A very sad day

[TheEngineer]

For the last two days one of the sons (44) of my companion visited from Los Angeles.
His mother wanted to go to the grocery store and I gave him permission to use the Prius. I asked him if he had driven a Prius before and he said, he had. Coming home he parked in our driveway which slopes toward the garage. He left it in D and engaged the parking brake, walked around the car and opened the door for his mother. The car accelerated down the driveway, went thru the closed garage door, pushed the 280SL into the Hardtop standing against the garage wall and pushed it thru the wall. The Prius is very damaged, the garage door is toast, the Pagoda is damaged forward and aft, both mufflers were pushed forward, all muffler suspension rings are broken, sheet metal is crushed, headlight is broken including the rim, the hardtop has two broken windows, a torn headliner and bent sheet metal and the garage wall has been pushed off the sill and collapsed.
I can no longer close-up the house downstairs. All these years I have taken good care of my Pagoda and now this. It was a nice car,  completely rust-free. The engine used no oil and I put a 09 cam in last year and it shifted so smooth.  Now I am 85 years old and tired

[Cees Klumper]

Ouch, that is very unfortunate. Very sorry to hear it. Sounds like your companion's son was ok, so that's something (that is, until you took a swing at him!). Will you have the SL repaired? Perhaps replacing the hardtop with an undamaged example will be easier. Good luck with the ordeal.

[neelyrc]

What a disaster!    You didn't mention but I hope your companion is also ok. 

Wishing you well in sorting out the damage to your home and car. 

[Jonny B]

Indeed, a sad day. As Ralph has written, hope the people fared alright. Also wishing you well on figuring out what to do next.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Sorry to read about your misfortune, as others remarked I hope no one got badly hurt during this terrible incident. I hope your house and car(s) insurance covers some of the damage, however, speaking from experience it will not be the same when all is said and done.

Indeed a very sad day. Best of luck in getting it resolved.

Dieter

[TheEngineer]

There was nobody  in the car when it rolled down the driveway. The air bags did not  deploy because  no seats were occupied. I am at the Toyota dealer now to have the Prius inspected.

[mmizesko]

So Sorry. I knew you were thinking about selling it too. 

Good Luck with the repairs.  I suppose worse things could have happened.

Mike

[mdsalemi]

So sorry Pete, for this alarming tragedy. Glad nobody was hurt.

But, it begs the question...a 44-year old, leaving the car in DRIVE while leaving the car, on a sloped driveway? What precisely was he thinking? Seriously, Prius or no Prius, this isn't something you do with ANY car, truck, or motorized vehicle of any kind.

[JamesL]

Priority has to be securing the downstairs etc but what a totally avoidable PITA. Sorry for the damage caused and stress/loss you are undoubtedly feeling

[ejboyd5]

Let's keep everything in perspective.  No one was injured.  Material items can be repaired or replaced.

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Let's keep everything in perspective.  No one was injured.  Material items can be repaired or replaced.

Sure, only when someone is in his golden years, one does not need this type of stress.

Dieter

[Rothko]

Sorry to hear about this.  I would be upset as well.  Thankfully no one was injured.

Not to make fun of this, but I could imagine this being used in one of those Farmers Insurance ads: "...And we covered it, October 1, 2017."

I hope your insurance will cover most of the expense.  But, as noted, your SL will not be the same.

[Khurram Darugar]

I think if I had ever thought about the colossal effort involved in restoring a pagoda I would fallen off my chair laughing.

Not to point of the bleeding obvious but every big job is a combination of smaller jobs.  Get the garage door fixed first.
You might want to consider some of the modern dent removal techniques jf that's an option? 

Sleep on it a few nights.   
 

[114015]

All these years I have taken good care of my Pagoda and now this. It was a nice car,  completely rust-free.

Arrgggh,
oh sh..t !

I feel so sorry with you.
Hopefully you can have it fixed soon again.
Cross my fingers....

All best,

Achim
(compassionate)

[ja17]

I have fond memories of riding in this car with you.  Sorry to hear the terrible news. I hope to ride with you in it again!

[TheEngineer]

Thank you Joe and all the others! It is much appreciated and yes, repairing the garage door is No. 1. Soon, the rains will start and it will get cold and my hands get stiff when I get cold. Can not think either. This Prius shuts down when you stop with the transmission in D and will start-up on its own when it senses the need for like low battery, A/C or drop in cabin heat. I am speculating that is what happened: he put the emergency brake on and it held the car while the engine was off because they just had come back from shopping. After a while the engine started and the car began to drive. I was on the couch for a nap when I heard the crash. When I came out he had backed the Prius out of the garage and came to apologize. I sat down in the drivers seat and found the gear shift in R and the emergency brake engaged. I pushed the engine shut-off button and walked away. Fixing the garage door is apparently not simple or quick: I had two salesmen out today and they do not have my style of overhead door anymore. They only have segmented doors with totally different mechanism. Requires carpentry and is a pretty big job. The good news is that Sunday is my 85th birthday. Just what I always wanted.

[mdsalemi]

Not that its any consolation to you, but I think your garage door is the kind that has side mounted, spring hinges and pulls out and up. They are not used in anyplace that ever has snow, since if there snow in front of the door, you cannot use them. The hinges are (or were) for sale at home centers on the west coast; I actually needed a set for my old house in Michigan which did not have room for roll up. This was the days before the internet, and I found a set at The Home Depot in San Diego. I brought them back on the plane when it was possible and inexpensive to do so.

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/springs/one-piece-garage-door-extension-springs.php
http://www.industrialspring.com/products/one-piece-springs/garage-door-kit
http://www.apexhardware.com/residential.html

I think what you are looking for is probably called "One piece garage door extension springs" and a carpenter to build the door.

[TheEngineer]

Thank you Mike for your comments! Yes, the existing door is an overhead one piece door made of a wood frame with a covering of 1/4 in plywood. In the shop I have a sectional wood door. The spring is above the door. I have never thought about it. Now I have to educate myself. I like wood. Looks like a sectional door is more weather tight. What do I know?
Pete
PS:You should come out and drive my car with the 09 cam and the 3.27 axle. It drives like I remember these cars to run; not like the US version.

[waltklatt]

Hello TheEngineer,
I am sad to hear of your loss.
Geez if the parking brake is on, does that mean its also computer controlled with the revving engine in D?  Should be able to hold the car, unless the computer accelerates.  Poor idea if you ask me.

Anyways, I found a hardtop in NY on ebay for you, if you want.  I can go and pick it up for you.  And take it to someone, who can ship it to you.
Look under 250SL hardtop, and it should be there.

My condolences to your sad damage.
Best,
Walter

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Hi Pete,

Happy belated Birthday Wishes, Good Health and many more.

Hope you get all resolved so you can put this behind you.

Best Dieter   

[gnj588d]

Hi Pete, What a shocking thing to happen I really feel for you, everyones worst nightmare. Get the
right people to get the Pagoda back on the road and think of the lovely summer drives you will have
I will raise a glass for you on Sunday,Happy Birthday Pete.Cheers. Mike.

[floatinghat]

Let me look I might have those type of hinges in my rental house on Bainbridge.  I'll be over there this weekend.  We had a pair that had been removed.  But they might have gone in the dumpster.  If I have them you are welcome to them, they were in good shape.

[TheEngineer]

I am slowly rebuilding my garage door.  I can not opening it, it might fall  on the Pagoda or my other stuff and the garage door people require  that I move my stuff out to give them space  to work to install a new door. My old door has wood framing on the inside  and plywood  sheathing on the  outside,  the assembly is quite strong. I work on it a few hours each  day. The wall has been rebuilt, now I can lock up the house and it keeps  vermin out. Mice like to eat my sails  for some reason, why is it that the eat dacron? On the Prius I replaced the upper radiator support so that the hood latches shut. I am a shade tree mechanic now.

[mdsalemi]

The mice are probably not eating the dacron polyester sailcloth, they are shredding it to make a nest. They are looking for a place to stay for winter. Best to keep them out. I understand that some open containers filled with mothballs sitting around the potential entry points might deter them from coming in. Then, there's always glue traps, mouse traps etc.

[cfm65@me.com]

Hi Pete,
Happy birthday and many, many more.
I have conveyed my condolences with the mishap in an earlier post and I am pleased to see that you are busy sorting the damage.
I noticed that Lou advertised a Pagoda "rear window for hardtop for 113", in the for sale section, on 8 September 2017.
Regards
Chris