Death and Rebirth of my PT!

[legion]

last monday i got out of work early, and went on my way home (about ten minutes away). made a quick pitstop to pick up some boots for work before going home and was about to go thru the last intersection 2 minutes from my home when my Pt got creamed. . . .

i had the green light and almost cleared the intersection when some kid in an 88 blazer blew thru the red light and ploughed into my back end on the passenger side. [xx(] i got pushed 20 feet up the street and got spun around into the opposite lane. he came to a stop right where he hit me. . . . now here is the killer - he had a rejection sticker for brakes AND all four tires were worn down to slicks. he basically flattened my rear passenger quarter panel into the truck, bent the rear axle and frame, and bent the rear pasenger wheel up at a 45 degree angle. oh and he hit me hard enough to blow the plastic panels inside the trunk INTO the inside of the truck. (the jack got thrown out of its compartment!). have no clue how no one got hurt or killed.

to make a long story short, my poor pt is now in the body shop (and probably will be for 30 + days or so). good thing is the little jerk owned up for everything (plus there were two cops at the intersection who saw the whole thing and decided to be my witnesses -got you sucka!). took extensive pictures too (will post later on).

now i got to go thru receites for tires, custom parts etc. to make it worse he just lost a part of his fender and headlight. I am PO'ed to no limit! look at my car domain site to see how well i kept my pt since i bought it new. it just makes me burn at the thought that my car was appraised at $13000 (i bought it at 17000 new in 04), due to the condition i kept it in and now it might not be worth anything after this . . . grrrrr. [xx(]. i just hope the bodyshop can get it fixed right (its a 5 star chrysler dealer - so far they have had to order all new parts for everything since my 04 pt is a wierd mix of 04 and 05 parts and almost everything hit has to be custom ordered - the body guys and the dealer said that i have a mid year model and that works in my favor parts wise) . . .

[CREWZIN]

Glad you weren't hurt. Sounds like you got hit hard enough to bend the frame (if the PT has one). [:I] Hopefully they can get it all back together and it'll all be a bad memory after awhile. Kid's insurance paying for a rental while your's is being fixed?

[Jimbo]

Glad no one got hurt.Good luck with your repairs

[fritz_t_coyote]

Unibody cars are not designed to survive a major impact. Your PT absorbed the impact thru-out its structure, and kept you alive.

Sure, any body shop can bang and bondo it back into looking right, but it will take expert treatment to restore full safety, handling and reliability.

[bobs turbo pt]

glad your werent hurt!! hope it all turns out ok for you keep us posted

[legion]

update on my pt:

i am told to expect the car by first week of october, maybe last day or two in sept. I actually love my dealership. they brought in a guy they keep on hand just for frames (he has been doing it for about 45 years - they called him in for me and a mitsubishi eclipse that looked like it got attacked by two semi rigs).

I have a whole new rear suspention, brakes, shocks etc. new rear bumper (they even transfered my chrome license plate surround! with new 3m tape). they already ordered new tires for the rear (good year triple thread assurances - this is holding them up for abouit a week ahile they are on order). They cut out two major sections of the interior and exterior steel panels both inside and out and are welding new sections in.

As a testament to these guys - they saved and repaired my stainless steel gas cover (the version i have has been oop for about a year now). actually had a guy in the bodyshop took the time to straighten it out, grind buff and polish it and test fit it to the new panel.

[bobs turbo pt]

maybe alittle late but take pics !!

[legion]

unfortunetly they won't let me take pics of the car in the bodyshop while work is being done on it (i am not going to push the issue - they are doing a great job and i don't want to ruffle any feathers till the pt is back in my hands and secure). . . believe me i tried cause i wanted to document the repairs for my car domain site. . . i have the accident photos though and will post them as soon as time permits . . .