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7 Posts
I'm sure you guys love these newbie 'fix my car and tell me it's free!' threads.
Anyway; just bought this car (used) last January. Beginning of last month (September), I was in an accident when someone in her daddy's Camaro decided red lights were for suckers and T-boned me at an intersection going 45 mph and putting me in a 180 spin, and I ended up tapping her driver's side, hard enough to put a two-inch crack in my front bumper under the left passenger side headlight, like a tear track. The other damage? A crushed-in back driver's side door, back driver wheel axle and struts bent, along with some suspension damage.
It took almost 4 weeks for the recommended auto shop to finally get my car back to me, and I did a cursory look-over of the outside, but not under the hood. My mistake.
Anyway, I'm telling you all that for background while I get to this.
I travel for work, and I drove out about 45 miles or so to do my work thing, stopping and restarting the car frequently. It's going fine, everything feels normal. I'm heading out back home, stop briefly to pick up some things, pop back on the highway, and I barely get on the highway, getting back up to speed when the car starts shuddering and decelerating, unable to touch 70, then unable to touch 65 without shuddering and decelerating, and that limit is dropping quickly.
Both check engine and battery lights go off, so I pull over and put on my flashers and start making calls. I did not pop the hood to look at the engine at this point.
I had my car towed back to the auto shop that did the repairs from the accident, suspecting that it was damage unnoticed from the accident (there had been some suspension damage only found when they tried to do the final alignment).
I heard no noise, noticed no strange smells in this time, and the only external device I had running from the car's power at the time was an FM transmitter for my iPod, and it was going fine as I pulled off the shoulder.
I guess my actual question and why I'm making such an immense post is, what are the possible diagnoses, and can anyone offer ballpark estimates of repairs? I did not run any codes myself, I simply had it towed and signed the authorization. I'm hoping that whatever it is, it's connected to the accident, and isn't my bad luck rearing its head. I drove a 96 Saturn for 8 years(with no problems besides the dead A/C and a leaky sunroof) before relenting and picking this car, and I'm hoping to get around that length of time out of this one.
Short story:
2007 SE
81000+ miles at time of failure
Car began to shudder and decelerate when approaching highway speeds, continued to be unable to accelerate.
Check engine and battery lights came on
Car had been running for about 3 minutes at this point, after running for about 30 minutes or so at highway speed.
No smells, no smoke or other signs something was wrong.
Gas tank was on full.
Unfortunately, I don't know the engine type.
I did turn the car back on long enough to roll down a window (to battery power). The check engine and battery lights stayed on and steady, but I did not try to turn the engine and cause further damage.
Anyway; just bought this car (used) last January. Beginning of last month (September), I was in an accident when someone in her daddy's Camaro decided red lights were for suckers and T-boned me at an intersection going 45 mph and putting me in a 180 spin, and I ended up tapping her driver's side, hard enough to put a two-inch crack in my front bumper under the left passenger side headlight, like a tear track. The other damage? A crushed-in back driver's side door, back driver wheel axle and struts bent, along with some suspension damage.
It took almost 4 weeks for the recommended auto shop to finally get my car back to me, and I did a cursory look-over of the outside, but not under the hood. My mistake.
Anyway, I'm telling you all that for background while I get to this.
I travel for work, and I drove out about 45 miles or so to do my work thing, stopping and restarting the car frequently. It's going fine, everything feels normal. I'm heading out back home, stop briefly to pick up some things, pop back on the highway, and I barely get on the highway, getting back up to speed when the car starts shuddering and decelerating, unable to touch 70, then unable to touch 65 without shuddering and decelerating, and that limit is dropping quickly.
Both check engine and battery lights go off, so I pull over and put on my flashers and start making calls. I did not pop the hood to look at the engine at this point.
I had my car towed back to the auto shop that did the repairs from the accident, suspecting that it was damage unnoticed from the accident (there had been some suspension damage only found when they tried to do the final alignment).
I heard no noise, noticed no strange smells in this time, and the only external device I had running from the car's power at the time was an FM transmitter for my iPod, and it was going fine as I pulled off the shoulder.
I guess my actual question and why I'm making such an immense post is, what are the possible diagnoses, and can anyone offer ballpark estimates of repairs? I did not run any codes myself, I simply had it towed and signed the authorization. I'm hoping that whatever it is, it's connected to the accident, and isn't my bad luck rearing its head. I drove a 96 Saturn for 8 years(with no problems besides the dead A/C and a leaky sunroof) before relenting and picking this car, and I'm hoping to get around that length of time out of this one.
Short story:
2007 SE
81000+ miles at time of failure
Car began to shudder and decelerate when approaching highway speeds, continued to be unable to accelerate.
Check engine and battery lights came on
Car had been running for about 3 minutes at this point, after running for about 30 minutes or so at highway speed.
No smells, no smoke or other signs something was wrong.
Gas tank was on full.
Unfortunately, I don't know the engine type.
I did turn the car back on long enough to roll down a window (to battery power). The check engine and battery lights stayed on and steady, but I did not try to turn the engine and cause further damage.
