Had a marvelous dinner on Monday night, finally feeling good. Heading home on the freeway after dark when the car in front of me suddenly darts to the left revealing a black leather or naugahyde chair in our lane . Almost got out of the way but nicked the sucker with the right front fender. My first dent in our '05 RL is about 8 in long, 3 in high and includes the crease line in front of the wheel. Sigh.

It's bad enough that every other vehicle is a pickup down here. Loading the bed with 65 mph airflow in mind seems beyond a lot of these chowderheads.

On the plus side, that's the hardest I've ever had to throw the RL around and it felt incredibly solid.

 

Sorry to hear that. At least you didn't get hurt. I hope the insurance will cover you!

 

That sucks. I feel your pain.

3 weeks after I got my RL I was driving on the interstate at night. Changed lanes to get around a disabled vehicle, and smacked into a giant piece of rubber on the road. $300 later, my bumper looks like new.

 

that sucks .. glad everyone's OK though.

My rearbumper is a douchebag detector.
So far, two large dings and a nice shopping cart scratch on the bottom.

 

I actually had the same unfortunate luck last week too. I ran over a blown truck tire on the highway at night. Luckily it only took off the splash shield under the front passenger side wheel well, which cost about $100 to replace. The worse news is that I threw the tire up at my wife who was following me in our minivan. Luckily the wife and kids weren’t hurt, but it did quite a number to our Odyssey, costing about $1600 to fix. Thankfully, insurance covered the repairs.

 

It didn't happen in my RL, but with a previous car I had (BMW) ran over a huge leaf spring that was sitting parallel with the roadway. I hit it just right so one end put a 3 inch gash in the gas tank. I could see the trail of gasoline in the rearview mirror. $400 for a new tank and two days in the shop waiting for the part. Bad a scene all the way around.

 

Glad the family is OK. Sorry for the damage. Let us know how the repair is done. The front fenders are aluminum...and may simple be replaced?

It infuriates me to see pickups, flatbeds or any improperly loaded vehicle with loose debris flying out, tailgate down and the driver is not only aware they are amused at the havoc they cause other drivers.

This is just another reason I could not own a gun. I would use it. And though I have never garnished my vehicles with bumper stickers, I have one I would like to slap on such vehicles we encounter on the roadways....

It would say "Accelerate Darwinism" alongside a bulls-eye target.

 

Sorry to hear about your incident but I'm glad you're ok. I had a similar incident happen to me a few years ago while driving my then brand new 5 series. However, instead of a chair, it was a drawer chest in the middle of the highway.

 

We actually witnessed a chest of drawers come off the back of a truck, too. Fortunately, we were several lanes away and could just shake our heads as it disintegrated.

Thanks all for the well wishes.

 

hey another RL in MA- sweet!

any quotes for the rear bumper to clean it up good as new... ? i too have about the same damage..

 

I worked out a deal with the guy that hit me .. insurance didn't get involved. Never got the bumper fixed though (I needed to get a new motor for my dishwasher).

The quotes ranged from $150 - $850 .. One guy said he could patch it up for $150. Another said he could redo the whole thing, but taking the bumper off would cost extra. Funny people.

I think for $400, you can get it professionally done and good as new. Eventually, I'll get mine fixed, but the damage isn't that bad and only I really notice it.