My Sky is on life support and I am back on the list

[jrarant]

I know it's been a while, but I have been having such a great time driving my Sky that I haven't checked in. This is until Satuday morning when I hydroplained into a barrier in the median of I-385. Now, my baby is on life support and the insurance company is probably going to pull the plug today or Monday.

I was told that the damage to her is probably enough to total her, but since they can't get any prices for parts, that's a moot point, they will have to total her anyway. I spoke to the body shop this morning and they said they can't even pull the parts up in thier computer.

I am going this afternoon to get back on the list for a new one. It was a GREAT 2 months and 1600 miles, but it looks like this baby is not going to be with me much longer.

[vstar]

Sorry about that, Its great that your ok. I read a thread on the Sol forum where the rear got out from driver when he was down shifting into a turn.

[skybright]

Originally Posted by jrarant

I know it's been a while, but I have been having such a great time driving my Sky that I haven't checked in. This is until Satuday morning when I hydroplained into a barrier in the median of I-385. Now, my baby is on life support and the insurance company is probably going to pull the plug today or Monday.

I was told that the damage to her is probably enough to total her, but since they can't get any prices for parts, that's a moot point, they will have to total her anyway. I spoke to the body shop this morning and they said they can't even pull the parts up in thier computer.

I am going this afternoon to get back on the list for a new one. It was a GREAT 2 months and 1600 miles, but it looks like this baby is not going to be with me much longer.

First off I hope that nothing happened to you??? Give us some details on how badly the accident was. Did the airbags deploy? Did the car keep you safe?
Drivers safety comes first and that is why there is insurance to cover for a new one!

[CUINOZ]

"jrarant" glad the important driver part is ok. Very sorry on your loss.
Please expand on the accident. (if you don't mind) I would like to know about the conditions, and how were the "all season" tires in the rain. Here in SE Mass, we get a lot of rain in the winter that is "just" on the edge of sleet........rear wheel drive will be .........interesting.......

[SkyBaby]

Wow... very happy to see you back and ok... sorry about your baby..... i will pick out a great headstone for her though... SkyBaby-07

[rocky777]

Wow, so sorry to hear. Glad you are ok, but could you tell us the details of your accident? This is my daily driver and winter is coming so I worry about things like hydroplaning as well.

[SkyHighinTX]

Does the Sky have a tendency to hydroplane more than other vehicles? I am a little nervous about this because we have been in a terrible drought. I expect it will start raining the week I get my Sky and will probably not stop for 2-3 months.

Seriously, though, some cars are a bit more susceptible to hydroplaning than others and I was wondering if others have experienced this problem, too.

And JRARANT, I hope you are well and that you get a replacement Sky very soon. I am very sorry for your loss.

[jrarant]

Ok, here are the details.

It was raining hard, but not so bad that I couldn't see. I had slowed to 55 in a 65 because at 65 -70 I was loosing some amount of traction, but not so much that I couldn't keep the car under control. I hit a spot in the road where water was standing and started sliding to the right (I was in the left lane.) I tried to put very light pressure on the break, press the clutch all the way in, and steer slightly to the left to get my traction back, but this was not working. When I got through the standing water my tires gripped the road hard and I took off towards the median, I tried to counter steer, but felt my backend fish tailing, so I loosened up on the steering wheel a little, which sent me directly toward the median. When I hit the grass it spun the Sky around and I hit the 3 wire barrier in the middle. I slid down the barrier backwards and took out about 6 of the polls. At some point the top wire snapped and hit the Sky.

It dented the hood and bent/ripped the roof. The front right headlight was ripped off of the car. The frontand rear quarter panels were ripped up and the batter was pushed in. Both wheel wells were distroyed. The suspention is broken, the oil pan and muffler have wholes in them and the whole underside of the car is damaged.

During all of this my Seatbelt locked and kept me from moving. The airbags did not deploy because I hit on the passengers side and no one was sitting there (this is the way the airbags are supposed to work). Once I stopped I heard my Onstar system say that it had detected an emergency and was connecting me to a specialist. The specialist came on the line and spoke with me until I calmed down. She then called Highway Patrole. She offered to stay on the line with me, but I declined as I needed to call my husband. She told me to call back if I needed anything else. The only pain I had was in my sholder from the seatbelt and that was gone by the next day. I felt very safe and see this as one more reason to own a Saturn. I have witnessed several bad accidents involving Saturns and everytime the driver has walked away with nothing more than soreness and maybe some scratchs.

[jrarant]

More pictures

[jrarant]

Originally Posted by SkyHighinTX

Does the Sky have a tendency to hydroplane more than other vehicles? I am a little nervous about this because we have been in a terrible drought. I expect it will start raining the week I get my Sky and will probably not stop for 2-3 months.

Seriously, though, some cars are a bit more susceptible to hydroplaning than others and I was wondering if others have experienced this problem, too.

And JRARANT, I hope you are well and that you get a replacement Sky very soon. I am very sorry for your loss.

What I found is that the tires grip dry pavement very well (as my husband says ... like someone glued it to the road), but the channels in the tires are thin and the tires are wide which causes a problem with cutting through the water and moving the water out from under the tires. Just remember that you need to slow waaaaayyyyy down when driving the Sky in water. It is light to top everything else off so drive it like it is your baby, not the "grab the road and go" monster that we all know it to be on dry roads.

[ishot3bucks]

Glad to hear you made it out OK. Car looks bad...but it looks like you avoided any MAJOR impact! Many people have died from similar accidents...consider yourself fortunate!

Hope everything works out well!

[cole-cash]

Glad to hear you are OK.

The new Sky will carry the soul of the old one, worry not. Just a little wait

[PieintheSky]

Originally Posted by SkyHighinTX

Does the Sky have a tendency to hydroplane more than other vehicles? I am a little nervous about this because we have been in a terrible drought. I expect it will start raining the week I get my Sky and will probably not stop for 2-3 months.

Seriously, though, some cars are a bit more susceptible to hydroplaning than others and I was wondering if others have experienced this problem, too.

And JRARANT, I hope you are well and that you get a replacement Sky very soon. I am very sorry for your loss.

In South Florida in the summer months it rains every day. I have been caught in some downpours with my SKY and had no problems. Remember too that if it has not rained in a while oil will float on top of the water and that could cause any car to hydroplane.

[07blacksky]

I'm very sorry to hear this, glad your ok. I am impressed with how the car held up though. Hope the wait for a new one isnt too long

[1994SC2]

Sad story, but thankfully you are safe. Painful to look at those pictures but it might help remind all of us to slow down in the rain.

Best wishes for a speedy Sky replacement.

[Siouxsie]

The pictures make me want to run to the garage and clutch my baby and whisper to it how I'll always keep it safe!

I know firsthand that there are some road conditions made to take out cars. You may have simply hit one of those. Any low spot on the road that isn't draining properly will pool water and cause you to hydroplane even at low speeds. Once you're ontop of the water, you're in alot of trouble. Glad you made it through that ok an good to know the OnStar system worked appropriately.

[StarlightSky]

Breath in breath out. Wow, glad you came out in good shape, better than the baby! That's what the insurance is for, and the details are very welcome to all I'm certain. A little early I know but it looks like it's close to Redline Time for you.
Doubt that we know much about road condition handling yet and details do help. I experienced hydro planing in my Pony GT with firestone radials installed. I switched to a Yokohama EVS 17" tread and never experienced that again. Anyone out there in the Solstice forum who's doing some research, might be helpful if you'd post some wet weather tire details.

[TulsaSky]

Thank Goodness your OK, sorry to hear about your baby but she did protect you well. One could say she gave her life for your safety.
I am glad to hear that the Onstar does work during such a event. I had to use my Onstar on my Impala after a simple little fender bender. It was nice to press a button and have someone that really seemed too care calm me down and assist. Not that I ever want to have to use it EVER for a wreck but during such a emergency they do take care of you. Its such a whole new concept for most of us to have someone call you when something like this happens. I guess all of us with the new Sky's need to get used to it! What I thought was kind of cool she told me where the car was that GPS works very well. The other perk well for some, when you call a spouse that well hmm maybe not the most considerate person they can really make you more upset, the OnStar consulant seemed to say all the right things and really do calm you down.

TulsaSky

[SunneySky]

Its good you wern't hurt. I now feel a little safer driving the sky.

[rick112]

Thanks for the post and the pictures! I like seeing what kinda damage I could expect under different circumstances.