tboy58

Well- needless to say in a moments time I became as sick as you can get-but not because of illness.

I left my house Tuesday morning-the sun was shining but snow on the roads. I have driven my wife's 2010 Q5 in the snow multiple times and it has never even slid or spun the tires.

I am less than a mile from my house in my new S5 Cab -it has less than 500 miles on it. I am driving no more than 20 mph and I go to take a slight curve left-but it doesn't turn. Immediately I knew I was in trouble-I let off accelerator and turned it as hard as could turn and "nothing" it continued straight.

As in slow motion- I slid into the ditch and took out an old wire fence. Needless to say- as I sat there I could only imagine the damage. I reluctantly got out and walked around on passenger side- the door had a dent the size of a crater, the right head light was damaged, scratches along the entire passenger side and the hood was scratched as well. The front quarter was dented and scratched and the front bumper was as well.

Gosh I was sick. As soon as a friend was able to pull me out of the ditch-two other cars slid in the ditch in the same spot. Just a freak lay of the road-enough of a downward slope to that curve-when iced the momentum carries you into the ditch.

My dear friend has the best body shop in town and works on all the Jags, Porsches, Audis, custom bikes etc. He called my dealer which is 90 miles away and together they found parts in 7 different states. Since S5 Cab is so new-no one dealer has many parts. In fact three trim pieces had to be ordered from Germany.

All parts should arrive in 10 days and I should be back on road in 30 days.

Hood- repainted; passenger door-replaced; front quarter-repainted, front bumper-replaced-front trim pieces-replaced, back quarter-repainted, trim pieces along bottom-replaced.

Shields all along the bottom, had some scratches so they will be replaced; two passenger side wheels had a few scratches so they will be replaced. I am sure we will replace both passenger side Pirellis as well.

Nothing damaged on top/windows/engine or suspension/frame. In fact everything that even has a scratch we will replace.

As we put it on the lift and looked underneath- the protective shields than run the length and breath were scratched up but they so protect the S5 from damage.

Its all cosmetic, so to say, but expensive none the less. I see why these cars are so expensive!

That one mile ride devalued my S5 $10,000 -so I will keep it for awhile.

Oh yea-the good news is that I stopped 5 ft from a huge old tree- the only thing hurt on me was my pride and feelings that my new S5 Cab which I had researched and picked out was now hurt. Oh well- as my daughter said- "Dad, they are making them everyday.'

On top of that-its almost 60 and sunny today-and I am driving a old man Lincoln rental car-haha!!!!!

JGA5Cab

I have NO clue what I'd do or how I'd feel in that situation. I'd be sick for sure. I hope it gets fixed properly and quickly.

My brother has a silver S5 and bought aftermarket 18s with blizzaks. You may want to make that investment.

S5-Cab-10

Sorry to hear about your accident! My experience is that summer/sport tires are terrible in snow/ice. Perhaps, in this case snow tires would not have made a difference. I think they are worthwhile if you live in an area which gets lots of snow.

elf_cruiser

I lived in alaska for 2.5 yrs - next time DO NOT let off the gas. floor it! Just for a second or two, you need those fronts to dig in and steer the car, and more throttle is the only way to get the car to rotate when you're on ice. The traction control will just let go and the tires will spin, if you turn the wheel like you did the fronts will bite and pull the car sideways. Once you've got the car rotated past the correct track, then let off the gas and straighten out the wheel - you'll be sliding sideways at this point, but still on the road.

Next time it freezes over, go to the local high school parking lot and do some donuts, practice sliding around and "drifting" as the cool kids call it...

elf_cruiser

Check out this video - looks like dude is in 2nd gear when first would generate more wheels speed - maybe autocrapic, maybe just needs to find the floorboard under the gas pedal?. Other than that, fun times...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abxL81nPQOo

dseag2

I'm so sorry to hear this. Just reading your post made me sick as I can only imagine how I would feel in that situation. I did drive my S5 Cab for 50 miles on Christmas Eve in 3" of snow. I didn't have any incidents, but there was one turn-in into my neighborhood where the car just kept going straight. I just rode it out and turned in at the next road. I guess I was really lucky.

I hope everything gets fixed quickly and you can enjoy your Cab again soon.

tboy58

Thanks for everyone's condolences-it was a sickening morning for sure-but after a few hours I realized once again-its just a car-haha-a nice one-but a car none the less.

Your counsel on flooring the gas for a second or two is where I missed it. I knew not to brake but I never thought to accelerate. I will have to find a place to practice that move-away from anything I can hit. My instincts have always told me different. Thanks for the advice.

She will have all geniune Audi parts and will look like new. Of course the carfax will show an accident with moderate damage-but in 3-4 years-when I am ready to trade it-it probably wont affect the resale as much as it would if I traded it now.

The good side of the story-I realize these cars are built well. And the fear of wrecking or nicking a new car that we all deal with is now over for me. She has had her baptism by fire!

BlueSander

I'm glad that you're okay. Flooring the gas pedal may result MORE DAMAGE so use it with cautious!!! I would say in situation like this, make sure that you have to stay clear mind and determine whether to floor it. Assuming you're not freaking out, make sure 100% you're just steering at where the road go regardless how much you want to stay in the left of the road. This is a critical step because if you are steering your wheels too much, you may end up heading righ at some pole the other side of the street when one of your front wheel get back some traction. I was there, luckly, the electric pole was too much to the left hand side of the car or else it was a head on struck at the pole. I do believe that AWD cars have more chance of getting back traction when you step on the gas or at least keep the gas but don't take that for granted.

Inclined

Summer performance " hockey puck in cold temps " tire compound can quickly become "no wheel drive" on hard snow or ice , whether FWD/RWD/AWD.

BlueSander

Oh yea, don't tell me the OP drove with his summer performance tire on. That would explain it.