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Last week, I drove the Z8 to visit a friend who lives in southern NJ. Well on the way home 2 things happened.
First, I was behind this pickup truck and as he hits a bump his tailgate opens up and all these little stones/ gravel comes flying out of the bed and hit the Z8! Before I knew it there were 2 stones bouncing of the hood! I stopped for gas some time later and there are about 3 minor stone chips on the passenger side of the hood about 75% of the way up to where the windshield is. I actually think I got off lucky on that. But it still is too bad. I did consider running the guy down, but he pulled into what looked like a job site and I considered the odds- showing up in a fancy foreign car to be likely outnumbered did not make much sense to me. Instead I hit the throttle and got out of there.
Second, I'm on the turnpike north now and a piece of pink foam comes flying at the car! I could not move too much due to traffic. As it was coming at me I noticed how it was all nice and pink. When it hit, there was a thud from the front of the car and then it seemed to hit the hood about the same place those stones hit it earlier and then it hit the top of the windshield- which startled me for an instant. As I looked at it in the rear view mirror I noticed that the pink now had some kind of black grating in it. Did that plastic hit my hood?! Did that hit the front of my car? When I got home I saw the impact t a light scratch into the clearcoat.
I thought considering the amount of debris coming at me this was relatively light damage.
Yesterday I decided to wash the car. So I am washing the front and I notice that the front looks a little different. The passenger side grill just below the Roundel is gone! It turns out the grill is a 2 piece affair. There is the backside which screws into place and then there is the outer grill, which we see and it is held on to the back part via clips. That foam must have hit the grill just right and pulled it off. Luckily, all the clips look identical to each other so I think they are all useable- and a cursory inspection of the driver side of the grill reveals to me there seems to be no damage to the back side of the grill on the passenger side of the vehicle.
A visit to the dealer today revealed that the grill is made to function this way as a safety matter- at least that's what the dealer told to me. If so that is impressive. The part is about $130 with tax.
My feeling about the Z8 is I will fix any problems with it, but it is a car and it is to be driven and sometimes that means you have to take one on the chin. All in all, Id say I got off fairly lucky with all the junk flying around out there. So moral of the story- be careful and watch out for pick up trucks with beds full of rocks and the random flying pink foam!
First, I was behind this pickup truck and as he hits a bump his tailgate opens up and all these little stones/ gravel comes flying out of the bed and hit the Z8! Before I knew it there were 2 stones bouncing of the hood! I stopped for gas some time later and there are about 3 minor stone chips on the passenger side of the hood about 75% of the way up to where the windshield is. I actually think I got off lucky on that. But it still is too bad. I did consider running the guy down, but he pulled into what looked like a job site and I considered the odds- showing up in a fancy foreign car to be likely outnumbered did not make much sense to me. Instead I hit the throttle and got out of there.
Second, I'm on the turnpike north now and a piece of pink foam comes flying at the car! I could not move too much due to traffic. As it was coming at me I noticed how it was all nice and pink. When it hit, there was a thud from the front of the car and then it seemed to hit the hood about the same place those stones hit it earlier and then it hit the top of the windshield- which startled me for an instant. As I looked at it in the rear view mirror I noticed that the pink now had some kind of black grating in it. Did that plastic hit my hood?! Did that hit the front of my car? When I got home I saw the impact t a light scratch into the clearcoat.
I thought considering the amount of debris coming at me this was relatively light damage.
Yesterday I decided to wash the car. So I am washing the front and I notice that the front looks a little different. The passenger side grill just below the Roundel is gone! It turns out the grill is a 2 piece affair. There is the backside which screws into place and then there is the outer grill, which we see and it is held on to the back part via clips. That foam must have hit the grill just right and pulled it off. Luckily, all the clips look identical to each other so I think they are all useable- and a cursory inspection of the driver side of the grill reveals to me there seems to be no damage to the back side of the grill on the passenger side of the vehicle.
A visit to the dealer today revealed that the grill is made to function this way as a safety matter- at least that's what the dealer told to me. If so that is impressive. The part is about $130 with tax.
My feeling about the Z8 is I will fix any problems with it, but it is a car and it is to be driven and sometimes that means you have to take one on the chin. All in all, Id say I got off fairly lucky with all the junk flying around out there. So moral of the story- be careful and watch out for pick up trucks with beds full of rocks and the random flying pink foam!
