MG Bud

my beautiful A6 4.2 is totalled. My daughter hit a large pine tree at 40-50 mph head-on. Air bags deployed, crumple zones and safety systems worked to perfection.
Bottom line?
She and passenger walked away with no major injuries.
I'm not wealthy, and saved, saved, saved to purchase this dream 16 months ago. The reason was not to have a "status symbol", but to have the safest my family could be in if the "unthinkable" happened. It was a true investment in safety. Well, I'm out quite a bit of money, but still have a healthy and safe daughter. Life is good...

I will be writing a letter to Audi USA, thanking them for designing the product that saved my daughter's life. I'm saddened I will not be able to afford another, and frankly it scares me I may have to compromise my value on safety, but times are hard right now. At a minimum, I thought it prudent to share my thanks with all you and eventually Audi corporate.

Godspeed,
Bud

am_ver

Cars can be replaced - lives cannot. Glad to hear she made it alright. I know exactly how you are feeling - in 2005, I had got a brand new BMW sedan, 11th day had an accident; car saved my life. attached are pics. btw - this happened in a 25 mph zone (Stanford U)

j_sonel

Glad everyone is ok... but why in world you own such a nice car and not have comprehensive insurance?

3PedalMINI

i imagine he did. Except comprehensive doesnt cover what you paid for it. Not to mention what he had saved up and used as a down payment.

Even if the car was worth less then what he owed on it comprehensive only covers it up to the lien.

Glad your daughters OK. Saving up for another audi will only make it that much more special.

for the time being, Hyundai sonata gets an incredible safety rating. I drove by a crash with a brand new one just driven off the lot, they were sitting at a light waiting to make a turn when a driver came down the hill lost brakes and control and slamed into them going 55mph head on. The driver of the sonata was a 17 year old girl and she didnt even walk away with a scratch, Just Shock.

In reality she should not be walking now, or even alive. It was THAT bad. Ive seen alot of crashes, but none like this.

MG Bud

thank you all for your kind words. 3PedalMINI nails it with the affordability part. When all losses and expenses are rolled up, well, it puts me under. Like I said, times are financially tight right now for my family, hence, a sad compromise may be forthcoming. Thanks for the Hyundai Sonata story, I may look that way...groan, I'm sure you all understand how much I/we love Audi. Picture yourself shopping a Korean car. As good as they are, it's still not an Audi.

thomas1978

Good to hear that,but you don't have a insurance? Those cars are worth less (if you are buying), than are valued for.

Ynnekdude

Read.

MG Bud

here's the body of the letter I sent to the President of Audi America earlier:

Dear Mr. de Nysschen,

I am writing you personally to express enormous gratitude. You are the tip of the spear for Audi of America, and years ago when developing Audi's future you may have envisioned the ultimate result...a precious life saved if the unthinkable happens in an Audi product. Well, those visions have come true. Please bear with me as I explain.

A few days ago my teen daughter was driving our beautiful, fully loaded CPO 2007 A6 4.2 quattro on a very dangerous back road. The precarious environment lead to a cornering error and resulting 40+ mph head-on crash into a large tree.
The impact force was devastating to the structure of the A6, however my daughter and her front passenger friend walked away with only minor injuries.
The engineered safety structure and controls in our A6 performed to perfection from what I observed. Both airbags deployed, seat belt restraints locked to perfection and crumple zones pushed all impacted structures away from both driver and passenger.

I must now emphasize something very crucial that may separate ours from the numerous other customer "happy ending" safety stories you've likely seen. We are a single income family, with 4 beautiful children and value every penny we have/earn...not wealthy by any economic stretch. When conducting extensive auto research prior to purchase, I wanted the best for my family's safety...all research roads lead to Audi. We saved funds for a long time in order to afford our A6, (as hasty large purchases surely sacrifice our daily budget needs and future expenses), and our A6 purchase from Audi's CPO Program was a true investment in safety. Sure, I could have saved money and bought something else other than Audi, but am certain my daughter and her friends' fate would have been a much different picture if I had. Bottom line, our A6 4.2 was far from being an easy, affluent client, "status symbol" purchase. In fact, it was a hard earned, scrape and save, "value and safety symbol" purchase.

Unfortunately, moving forward, another Audi will be financially unattainable due to expenses beyond the scope of our covered insurance as well as other "belt tightening" economic sacrifices we must endure. I don't say this lightly... it's heart wrenching when you're loyal Audi-ites only to have it taken from you in an instant. However, although we can no longer have the comfort and piece of mind as Audi owners, please take enormous pride knowing we will always look at Audi as "family". Audi has earned our admiration, respect and love. Trust me, these are not feelings I distribute readily or often outside my family circle. I will continue to brag to all I know and meet regarding Audi that, "If you have the ability to get one, you're crazy not to".

With that, you have my sincerest gratitude for all you and your team have done, and continue to do, at Audi and I conclude with this...If "tough days at work" occur for you or any of your team at Audi as the future unfolds, well, refer to this letter again as to why you do, what you do. After all, it's the reason my daughter and her friend are alive today.

j_sonel

In all of my experiences with insurance, they pay you the value of a replacement vehicle. They do this by searching for comparable vehicles with comparable mileage in private party listings. I totaled and A4 once and got back 1K more than I paid for it a year prior. Sounds like you paid WAAAY too much for it or your insurance company is screwing you.

j_sonel

Again, I'm glad everyone is ok, and I'm not trying to be a dick... it just sounds odd that you have full coverage and your insurance company is not putting you back in a comparable vehicle.