There is a good reason not to let your neighbors run your cars

[Shodog]

Today I spent the better part of the day getting my Xray T1 FK ’04 up and running.  I installed the electronics.  I soldered up a new 2400 NiCd saddle pack.  Ran to the hobby shop to get some odds and ends and picked up a Trinity cobalt 8turn motor.  I painted up the HPI Honda accord body with some Tamiya translucent yellow then backed it with Pactra indy silver.  I installed the stickers on the body with care.  I got everything buttoned up to take it out for its first run. 

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My neighbor and his Dad were there, I took it up and down the street a few times.  It was driving sweet and it was really fast.  My other neighbor shows up and asks to drive it.  I’m like okay but be careful as I just built this car today.  He goes up and down the block a few times then as a car is coming down the block he turns the car the wrong way right into the path of the SUV which promptly crunches it

 

I couldn’t believe it happened.  In all my years of running, I have never had a car ran over.  My neighbor is like I am really sorry, let me know how much I owe you.  The thing is that I don’t think he realizes how much these cars are. Here are the obligatory pics of the damage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RichieRich]

Ouch.  I think he better bring a spare pair of underpants when you tell him how much he owes. []

[CarKing]

Wow I cannot even tell you how sorry I am to see that. All things considering, the car didn't come out as bad as I thought. Trashed, yes. But you might be able to salvage something. If the electronics, batteries, and motor are all good, consider yourself lucky. How much is the car? With people like that, I just roll my eyes. I have played with these kits since I was 10 and I never had anything like that happen.

The only thing I could compare it to is my friend driving my old TA02 around his street and one of his neighbors' kids came out to watch. They thought it would be funny to make a tunnel with their legs. SO they jumped out in front of it and he threw the car left not to hit the kids' leg, nailed the curb, flipped on the sidewalk, and into a tree. Body was a joke, but the car wasn't too bad.

Kids today still try and jump out infront of my TNX.......

[HunterZero]

Ugh, sickening []

Although the damage doesn't look too bad, you can guarantee that it'd be hard to salvage most of the major chassis components and getting all the tweak out of it. The rear bulkheads/tower copped a beating, too hard to tell if the front bulkheads and shock tower were damaged. Might not realise there's still damage in there until it's all back together and on a track.

I'd say you're probably going to end up replacing most if not all of the major chassis bits, especially if this is going to be a club racer (looks like it is). I'd bet that the cost of all those spares is going to run to nearly a new chassis kit.

- James

[Floyd]

Well , just from what I can see in the pics , Ive allready added up over $300 ..... On the brite side Sho ( not that there is any brite side to this hapening ) , Ill buy the belts off it [] . Mine are getting kind of frayed and I dont have a local Xray distributor []

[Stickman]

Thats bad!

The only time I heard of something like that happening was back in '82.

I had a Sand Rover and sold it to fund my frog, the guy who bought it was a bit cocky and so I had to chuckle when I heard that 2 weeks after buying it he got it run over....a sad loss to the Sand Rover world.

He asked me what would be needed to get it going, the list was chassis, body, front wheels, front suspension and reciever - all in probably more than a new one back then.

Hope you can get it sorted soon!

[supergreg]

Uh oh, that hurts! The chassis plate will be lost forever due to irreversible flex, but maybe you can salvage some of the other parts.

[Mad Ax]

[] sickening

[Bluefoot]

Ouch! That looks nasty. Personally I blame SUV drivers. They should look out for smaller vehicles on the road....

[terry.sc]

Ouch! I'm sure what makes it worse is how much time you had spent

putting it together that day, just to see it destroyed. I feel your

hurt, all that time spent on the body just to see it trashed - the

fastest I've had a body go from new to destroyed is under 3 minutes.

Looks like a new kit would be cheaper than all the spares needed. New

top deck, chassis, rear gearbox plates, a pair of shocks and a shock

mount to start with ain't going to be cheap, neither is that motor. At

least it looks like it missed the electrics.

When you tell your neighbour how much it costs to repair take a camera,

I'm sure we would all like to see the look on his face when he finds

out how much these things cost.

You could always try selling it, after all I bought this one!

[Mad Ax]

It might be worth getting somewhere reputable to give you an official

quote on repairs - your neighbour might think "badword, it's only a toy,

won't be more than 50 bucks for a new one" - if you show up saying

three hundred dollars he could think you're pulling his chain; I guess

a lot of it depends on whether you value more the cost of the car or

the cost of his friendship if he takes it badly []

It's a tricky one really - personally I wouldn't let my neighbour hold

£500 of my cash, so I wouldn't let him take a ride on my £500

motorbike...

[Shodog]

Thanks for the words of condolence.  I still can't believe he got it ran over.  I don't think the chassis can be saved as the front end has a tweak to it and parts would end up costing more than another used chassis would.  I am bummed about the motor as it was ripped from its mount and bent the can.  It didn't even have one full run on it.  The radio and esc luckily made it through but the battery has a nasty scrape on it.  He has seen my collection and knows how much I spend on these cars so hopefully he won't flip when I hit him with a $300 bill.

[Slyp Dawg]

oddly enough, to me the front end looks relatively fine. I'm sure the bulkheads up front are tweaked to an extent, but from the views that you showed mainly what I see that needs replacing is the rear bulkheads, the upper chassis, the lower chassis, the spur gear (looks a bit tweaked) the rear shocks and the rear shock tower, and ofcourse the wheels and body and motor. speaking of the body, is there any way that you could pop that back into something that resembles its original shape? man, I feel sorry for you. I almost had that happen with a few of my cars. some of the girls from up the street, nomatter what the car looks like, always say that it is ugly and some times have actualy tried to step on my cars. thankfully they've missed every time. I also had one little neighborhood kid drive my mini-giant once and he would not get it out of the street nomatter how many times I asked him to. had a car been coming, it very well could have had an ending simmilar to your Xray. thankfully another friend who I let drive my cars ( A ) knows very well what they cost and ( B ) lives on a short dead-end street, so thus very limited traffic

[84brat]

It hurts me just to look at the pictures.  Honestly, I would request the funds for a complete replacement cost of everything you have invested in the car, even if some parts are salvageable. 

Good luck on the outcome...

[OCD]

Good God- that's fun to look at like a traffic collision. 

You should post these at your LHS.  I've never seen a better visual of why not to let people try out the hobby on your gear.

He should consider himself (your neighbor) LUCKY that he didn't buy himself a couple of SUV tires too! 

[Guest joelvardy]

jees bad I know my neighbors don't know much about rcs and I know if I hit them Worth a £170 they would say boy and as they are so good neighbors they would pay me

[Rabiedmushroom]

My husband let a friend run his Juggernaut2 last weekend for 2 minutes on a flat grass field. What could possibly go wrong?

That'll be the bust front bumper where the guy picked it up using the shell, rather than under the chassis. Its nearly ripped off; you know how heavy these monsters are...

I've stopped letting anyone try my cars out; got fed up of past damages.

They're my toys and yer can't play with 'em!! []

[Nitro_John]

Yikes []

[Stefan(2)]

sic.. i wonder..

what did the 1:1 car driver say ?

[eek!]

Oh no....  I'm so sorry Jim.  I really feel for you.  Hearing of this almost makes me physically ill.  Based on the "quality" of your collection I suspect the $300 is probably one of least important factors.  The creativity, originaility and just plain work involved is not easily tangible.  The work you put into your vehicles is extraordinary, even compared with many members on TC.

Your example is exactly the reason, I won't allow anyone drive my 3-speeds.  Any other car regardless of price, fine.  Drive my 1:1 truck?  Go ahead.  My Hi-Lux?  No.  I'm not highly concerned about the money (though important), it''s my time and personal touches that are priceless. Those who don't do this with a similar level of dedication do not understand.

I don't know if this will make you feel any better but I bought my Bruiser in 1991 at a Long Island, NY 1:1 buggy shop along with a friend, who also got one.  My friend lives in Manhattan.  Not a recommended place to run 1/10 RC.  His Bruiser was eventually rolled over by a van (that turned and aimed for it).  Body damaged, two wheels cracked and frame bent...and still ran.

Best,

 

[Shodog]

I have definetly learned my lesson to not let just anyone drive my cars.  I have been looking on a few websites an it looks like replacement parts will way exceed the value of the chassis.  Looks like it's totaled.

The SUV driver just kept on driving probably oblivious to the fact of what happened

[Floyd]

OMG Sho , I still want to cry . Even though its not mine nore the money that went into it . It just got to be one of the sadest stories to date on TC . To me , as anyone thats ever held an X-ray of any make would probobly agree , they are a work of art even in stock form let alone after you ( Sho ) got your hands on one ( though , didnt you say you bought two of them ? I could be wrong , dont matter either way .) . I think I actualy saw a tear come off the headlite of mine while I was looking at your pics adding up the damages of what I could see .

[Gixer Jay]

OUCH!!! Very sorry to hear/see about that Jim.. I think there is way more than $300 in damage there from what I can see ( if you were to buy all the replacement parts serperate )..

Just tell him to write you a blank check and you'll give him the receipt from the hobby shop when its all said and done...[]

[6]XRAY = RIP[6]

 

[Shodog]

Thanks floyd for the kind words.  When I bought my original Xray T1 I took one look at it and declared it way too nice to run.  I spotted this one on ebay with a good BIN price.  I was trying to get my neighbor (Manuel) to buy it but then realized I could just sell him my Pro2 and pick this one up as a runner.

The story does have somewhat of a happy ending.  My neighbor brought buy a Check for $300.  The damage is slightly more than that but I couldn't see him paying out more.  I'll just know from now on to only let people who I fully trust run my cars 

[CarKing]

I am shocked you actually got the check!!!! Nice guy. Most people would laugh it off and be like "Ok seriously, how much do I REALLY owe you?", or give you $100 and say sorry. People don't get how expensive these "toys" are.