She's a Goner.

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ValiantBandit

Well-Known Member
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Hey guys,

Want to know why I haven't been on this forum in months? Other than the fact my computer crapped the bed on me and the fact I don't have the extra money to go out and buy another one, my Plymouth was (I typed IS 1st..=/) running perfect.

I had the best of intentions for this car, in fact it saved myself and my wife's life after we got rear-ended on Interstate 15 out here by a moron driving 85+ and we were only going 50MPH in the left hand lane because traffic was stopped in all the other lanes. Because of the car's forgiving steering, I was able to pull the car away from hitting the Jersey barrier and flipping over into oncomming traffic. If my wife wasn't yelling at me to pull over, I would've never have woken up from being blacked out either. Of course there's no damage on the Valiant and the idiot's brand new Altima was mangled. Ironic I started that post a few months ago about our slants being safe, eh?

Anyways I wanted to ship this car home to Rhode Island where I was going to register her as an antique, take her to car shows with my brother in law who has a '75 and eventually give her to my children when they were older.

Well as John Lennon once said "Life happens when you're busy making other plans." Hell yes it does. See I had all my ducks lined up - I was going to transfer to the Sears Auto Center in Rhode Island where I'd be making substantially more money working behind the counter (Since I have more than enough experience at that.) and we were going to sell our '91 Volvo 240 to pay to ship the Plymouth out East and man stuff was going perfect.

.....Then IT happened.

My wife had never been to the Hoover Dam before and we had the day off together (finally) yesterday. I was more than willing to drive the Valiant out there and check out something absolutely amazing. Yeah, well....Maybe I shouldnt've. We were driving on the highway and about 30 minutes into driving, it felt like I was towing a boat. Before I could even register what was happening to the car, I heard a squeak (Like an alternator squeak.) POP and WEEEEEE!!! No transmission power! Yep! The car won't drive in any gear! I looked underneath the car and it looks like the driveshaft has completely separated from the output shaft of the transmission. I started bawling my eyes out because I knew the car was finished. We (My wife and I) simply don't have the money to fix whatever the hell happened to the car because all the shops out here in Vegas are run by huge corporations and the "Cheapest" shop I found's labour rate is $100 an hour AND (lol) AND they charge $35 JUST to look at the damned car! Ahahaha...

Ironically I haven't had the other person's insurance company come out and look at the car yet primarily because they're a P.I.T.A. to get in touch with. I do have a lawyer and I am suing the driver who rear-ended my wife and I because I wound up with two pretty decent sized bulging disks, thankfully still small enough where operation wasn't necessary. The moron's insurance company sent me a letter 2 days ago saying they've been trying to get in touch with me to get an adjuster to come look at my car, but I didn't notice this noise when we 1st talked to our lawyer and said what was up with the car. I did notice though that my wife had been saying for the past month (Almost since the accident.) that the car has been "Sounding really loud" . See I rarely drive the car since she loves/loved driving it so much. Do you guys think a rear-end impact could cause damage to the driveshaft/and/or transmission or no, and the car is just a goner?
 
i would agree that an impact could shove the yoke into the trans enough to cause damage, but i tend to think the U joints would give first. i say find you another trans , throw it there, have a driveline service shop inspect, spin balance and check your shaft, install new U joints and you would be good to go. a jolt could have screwed up your linkage ... are you sure you just didnt dump all your fluid out from the rear seal? im assuming this is a 904
 
Definately. But - because you drove it away, and you drove it (partially) on the trip, they will say it wasn't from the accident. In any event, prepare to get an offer for scrap value and they'll total it. Which with what you are talking about, might be the best thing for you.
BTW - I have been living with 2 bulging discs for 13 years now. 6 of those as a commercial mover. With care and always rembering it's there, it's not abig deal.
 
I also have buldging discs. As a low level medical "professional" I see pretty much everyone has buldging discs just from aging. I fin dit a little spooky though that I have a Valiant AND an Altima...WOOOOHOOOO (ghost noise)
 
73AbodEE said:
i would agree that an impact could shove the yoke into the trans enough to cause damage, but i tend to think the U joints would give first. i say find you another trans , throw it there, have a driveline service shop inspect, spin balance and check your shaft, install new U joints and you would be good to go. a jolt could have screwed up your linkage ... are you sure you just didnt dump all your fluid out from the rear seal? im assuming this is a 904
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Heh, wish I could afford to find another tranny AND have the money to have it installed. Realistically man, I can't even afford to buy a $200 laptop so even though I'm sure replacing the tranny on this car is cake when you've got a lift and the right tools, it's a no can do out here in Vegas. My wife and I are struggling as it is to keep our head above the water financially out here as it is.

moper said:
Definately. But - because you drove it away, and you drove it (partially) on the trip, they will say it wasn't from the accident. In any event, prepare to get an offer for scrap value and they'll total it. Which with what you are talking about, might be the best thing for you.
BTW - I have been living with 2 bulging discs for 13 years now. 6 of those as a commercial mover. With care and always rembering it's there, it's not abig deal.
Click to expand...

Added to the fact it happened on February 24th and we're in April now as well...Eep...That's what I'm worried about...But I've been playing phone tag with the damned insurance company to have them send an adjuster out here to look at the car as it is. My brother in law scrapped his '74 for $175. God I hope I get double for this car. And yeah I've been taking it easy here at work and been going to physical therapy so compared to how awful I felt back on February 24th to now is literally night and day.
 
Good luck with your situation. You gotta really bug that insurance company to get money for your car from them. They aren't in any hurry to hand out money, call them every day and drive them nuts. I had a car stolen and burnt to the ground many years ago, mint 98 neon expresso, so Ive been there. Also dont be scared of them, dont take the first garbage offer they give you. Counter with a high price, find a few nicely priced comparables if you know what I mean and show them these and stick to your guns. As far as law suit I'd be going for the kill since he almost killed your family!
 
Years ago a drunk rear-ended my '63 Belvedere very hard and killed it.
 
I used to work for a large Auto insurance Company,
Threaten to report them to the "D.O.I." (Department Of Insurance)


You can threaten with lawyers all you want and they won't be in any hurry
To settle...... But report their butts to the D.O.I. And it scares the crap out of them and they will want to settle right away at whatever the cost. For them it's like having the IRS sniffing up their rearend. The D.O.I. Will show up unexpectedly and stop all operations for as long as it takes to sort out the issues reported. It costs them huge amounts of money for business lost while business is at a halt. The insurance companies are heavily regulated and are forced to conform to the D.O.I's rules or face an investigation, fines and or even forced sale or shutdown for illegal practices.

Anyway, try threatening them with the D.O.I, and if they don't move quickly enough, then you and or your lawyer contact the D.O.I and watch how fast they come crawling to you....
Lol!
 
don't srap the car, post pics of it in the cars for sale or part it out,if you really need money part it out or hopefully find a member near you that wants it, the members here will give you more than scrap value and it will save the car or parts from the crusher
ValiantBandit said:
Heh, wish I could afford to find another tranny AND have the money to have it installed. Realistically man, I can't even afford to buy a $200 laptop so even though I'm sure replacing the tranny on this car is cake when you've got a lift and the right tools, it's a no can do out here in Vegas. My wife and I are struggling as it is to keep our head above the water financially out here as it is.



Added to the fact it happened on February 24th and we're in April now as well...Eep...That's what I'm worried about...But I've been playing phone tag with the damned insurance company to have them send an adjuster out here to look at the car as it is. My brother in law scrapped his '74 for $175. God I hope I get double for this car. And yeah I've been taking it easy here at work and been going to physical therapy so compared to how awful I felt back on February 24th to now is literally night and day.
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Go to the Mopars of Las Vegas web site look for info of "Doug" at Moparts of Las Vegas. He may have parts for you(He works on them too) Also owns a all Mopar salvage yard and if you can't afford to repair the car he may buy it for parts. Worth a shot...
 
I have a mini update:

I got a call from my lawyer's assistant today and she told me the reason why it's taking so long for them to send an adjuster out is because the insurance company is refusing to take responsibility for the claim because the moronic driver FINALLY made a statement (as of March 27th, she still had yet to make a statement) saying that I cut in front of her and she had no choice but to rear end me...

....Funny. Why was I already in the lane DRIVING for well over 45 seconds BEFORE she hit me?

....I gotta feeling this is gonna get REAL ugly. I'll be headed to work in an hour and I'll be calling the assistant back and let her know what's up with my car now! I'll fill you guys in later to let you know what happens.
 
My van got hit in a parking lot,(it was parked)...Some lady backed into the side door HARD.
BLA,BLA,BLA,exchanged info,,,Got a call from her insurance company saying I was driving too fast for conditions. DUH,, the van was parked,,,What da F&^% !!
 
I wish my parts car had some parts to help fix yours brother! Can't afford to lose your Mopar to some douchenozzle in an Altima!
 
I don't think she stands a chance in Hell! In NJ you have to have your car under control at all times. Now the problem here is they can assign fault to both of you. They do it by percentages. I was rear ended last summer, stopped to turn into the bank, the woman behind me stopped and a mini van rear ended her and drove her car into mine. I was paid in full but I'm betting the woman behind me wasn't. Time to lawyer up and make sure they know you are hurt!!! By the way, if your headed east I have a core 904 for a 318. It's yours if you want to use it to rebuild yours.
 
Robbie2734 said:
I don't think she stands a chance in Hell! In NJ you have to have your car under control at all times. Now the problem here is they can assign fault to both of you. They do it by percentages. I was rear ended last summer, stopped to turn into the bank, the woman behind me stopped and a mini van rear ended her and drove her car into mine. I was paid in full but I'm betting the woman behind me wasn't. Time to lawyer up and make sure they know you are hurt!!! By the way, if your headed east I have a core 904 for a 318. It's yours if you want to use it to rebuild yours.
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Yeah you'd think that man.See things are so different out here in Nevada - They're a "No-Fault" state and trust me I got a lawyer. I was rear ended on Friday and had a lawyer by Monday.

This is absolutely killing me. I have so much sentimental value tied to this car as I will show you with some of my pictures, and to have some piece of %^# just take it away from me pisses me off even more. My wife and I are on such a tight budget that any form of "outside spending" is impossible. There's a classic car show in my work's parking lot every Friday night and I can't even go outside to have a smoke because every time I do, I think of my car and all the good memories my wife and I had in it. For almost every positive memory I have out here in Las Vegas, my Valiant is somehow attached to it and I don't care that I sound like a wuss. Yes, I'm crying as I post this because I love this car that much. Anyways here's some pictures.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f252/sublimeskunk37/100_0316-1.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f252/sublimeskunk37/SDC10920.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f252/sublimeskunk37/120_0520.jpg

and my two favourites:

ValiantRim.jpg


WeddingValiant.jpg
 
And yes while I am aware that this vehicle is pretty easily replacible, the memories my wife and I have shared in it make it irreplacible.
 
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