i am absolutely sick... i loaned my 64 vette convert to a friend so his daughter could style as football queen in the local parade. not remembering to mention all the little nuiances of the car like go slow when downshifting out of second, don't pull hard on the e-brake, don't turn on the factory air because it's low on freon... you know all the little quarks that all old cars have. well, on a beautiful fall day with the top down while he was returning the car, he decides to fire up the air conditioner. runs it for quite a while and it heats up and blows a hose. the oil based freon sprays the distributor and boom. flash fire + plastic car = meltdown. the x-friend didn't know how to open the hood on a vette so after running around like a headless chicken for about 10 minutes some car guys pulled up, popped the hood and sprayed it down with fire extinguishers. a tow truck brought my baby home. the entire underhood is destroyed everything that could burn, did. and the friend or x-friend flaked out completely. lesson learned... never loan out your car, ever. if your significant other or a close family member wants to drive your car, sit down with them and go over a long thought out list of any and all peculiarities of your car. remember if you don't tell them, it's your fault and not theirs. thank god for that insurance check but it's going to take a long time to be right again.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss Amigo...but don't harden your heart over it. Be glad no one was hurt, and yes, the car is damaged but not lost. Be thankful you have insurance and it is covered. The part where you mentioned reviewing the car's quirks is the important message here. Your friend did not intentionally damage your car, nor did he abuse it in any way. It was a simple error I'm sure he's sick about, and the coolest thing you could do is to call him up, tell him it'll be okay, and make amends. He must have been a good friend for you to have loaned the car in the first place. Friends like that are harder to make than the car is to fix. Double-check the priorities, man... ~Scotch~
That's bad news dude, and such a nice car... I agree though, if you're gonna lend a car you care about to ANYONE, even your best friend, give em a list of things to watch out for, little quirks, running hot, vibrations etc... so many people hear or see a car problem and just keep driving the damn thing. Big shame, man.
for real... give him a call... and make sure he comes over for a ride when its fixed this is why i RARELY drive anyone elses car, and if i do, NEVER far, always slow, and always SUPER SUPER carefull
All I heard was "Daughter", and "football queen". Hell no. But that aside, Don't lose your buddy over this. Unless he's a complete jerk about the car-then he's not much of a buddy. I remember once I left town for a couple weeks and left my freshly done, sweet as hell 56 effie in my buddy's garage with a half full tank. We were about 20 years old. I came back and it had a full tank? The next couple weeks I heard complements on the truck- "we saw you driving last week" and so on. Finally a guy came up to him and said, "dude you have a sweet truck!" CAUGHT RED HANDED! He even took it to a car show! I just laughed it off. It was funny.
I have loaned cars in the past with both good and bad results. If I am very worried and want to allow the use of my car for something like this I will offer to drive the car for the event. It always costs me time and/or money, but it really means alot to your friends when you take yor time to help their kids out. We still have young people come around to visit from my sons' high school days. They usually show to visit just in time to stay for dinner. My wife was the Kool-Aid mom when the boys were younger. Fix the car and the friendship if possible. I doubt you will regret doing so.
really sorry to hear about this..that sucks..good thing for insurance..im sure your friend is sick about the accident. cars can be repaired..friendships..well sometimes not. dont waste a minuet to let him know you have no hard feeling about it.
That sucks,if he did not have the balls to even be there when the car was returned and offer to pay for /turn it in on HIS insurance he is NO friend!! Take him to court!!!!
i appreciate what you guys have said about a friend and i agree, but because of how this has panned out since the incident i just got to let him go and focus on the car. he knew it was my pride and joy but some people don't respect what others got. the fact that he offered to report to his insurance but didn't, promised to help clean up the mess but never showed. i think forgiveness will be tough even if it's not truely his fault. it gonna take some time but maybe after it's fixed i will take him for a ride... who knows. anybody ever seen a holley carb melt before?
yeah clem on my 92 motor home..i saw the carb and the rest of the entire RV melt..fiberglass too it is sickning to say the seast
Man, that sux. A local lady brought us her computer the other day to have some files transfered to another machine. In her picture album were several photos of her boyfriends 60 model Vette convert after it had hit the ditch and spun out smacking a small tree. I almost cried since I havent seen the car in several months. Couple of years ago we were at a show in Shreveport and a guy in a white 60 model had just come thru the gate when....BOOM! Battery blew up. Burnt up a good portion of the hood and fender, as well as all the wiring in it. I hate seeing stuff like that happen in ANY car.
drag his butt over and make him help you fix it even if he is not a car guy he can hand you tools and clean stuff up it will be like frendship therapy
Don't loan tools, your car or your old lady. Makes for a happy world. Sorry about the Vette and the good thing is no one was hurt. I'd say a lesson was learned by all involved.
I have a couple of friends that I have loaned my cars, boat, tools, etc to many times, and them to me. We understand if we break, we fix. I also have many friends that I wouldn't even loan a screwdriver. You kind of get an idea who to say no to after a while.
I would've drivin the car! Can't blame your friend,when YOU gave him the car! You can't EVER think a friend will feel the same way towards your stuff as you do,or know how to handle an emergency. Sorry to be so harsh. Sorry about you car too.
What about the fact that you let the AC go to a point where it was ready to cause a prob?.........Sorry, so sad, your fault.
If anyone should be pissed, it's your friend. You let his daughter drive a car that could have killed her just by using an every day device like A/C. If you ask me, you owe them an apology.
if he is a friend then you will look past his spineless actions. If he isnt your true friend then you will only worry about your car. You decide. I would rather have a friend then a damn car.
Really? Dude if you give me your 5 window, I will totally be your friend for life. You can be my best man, and our kids can play together! PM me and we'll set up a weekend for you to drive over here and hang out, I'll even get you a first class ticket home. It's the least I could do for my new friend!
In Australia, I was told "Never lend your car, your tools, or your woman......coz they'll ALWAYS come backF*cked!!!!"[/quote] the mans got a point!
The Jalopy Journal
