a rock. only the keys and the rock hit, and i left a couple of scratches and a dent, but i didnt pay for it. He had to do that with his own money :/ i guess that was dumb and he might have been able to sue me, but he didnt and he stopped. Luckily i was bigger then him :D