Yes, i know that I will hear from all of you from the colder climates that people in SC can't drive in snow, BS. None of us can drive on ice, and no need for further testing, I can tell you. Those big wide tires act like skis.
Anyway driving down I-85 last week, keeping it slow about 40MPH, all of a sudden I see a large semi closing fast. I tried to ease over to the right slightly, but when he came around me at about 70MPH, I started spinning down the interstate.
Oh, you've all been there, the slow motion, on ice, out of control, what the heck am I gonna hit spin that lasts forever. As I approached the cold galvanized guardrail, I realized that I had 2 options, take it straight in or try to bring the back around with more power. By this time I had slowed considerably, and i was afraid that if I brought the back end around, it would come too far and I would damage the entire side of the car, so I took it straight in.
Plastic flew everywhere
I got out, inspected my baby and felt ill. She did great though. No air bag deployment and limited the damage to the front right corner. She was still drivable after stripping lose some plastic. No, the truck never slowed down. I guess since he only "took the air off my spoiler" and never technically hit me, he felt it wasn't his problem.
Now for the real kicker. I take her in to get fixed and got the call that I was expecting.......Uh, we can't match your front fascia. They don't make it anymore. I guess you will have to go with the new one-piece front end. Well, yes, I guess so. I don't have a lot of options do I? So now my beautiful silver baby looks like she's had a bad nose job because of the EXTRA HOLES across the front. I wonder If I can tape them up?
All right, enough of the ranting. The body shop did a great job. She looks as good as new, I have found no electrical problems, and I speed tested the front end to about 120MPH. It is actually a little more stable that the old one. My old one was beginning to make some suspicious noises and I feared that like some of you, it was going to fall off.
The other good news is if you reeeeeeallllly want to appreciate your 300-C SRT8, don'y drive it for a week. Instead drive a large vehicle like the Lincoln Navigator (bus) that I was driving. When I got back behind the wheel, I fell in love all over again. The stability, the power, the ride, what a vehicle. While I don't recommend wrecking the car to appreciate it more, try not driving it a couple of days, then get back behind the wheel.
Oh, one last thing, I have read several posts concerning costs on the front ends. Several things really stuck out. The headlight assembly is a cool $1,000.00. If they had been able to salvage my old three piece front end, the chin spoiler was close to $800.00 (that one's ridiculous). The cheapest part was the metal fender at $145.00. Total damage after replacing the entire front fascia; one headlight assembly; some radiator clips, brackets, etc; headlamp washers; washer jug; and painting was about $4,800.00. So keep your noses clean.
More importantly, I'm back in Love with the car and back in the saddle.