[s-cars] S4 Smashed

[Bernard Littau]

Hi Karl,

Was the car in gear when it was hit?

Also, it may not be the transmission per se, but the transmission mounts, or
the alignment between the shifter and the transmission, that are out of
whack.

This does not bode well for the frame of the car as a whole.  Sounds like
your floor may have buckled due to the impact.

Bernard Littau
Woodinville, WA

>
> Hey listers--
>
> I have a pearl white 1993 S4 which I bought in May and have been very much
> enjoying.  I parked it on the street overnight about 2 weeks ago, around
> the corner from my fiancee's house in a nice suburb of Columbus, OH, and
> someone decided to steal a car and joy-ride it around her neighborhood
> crashing into anything which happened to be in the way.  The police figure
> my car was hit at about 50mph in a side-swipe 3/4 impact that caved-in
> both driver's side doors and tore a huge hole in the rear door.  The
> B-pillar looks a little bent, and the rear door is kind of bunched-up and
> wrapped around it.  Every panel on that side was hit except the rear one,
> and the rocker is dented, too.  The wheel was hit, and the mirror is
> toast.  After all that, I tried to drive it and the transmission won't
> really go into 1st or 2nd gear, without a lot of effort.
>
> I am now dealing with the insurance @$$holes who insist that the
> transmission couldn't possibly have been damaged in this way by the
> impact.  I called 9 shops in town (including both dealers--who wouldn't
> take it) before I found one who would actually open the box for the
> insurance company to examine.  The insurance jerks are insisting that they
> see the damage and "determine whether or not it was caused by the
> accident" before they will pay to have it repaired.  Like the guy who
> comes to look at it will know what could or could not be caused by an
> accident...  And he's predisposed to thinking it's not from the accident.
> So the shop that's looking at it tells me "I just don't see how this
> problem could have been caused by an impact, it sounds like a bent shift
> fork from power shifting."  I don't power shift and the car worked fine,
> without a single transmission problem before the impact.  Anyone had to
> deal with this mess before?  Any advice, evidence, etc is much
> appreciated!
>
> On a side note... The car was in pristine condition when I bought it, with
> 110,000 miles but more or less factory condition.  The leather seats were
> a little scuffed, but everything else was flawless.  The insurance company
> thinks all the damage (minus the transmission) can be repaired for $3450
> which includes used doors since new ones are not available.  I think they
> are high on something.
>
> Any help, advice, experience with the transmission issue is greatly
> appreciated.  Thanks!
>
> Karl
>
>
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