Well, here's the good news! I did try to fight the ticket. The Focus owner agreed to support my side. I argued that I wasnt speeding since I was behind the Focus for more than a mile. I didnt get rid of the ticket, they said I should have been able to stop in time, unless of course I was following too closely, but they waived the fine because of the damage! Partial victory, but hell, I'll take it.

Also it turns out the Aerostar driver was uninsured (or rather the dishwashing company that owns it wasnt insured). But I have uninsured motorist coverage, so Pemco refunded most of my deductible.

And best of all I got my P5 back (again), this time in working order. Looks and sounds great, you'd never know it was in an accident. Just a few bad gaskets this time.
(Tayor's Auto repair, for anyone in Seattle that needs it. They're great.)

Now I just have to live with not being able to really wash the front and rear bumpers until the paint cures.

 

I agree with that, sometimes people drive poorly and dont realize it. As far as me, I wasnt following too closely. I dont deny I had some fault in the accident, but it was because I underestimated the Focus in front. I coulnt see any reason why everyone was stopping, so I just assumed it was a rolling slow down and only half heartedly hit the brakes. Then everyone slammed theirs on, I locked my brakes, and that was it.

The courts agreed, saying the fee was waived because of "mitigating circumstances"; the guy that hit me did most of the damage, to my P5 and the Focus when he slammed me forward into it.

I wont say I'm a great driver, I just try to get there in one piece. I spend more than 1.5 hours a day driving to work/back, so I do tend to zone out a little, especially when I go more than 10 minutes without hitting the gas.

 

These Protege's seem to hold up well in accidents. I was talking to a cop, and she was saying that there was a nasty accident with a semi doing about 30-40mph that T-boned a P5. The cop at the scene couldn't beleive that no one in the car had anything worse than minor cuts and bumps. The car was totaled.
As to your situation that kinda sucks that you had to go thru that, but all insurance companies(and police) are out to make a buck, and that usually is on the back of drivers.

 

according to crash test data (go to cars.com - follow the links) the protege does well.
In front and side crashes, it rates 5/5, 4/5 , i believe for driver's side and similar for passsenger side.
this is only from recollection you may wish to check

 

Mine held up really well to a rear end-er when a lady in a Pontiac Grand Prix smack us at atop light doing about 35-40 mph. No-one hurt and only $1000 damage. She missed the tailgate and taillights which would have upped the ante. Bumper assembly and a minor pull out on the rack was all that was needed. Tough little car!

 

Damn, I hope I never get rearended...the bottom of my rear bumper is only 7.5 inches off the ground. A F350 is liable to go through my back window

Glad to hear you got your car back, and running good again. I know these P5s' stop on a dime, better than anything I have had before.

http://photos.yahoo.com/slamprotege5

 

hey, i was wondering..is it possible to hammer down dents on ur hood urself and do body paint?

 

*or is it really dangerous to fix/repair the hood of a car

 

I hydroplaned and totaled my 1992 Protege LX back in August 1992 (chalk one up for the horrible Bridgestone Poortenza RE92). I hydroplaned about a tenth of a mile down a hill in a horrible storm and smacked the back of a Volvo station wagon that was stopped at a traffic light. I hit him doing about 45 mph. Despite the fact that the '92s only had those damned motorized "passive restraint" belts and no air bags, I walked out of the car. And the car did exactly as it was designed to do, even though the impact came through the grille and not the bumper. The engine dived under the car, the hood and front area crumpled ... even the steering wheel retracted into the dashboard. The doors easily opened after the crash and the damage did not extend past the A-pillar. I still am impressed and that's one reason I purchased another '92 back then, and I still drive Proteges today.

You can see a pic (black and white, sorry) of my totaled '92 showing how well it did over at the mazdaprotege group at Yahoo! groups. Just go to the Photos section and click on "Meade's Proteges."

Meade
2000 ES; 2002 P5

 

It depends on what you are intending to do, how bad the damage is and how much paint will fleck off.
It is all about having the right tools. I am assuming you have a dent from the engine pop rod sticking up on your hood. If that is the case you can get a rubber mallet or sand hammer, and gentle massage the damage down, regardless of how you do it your hood will have displaced metal that needs to go back to Original position. Be slow and caustious how hard you hit the panel, don't hit directly on the damage work around the damage till it goes down.

 

So I don't know if the comparison will be of much value. My bumper dived under the Volvo's rear bumper, which caught my grille, radiator and engine mounts. The Volvo sustained about $5,000 in damage from the collision, compared to the Protege's being totaled (damage estimate of about $12,500). Keep in mind that there's a lot less in the rear of a station wagon to fix -- I crumpled up the back of the Volvo pretty badly. The Protege's damage was confined to the front end, but the engine got smacked pretty hard and needed replacing -- there was the highest cost of the damage. One safety point about the Volvo that concerned me -- the impact caused both front seats of the Volvo to recline all the way flat. Thank God the baby seat (which had a baby in it) was in the CENTER of the back seat, or the seats woulda smushed her!!!

Meade

 

Accidents are really unpredictable... My girlfriend has a '91 Accord LX. She was turning right off of the 610 service road to go into a neighborhood when some moron in an Audi plowed into her at ~40MPH (thank God he hit his brakes... he admitted in the police report that he was going about 75 before ) The Audi's front end looked like a folded-up accordion. The Honda's damage? Replaced the rear bumper and exhaust tip. That's it. Her father had a well-reputed body shop take an extensive look at everything in the car and the only damage they found was the bumper, muffler, and a minor dent in the lower trunklid. Needless to say, I no longer hound her about driving a Honda... hey, at least it's not a Civic...