A Sad End to Secondtyme

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2006 Mazda5 Touring
On my way to work yesterday morning I ran over a deer. Notice I say "ran over" and not "hit" The deer was already on the ground and I ran her over with the right front tire. Somehow the carcass made HARD contact with the engine which sheared the motor mount on that side off the block which caused the lower/trans mount to fail. The engine immediately lurched backwards about five inches and made contact with the frame pinching the high pressure AC line between the crank pulley and the frame. The AC line failed dumping the refrigerant into the atmosphere, also all over the engine bay. I got it to a well lit area about 3/4 of a mile up the road and shut her off for the last time. Insurance called this AM and confirmed my initial diagnosis. Time of Death 221,653 miles, Nationwide paid me enough to make a dandy down payment on an 08 Honda Accord EX 5sp manual for sale in Irwin PA. So I guess this is farewell, again. Sad to say I highly doubt there will be a THIRD tyme. I will visit often, I'm going to miss this great community a lot.
 
Dang. We lose another good member. Glad no one was hurt and insurance money was good towards your next ride. Google luck with the Accord.
 
I'm really sorry to hear about the accident! But glad you're ok and congrats on the new ride. I've really enjoyed your posts. Best of luck!
 
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I strongly considered getting another 5, there is a silver 07 manual touring for sale CHEAP in Winchester. But when i test drove it the front and rear suspensions BOTH groaned and knocked and clunked like crazy. I looked at my wife and said "no thanks, i think fixing all the gremlins in the suspension once is enough for me" Had that not been the case i probably WOULD be driving my third 5, they really are one of a kind.
 
(notcool) aww man that is so sad, i have repect for all the information and great thought put into this forum., ive only been on the M5 side for 2 months but, learned so much from your posts, hope you stick around and keep posting.
 
I strongly considered getting another 5, there is a silver 07 manual touring for sale CHEAP in Winchester. But when i test drove it the front and rear suspensions BOTH groaned and knocked and clunked like crazy. I looked at my wife and said "no thanks, i think fixing all the gremlins in the suspension once is enough for me" Had that not been the case i probably WOULD be driving my third 5, they really are one of a kind.

Yeah, but you already know what to fix and if it was way cheap, the susp rebuilt would have put you ahead. Of course the Accord is quieter and more refined (read: boring) but at least in it you are invisible. Of course, I've been to Honda forums. the vast majority of posts involve general ignorance. Have fun over there :wink:
 
Sad but true that almost all the Honda forums are populated by a "younger" crowd. Which is why I will miss this place so much. The manual trans mitigates boredom somewhat with the Accord
 
I strongly considered getting another 5, there is a silver 07 manual touring for sale CHEAP in Winchester. But when i test drove it the front and rear suspensions BOTH groaned and knocked and clunked like crazy. I looked at my wife and said "no thanks, i think fixing all the gremlins in the suspension once is enough for me" Had that not been the case i probably WOULD be driving my third 5, they really are one of a kind.

This could be an awesome buy. Negotiate even lower price and remember that 2nd time fixing will go much easier compare to the 1st.
You just buy all the components at once and replace them in one day and done. Will drive like new again.
 
On my way to work yesterday morning I ran over a deer. Notice I say "ran over" and not "hit" The deer was already on the ground and I ran her over with the right front tire. Somehow the carcass made HARD contact with the engine which sheared the motor mount on that side off the block which caused the lower/trans mount to fail. The engine immediately lurched backwards about five inches and made contact with the frame pinching the high pressure AC line between the crank pulley and the frame. The AC line failed dumping the refrigerant into the atmosphere, also all over the engine bay.

I guess I was lucky. I went over a deer laying dead in the middle of I-55. The 5 went airborne before landing hard on the front suspension. Other than
A ripped off skid plate, and a crumpled heat shield, no serious damage. Sorry you didn't fare so well. You'll love the Honda Accord though!
 
The thought had occurred to me that the engine mount may have been hanging by a thread BEFORE I hit the deer. It did have many, many miles and 10 years under its belt after all. I consider myself fortunate that the damage didn't cause me to lose control of the car. I do already love the Accord, I hadn't realized just how badly I missed driving a car with three pedals. The extra 40 ponies don't hurt either....
 
The thought had occurred to me that the engine mount may have been hanging by a thread BEFORE I hit the deer. It did have many, many miles and 10 years under its belt after all. I consider myself fortunate that the damage didn't cause me to lose control of the car. I do already love the Accord, I hadn't realized just how badly I missed driving a car with three pedals. The extra 40 ponies don't hurt either....

Man, I just read you post. That's too bad on the demise of your 5. Glad you came out with no harm other then a broken heart when you knew you would lose her forever. Good luck with the Accord, although I must say, if I were you I would have picked up a 05-07 model year instead. IMHO the 08-12 Accords were the ugliest (of course just my opinion). Then again, I probably would have picked up another 5 over the Accord. I am enjoying my truck very much, but I do miss my 5 from time to time. I have faith that in years to come I'll pick up another 5 but this time a 08-10 GT manual.
 
Did they make GT trims with MT? In Canuckland correct?

Yes they made some here in the US...not many but a few. It will definitely be a unicorn find. I guess at the very least a Touring MT will do. Canuckland got very lucky as they have always being able to get GTs with MT.
 
What really sucks is that I had just got her through a round of spring freshening, inspection, tires, wash and wax, fresh tint, was getting ready to install all the stereo stuff I had acquired. She was good to go until at least 300K, then BOOM! Gone. made me want to cry, it really did. Check out my for sale thread for some good to come out of all this....
 
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