So I drove over a chunk of concrete, about the size of a large brick (but more squarish) on the Henry Hudson Hwy northbound, right before getting onto the George Washington Bridge.

The sound it made was like I blew out my tire - and we smelled and saw tire smoke, then the sound changed and we (all 5 of us) thought the tire was gone and we were riding on the rim - the scraping and squealing of metal.

I lurched to a stop (much to the chagrin of the cars behind me) and went to quickly check the carnage ..... seemingly nothing was wrong!! I found the concrete block behind my car (showed it to the driver behind me, who then stopped honking).

Finally took it to the dealer.... bent upper control arm. sigh.

I'll post pics in a bit.

 

That sucks dude! Sounds like it got stuck under the car.

It makes me mad when stuff flies off the back of a truck and the driver doesn't clean it up.

Legally, they're liable for the damage to your car. Good luck finding them though.

 

ohhh... but that's not the worst of it. Here's the full list, and check out the attached photos:

• engine cradle (cast aluminum) has a large chunk knocked out of it
• bumper has an inch-wide scrape under it
• control arm is warped
• various suspension bits are scratched
• fender well liner is punctured
• fuel line is partially crushed
• gas tank has a dimple in it, from the concrete coming down and bouncing around
• tire sidewall is "shaved"

It never touched my wheel, though! The crazy part is that the car is totally driveable, and the alignment is true.

My guess is the concrete was from the road - it was pretty bad, but I'll never know. The dealership was like "umm, you should call your insurance company now..."

 

Wow, at least it didn't make you spin out or have something else worse happen.

 

Sorry to read this.... But on the brighter side... My buddy and i were driving in his BMW 323ci a few weeks ago on the highway and out of no where there was a cinder block in the middle of our lane in the highway. He hit it because there was nothing he could do to avoid it (it appeared so quick) when he hit it all the airbags in the car went off, the front bumper was demolished, the floor was dented up, all the panels underneath cracked and some ripped off, blew out the drivers rear tire and dented the rim. Luckly he kept his composer and pulled off to the breakdown lane... We sat there like WTF just happened! Anyways the car ended up being totalled from just hitting a cinderblock on the highway.

 

wow, that sucks. some times its hard to avoid things like that, sorry

 

oh no.. that sucks. im sorry =(

 

We'll see what the final estimate is once the insurance adjuster comes in a few days. I'm actually really interested to see what kind of labor is involved with the engine cradle... I'll keep you informed!

 

whatever happend with this?

 

he has been on? maybe sold the car?

 

Wow sorry to hear that man tuff luck. I few years back me and a couple of buddies were driving back from Foxwoods. He was infront of me and we were doing about 70mph, when the jeep in front of him lost its snowboard that was strapped to the roof??? Hit his front bumper and jammed itself under his car. His Greddy intercool was wasted and his front bumper was all bashed up. Needless to say INS would not pay for it say it was his fault so he had to fit a 1700 repair bill.. Glad yours worked out for you and nobody was hurt.

 

How does a loose item from someone else's car become your fault?

 

Thats what they said.. He even fought it and lost they said he either was travelling to fast to avoid it( He should have ssen it) or he was too close the the other guys car.. BS if you ask me.. I was driving right behind him and had to change lanes so I did not rear end my friend. The other guy even stopped and gave us his info but no one paid, Just my friend. SUX man..

 

That's HARSH! What insurance company?

Well, sorry it's taken me so long to post back on this! My car was at the dealer for 3.5 weeks!! It took a really long time to get all the parts, especially the engine cradle. I'm guessing that's not a typical part that needs to get replaced - duh.

So - I have a $500 deductible on full comphensive (collision, etc.). The full bill came to just over $4,000!! I tried to get the dealer to respray my whole front bumper (they just did the underside where the concrete scraped it), but they wouldn't go for it.

Overall, I'm really happy to have the car back - no funny out-of-alignment stuff, or slanted steering wheel (that was my biggest fear, since most shops try to insist it's ok, and it's such a hassle to fight). The front bumper is no longer perfect though. If you're really picky (I am!) you can tell where they taped off the underside grill (opposite side of where the cruise control sensor is), and near the left headlight it's sticking up a bit. I will have them try to adjust it next time I have it in, but I'm just happy to drive it.

One other cool thing to note - my insurance (State Farm) provides 80% of any rental fees that I might need, but since the dealer typically give me a loner - the service writer suggested to the insurance adjuster that they just pay the dealer the 80%. This was cool with me, because instead of some lame Chevy Malibu or something from Enterprise, I got a EX35! So that was a good "rental," and I didn't have to pay the other 20%...

 

Well congrats man on getting the car back. My friends INS was Commercen Insurance. An I know how it is to be picky cause I am the same way.. LOL