Well, I got into an accident and totalled my BMW. No injuries.
Here's what happened. I was in Boston last week interviewing for a residency position at Harvard/Brigham and Women's Hospital. I was driving back home to NC last Saturday and was driving down I-95 S. I was crossing the Delaware Memorial Bridge on the New Jersey / Delaware border. For those that don't know, this is a toll road and the bridge is huge with 4-lanes in each direction and a large crest in the middle. There is a toll plaza on the south side of the bridge. Traffic was decently heavy and was backed up from the toll plaza to almost the crest at the middle of the bridge. However, the bridge's crest is tall enough that you couldn't really see the backed up traffic until you came right up on it. There was a lady in an old Ford Explorer in front of me, and when she came up on the stopped traffic, she slammed on the brakes suddenly. I slammed on the brakes, but my car didn't stop in time. I couldn't swerve into another lane because of the traffic around me. Ran right into the back of her at probably about 20 mph. The unfortunate thing is that she had an Explorer, so my bumper went underneath hers and her bumper went right into the grille of my car. Pulled the cars off to the right-most lane on the bridge and assessed the damage. My car was completely screwed. The hood buckled, the grille and the front edges of both fenders were smashed in, and the radiator core support was pushed back into the engine. Obviously, the radiator and such was broken. The engine and transmission mounts broke, and the engine and transmission were pushed rearward in the car. Apparently, the rear shifter mount broke when this happened because the shifter was no longer rigidly mounted to anything. Her truck only had bumper damage and a broken driver's taillight. We were blocking a lane of traffic, so when the cops came, they asked me to try to move the car off of the bridge if I could. It started right up but was making bad noises, as you can imagine. I managed to get it in gear with great difficulty due to the broken shifter and got it up the bridge and was able to coast it down the other side. It sounded like the driveshaft was rubbing on the heatshields while the car was rolling, and the passenger's front valence panel was bent back enough that it was rubbing on the front of the tire.
The car obviously ended up getting towed and the tow truck driver took me to the local civilian airport so I could get a rental car. Drove the rental car back down to NC. The tow truck people are totally screwing me - they want $180 for the tow and are screwing me on the storage charges and crap. They basically are making it financially impossible for me to sell the car to a junkyard up there. They essentially want me to just give them the car and pay them the $180.
Anyhow, because of all this, I had to get a new car. I weighed my options and decided to buy an inexpensive NEW car, especially given the fact that I will be in residency for the next 4 years and won't have time or money to be constantly repairing a car at my own expense and time. I looked at a bunch of entry-level cars and finally decided to get a 2007 Pontiac G5. This is the first year for the G5. It has a 2.2L DOHC 16v Ecotec engine with 148 hp and 152 lb-ft and a 5-speed manual. It's much quicker than my E30 ever was. It has alot more interior room and actually has a better driving position for me than the E30. It also has PW, PL, remote keyless, alarm, CD/MP3 player with auxiliary input for my iPOD. Only two things I wish it had was cruise control and anti-lock brakes, but to get them you have to get an $1100 option package and I couldn't find one anywhere with a manual. Sticker was $15,255 and I got it for $13,999, which I was pretty happy with. The car had 10 miles on it when I bought it.
I actually really like this car - I like the styling and the build quality is excellent. The shifter is great - very short throws with a very positive action. The handling is surprisingly sharp, and the car is rock solid on the interstate and surprisingly quiet for a car of this price. The car has quite a bit of get up and go with the 3.91:1 final drive and a nice, broad torque band for a four banger.
Overall, I'm extremely impressed with the car, especially for the price. the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty isn't too bad, either.
Here's some pics:
Here's what happened. I was in Boston last week interviewing for a residency position at Harvard/Brigham and Women's Hospital. I was driving back home to NC last Saturday and was driving down I-95 S. I was crossing the Delaware Memorial Bridge on the New Jersey / Delaware border. For those that don't know, this is a toll road and the bridge is huge with 4-lanes in each direction and a large crest in the middle. There is a toll plaza on the south side of the bridge. Traffic was decently heavy and was backed up from the toll plaza to almost the crest at the middle of the bridge. However, the bridge's crest is tall enough that you couldn't really see the backed up traffic until you came right up on it. There was a lady in an old Ford Explorer in front of me, and when she came up on the stopped traffic, she slammed on the brakes suddenly. I slammed on the brakes, but my car didn't stop in time. I couldn't swerve into another lane because of the traffic around me. Ran right into the back of her at probably about 20 mph. The unfortunate thing is that she had an Explorer, so my bumper went underneath hers and her bumper went right into the grille of my car. Pulled the cars off to the right-most lane on the bridge and assessed the damage. My car was completely screwed. The hood buckled, the grille and the front edges of both fenders were smashed in, and the radiator core support was pushed back into the engine. Obviously, the radiator and such was broken. The engine and transmission mounts broke, and the engine and transmission were pushed rearward in the car. Apparently, the rear shifter mount broke when this happened because the shifter was no longer rigidly mounted to anything. Her truck only had bumper damage and a broken driver's taillight. We were blocking a lane of traffic, so when the cops came, they asked me to try to move the car off of the bridge if I could. It started right up but was making bad noises, as you can imagine. I managed to get it in gear with great difficulty due to the broken shifter and got it up the bridge and was able to coast it down the other side. It sounded like the driveshaft was rubbing on the heatshields while the car was rolling, and the passenger's front valence panel was bent back enough that it was rubbing on the front of the tire.
The car obviously ended up getting towed and the tow truck driver took me to the local civilian airport so I could get a rental car. Drove the rental car back down to NC. The tow truck people are totally screwing me - they want $180 for the tow and are screwing me on the storage charges and crap. They basically are making it financially impossible for me to sell the car to a junkyard up there. They essentially want me to just give them the car and pay them the $180.
Anyhow, because of all this, I had to get a new car. I weighed my options and decided to buy an inexpensive NEW car, especially given the fact that I will be in residency for the next 4 years and won't have time or money to be constantly repairing a car at my own expense and time. I looked at a bunch of entry-level cars and finally decided to get a 2007 Pontiac G5. This is the first year for the G5. It has a 2.2L DOHC 16v Ecotec engine with 148 hp and 152 lb-ft and a 5-speed manual. It's much quicker than my E30 ever was. It has alot more interior room and actually has a better driving position for me than the E30. It also has PW, PL, remote keyless, alarm, CD/MP3 player with auxiliary input for my iPOD. Only two things I wish it had was cruise control and anti-lock brakes, but to get them you have to get an $1100 option package and I couldn't find one anywhere with a manual. Sticker was $15,255 and I got it for $13,999, which I was pretty happy with. The car had 10 miles on it when I bought it.
I actually really like this car - I like the styling and the build quality is excellent. The shifter is great - very short throws with a very positive action. The handling is surprisingly sharp, and the car is rock solid on the interstate and surprisingly quiet for a car of this price. The car has quite a bit of get up and go with the 3.91:1 final drive and a nice, broad torque band for a four banger.
Overall, I'm extremely impressed with the car, especially for the price. the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty isn't too bad, either.
Here's some pics:
![[poke]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_poke.gif "Poke [poke]"){kind=icon}
![[clap]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_clap.gif "Clap [clap]"){kind=icon}
Still can't believe that GM gets away with that!!![[wiggle]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_wiggle.gif "Wiggle [wiggle]"){kind=icon}
![[rolleyes]](/images/smilies/rolleyes.png "Roll Eyes (Sarcastic) [rolleyes]")
![[hihi]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_hihi.gif "Hi Hi [hihi]"){kind=icon}
Exactly!
![[cheers]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_cheers.gif "Cheers [cheers]"){kind=icon}