My new Jeep is cursed!

[Thump]

Shortly after I got my new 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited the security at my work ran into the read drivers side bumper while it was in the parking lot... That was enough to infuriate me. Less than 1000 miles on it at the time. His Insurance paid for it and I got it out of the shop 2 weeks ago Monday. It looked great but it was no longer a "New" car yanno what I mean? Then yesterday i am coming into work on Hwy 35 in Dallas, came up on some parking lot traffic and look up just in time to see something getting big in my mirror FAST. Calculations ran through my brain at the speed of light:
Punch it and get out of the way. Can't cars in front not moving
Swerve into left lane, Can't cars parked there as well.
Swerve right, let him hit the Hyundia Santa Fe infront of me, Can't, Gaurd rail there.
Oh S#!7 HIT THE BRAKES and hope 5 feet is enough room not to slam the Santa......BLAM He hit me doing about 45mph I was at 0mph

Now I was beyond pissed. This is the first vehicle that I have ever LOVED to drive and now due to 2 people with their heads up their asses it has been in the body shop for repairs twice. This time it is going to cost his insurance $2500. We both got out of our vehicles and he began to say something as my profanities flew in a rage... he climbed back into his van to let me cool down, (glad he did) For some reason he kept trying to shake my hand? As if that would make it all better? I have no idea why that made me angry but it did and I was to be dammed if I was going to shake his hand.

It could have been worse, no one was injured, but man the bad luck... less than 5000 miles on it now. My neck is sore as hell, going to the Dr. Monday if it aint better.

Thanks for listening, I now return you to your regulary scheduled program.

 

[KDX220rm]

Damn Thump,

You must have a permanent dark cloud over your head.

Glad you weren't hurt seriously, because at that impact, alot of stuff could of happened.

I would go ahead and check with your doctor anyway. I am shocked you didn't get whiplash.

I loved my 84 Trans Am, but after getting nailed for the third time in the rear end, I sold it as I thought it was cursed also.


Maybe riding the YZ to work would be safer??

 

[Milk]

Sorry to hear that Thump.

I bought a brand spankin' new 02 Chevy Pickup in May. Its the first new vehicle I have ever owned and Im proud as hell of it.

With only 700 miles and 3 weeks on the truck, I city BUS decided to rear-end me at 25 mph and slam me into the nice big Dodge truck with the 3 foot extended bumber made of angle iron in front of me. Needless to say, I too was pissed and it doesnt feel like a new truck to me anymore either. The bus driver was 83 yrs old, but dont get me started on old people driving......

 

[jboomer]

Same thing (sort of) happened to my wife's new car. She's always let me get a new ride and she always drove the old car. Well, Mitsubishi came out with the no interest, no payments until 2003 deal on their Eclipses. My wife just had to have one. We got her the exact car she wanted, brand new, a couple hundred miles on it (where do they come from?). A couple hundred miles on it and some dimwit hits the side of the car with a pushcart in a Walmart parking lot and leaves a 3 foot long 1/4" wide scratch down the passenger side door (mind you this is ONE day before our appointment to have the "Protective Paint Coat" put on the car. Oh well, not much can be done but attempt to ignore the ugliness of the scratch. Then, we move to Florida. About 1500 miles after the scratch incident, we're returning home from grocery shopping and are waiting to make a left hand turn onto our street, but there is some on-coming traffic. Some little 17 year old girl not paying attention hits us in the butt at about 40mph. $1500 damage to a brand-new (IMO) car. The mother of the girl got pissed at us because the bumper shell had two 4 inch scratches on it and we demanded the body shop fix it! It's a brand new car and your daughter hit it! Most of the damage was behind the bumper (bumper bracing, shock absorbers, etc.) but the bumper alone plus paint was about $800. To bad, so sad. Now, my insurance company (progressive) is telling my wife that one more accident and they are going to flag her as "high risk." She's been hit 3 times by careless drivers, and had her car broken into (drivers side glass busted) and she filed a "comprehensive" claim at that time. That's funny, she's never been faulted, been hit by 3 different people and she's the careless driver. Geez....and we have to pay for it.

 

[slo' mo]

remind me not to caravan with Thump to DW. :eek: (or park next to him for that matter)

 

[Camstyn]

I have a similar story.. Working for a delivery service, I was driving a beat up, worn out '96 Dodge 3/4ton van.. Finally a day came where the light shone through the clouds, and I was rewarded with a brand new '99 Ford E350 van to replace the clapped out Dodge.
On the way home that same day (picked it up in the morning) I was filling it up at the gas station, a guy backs into the van with a snowmobile rack on his truck.. I laid on the horn a good 3 seconds / 5 - 8 feet before he hit me and I saw what he was doing, I guess he thought I was honking at somebody else.. He just kept coming! He hit the van with the corner of the snowmobile rack up on the hood, and kept backing up another 3 feet all the way up the hood and over across the top of the driver side fender, right beside the windshield. Now there is a 2" wide slice through the fiberglass hood about 2 feet long, and the top of the fender is bent down and back, with a nice crease in it. Odometer reads 270km's. (~170 miles).

It wasn't MY van but I've never been more pissed..

Two days later, I pull into a loading area at a warehouse, get out, load up the van.. Get back in, crank wheel hard to the right to back out the same way I came in, so I wouldn't hit anything.. Well, somebody moved the forklift outside and parked it in my blind spot, which I failed to notice while I was loading the van. I manage to scrape the side of the van up against the forklift, bending the rear bumper on the passenger side, and denting in/scraping orange paint all the way along the bottom 2' of the van between the rear bumper and wheel well.

By this time, I was wanting my beater van back. I drove that thing for over a year, about 80,000km's, without putting so much as a scratch on it (it was already covered in dents/scratches before I got it).. Three days with the new van and two accidents causing very noticeable cosmetic damage.

Chalk another one up to Murphy's Law.

 

[Patman]

Thump buddy that is just wrong :| Ask the body shop to check the rear of that thing for an idiot magnet! Good thing you didn't shake his hand, there's no telling what he was doing with it that had him so distracted that he couldn't see traffic was at a dead stop but if he'd had both hands on the wheel he might have been paying more attention.

 

[JWW]

Do not sign a medical release for your neck. My grandmother was in a similar accident years ago and now has constant neck problems. She signed a release and was unable to get any help from the other party.

 

[Txbigguy]

Originally posted by slo' mo
remind me not to caravan with Thump to DW. :eek: (or park next to him for that matter)

You got it all wrong Slo. You want him to caravan with you. That way he is the target and you get away without a mark. :confused:

 

[KiwiBird]

Bummer Thump. Make sure you get a medical history - see the Dr. even if it doesn't seem like a problem now.

 

[KawieKX125]

Wow, sounds like the honda CR-V that we had.
First hit:
Old lady T boned us and we spun out, hitting a cement wall head on at 20. Air bags and all went off. 3 months in the shop and 16000 of her insurance money later(yes 16000!!!) it was good as new.

Exactly one year later to the day, dad is stopped in traffic and some lady crossing 3 lanes hits him at 60. Roof was buckled, all windows broke from the car flexing, seat snapped from the force. 18000 in damage and car was totalled as it was deemed unsafe to fix.

Thump, don't fret about the car at all. With unibody technology that they have today is awesome and can be fixed without being able to tell if the tech knows what he is doing. MAke sure you bring it to the shop of your choice! The insurance company is also required to give you a car of equal ability in some states, meaning you should get an SUV as a loaner.

Definetly pursue all you can with the neck. At the least, get the medical bills paid for by the other persons insurance.

Hope you feel better soon!

 

[BSWIFT]

Thump are your planning to park in the same area at DW02? I'll make a W I D E arch around your Jeep.

 

[326mx]

Thump I think it is the Dallas area that is the problem. I have a cousin who has lived there 5 months and has totaled 3 cars. Every time she was hit by a drunk driver. Weird eh. Now she is moving east

 

[Jeff Gilbert]

I wish I had never read this post!

 

[dell30rb]

A week ago, my aunt bought a brand new jeep liberty. It is now totaled. She was sitting in traffic, (this is on the interstate) and some fool came up doing about 60. They bounced off some car next to her, hit her jeep, then bounced off a gaurdrail and back into the jeep. Its totaled. The chassis is bent, and she has a cracked rib and fractured collarbone.

 

[Thump]

Glad I sold the SuperHawk.... could you even imagine? JHC!

 

[Tony Eeds]

Thump -- Sorry to hear about your trials with stupid drivers. DFW is full of them. All us Texas boys could caravan up with you in the rocker in the outside lane and a truck beside you in the inside lane like Smokey and the Bandit.

Funny, growing up in DFW, I never have any problem driving in any other big city. Driving around DFW, you learn how easy it is to put a 20 ft vehicle in a 16 ft space at 60 .... I drive a burban ... just let them hit me.

 

[CRboy167]

Last year the wife and I bought a new Grand Cherokee and we love it but 3 months after we had it my wife got rearended by the lady in a honda mini van. The van hit our trailer hitch and just ate the front end off of the van and only put a little white mark on the rear bumper. We collected the money for the new bumper skin and a new trail hitch ( went into our pocket ). I just left the bumper skin alone I figured that as long as it has one mark in it its not new anymore and no more crashes. So far so good no more crashes. Tell the body shop to leave one little mark somewhere on the Jeep and I think things will be fine!!! hahaha

 

[KamikaziRida]

Speaking of old people driving, when I was taking drivers ed my teacher was telling me about the one woman he has to drive. He said she ran into the back of her dads parked car (go figure) when she was 15 and hasn’t drove since. He said she is now 86 and this is the first time driving since then and he said the first day she ran up on the median and destroyed the shrubbery for a good 100 yards. The second day she hit a turn to fast and they almost went into the lake and fried the breaks that day. Well, that was my last day and the teacher said he was scared to drive with her tomorrow because it was interstate day, and he was praying he wasn’t going to get killed. I’m not sure if it was from her but a few days after I saw the same drivers ed car parked in a parking lot and the door was dented like something was rammed and most of the paint was gone :eek:

 

[Tod]

The van hit our trailer hitch and just ate the front end off of the van and only put a little white mark on the rear bumper.

This is the exact reason I leave my hitch installed all the time :p

 

[Howser03]

but if they hit the hitch doesn't that to a lot damage to the frame?

 

[Green Horn]

Let's see here. Bumper to bumper traffic on IH35 and this guy was doin' 45 and just cruisin' along. Cripes! If can even get up to 45 in heavy traffic, I am hovering the break pedal in anticipation of a sudden stop.

Just think that at some point, it's gotta get better. :)