Stupid stupid stupid! - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

RandallNeighbour · 12-08-2006, 06:31 PM

Well, I scraped the crap out of the roof of my Lexus tonight.

The evening out began with me dumping a large glass of ice tea across the table into my wife's lap, all over her coat next to her and into her purse.

Then we ate our dinner and went to the car.

I was parked under a very low sign at an angle. There was just enough clearance for my car to get under it and get that excellent parking spot in front of the restaurant that no one takes because of that sign.

When trying to back out, I realized the traffic on the one way road I was trying to back into was simply too heavy with traffic, and the best way forward under the sign the same way I did it the last time we were at this particular restaurant.

Of course, I had totally forgotten we were in the boxster, which is 18 inches lower than the Lexus LS400.

So I slowly moved forward and no noise, so I proceeded with caution if you want to call it that and scraaaaaape! I was caught under the sign right in the middle of the sunroof.

Moving backward would have probably made it a lot worse, so I just slowly moved forward and it stopped scraping, so I thought, "no big deal, right?"

Wrong.

I put a small indentation in the roof about 2.5 feet long. That, my friends, will not buff out no matter how long I work at it!

The paint was scraped through the clearcoat into the paint at the front of it and well, I'm going to have to take it to a body shop after the first of the year and pay to have it fixed. I'm sure they'll bondo over it and respray it and it will look fine. The car is 12 years old and we're planning to keep it a while, but this was not a good night for me.

I am simply too ashamed to take pictures and post them because it was a stupid move on my part. Oh well, at least I didn't do anything like this to the boxster because I'd be so pissed at myself that I wouldn't even confess it here on this list.

Lesson learned? Wait for traffic to die down and don't risk driving under signage.

Grizzly · 12-08-2006, 06:40 PM

Randall,

I'm very sorry to hear it.

If it makes you feel any better I once drove my wife's 6'0 Mercury Mountaineer into a 5'11" parking garage.

Just a few months ago, my brother was trying to make it to the birth of his daughter and sped into the 6'0 hospital parking garage with his 6'5" F-150.

Very ugly.

Don't quote me on the ceiling heights, but you get the idea.

RandallNeighbour · 12-08-2006, 07:03 PM

Yup, same thing, but mine was not so drastic. I guess I have a lot to be thankful for now. Please don't post pics of those incidents. I'd be crying knowing that the driver did that to his own vehicle...

And that's one of the main reasons I don't have an SUV or a tall truck, BTW!

djomlas · 12-08-2006, 07:27 PM

ouch man, i always go into my garage while the door is going up..i think now i will stop that, extra 2 seconds will save me trouble if i ever overshoot the timing

986Roadster · 12-08-2006, 07:49 PM

that sucks, i bet the wife wasn't impressed. not cool. atleast it wasn't the boxster.

edevlin · 12-09-2006, 02:50 AM

I once had the minivan backed in the garage with the tailgate partially down to clear the garage door. Wind must have blown it up, I did'nt check when I pulled out of the garage and pulled the rear windshield off the door....

My 14 year-old son must have followed my lead, because when he was backing the minivan up the drivway (which he was not allowed to do) he caught the drivers-side door which he had left open on a tree and almost tore it off....

Ed

Bob O · 12-09-2006, 05:40 AM

We've all done stupid things. If this is your first embarassing moment in a car, count yourself lucky!!! Many years ago... it was summer, I was in my Triumph Spitfire (no comments!!) with the top down. I was driving through the posh outdoor shopping district in KC called the Plaza, mainly girl watching and enjoying the beautiful day. I was looking at a couple of cuties walk down the street and, predictibly, rammed into the guy in front of me. Unfortuntely, this happened right in front of a little sidewalk cafe, which was full of people doing the same thing I was, but they weren't in their car!!! I got a standing ovation from the crowd. It was, to slightly understate, embarassing.

Bob

Uncle Bob · 12-09-2006, 06:15 AM

I hear ya Randall, some nights things go from bad to worse. Talking about it with friends in here helps at least. I thought this would at least cheer ya up: