I haven't seen one person being a "********" here as everyone is glad that he is ok. If a person can't take constructive criticism on a public forum than they should refrain from posting. Heck, he even admitted in his first post that it was dumb.....which most people don't even have the ***** to do. Kudos to him. If you are hating the forum more everyday......well you know what to do.

are you serious? i quoted some of the people who were being *********

^^^Yup...your two responses really contributed the the OP's question and reason for posting...
You come across as what you preach we are to you...

Yep, I'm completely serious. Gimme a break, it's not like the OP has been ripped a new @sshole or anything. Have you ever checked out some of the threads posted in the OT section regarding speeding tickets? If you do something that's not on the intelligent side don't expect any sympathy.......plain an simple. I don't have against the OP, in fact I completely respect him.

Kinda funny how people think online forums are not like telling a group of strangers about something really dumb you did.

well at the end of the day people post on these forums because they feel that we all have something in common which is our car. online forums aren't completely anonymous either because people do know each other on forums after some time, so not everyone are strangers to one another.

so you guys dont ever turn off the VDC?

i'm kind of reluctant to turn it off sometimes because i feel myself losing control of the car with it on...and one of my friend's totalled 2 350z's going through twisties in the rain with vdc off. i think it's fun as hell to get sideways in a car and not have any traction but it's just not worth the damage it may cause. i wouldn't mind going out and buying a LT1 z28 camaro for a couple grand to get squirly in. i've turned it off before but i don't ever plan on turning it off in the rain.

LOL, sounds like he's a slow learner!

I never drive with the VDC off. I may turn it off for a bit if I'm trying to do something fun (but safe), like a donut in a snowy parking lot, or slide around corner in the snow. If I'm on the road driving, VDC is on, period.

The only reason I could imagine for turning it off would be if I was at a track. Kind of like I wouldn't ride a sport bike off of a track (not that I knock people who like them on the street, it's just not for me); it's just not fun (to me) to go all out in an uncontrolled environment, too many variables that have nothing to do with my machine or skill.

Maybe a simpler explanation will suffice:

Why? 2 reasons.

1. Fun
2. Driving practice

I have to admit that I managed to do something very similar, luckily with much less visible results. I turned off the vdc before entering an on-ramp that I was used to in my 6-speed G. However, on this occasion I was in an automatic Journey model. The road was a little wet, but I think it had more to do with the smaller wheels on the Journey, and perhaps that I usually make the turn in second or third gear. I think the auto dropped me to first for the turn. Either way, the back swung out and I ended up about 240 degrees around. Luckily, no one was right nearby, but plenty of people on the nearby off-ramp saw it all. I just started back up (the engine killed out on its own), and took off with a bit of embarrassment.

Is the automatic more prone to losing traction like this? I thought maybe the smaller wheels might have something to do with it. I push my 6spd pretty hard (with and without vdc), and I can rarely spin the tires much at all. Even on that on-ramp, the worst loss of control I usually see is a bit of fishtailing.

VDC isn't god, it can't always save people from being stupid or driving careless. Always drive with care, bottomline. Well all drive at our own risk on the road.

I also must admit my foolishness, soon after I got the car the road was wet and I tried to do a powerslide around the corner with the VCD off. Ended up over the curb after doing a 180. Thank god not much damage but very embarasing.

Yet still, more people are relating to the cause rather than the effect. Regardless, an update on repairs:

Was quoted $699.73 for an all in cost of replacing the bumper cover. This sounds in the ballpark of what a few of you guys estimated (thanks again).

My only question now is: Does that look like all I need to have fixed? I don't want to order the piece, then have them tell me there is another $1000 of repairs behind it. If not, then it being only a $200 spread over my deductable, it will be coming out of pocket.