I'm retentive when it comes to stone chips and even take a longer route to work to avoid a certain loose chippings road that guarantees chips if a car is coming the other way around a right hander.

So, last night I took the long route home along the A4260 from Kidlington towards Deddington. There was about 7 cars and 2 white vans at the front dictating a speed of between 50 - 55mph, of course I was at the back, infront of me was a Volvo Saloon and notably a red Renault Megane. If anyone knows this road you'll know there's a peice of dual carriageway half a mile or so long. As we hit the dual carriageway the 5 or so cars pull out and overtook the white vans, the Megane immediately pulled out only to maintain it's original speed so as to litrually creep passed the vans. (at this point I ought to mention that I always maintain a speed dependent gap between myself and the car I'm following to aviod said stone chips - retentive or what?). Nearing the end of the dual carriageway cars had bunched behind me and as I was in the right hand lane they had bunched on the inside too, making pulling in more tricky. However, I had calculated that if the Megane maintained its current speed I would eventually slip between the 2 vans with ease, to do so and to be safe I'd reduce the gap between myself and the Volvo momenterally. At which point the cheveron lines depicting the narrowing to a single carriageway were fast aproaching. All was well both the Megane and Volvo had just about made it past the vans. However, the Volvo driver had other instant plans! He floored it over the cheveron lines, skimming the grass verge with an F1 style flick of the steering wheel and this is while I'm reducing my stone chip safety zone! The net effect was a perlethera of slap, cracks and whacks as stones the size of marbles winged their way through the air finding my new car like iron filings to a magnet!

My 2 month (chipless) MY03 WRX, now looks like someone has fired a shotgun from distance at it. Worsed of all, that padestrian friendly Alli bonnet, now features an interesting orange peel effect...

...short way to work this morning.

Tim

PS. did anyone notice how good I'd been at not mentioning the sex of the Megane driver?

 

PPS. The Volvo driver made it passed the Megane....just.

 

unlucky and very restrained ... i was wincing and got to the punch line as soon as you mentioned "half-mile section of dual".

so given your AR approach to even the remote possibility of stone chips ... what do you do when faced with a M/Dual with no near exits and a salt-spreader slowly trundling along ... do you sit there at 50, half a mile back ?

Ever thought of buying one of those vinyl car nose jobs the yanks have ?

 

Another mad Volvo !Surprised he didn't have a caravan stuck on the back also .

 

Ummm, salt spreaders are a nightmere... but usually they're in the slow lane and I'll try to overtake in the fast lane with a lorry of some sort acting as a partial sheild. More often than not in this part of the world they tend to spread before and after rush hour so I tend not to come across them theat often.

Tim

 

It's only a stone chip . You'll get plenty more!

 

GUS,

A, as in singular, is acceptable but a peppering as though I've been cluster bombed is something else.

Oh, and I forgot mention, from this one instance I now have an almost frosted glass windscreen due to multipul shallow chips!

Ho Humm...

Tim... Rant over...

...nearly...

...Bug*er!

 

You don't see them from the driving seat, so don't worry. The bonnet's not going to rust is it If you're really bothered about the window get it replaced.

It's annoying when it happens but not a lot you can realistically do about it.

 

Is'nt there a company that does clear sticky panels for the front end???, stops those weekends with the touch-up stick!,

Just thinking of swopping my 00my turbo for a STi but the wife says she fed up of the scooby being wrapped in cotton wool in the garage!,
The other option is a Citroen berlingo Multispace (more famliy friendly with a 2 and 5 year old and who gives a s*** where you leave it)

 

Re read but can't see what the Megane did wrong ?
The [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] seems to be aimed at ' her ' ?

Its the **** in the Vulva you want to curse....
The only well driven Volvo I've seen has had a stripe on it...

 

Similar thing happened to me a few years back.

Had the front of my car resprayed (due to stone chips)

Driving along the M9 from Stirling, i'm in the inside lane, car overtaking me on the outside, and some lowlife boy racer in a Mk2 Astra decides not to slow down, so he rips past us on the hard sholder. peppering the front of the car again...TO$$ER !!!

If it wasn't for the fact i was on my own, and the Astra had a few guys in it, i would've went after them.

Anyway...i know how it feels..gutted for ya mate.