Have You Ever Totaled a Vehicle?

Have you ever totaled a vehicle? If so, what type?

  • Aircraft

    Votes: 8 7.9%

  • Car or Truck

    Votes: 49 48.5%

  • Motorcycle

    Votes: 8 7.9%

  • Boat or Other Watercraft

    Votes: 1 1.0%

  • None

    Votes: 47 46.5%
  • Total voters
    101
FormerHangie

FormerHangie

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FormerHangie
This was inspired by Henning's suggestion in another thread that a fair percentage of teenager's first cars get totaled. Looking back I can only think of one of my friends who totaled a car, when he was 15, no less.

I did destroy a motorcycle. I had a 1989 Honda Hawk GT, that I rode pretty much nonstop for seven years. I had 48,862 miles on it when someone turned left in front of me and that was the end of that.

Three days later we found out that daughter #1 was on the way and that was the end of my motorcycling career.
 
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I bumped into our double-wide at under 3mph during an in-cockpit distraction and scuffed the paint and broke a clip or two on my bumper. In my defense, they don't call 'em mobile homes for no reason :D

My sister was practicing driving a manual pickup of ours and rounded a corner while changing the radio station and ended up hitting a safety pole around our shop on our property. Dented the hood, broke the passenger side headlight, and cracked the bumper, but nowhere near totaled it. That's about it from my family in the teens range.
 
It doesn't take that much damage to total a vehicle which is not worth a whole lot to begin with. I was rear-ended in a older Celica. The person didn't hit me very hard but she was in a SUV which had a bumper high enough to crush the liftback. The car was still drivable but totaled according to insurance.
 
Totalled one truck (explained in the other thread).

My aircraft flew again after my engine failures.

My boat lost the transmission once but fortunately I was coming up to the dock when it happened. Unfortunately it was stuck in FORWARD which means no slowing down, fortunately I wasn't going fast and my friend on the pier fended me off and then caught the line to bring me in.
 
I haven't, but I've had some meatheads try to do it for me. Some drivers suck.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Does someone else totaling it by running into you count? If yes, yes, if no, no.
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I counted someone running into me as a "yes", but who knows? :dunno:

I have also been parked next to a number of cars totaled by hail. Mine wasn't only because it was new and worth more than it cost to fix it.
 
I got a parking garage pillar in mom's car as a kid and rolled a Jeep into a deep ditch on a country dirt road around 19. Both were technically "totaled" because they were both nearly worthless vehicles when both happened. Drove the Jeep for two more years with the right side smashed in and the doors unusable on that side. Had to spend money on flying not fixing Jeep back then! :)
 
In the context of me being responsible, then no.

An idiot ran a stop sign, hitting my car just in front of the left front tire. This managed to really twist the front end of the car, resulting in the car being totaled.

(fortunately no injuries)
 
Everskyward said:
I counted someone running into me as a "yes", but who knows? :dunno:

I have also been parked next to a number of cars totaled by hail. Mine wasn't only because it was new and worth more than it cost to fix it.
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One of my worries (in OK) are the ice meteors and sky vaccuums that are inherent to the region.

Did you know the hail was coming and just couldn't move it somewhere or was there nowhere to move it? The place I just moved into doesn't even have storm shelters and there's nowhere close by that I could park under in the event of a hailstorm.
 
overdrive148 said:
Did you know the hail was coming and just couldn't move it somewhere or was there nowhere to move it? The place I just moved into doesn't even have storm shelters and there's nowhere close by that I could park under in the event of a hailstorm.
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My vehicle was in the parking lot at work and I was out of town so there was no way to move it. In fact it wasn't until the next day that I knew it happened when work called to give me the bad news (it happened at night). Even if I had been there, there is no shelter that I can think of. Actually this is the second vehicle I have owned that was hail-damaged. The first was the Celica I mentioned earlier which was eventually rear-ended and totaled. I received money in that instance and chose not to fix the hail damage since it was old. It was a plus for me when it was rear-ended and totaled!
 
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I totalled my mother's car senior year of high school while dropping off my girlfriend. A kid tried to do a u turn and didn't see me in the intersection. Ended up getting t-boned and pushed into a telephone pole.

I ended up meeting my girlfriend's father that night!
 
Everskyward said:
My vehicle was in the parking lot at work and I was out of town so there was no way to move it. In fact it wasn't until the next day that I knew it happened when work called to give me the bad news (it happened at night). Even if I had been there, there is no shelter that I can think of. Actually this is the second vehicle I have owned that was hail-damaged. The first was the Celica I mentioned earlier which was eventually rear-ended and totaled. I received money in that instance and chose not to fix the hail damage since it was old. It was a plus for me when it was rear-ended and totaled!
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That's a silver lining if I've ever seen one :D
 
My first car was totaled when I was 18. Guy swerved to avoid hitting me while i was waiting to turn. He didn't avoid my truck though. His Volkswagen was pretty f'd up.
 
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.

A guy ran me off the road into a railroad overpass support. My front license plate left a reverse imprint of the numbers on the concrete. :D

16580232856_6b5d57c986_z.jpg
 
Nope. Even the 1978 Bonneville that I had parked and was ran over by a delivery truck that had forgot to set his parking brake kept running with some bungee cords and rope to hold the bumper up, and a piece of sheet metal for the driver's rear window.
 
My Prius was totalled when I pulled out into oncoming traffic and was t-boned (well, front quarter-paneled) by an oncoming car. To this day I can't fathom why I would have pulled out into traffic like that - and I suffered retrograde amnesia and can't remember anything immediately prior to or after the crash.

The good news is that the airbags in the Prius worked VERY well...other than a slight concussion and a few scrapes, I came out OK.

Years later, after hearing about the sudden accelerator problems with the Prius I wonder if something like that happened and caused me to jump out into the traffic...I guess I'll never know :confused:
 
bcool said:
My Prius was totalled when I pulled out into oncoming traffic and was t-boned (well, front quarter-paneled) by an oncoming car. To this day I can't fathom why I would have pulled out into traffic like that - and I suffered retrograde amnesia and can't remember anything immediately prior to or after the crash.



The good news is that the airbags in the Prius worked VERY well...other than a slight concussion and a few scrapes, I came out OK.



Years later, after hearing about the sudden accelerator problems with the Prius I wonder if something like that happened and caused me to jump out into the traffic...I guess I'll never know :confused:
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What'd the FAA say about the amnesia event and head injury? Was that interesting at medical renewal time?
 
My newly licensed daughter t-boned another young driver when the other driver turned left at a light without clearing traffic first. My daughter was the uncleared traffic! :(

The other driver hopped out of the car claiming she had the green arrow. We all looked at the light and there was no arrow installed, green or otherwise... oops... My 200k mile Volvo was totalled. It did its job, nobody hurt....

-Skip
 
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denverpilot said:
What'd the FAA say about the amnesia event and head injury? Was that interesting at medical renewal time?
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Well, I didn't start flying until about 4 years after the accident, and then I had to submit all the paperwork from the hospital, plus a letter from my doctor saying that I haven't exhibited any adverse symptoms since. I had my Dr. write up another letter for this last 2-year exam, but my AME didn't ask for it.
 
bcool said:
Well, I didn't start flying until about 4 years after the accident, and then I had to submit all the paperwork from the hospital, plus a letter from my doctor saying that I haven't exhibited any adverse symptoms since. I had my Dr. write up another letter for this last 2-year exam, but my AME didn't ask for it.
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Cool. I knew they get weird about any amnesia or unconsciousness.
 
This thread is very timely for me:



A week ago Friday I was innocently sitting in my red Focus waiting for a red light to change. My car was oriented parallel to the red curb facing a busy four lane street.

The busy street (West Slaughter in Austin) you see in the distance had a lot of traffic on it.

The young lady in the gray shirt was driving her Fiat 500. It was the second day since she got her driver's license on her sixteenth birthday. She made a very unadvisable left turn in front of the black GMC pickup.

The driver of the pickup tried to avoid her, he hit her a glancing blow and ricocheted into the front of my Focus at about a 45 degree angle, knocking me back about a car length or so and rotating my car ninety degrees.

My Focus is totaled. I have a knot on my head where it was slammed into the left side of the car. I'm getting some medical monitoring, but so far [insert famous AME name here] doesn't think this will ground me, since I did not lose consciousness.

As far as I know the other two drivers were fine, although the little girl driving the Fiat screamed hysterically for about ten minutes after the accident.

I've never been in a car crash before. The whole thing took about two seconds, starting when I see the Fiat turning left into heavy traffic, I think 'oh no...' BAM!!!!!!!

I experienced all three of Newton's laws of motion in that second or two.

My Focus was totaled, I'm currently driving my old reliable Ford Explorer (208,000 miles) until I can buy a replacement.

Ironically, I think only the little girl's Fiat was not totaled by this accident.
 
Never ever totaled a vehicle but did remove from service permanently a car whose front suspension and unibody subframe was cracking apart and regretted it later. It was a 1970 Ford Torino Cobra from my youth. I dismantled all the good stuff and gave the hull to my ex bro-in-law who stored the body next to one of his derelict houses in a neighboring town. A couple years later somebody who broke into the house to squat for the winter accidentally burned it down and the car parked outside was destroyed. That was over a quarter century ago. A few years ago I learned this particular car, if I still had it, based on the way it was equipped from the factory, would've fetched nearly $18k even as a basket case pile of parts.
:dunno:
 
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Yep. Combination of being late for class, having a quarter mile long driveway, and ice being present on aforementioned driveway. I hit a power pole at 40 mph. I ended up paying to repair the car (2000 Ford Taurus with 70,000 miles) because it gets great gas mileage, and my insurance would have only paid for a high mileage, gas guzzling piece of crap.
 
Two cars to totaled in my first two years driving, both from drivers pulling in front of me, neither my fault, and neither of which accidents would occur now, because I learned that "green means 'look out,' not 'go'!"

The 1969 Renault 10, no one would miss, but the 1961 Chevrolet Impala was a sad loss...
 
RotorAndWing said:
Hmmmmm.........I know it's coming any moment now....
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What, you mean that someone owned up to totaling a boat? :D You know there's probably a great story behind that. Unless...

800px-Collision_of_Costa_Concordia_24.jpg


Although, it seems like he also got a bit too close to terra firma without being ready for it... :rofl:
 
Going full tilt boogie I rode a Norton Atlas off the end of a dock in the middle of the night into a lake. The bike is still out there.
While drag racing a 1964 Dodge (426 wedge) at Englishtown, NJ the engine detonated and cut the car in half.
During the war I wrecked a bunch of planes, but never during my civilian years.
 
overdrive148 said:
What, you mean that someone owned up to totaling a boat? :D You know there's probably a great story behind that. Unless...

800px-Collision_of_Costa_Concordia_24.jpg


Although, it seems like he also got a bit too close to terra firma without being ready for it... :rofl:
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I did have a friend who totaled a boat. It was about 1974, and his dad bought one of the earlier jet drive boats, He and his dad were out one day, zipping along when said friend backed off of the throttle completely, not realizing that his steering was also going to be cut off. Boat made a surprisingly hard turn into a seawall before his father could correct him.
 
bcool said:
My Prius was totalled when I pulled out into oncoming traffic and was t-boned (well, front quarter-paneled) by an oncoming car. To this day I can't fathom why I would have pulled out into traffic like that - and I suffered retrograde amnesia and can't remember anything immediately prior to or after the crash.

The good news is that the airbags in the Prius worked VERY well...other than a slight concussion and a few scrapes, I came out OK.

Years later, after hearing about the sudden accelerator problems with the Prius I wonder if something like that happened and caused me to jump out into the traffic...I guess I'll never know :confused:
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The retrograde amnesia is pretty common among people who have had a head injury. When I crashed my motorcycle, The last thing I remember is seeing my headlight reflection on the truck I was about to hit, and thinking that this was going to hurt. The next thing I can remember is someone trying to get me up off of the pavement, and me telling him no, that I'd just lie there until the ambulance showed up, which seemed like only a few seconds later.

I will have to say that I got excellent care from the paramedics, although one of them did ask me the dumbest question anyone has ever asked me. He asked me if I had lost consciousness, to which I answered no. Later, when I thought about it, I realized that I had lost consciousness, but by jinkies, I didn't remember that because I was unconscious at the time! A better question to ask would be if I could remember the entire accident.
 
got t-boned in my C43 when I was living in San Diego. Real bummer.....I loved that car and it got me through a lot of years/cross country moves/etc. The most painful thing was what great condition it was in. Hopefully some lucky buyer got some nice parts / motor. USAA really came through and I got waaay more than I would have expected, given the private party values in socal at the time for said car. I couldn't have sold it for that much prior to the accident. I'm guessing it ended up being an issue with not enough comps (only about 300 of that model year were imported to the US) and adjustor fuzzy math that ended up being in my favor.

FWIW I was like 27-28 at the time
 
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