Well I was involved in my first ever accident today. 6AM, in the rain, on an on-ramp with a hairpin turn in it. I knew that the turn was sharp but slid into the curb anyway at 40 MPH. Pulled over right away - looked at the front driver side wheel (point of impact). The wheel was scratched but otherwise everything looked OK.

Drove it 5 feet and realized that all was not OK. Scraping noises. Got under the car with a flashlight (in the rain, on 395-S shoulder). Oh crap - rotor damage, axle damage, things just did not look healthy. Had it towed to Audi of Alexandria where we also discovered possible subframe damage (slid it a few millimeters off the mount).

So for the second time in as many hours our beloved TT was loaded onto a flatbed and towed to a body shop. We've got rental car coverage, towing coverage, etc so we'll get out of this with $250 deductible and $39 at Audi to "diagnose" the damage.

Called the body shop to confirm that it made it - it did but they are backed up and expect to have something for me in terms of damage and timeline for repair on Monday.

I'm still in denial - just checked the garage and yes, it is empty. I can't believe that I did this although it could have been much worse - I was careless and got off light considering what could have happened.

Maybe there was oil on the road or something - I've never had it slide like that even in worse conditions at higher speeds. At any rate, I'm properly chastened. I didn't have my camera or else I would have taken pics of the damage.

Well Merry Christmas!

 

Sorry to hear, Andy. Hopefully you'll have the TT back as a Christmas present.

 

Bummer. Which ramp, so I know to avoid it!

 

Coming out of Pentagon North Parking/Boundary Channel Drive to 395-S.

Clunk! It will be hard to sleep tonight.

 

Was ESP turned off? Sorry to hear this.

 

Sorry dude...but on the good side if no body damage suspension parts are easy to replace...

 

ESP on. Temp in the mid 50s. Summer tires with good tread.

 

Agreed - it is the potential subframe damage/shifting that has me worried

 

Was told they took the brunt of the blow. How can you tell if you had subframe damage?

 

Subframe damage - while on the lift the mechanic showed me these two spots near the front of the car where the car sits on the frame (danger: only use technical terms like "spots" and "car" if you are qualified to do so)

Anyway, the spot on the passenger side looked normal while the one on the driver (impact) side appeared to have moved a tiny bit. Won't know for sure if it is significant until the body shop has a chance to take a look, probably Monday.

Until then I guess I'm not sleeping too soundly.