Another one lost to a drunk driver...

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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tercel4wdrules
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My tercel:: None
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by tercel4wdrules »

Back in late 2105 I acquired this car from a forum member that used it to put together another vehicle. I saw the pictures of this car and went to go see it. The clean interior and the relatively straight body won me over although I really wasn't in the market for another car at the time and the fact that I had recently acquired a 4A engine from another forum member made the decision a bit easier. I took on this project without really knowing exactly how I was going to put it back together, but somehow I managed to get it running and my coworkers helped me out in the process. I've been real busy with work so I would drive it on the weekends and on a 300 mile loop through the mountains and desert of southern CA. This all changed in the early morning hours of Saturday when a drunk driver put an end to the dream. He smashed into it with a VW Jetta and the resulting impact threw my car over the sidewalk, tearing the right rear wheel off, and it came to rest on a fence as a pile of twisted metal. All my hard work to put this car back on the road was gone. It's destroyed inside and out - shattered glass and broken plastic litter the inside. The roof collapsed and there's not much in the rear of the car that can be salvaged. It's a sad end for this car but I'm glad nobody else got hurt. I was not home at the time it was towed away and instead my mom was alerted by the neighbors that my car was destroyed. I had seen other vehicles that have been hit while parked on the street but I hoped I would never have to deal with this. I still have my other Tercel that I've had for over 12 years so I'm still part of the club but I don't see myself getting involved with another Tercel project in the foreseeable future. I just hope the culprit has insurance so I can try and recoup my monetary loss, but now all that's left are the memories. It's a shame since I had put a rebuilt 4A and a ton of new parts on that car which is now all going to waste and this cannot be recovered.
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2015 Honda Fit EX "Malachi"
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ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
Posts: 6369
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:52 pm
My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Wow, Carlos - SO sorry for your loss.
It's a good thing you were not sitting in it at the time!
Tom
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
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GLet71
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My tercel:: '87 6-spd SR5 4wd Wagon
Location: Nelson, BC Canada

Re: Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by GLet71 »

Holy s**t!!
Currently:
Majorette France Tercel 4WD - Fini
Formerly:
'87 6spd SR5 4WD modified Wagon (Ron, the post-apocalyptic summer ride)
'87 6spd dlx 4wd Wagon (Pinkman Got Nuthin', aka Pinky)
'87 Auto dlx 4WD Wagon (Otto, temporary parts car)
'88 6spd SR5 4WD Wagon (Perry, the parts car)
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irowiki
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Location: Farmington, NM

Re: Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by irowiki »

Aw crap, glad nobody was actually in it.

Can you at least salvage the engine and powertrain?
Former Tercel Enthusiast (not a practical family car anymore but they still have a place in my heart)

Site administrator, if something is broken, PM me!

87 Corolla FX16, 105k
94 Jamboree RV (Ford E-350), 90k
95 Camry Wagon, 170k
97 4runner, 275k
xirdneh
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Posts: 2121
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2005 11:38 am
My tercel:: 87 tercel 4x4 wagon w/reringed engine, 83 tercel 4x4 wagon w/salvaged engine and 4.1 Diff's
Location: seabeck, washington, USA

Re: Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by xirdneh »

Big time bummer
Love those Tercell 4x4 wagons but they sure suffer from road noise.
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LOSTFISH
Member
Posts: 48
Joined: Wed Apr 12, 2017 1:13 pm
My tercel:: BLUE 87
Location: tacoma, WA

Re: Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by LOSTFISH »

sorry to hear about the tercel
glad no one is hurt
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by Petros »

what a shame. I lost a car the same way I had in high school and collage, an old volvo 122s, got it with a blown engine and completely rebuilt it, replaced just about every engine and suspension part to improve performance. and late one night while it was parked a drunk driver crushed it, twisted the unibody. I bought another one and switched all the parts over, but it was never drove the same as my original. I sold it later.

there are a number of parts you should salvage, engine and trans for sure, front marker lights look good, perhaps the seats if the are good. find a beater Tercel and use both cars to build one good running one.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
tercel4wdrules
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Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2004 11:23 pm
My tercel:: None
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by tercel4wdrules »

It gets worse... The culprit that smashed it has no insurance and I did not have coverage for uninsured motorist so not only am I losing out on the car I'm also on the hook for the impound & storage. Now I am forced to get rid of the car ASAP with no chance of recovering the drive train as I have no place to store the car.
2015 Honda Fit EX "Malachi"
2001 Toyota Corolla CE "Eugene"
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rer233
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My tercel:: Multiple

Re: Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by rer233 »

That really suxs...
if it aint there, there's a good chance it won't break!
83 SR5 Silver/Blue (Snowmobile/work beater)-totaled but drivable
85 SR5 Blue
88 SR5 White (the 'good' one)-not anymore-totaled
87 fwd silver wagon a/t
87 4wd dx Cream (a/t- not anymore- now m/t)
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ARCHINSTL
Goldie Forever
Posts: 6369
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2005 1:52 pm
My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
Location: Kirkwood, a 'burb of St. Louis

Re: Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Carlos - doesn't CA have mandatory liability insurance? I would have thought it would.
If so, he broke the law in this regard, apart from being drunk - right?
Maybe pursue a civil suit if it appears he has assets/job of any kind?
Tom
T4WD augury?
"Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit."
T.S. Eliot - "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
"Now and then we had a hope that, if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates."
Mark Twain
User avatar
Petros
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Posts: 11930
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 6:31 pm
My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by Petros »

A civil suite only works if the drunk driver has assets, people with assets carry insurance. It will cost money and time to get a judgement, I had a classic Porsche I was restoring rear ended by a drunk driver (in calif in about 1982). a lawyer talked me into a private lawsuit, we got a judgement, but it was uncollectable. A waste of time and money.

What you might do is see if the prosecutor can get built into his sentence for drunk driving that he pay you restitution. It will not cost you anything but writing a letter to the prosecutor. That makes it a condition of the guy to finish paying you off before he clears his record, often the parole board does not enforce this portion of the sentence very much, but it is better than nothing.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
'01 Honda Civic (other daughter's daily driver)
Toadrancher11
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Posts: 14
Joined: Sat Sep 02, 2017 1:20 pm
My tercel:: 85 wagon4x4
Location: State of confusion

Re: Another one lost to a drunk driver...

Post by Toadrancher11 »

tercel4wdrules wrote: Mon May 22, 2017 10:04 pm Back in late 2105 I acquired this car from a forum member that used it to put together another vehicle. I saw the pictures of this car and went to go see it. The clean interior and the relatively straight body won me over although I really wasn't in the market for another car at the time and the fact that I had recently acquired a 4A engine from another forum member made the decision a bit easier. I took on this project without really knowing exactly how I was going to put it back together, but somehow I managed to get it running and my coworkers helped me out in the process. I've been real busy with work so I would drive it on the weekends and on a 300 mile loop through the mountains and desert of southern CA. This all changed in the early morning hours of Saturday when a drunk driver put an end to the dream. He smashed into it with a VW Jetta and the resulting impact threw my car over the sidewalk, tearing the right rear wheel off, and it came to rest on a fence as a pile of twisted metal. All my hard work to put this car back on the road was gone. It's destroyed inside and out - shattered glass and broken plastic litter the inside. The roof collapsed and there's not much in the rear of the car that can be salvaged. It's a sad end for this car but I'm glad nobody else got hurt. I was not home at the time it was towed away and instead my mom was alerted by the neighbors that my car was destroyed. I had seen other vehicles that have been hit while parked on the street but I hoped I would never have to deal with this. I still have my other Tercel that I've had for over 12 years so I'm still part of the club but I don't see myself getting involved with another Tercel project in the foreseeable future. I just hope the culprit has insurance so I can try and recoup my monetary loss, but now all that's left are the memories. It's a shame since I had put a rebuilt 4A and a ton of new parts on that car which is now all going to waste and this cannot be recovered.
in 2105 -dude what are the lottery numbers its 2017 can you give me them for the next 5 years --please----LOL
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