[DiscoDisco]

This past Friday, my wife was going to Wally World for her weekly grocery gettin. As she was waiting at a yield sign to merge onto the expressway, an old...very old codger (in his 80s), who has no business still having a drivers license, plowed into the back of the DS. Once she collected herself, she could see in the rear view that his front end was crushed like a beer can and she feared the worse.

She got out and took the following photos..
After the report was done, she was able to drive the DS home. He got towed away.
Needless to say the DS took a big hit like a champ. Upon my laymans inspection it doesn't seem as though anything made of metal, besides the tailpipe/exhaust Assy got damaged.
A testament to the design. Nice job LR!....at least so far LOL!
It's in the shop and we'll know more next week.

( She was too upset to think about taking pics of his car but she said it was totally crushed.)

Thankfully, my wife is "OK", no broken bones or blood so no need for the ER visit, but she is still VERY sore. Going to the doc to get the look over on Monday.

We ok it to the most qualified LR collision center and the guy warned me that LR parts are sloooooow to get. GRRRRRRR!


Interesting observations so far:

The Disco took this hit extremely well considering the damage done to the car that hit it and considering the jarring my wife took. From my layman's inspection, the damage looks to be limited to plastic bits and the exhaust assy. Of course, we'll see when they get it on the lift and the experts take a look.

We are in a Ford Explorer Limited rental vehicle. It's interesting because this very vehicle was on our very short list of finalists when we made the DS purchase. After spending. Few days in it, the experience has more than validated our decision to buy the DS.
Even though the Explorer Limited is nicely appointed and highly refined....it's a slug in its ride and handling and it's boring.... it's so run of the mill that it's almost depressing to drive after having the DS this long. We can't wait to get our DS back.

It's also Intersting that it's intelligent 4X4 system is a blatant rip off of Land Rover's Terrain Response....right down to the different program icons..LOL!

 

[DiscoDisco]

Here's the damage.

 

[Ranchos]

That looks pretty minor in the pics. Glad everyone is ok.

Explorer was on our short list too. We tried if after the Disco, was surprised the rear seats had no extra room.... would've thought the bigger SUV would be better.... Our friends have a GMC Acacia and that thing is palatial in the back. You know Ford owned Land Rover for awhile? -There's your Terrain Response.

 

[disco808]

Discodisco

I'm sorry to hear your DS got hit but I'm glad your wife was ok. I hope your DS gets fixed and returned to you as soon as possible as I can imagine how boring it can be driving a ford after owning a LR. But on the other hand ford used to own LR up until 2008 before Tata motors bought them. That explains lots of similarities in the design and engineering of both brands trucks.

Anyhow hope you get your DS back soon.

 

[DiscoDisco]

Thanks guys!

Yeah I'm sure Ford took the liberty of hanging on to and duplicating a few of LRs features.

I'm seeing some form of intelligent 4x4 making it into more and more vehicles.

Jeep Cherokee has Selec-Terrain (how original) LOL
I guess there's something to this who intelligent 4x4 thing huh?

 

[DiscoDisco]

Oh man! Another thing I thought I was finally rid of was having to deal with Ford's STYNC system. I tried speaking a destination into the Nav yesterday and got reminded how frustrating it is.
You have to follow three very specific steps to get it to finally recognize the address and get it routed. .....that's after it finally decides to recognize what your saying. I almost gave up and used my phone but I didn't want STYNC to kick my azz and beat me.

The maps are also archaic looking IMHO.

For those that complain about the DS Nav....the LR system is still better. (Which I've always liked the DS Nav FWIW)

The whole STYNC infotainment setup is just awkward and ugly as well. It's pretty fast as far as response goes but it's not very slick. I'll get more feedback on user friendliness as time goes on.

The InControll is still pretty weak compared to the top tier infotainment S but Ford has a real issue with STYNC and they just can't seem to get it "right".

 

[4sallypat]

Glad to hear no injuries.

Make sure you get a detailed body shop teardown all the way up to the engine (front).

Reason:
2 months ago, my BMW X5 was hit from the rear just like your DS.
Rear ended by a Toyota Sienna minivan.
But what the adjuster thought was minor cosmetic they cut me a check for $1200.
When it went into a certified BMW body shop, they tore it down and found damage to the entire exhaust system, turbo damage to the front, heat shields, and a rear unibody chassis bend.
Apparently, white cars are the most to determine damage until you tear it down.
The forces from the relatively low speed rear ender transferred up to the front of the engine causing damages that would show itself later down the road.
A month later, comes out better than new with a price total of $12,000.
All paid by the other insurance party.
Make sure you get a LR certified body shop (very few exist) that has the authorization to replace out body panels - and will certify their repairs against future issues caused by the collision.

Here's my white BMW that seemed minor:

 

[DiscoDisco]

Thanks 4sallypat!
My wife is actually still sore. But we're getting it worked out.

Considering how hard my wife described being hit, you know there's tons of forces at play that can cause less than obvious damage.
Wow, that damage does look like what happened to our Disco. The collision center is affiliated with our LR dealership. They work on a ton of LRs. He mentioned they have have some sort of certification but I'll double check. To be honest we were both still shell shocked and in a bit of a fog when we dropped it off. We wanted to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible so I'll follow up on that.

 

[DiscoDisco]

I made sure to remind the shop advisor handling the job to check everything all the way to the front. I offered the X5 turbo damage example. He said that would be very rare but they would thoroughly check the vehicle out.

You know the last several days have been a bit reflective. One second you're sitting in you car just going on with your daily business and WHAM! Life changes in an instant. As any man does, I hate to see my wife going through any kind of pain no matter how severe and I'm very glad my daughter wasn't in the vehicle with her. I am thankful it wasn't worse, that's for sure.
This is a relatively small thing to deal with compared to what can happen in life....but its definately a reminder to take a minute every day and be thankful for all that's going well in your life. Take nothing for granted.

Thanks again for all the well wishes.

 

[4sallypat]

Thanks 4sallypat!
My wife is actually still sore. But we're getting it worked out.

Considering how hard my wife described being hit, you know there's tons of forces at play that can cause less than obvious damage.
Wow, that damage does look like what happened to our Disco. The collision center is affiliated with our LR dealership. They work on a ton of LRs. He mentioned they have have some sort of certification but I'll double check. To be honest we were both still shell shocked and in a bit of a fog when we dropped it off. We wanted to get the ball rolling as quickly as possible so I'll follow up on that.

The long term injury is quite a bit to deal with - we have an open medical claim as my GF has some neck injury and has been going to a chiropractor.

Make sure you DO NOT SIGN any form or check offered by the other party's insurance until you are satisfied with the final treatment for any injury.

The insurance company may even "give" you extra money if you quit claim on the accident for any future claim - be ware - don't be tempted.:|

 

[4sallypat]

I made sure to remind the shop advisor handling the job to check everything all the way to the front. I offered the X5 turbo damage example. He said that would be very rare but they would thoroughly check the vehicle out.

You know the last several days have been a bit reflective. One second you're sitting in you car just going on with your daily business and WHAM! Life changes in an instant. As any man does, I hate to see my wife going through any kind of pain no matter how severe and I'm very glad my daughter wasn't in the vehicle with her. I am thankful it wasn't worse, that's for sure.
This is a relatively small thing to deal with compared to what can happen in life....but its definately a reminder to take a minute every day and be thankful for all that's going well in your life. Take nothing for granted.

Thanks again for all the well wishes.

Yes, life and health is very precious indeed - people take it for granted until an accident happens.

As for the body shop, ask the advisor these 2 questions to determine how good they are:
1. if they will certify the repairs and
2. if they are authorized to replace body panels should the unibody be damaged.

The reasons are simple:
1. protect yourself and others should another accident happen and if the body panels were not replaced or repaired correctly, a major stress point from an unrepaired / unreplaced panel may cause the unibody to collapse in a subsequent crash causing more injury or death.

2. in the future if there was another damage that the body shop did not catch, would they be responsible to do the repairs later down the line ?

I specifically chose my body shop to certify and be authorized by BMW to replace out unibody panels. It cost a lot more than what the other party's insurance company wanted to do - minimal work, cosmetic body panels and call it a day.

Not with my safety and those of my family are concerned - I fought for the full certified repair costing the insurance company 10 times more than what they wanted to pay out.

Remember, the party paying is NOT looking out for your safety or best interests - their job is to pay as little as possible....

 

[LRDSnTexas]

Octogenarian Smash Up



Sorry to hear about the fender bender DiscoDisco. Pretty amazing the car took it so well. Best wishes to your lady for a complete and speedy recovery. Please keep us informed.

Great advice 4sallypat - I've been taking notes on your posts as usual.