Are new cars magnetic or something?
 

OK, so I recently went through the process of selling 2 cars I had and searching for and buying a new one - all in about a week. Well not really new but a pre-loved one in good condition. Then the unthinkable happened... :eek:

But first, I made very good use of CraigsList.org to get rid of the 2 existing cars for a fair price each:
- a 1999 BMW 323iC convertible (I'm going to really miss that one)
- a 1997 VW Passat GLX wagon (gave me surprisingly good FE for being unmodified)

Next, I found a used 2002 BMW 325it wagon with low mileage and a CPO warranty from a BMW dealer with a relatively good reputation around where I live. It was in nice condition, and below retail price (though they never budged). I inspected all the body panels, got a carfax, and requested a copy of the paint density measurements: it was all originall and no damage history. It also had on it everything I would have wanted in terms of options (hey, life is short :cool: ).

I drove it home on a Friday night (Oct 9th), parked it in my driveway, and put a cover over it to protect it from the vicious oak trees (acorns are like falling ballpein hammers). I went away for the weekend, and then drove it to work for the first time on Monday. At lunch, I went out to return a set of license plates to the RMV, and I got hit going through a green light in the right lane of a 4-lane road (2-lanes each way) ... by opposing traffic!!!!! :eek:

No, nobody was hurt. The other driver was attempting a U-turn at an intersection and seemed oblivious to other cars. He wasn't going very fast and he didn't respond to my horn either. By the time I realized what was happening, I couldn't seem to avoid him. He just simply drove right into my left rear door and pinned me up against a curb. I couldn't believe it! I was even more astonished than when I was in a plane crash back in 1990 - but I digress. I hate it when this happens. His car was a 2006 Cadillac CTS and his license said his birthdate was February something of 1926. Afterwards, I saw him drive ahead and pull over to collect himself (he was OK), so I just sat there and swore for what felt like 2 solid minutes w/o repeating myself.

Then, having fully vented ;), I got out and dealt with the whole trade-info / police-report / rmv-report / insurance thing.

https://img188.imageshack.us/img188/8...0100102ih5.jpg

So much for the pristine Bimmer. I know, I have elitist problems - you can say it. I've already gotten a check from his insurance company for the initial estimate and have it scheduled to go to a certified BMW collision repair center (the best I could do).

I think my next car will be one of those Civics like I've seen all over GS that I can heavily modify to get obscene FE... In the meantime, life will go on.

That's funny.

Too bad about the car. But it is, after all, just a car. (Is that heresy?) ;)

Well, I admit that I couldn't always detach like this: Youth is so wasted on the young.

...but yes, it is just an appliance. It's an appliance I still like a lot but it's still just a 'thing.' What's my alternative...keep obsessing about how I ought to change the past? ;) That's one of the definitions of insanity. :)

Besides, if that's heresy, then we would never get away with making the modifications (that so many have here) to get better FE than the manufacturer intended.

Hello -

Uffdah. Sorry about your new car. I've seen smashed up new cars being towed, but not known the people that drove them. That is probably the worst story I have heard when it comes to new car smash-ups. When stuff like this happens, I like to say that your car sacrificed itself for you. Good job, car!!!!! Nobody was hurt! At least it gives a nicer sentiment to what happened.

Saturns are less magnetic, but like to "explode" with plastic body panels flying everywhere when they do collide.

This is tangential to the question of whether a car is an investment or a tool. My wife told me a story of a couple who, whenever they got a new car, would park it in the driveway, and drop a "ritual brick" onto it, thus denting it and doing away with all that worry about a scratch.

I applaud that sentiment (but haven't done it myself, :o ).

CarloSW2

Can't let you get away with saying that and not expanding.

--

I also admire someone who could do a "ritual brick". Despite my tendency towards "car as an appliance" views, I don't think I could do that.

I actually made a conscious decision several cars back to quit worrying about them. Quit fussing, quit washing and waxing and vacuuming (as much - wax 2x a year instead of every month or 2).

Of course when I made that decision I couldn't just STOP looking after my pristine, low miles 84 Rabbit. I sold it to a good home, then bought a beater (85 Camry with rusted out wheel wells).

Un/fortunately, I'm back in a car that's in ridiculously good cosmetic condition for its age. I'll doubtless be miffed when it gets its first big whack (been able to shrug off the minor ones so far...)

You're absolutely right. When I see a totaled car that someone walked away from, the engineer part of me definitely says things like "that car did what it was supposed to do to protect its occupants by crumpling, deploying airbags, etc." Fortunately mine was a mere fender-bender (door-bender?).

Before this happened, I was actually thinking about a guy who used to take a hammer to a new car he just bought, saying he wanted to be the first one to put a dent in it. I like the brick idea though. I'm not sure I could do that to a new car but it sure seems better than worrying until someone else does it. I KNOW it will happen sometime. Now I've been spared all that worry. :)

I actually think that new cars are magnetic...

Seriously. Within a week of buying our new xB, my wife got rear ended. Then a week and a half after that we walked out to the car after dinner and found that one of the tail lights was busted out. Then only a few weeks after that a rock flew up and made a huge crack in the windshield... then there are the numerous door dings we now have and the two dents where someone rammed it with a shopping cart.

lol

And my $500 civic doesn't have a scratch on it. Go figure.

20 miles
 

000020 miles on the TSX and a dump-truck ahead lost a load of gravel. Scrapes down to the primer on the hood. On the way home from the dealer!!!

RH77

It's the SHINY FACTOR it draws people to the new car and they get hypnotized by the shiny until they HIT IT BAM!!!

YES!!!!

Wow, that's awful. It's downright evil I tell ya...

I think maybe you hit the nail right on the thumb! :D

Sorry about the car. :(

I take it real hard when cars get torn up. Im still so mad at my wife for tearing up the Accords bumper cover cause she stuck her head up her a$$,,, Im really thinking about leaving her. She has messed up every darn car shes ever driven. Hell I can replace a wife easier than a car. And to think she wanted to drive my Civic just days before she ripped up the rear end on hers.

I dont see the engineering or think look that car did its job. I think,, well yet another stupid human trick when I see wrecked cars.

The thought of my Civic being in a real wreck is scary as hell. With Hondas ACE engineering. I know my car will either xplode or implode if i hit anything. Or anything hits me. The car has enough air bags Im certin if they all went off at the same time it would shred its self.

Im really sorry about your new car. Sounds like you went out of your way to make a good purchase on a soild car in near new condition.

Now if I could figure out how to get the lawyers after my wife for jacking up our Accord and get her lic. revoked. She really dosent need to be driving..

Image just added (as edit to original post):
https://img188.imageshack.us/img188/8...0100102ih5.jpg

Thanks.

Wow, that sounds very upsetting. Maybe she needs to drive older cars (they're sometimes cheaper to insure and repair, you may even drop collision coverage, minor dings don't seem to matter, the proportional depreciation per accident is much lower, and in general there is less to worry about). Maybe preemptively limit your losses somehow. I don't know, it's just a thought.

Naa get her one with the old 5mph bumpers like my old 1980 rabbit they were telescopic shock absorbing bumpers.

Silveredwings -

Youch! It looks close enough to have done even worse damage to your rear axle. How did the rear wheels check out? Are they still aligned?

CarloSW2

My philosophy is not to worry to much about damage unless it affects the integrity of the car. Little door dings, no big deal. The mysterious scrape in my plastic bumper cover, also no big deal. Even a little paint scratch or chip that doesn't go through the primer, no big deal. But I draw the line at anything that exposes bare metal or otherwise impacts the lifespan of the vehicle. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it does have to last!

Yeah, the rear wheel is damaged but has no noticable vibration. Most of the collision force was absorbed by the door/quarter panel area. Still, I will definitely change out that wheel and have the CV joints and suspension checked by BMW. They never shy away from replacing expensive parts.

Exactly, that's my biggest concern at this point. The quarter panel will have to be cut and welded, so all bets are off as to how well it handles condensation and rain water from here on.

So I put it into the "BMW Certified Collision Center" today. They said w/o taking it apart fully, it would take from two to three weeks to fix. :eek:

They have to disassemble a large part of the interior, remove the glass, etc. before they can weld in a new quarter panel. I hope this means that they will do a really, really, really god job! :rolleyes:

Nahh , they will still end up filling it with plastic and take a day to do the whole job.
For the rest oif the time they will be out in a back room getting drunk , smoking weed and crakin on to the secretary.

Just like in every other panel shop in the world.

https://www.delsjourney.com/images/ne...nking-Beer.jpg

What he said.

Just kidding - here's hoping for a full & speedy recovery.

yeah, either that or the assigned tech has a 2 week vacation in there. ;)

I'd rather have a female friend/wife/gf screw up my car than be a loner.
It's much easier to to find a car than to find a woman that loves you.

Try buying your wife a mid 1980's chrystlers. Get a new engine and tranny and those things are like tanks. My aunt used to have a 1986 Chrystler car. She hit some guy's car and totalled his car. My aunt's car only had a cracked headlight, which still WORKED!

A couple years ago the engine threw a rod and still ran, it shook like a crazy bull but it ran.

That's amazing.

LOL. The mechanic came to see the car and asked my uncle if the car made any noises before it died. My uncle said it was driving on the freeway and the engine just died all of a sudden. No weird noises at all. The mechanic looked at him with the most horrific look ever.

Don't cars usually make a noise when they throw a rod???

Blues Brothers
 

Reminds me of the "Blues Brothers" movie:

"She's thrown a rod" and they keep on going -- ironically, a 1974 Dodge (Chrysler)

RH77
"106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half of pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it!"

I called them yesterday and they said:
1. it should be done at the end of next week, and
2. it won't cost me anything (except the hassle of this whole thing anyway).

So it will be nice to get back to my regular life... :thumbup:

Anyone that works here in the building knows I spend a lot of time polishing and washing my xB so WHY THE HELL do they think my hood is a shelf to put stuff on! I just found - probably from yesterday - a dent on the top of my right front fender and a bunch of scratches over a 2 square foot area on my hood. Now you have to realize that the paint job on a Scion xB in my case was flawless without a speck of dust anywhere. And believe me I have waxed and polished every square inch of the painted surfaces including the door jams many times.Looks like someone came out the door where I park and put their "stuff" on my hood while they locked the door and it probably was a trash bag full of garbage and covered with dirt from the office floor. Then they dragged it several inches on the hood.

That's nasty. :thumbdown: It's even worse than door dings.

If it makes you feel any better I know a guy that got hit pulling out of the dealer parking lot for the very first time with a brand new car. To make it even worse his wife was killed in that accident. So just remember no matter how bad it is someone has it worse. Another saying that comes to mind. If everyone tossed all of their problems in a pile and had to pick a set back out most people would take back their own.

Yeah my friends sister was t-boned last year pulling out on her street by a guy going WAY too fast and I think drunk - she died instantly - was married to the pilot that flew the jet sideways by the aircraft carrier that is a famous photo you all probably have seen.

This is not an accident - someone deliberately put something on my hood and then dragged it across. Dang I am parked with that side against a brick building! It is where it is parked in the photo of my xB next to my posts here.

You're absolutely right, except I think most people would fight to get their own problems back. ;)

That's awful.
That's awful too.

Those stories really get to me. Driving is so dangerous. The older I get, the slower I want to drive. Man, youth is SO wasted on the young.

Ah! Lessons learned.... I never follow a dump truck or a semi closer than 14 or 15 car lengths! The gravel kicked up past worn or missing mud flaps (guards?) will find your windshield! :cool:

On my trip to Maine last Saturday north of Boston an assfault (pun) truck merged onto the 4 lane highway and immediately pulled into the second lane that I was in dropping the little tar covered gravel all over the road in front of me - I had to change lanes really quick but had to cross behind him. Could hear it hitting my nice clean car but apparently nothing stuck - just more chips on the front bumper and windshield now too many to count. I always double check for long mudflaps and no dirt on the wheels and underside that will fall off on bumps before getting near trucks. What really sucks is a lot of the high ground clearance SUVs are wide open behind the rear wheels with little overhang on the tails and showing at least half of the tire backside and can be real rock throwers. And of course some of them are the lane weavers.

The latest news is that the car will not be done in the 2 week time, but more like the 3 week range (maybe 11/17). The current cost is ~$4,800. Sheesh, I'm in the wrong business. :)

Are new cars magnetic or something?
 

I have been wating for some smart brass to come up with the answer :D

the answer is YES , cars are indeed magnetic.


https://www.school-for-champions.com/...magnetism2.gif

When current flows through a wire an electromagnetic fiield is produced.
The body of the car is the (-) ground return path it is part of the electrical circuit.

So electricity flows in the body panels of the car when power is being used making it into a very weak electromagent.

But the magentism effect of course is VERY VERY weak. :D