Hot Quiz, Pop Shot!

[raudf]

Ummm... BSOD... Yeah. Now that the reboot is done, I still can't seem to wrap my mind around that. She honestly thought it could be repaired? Salvaged.. maybe, but surely not repaired?

Did someone get the automotive dictionary out for her and point to the word "Totaled?"

When my hubby totaled our old Echo, we had it towed home for salvage... because we had another Echo that most of the INTERNAL parts worked just fine for. (Frame too too much damage - no repairing that with that kind of frame.) Now, I'm perfectly redneck, because that poor car is up on bricks because we've started looting the corpse.

[Seshat]

I agree with csquared. It's repairable...

Find some salvageable part. Remove it.
Get new vehicle of same type.
Replace salvageable part onto new vehicle.

There. The 'old vehicle' is 'repaired'.

[kpzra]

I can only imagine the wrath that my husband would rain down on me (he's a firefighter). There is a reason that each vehicle has at least one five pound extinguisher in them, more when we do long road trips.

[wolfie]

The repair is really simple. Three steps.

1. Remove Gas cap
2. Replace car
3. Reinstall Gas cap

The last step is optional.

Actually, the fix is easier than that - jack up the builder's plate and slide a new car underneath.

I'd say idiot of the year, but I don't know....there are mechanics on this board, do you folks this thing is salvageable? Or worth it if it is?

For a collector's car (1965 Mustang, Hemi Superbird, Stutz Bearcat, Bugatti Royale, etc.), even the worst "basket case" is salvageable. For a commodity car (Taurus falls into this category), it's time to look for a replacement.

[Doc Rocknocker]

"Whoa! Bitchin' Flame job, man! ... Ohhhh....."

(bonus points if you can quote the reference)

MST3K: Laserblast.

"Look, someone left a perfectly good arm remover out here in the desert..."

[Chromatix]

There have been some extremely impressive restorations of scrapyard steam locos as well. Look at the condition of these, which have been out in the sea air for 15-20 years:

http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/barry3.htm

...and then realise that both of them are currently in running condition again. Here's one of them - you can compare the number.

But you also have to realise that, to some extent, steam locos are *designed* to be set on fire. Motor cars are not.

[PepperElf]

is she still asking for estimates or has she realized that her car is pretty much a pile of scrap crap?

[mathnerd]

Actually, the fix is easier than that - jack up the builder's plate and slide a new car underneath.



For a collector's car (1965 Mustang, Hemi Superbird, Stutz Bearcat, Bugatti Royale, etc.), even the worst "basket case" is salvageable. For a commodity car (Taurus falls into this category), it's time to look for a replacement.

My father has a "64-1/2" Mustang. My uncle totaled it (redlined the transmission, small fire in the engine). My father spent years and a gigantic amount of money restoring that thing. My mom drove it until her ankle got too bad to manage the clutch. And then she wondered why we called her "Hot Rod Granny".

[Sapphire Silk]

Hey at least she wasn't demanding to retrieve her property from the car molten pile of slag.

Though that would have been fun to watch

[Thud-n-Blunder]

Many years ago (back in the Pleistocene, if I recall correctly), I had my car celebrate the 4th of July a couple of days early, but it just turned out to be a wiring fire, and I was able to replace most of the wiring. Of course, the left headlight was at low power unless I had the car in reverse, but it was reasonably drivable. (And I was suffering from the unstoppable optimism of youth.) (I got better.)

However, this case would have had me throwing my hands up in despair and looking for a used mastodon.

[thatcrazyredhead]

Imagine our surprise (or, maybe non-surprise depending on how cynical you feel) when the owner showed up an hour later and wanted to know if the mechanics had been able to look at it yet and get her an estimate....

"Yes, we had more than enough time to look at it and estimate that your insurance is going to total it. Have a nice day!"

[Argabarga]

And indeed they did, rollback truck from the junkyard came and took the pile of ashes away yesterday.... maybe that'll get the idea through?

[Mango]

Hold everything. Wait. Stop. You've all overlooked a truly moment in Argabarga's post.

some of the passing motorists who witnessed the towering inferno her Ford Taurus had become wisely chose option "A" and got the fire brigade rolling to the scene. [...] Our driver still managed to beat them to the scene

Our driver still managed to beat them to the scene

Our driver still managed to beat them to the scene

Isn't it a problem when the fire department is the last one on the scene?

[Automan Empire]

Standard auto shop/gore website euphemism for this scenario: "That'll buff right out!"

[Caractacus_Potts]

Isn't it a problem when the fire department is the last one on the scene?

That really depends on how much time elapsed between the tow truck being dispatched and the non-brain dead person calling in a report to the fire department and the relative distance between the tow truck and the scene vs the closest fire department and the scene.

It would be fantastic if fireman and all their equipment would appear out of thin air the moment a fire was reported but unfortunately, like everyone else, it takes them time to go from point A to point B.