Subarus are tougher than I thought! (accident)

[syphon]

So on my way up to SubaruTex's house tonight, I was on 405 near Kirkland at 6:30 (this is in WA, by Seattle).

 

405 is probably one of the most congested stretches of road in the northwest. Due to the time, traffic was kinda picking up, but there were still occasionally slow spots.

 

I'm cruising down the road at about 45 when the cars in front of me stop suddenly. I brake pretty heavily, but get stopped in plenty of time. I even had time to glance in the mirror and see the guy bearing down on me from behind... he was looking at his radio.

 

He rear ended me pretty hard. He slammed on his brakes in time to slow him down, but I'd guess he still hit me at about 15-20mph. Enough to slam my car forward a few inches. I thought for sure my car was toast.

 

I pull over to the side of the freeway, and get out. Well, the rear of my car looks perfectly normal. There's a 1" scratch on the bumper (it may even have been there before). No damage at all besides that. The rear end of my car is a lot tougher than I expected! ('93 Turbo Legacy).

 

Well I drove home (a bit rattled) and everything's all good now! Score one for Subaru!

[Yukonart]

WOW, very fortunate.

 

However, when you get a chance, you'll want to remove that rear bumper cover and make sure the bumper beam isn't f'd-up. The urethane does a good job of bouncing back and hiding real damage.

 

Seems like the kind of project to do while at Tex's house, too. . . taking stuff apart.

[urabus1995]

Lucky that time EH? Glad you are OK.

Last summer, at around midnite one day, I was returning from playing a gig, with my old DL 1.8 wagon full of bass gear and guitars etc. We had just left a side road , moving onto the main road home, luckily not yet quite up to any sort of speed(probably about 20-30 mph), and approached a sharp bend in the road. Suddenly LIGHTS right in our faces then BANG a second later.

An Italian driver had got a bit lost seemingly, and for some reason had ended up driving on the wrong side of the road!!!!! Head on collision, with no warning whatsoever. We got carted off to hospital with necks all strapped up etc.

I had to leave the car and all the equipment in the hands of the salvage crew.

The car was "written off" by the insurance co. due to the cost of repairs.

We were out of action for a few days, but had to go to the salvage yard to collect my amps etc. I could not believe my eyes!!!!! .When I looked over the car I could see that although there was a lot of front end damage, twisted hood and lights and fenders etc. , the actual damage was repairable in my eyes.

I still find it hard to believe that the old Scooby had taken such an impact, and was probably still drivable, if the metal had been levered off the wheels.

We did not, however get it repaired-----which I regret to this day.

There may have been unseen damage to the framework etc., but the radiator was not even burst! I , like you , am most impressed with the safety of these cars. I just hope the newer Legacy has the same level of protection. I doubt it though, cos things look a bit more "plasticy" than the DL.

The car that hit us was a large Fiat people carrier type thing , and it looked in a much worse condition than the Scoob.

We got back to work after about 8 weeks of mending ribs, necks etc.

I am still very wary driving at nite. It is not a nice memory to have , but we are all glad to have survived relatively unharmed.

Seat belts worked etc, NEVER drive without one on.

I wonder if others have survived serious bumps in their Scoobs.???????

[Legacy777]

yeah, check the bumper beam and everything else.

[RallyKeith]

That's the bueaty of driving a car that was designed to be a factory race car. The Turbo Legacy and any Impreza is a strong car. I got rear-ended in my STi by a guy going atleast 45 (speed limit on the road) and never hit the brakes. All 4 doors opened and I drove the car home. The section behind the wheels was a little crumpled, but for a pretty good impact the car held up really well. That said, it held up too well. Translated enough energy into the car that it bent the seat backwards and I spent a few months at the chiropractor getting my back and neck fixed.

 

Glad to hear you are alright also. That's what really counts.

[oddcomp]

hmm glad it all came out good.. well i mean no injury's

and such

 

had a incedent many a year ago sorta like that

when i was sporting a amc eagle wagon <jus tlike suby's highly under rated in terms of capability> but yeah

 

in fact lol just outside of seatac round a corner on i5 i think everything is dead in front of me stopped good

no problem

untill

little red nissan truck ahuling rump roast hits the car behind me in turn hits me and i hit the thunderchicken in front of me and she hits the car in front of her at wich point the "wave" reverses <don't ask me how i dunno> and all the hitting changes direction <action equal oposite reaction or sumthing>

 

end result

nissan .. useless no front end left

minivan that hit me .. ford in fact no more front end as well nicely pushed in

my eagle wagon a mark on the rear bumper

the front bumper on the other hand got pushed back about half to one inch

mind you its even stronger than a suby bumper mechanically

since it was mounted with 1/4 plate steel bolted to the frame <factory>

one side got pushed back and the plate steel did not break but it did tear and fold

 

the thunder chicken in front me from that point on now sports a set of amc eagle bumper indentations fro the originall car pushers that where on those eagles

about 2 inches deep...

 

car drove straighter afterwords after it was al cleared up i continued on my 100 mile more journey

and then made it back home like nothing happened

 

 

gotta love the cars that are tough but are not considered "good cars"

or something

[blitz]

Syphon, check all your rear lamp filaments. Getting bopped from behind usually takes some out. I can almost guarantee that both licence plate lamps are out.

[syphon]

Syphon, check all your rear lamp filaments. Getting bopped from behind usually takes some out. I can almost guarantee that both licence plate lamps are out.

Good call, I hadn't even thought of that. I'll check it ASAP. Especially since it appears the point of contact was his license plate to my license plate.

[Cougar]

I would take the car to a good body shop and let them look things over after you explain what happened. They may find some damage you can't see. If you wait too long, you may not be able to make a claim for this if there is some damage found.

[Setright]

Glad you're okay, that is the most important part!

 

Get the car checked.

 

 

Urabus1995, the Legacy is at least as good. She got the maximum four stars for the passenger and three for the driver in contempary crash tests.

Legacy also ranks as 40% above average in the highly esteemed Swedish insurance company "Folksam" statistics. This is based on real accident investigations. Best is 50% above average, the Volvo 850 - go figure :-)