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Just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse... Posted by IrieTom [Email]  (#1032)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from IrieTom) on Mon, 8 Jul 2002 12:49:05
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You guys must have been doing lots of fixing and upgrading yesterday, because my '86 SPG certainly got s(p)it on by the continuum.
I was up in Albany collecting most of my spares to consolidate my saab parts collection in Kingston, and hopped on the NYS thruway to go home. Traffic was backed up and miserable. After a mile or two, I was able to shift into 2nd gear, and suddenly- *nothing*. The motor had quit, and I was forced to coast to the shoulder. The temperature gauge was below halfway, and the gas tank was completely full. There was absolutely no warning- no sputtering or bucking, just smoothly tooling along and then nothing.
I popped the hood, checked the fuel pump fuse, checked the ignition wires, everything ok. Battery cables tight, and the starter motor cranks strong. I savor the irony- a trunkload of spare saab parts and no tools. I call AAA, and they forward me to the NYS thruway authority, who dispatches a tow truck and says it'll be there in half an hour. Oh, well. I get to watch a steady flow of cars creep by me and thank themselves that they're not in my shoes. An hour later, a NYS trooper pulls up behind me. I explain my situation, and he asks for my license and registration and goes back to his cruiser. 15 minutes later, he gives me my papers back, along with a ticket for an expired inspection. I know- that's my fault, but geez- kick a guy while he's down...
An hour and 45 minutes later, the tow truck pulls up. On the flatbed, there is a honda civic with 5 guys in it, so he has to tow me on the "t-bar" behind the truck. I notice that the tow truck driver has to futz around with the hydraulic levers to make the towing apparatus work. At first, the "t-bar" wouldn't fit between the ground and the skid plate (lowered suspension- now I want adjustible ride height more than ever), so we had to push the car up onto the tow bar and quick hop in and slam on the brakes. After securing the car, time to head to mom & dad's place (which happened to be ~6 miles away)
We navigate a U-turn on the Thruway without incident, and get back "home". As the driver prepares to lower my car in the driveway, something goes screwy with the hydraulics, and the tow truck sucks my car forward into the back of the flatbed!!! Corner lights, headlight, etc. are completely smashed in, and the sheet metal on the fender is nicely creased. A family friend (recent Albany Law grad.) runs inside to grab a camera. The tow truck driver calls the shop to explain (by the way, this was not the driver's fault- it was definately an equipment failure), and I walk around snapping photos (I'll post some when I can get them scanned- My digital camera is home in Kingston.)
I get a business card from the tow truck driver, who says that his company runs a body shop and they want to fix the damages. They are not very forthcoming with insurance info, so I make sure to get his name and lisence plate #. Since he has another car to take care of, I tell him that it's ok to go, but that I was going to call the police to make a public record of the incident. That turned out to be mainly a bunch of phone calls, in which the tow truck driver confirmed my story, and the shop owners agreed to make good on the damage. The incident report will be available in a few days.
This AM, while pushing the car around to put it ON a flatbed, my car exacted revenge in blood by slicing the new tow truck driver's finger on a headlight shard. Even though I don't condone violence, I can't blame it.
So here I sit in Albany, having used a personal day at work, waiting for my car to become roadworthy enough to drive to the place that damaged it. Right now, it is in the capable hands of Keith Lorette (former service manager at New Salem Saab, now independant) at his shop in Schodack, NY.
How can I make sure that I don't get hosed by the towing company? I told them that I can provide most of the parts which were damaged (corner lamp, headlight bezel, grille), but still need another E-code sealed beam replacement lens. Additionally, the grille and headlight bezel were custom-painted to match the body (edwardian grey) and the turn signals had been tinted with nite-shades. The fender will need body work, and possibly some paint as well. Luckily, the hood was unscathed, and the cruise control vacuum pump and APC box were undamaged, even though the APC was knocked off its mounts.
Oh, well. Enough venting for now. I certainly hope all of you had a better holiday weekend than I did (I won't get into the thumb wound or shabby treatment from a (then) potential girlfriend.)
posted by 66.66.22...
, Mon, 8 Jul 2002 12:49:05 <-- Viewing This Message, Tue, 9 Jul 2002 11:31:49, Mon, 8 Jul 2002 16:21:19
, Mon, 8 Jul 2002 16:04:56, Mon, 8 Jul 2002 15:54:23, Mon, 8 Jul 2002 15:04:39
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