Moment of silence please...My 2003 M45 lost her sister...

[M45-Zero260]

Well, I must now change my profile of current cars...my wife totaled my Audi A6 last week while trying to find a contact in her cell phone and ran into an '06 F350's bumper and exhaust. Accident happened during daylight, and only about 25 mph. The car was equipped with many airbags, yet, not one of them went off. She is ok, walked away from it, but the car was a total loss. I have been drinking many beers to cope. Here are some pics after it got towed, and the inside that looks perfectly fine. (Also a couple of pics with what it looked like before)...I was able to retrieve my CD's out of it, and when I put the key in the ignition, the "brain" was still alive telling me that I was out of windshield washer fluid and I needed to add radiator fluid. Passenger side Xenon still worked, both fog light still worked.

Anyway, so much for my first German car...maybe it's a sign. For the time being, my Y34 is enjoying all of the extra garage space. What can you do?

Thanks for paying your respects...I need another beer...







BEFORE:

[Mark Linkous]

Hello,Really sorry about the accident and loss of your Wife's car. Truly a blessing She walked away unharmed. I cannot believe the airbags did not deploy judging by the initial glance. Crumple zone indeed. Cheers,ML

[szh]

Yikes!

I am glad that she walked away unhurt. I assume she had her seat belt on ... good!

Clearly, driving while distracted has its dangerous side-effects.

Z

[John2]

So sad about the car, so glad she wasn't hurt.

But think how nice her new M will look beside yours!

john a

[szh]

I cannot believe the airbags did not deploy judging by the initial glance. Crumple zone indeed.

Scary that they did not deploy. Looks like it hit at an angle, but mostly still frontal collision.

I think a discussion with Audi is warranted ... to ask about why the air-bags failed (25 mph is not that slow!). Could have been much worse as a consequence. For example, if she had bottomed out from below the seat belt - her knees would have been badly injured below the dash.

Z

[striz923]

sorry about your car, at least the wife is ok. While drinking said beers, be sure not to drive, or you might have 2 totaled cars and a jail sentance...

[M45-Zero260]

Thank you for all of your thoughts. Yes, definitely the main thing is she was not injured other than being sore for a couple of days. We thought about discussing this with Audi, but after talking with the wrecker driver, and the body-shop manager, it appears that because of the nature of the accident and the point of initial contact (middle of the hood - which caused that to crumple and suck up everything from the front bumper up), then it just simply did not justify to the computer to deploy any frontal or side curtain airbag. From what I understand, cars now are equipped with a 3rd generation airbag that can detect when to deploy, at what force to deploy, etc. Perhaps this impact was a few milliseconds from the car making the decision to deploy at least the frontal airbags. Either way, it doesn't make any difference now, but it still is in the back of my mind a little that there might have been a defect initially. I just purchased the car in March '07 with a clean Carfax and title, but who knows.

FWIW, I just got it out of the dealer 6 days prior for a failed alternator, battery replacement, belt, pulley, and a couple of other misc. items. That bill was over $1,400 which didn't make me feel very good about it's first trip to the repair shop, when my past 4 Japanese cars have been in the dealer ZERO times for any repairs. It was a fun car to drive and felt solid and confident for the most part. Not sure if I will get another Audi again or not, maybe will just stick to Lexus/Infiniti brands that I have trusted over the years...unless I win the lottery and then I will post pics of my new R8

[M45Caliber]

In case you decide on another Audi -- check out this link. I saw an 2004 A8-L Quattro (yesterday), with about 50K miles, for $23K (here in AZ). It can be bought for maybe $21K (the sales manager hinted as much). Obviously no rust! If I'm not mistaken, aren't these around $75K new?

http://www.luxorauto.com/mesa01.htm

Check out the wheels they put on the car -- VERY nice.

[M45-Zero260]

Wow! Nice find - definitely a crazy price for that car...yes, I think they origionally retailed for that or higher. Nice color too!

I have always admired the A8. Thanks for the link. I'll keep that dealership in mind in the future when we decide what to do.

[szh]

That is an amazingly low price ... are the lower mpg cars dropping in price faster perhaps?

Z

[Manok]

while trying to find a contact in her cell phone and ran into an '06 F350's bumper and exhaust.

[szh]

I am sure that she has learned her lesson ... luckily in a mostly unharmed way.

I am going to show these pictures to my wife, when she gets back from her trip overseas.

Z